The Olympian Deities
Uploaded by dkopka67 on Apr 16, 2007
The Olympian Deities
The Olympian deities are the gods and goddesses worshiped by the ancient Greeks before 338 B.C.. Unlike today, where different groups of people in the same community can have different religious beliefs, in ancient Greece all persons in one community had the same beliefs and were part of one religion. Though there was variety from community to community, we speak of these beliefs as the Greek Religion. During the classical period, the Greeks were polytheistic. This means they worshiped many deities, both gods and goddesses. Each of the deities had separate realms of responsibility. The divine family included the following: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Athena, and Hermes.
Zeus leads the pantheon of twelve great Greek gods and goddesses illustrated on the Parthenon frieze and is probably modeled on a western Asiatic precedent. His father is Kronos, his mother Rhea, or in alternative tradition, Metis (wisdom). His official consort, though barely more than in name, is Hera. Zeus is a universal deity, and through him comes all mortal sovereignty. He earned the finest and most opulent sanctuaries throughout the Greek world. According to Greek tradition, he lives on the mountain of Thessaly, which came to be known as Mount Olympus where the storm clouds are said to gather. Tradition also has it that his grave is on Mount Yukates, near Knossos on the sand of Crete, where he was buried by the Kouretes (Allen and Maitland 29-36).
Symbolized by the eagle and earning the sacrifice of bulls, Zeus is the strongest of the deities, but in origin he is a weather god. He rules the clouds and rain, delivers lightning and hurls
...