Welcome to The Greek Gods
Everyone has heard about the Olympian gods, the titans, other greek gods not resident on the Olympus mountain, demigods, mythological heroes, creatures and other animals and beasts. But only some people are able to explain about who they were Zeus, Aphrodite, Crono, Achilles, Adonis, Pygmalion and many others, and to explain something about the Golden Fleece legend, or about so many other legends and greek mythology stories… Just follow this site and blog for a while to fill this void in your own general culture.
The greek underworld
The ancient Greece was formed by many small states, frequently just with a single city rounded with few acres of land. Was not strictly a nation in itself. But to make them a civilization contributed two t
hings: a common language to all, and a national religion, beyond local beliefs and cults.
Located in the center of each of these small city-states, there was usually the temple in honor of the protector god or goddess. Athena was worshipped at Athens, Demeter at Eleusis, Artemis at Ephesus, and so on. And gods embodied all virtues and all vices, all phenomena of the earth and sky, every success and every misfortune, every trade and every profession.
We could divide into the following seven groups all that…
Greek mythology creatures :
- Olympian gods (who inhabited Mount Olympus, about three thousand meters high, located between Macedonia and Thessaly, always with snow, considered by the ancient Greeks as their home)
- Non-Olympic Gods
- Mythological heroes
- Mythological heroines
- Other mythological characters
- Mythological beings who formed group
- mythological animals
You can find each of this groups categorized in order to find them and their amazing stories.
The Chimera, one of the most amazing creatures of the greek mythology
What is a myth?
Myth, from Greek mitos, first meant word. After signified legend, in opposition to logos, which was every confirmed fact, story, or historical event. Myth is thus a fabulous tale, not historical. But strictly speaking myths are called romances or legends already set by time, with an unchanged theme and characters.
Mythology is the science of myths, its knowledge and art of interpretation. All civilizations have their own mythology, always in connection with the idea of God and the concept of immortality. But none is as important or has provided so many arguments and topics to humanity as the classical Greek mythology.
The Hydra
The Romans adopted Greek mythology, but changed the names of some Greek gods by latin names: hence some gods have two different names (Aphrodite and Venus, or Ares and Mars -The God of War-, for example).
Hades and Persephone
The greek gods family tree
The elaboration of a genealogical family tree of Greek mythology is a really difficult and complex task. In addition to the hundreds or thousands of characters, gods and creatures, there is also the difficulty of the presence of a large variety of sources of information, but not always consistent. Then there is the inclination of many of these deities to polygamy, promiscuity and even incest. In general the relationships between the characters are fairly clear but sometimes there is considerable confusion and no consensus at 100% in some descent lines. In future articles of this site will try to clarify this mess and get the definitive greek god family tree.
