The Anemoi: The four winds, sons of Eos, some also representing a season—Boreas (North Wind, winter), Notus the (South Wind, autumn), Zephyr (West Wind), and Eurus (East Wind). Sometimes they took the form of horses and pulled Zeus’ chariot, and many of their offspring are immortal horses.
Aphrodite: Goddess of love, marriage, sex, and fertility. She was born of a mixture of sea-foam and Uranos’ castrated genitals, arising spontaneously and arriving on the isle of Cyprus. Zeus feared that the gods would fight over her so he quickly gave her as a bride to Hephaestus. Unhappy with her ugly club-footed husband, she had many affairs—particularly with Ares (she is the mother of Ares’ children Phobos and Deimos)—and many children. Of mercurial temperament, she had a habit of cursing or destroying any mortals who compared their beauty to her own.
Apollo: God of archery, prophecy, music, and healing, he is an excellent bowman and the brother of Artemis. He is sometimes worshipped as the sun god, and his arrows are as piercing as the rays of the sun. A lusty god, he chased nymphs, mortal women, and even a few beautiful young men.
Ares: God of war, battle, and frenzy. Handsome and cruel, he had an affair with Aphrodite and married her after Hephaestus divorced her. His sons Phobos (god of panic) and Deimos (god of fear) attended him in war (as did Eris) and elsewhere. Though a war god, he had a habit of running to Zeus for help whenever he was wounded.
Artemis: Virgin goddess of the hunt, childbirth, and protection of children. She is the twin sister of Apollo. Her arrows are as soft as moonbeams and bring painless death. Artemis is often depicted hunting deer, and is usually accompanied by a group of nymphs. She can be vengeful when the mood takes her, and has killed mortals for slighting her mother Leto or for viewing her bathing.
Athena: Virgin goddess of wisdom, battle-skill, heroism, and the defense of cities. She is patron deity of Athens (after winning a contest with Poseidon). The daughter of Zeus and Metis, she sprung forth fully grown from Zeus’s head. She wears Medusa’s head on her shield, the Aegis.
Atlas: The titan of daring thought, he fought against Zeus in the titan-god war and holds the vault of the sky on his shoulders as a punishment. In some tales he was pardoned and now guards the great pillars that hold up the sky.
Coeus: Titan of questioning intellect. Husband of Phoebe, together they form the foundation of knowledge and discovery. Father of Leto, and thus grandfather of Apollo and Artemis.
Crios: Titan of lordship and mastery who gained power over the air, water, earth, and underworld. His granddaughter Hecate inherited these powers.
Cronus: Titan of time’s effect on human lives, Cronus defeated his father Uranos and became ruler of the universe, only to be deposed by his own son Zeus. As well as fathering six of the great gods, he is father of Chiron, the wise centaur who taught Jason, Asclepius, and Achilles.
Demeter: Goddess of the harvest, agriculture, and law. She is a sister of Zeus and mother of Persephone (bride of Hades). Persephone must spend six months out of the year in Hades’ realm, and Demeter’s sorrow over her absent daughter causes winter in the mortal world.
Dionysus: God of wine, revels, theater, and festivals. He was a very popular god in the late Greek classical age. Half-mortal himself, he often helps mortals but likewise can drive them to drunkenness and madness if they offend him.
Eos: Goddess of the dawn, mother of the four winds, daughter of Hyperion and Thia. Her mortal husband Tithonus shrank into a grasshopper as he aged because Eos only asked Zeus to grant him eternal youth, but neglected to ask for eternal life.
Eris: Goddess of strife and hatred. She is a sinister and mean creature who loves enticing others into trouble. Her golden apple of discord destroys friendships and causes wars. She is the mother of evil minor godlings of murder, grievances, lies, hardship, famine, and pain.
Eros: God of love, usually depicted with wings and a bow with arrows that cause creatures to fall in love. Son of Ares and Aphrodite, he married a beautiful princess named Psyche (“soul”) despite his mother’s ire about the mortal girl’s beauty.
Epimetheus: Titan of afterthought and the father of excuses, he created the beasts of the earth. After Prometheus stole fire from the heavens, Zeus punished mankind by giving Pandora to Epimetheus as a wife.
Hades: God of the underworld and wealth, he keeps mostly to himself in his realm with his wife Persephone. The Greeks felt that speaking his name would draw his attention (and hasten the speaker’s death), so they called him “the Unseen” or “the Host of Many.”
Hecate: Goddess of witchcraft, with magical powers over the earth, sea, and heavens. She is sometimes seen as a dark and mysterious aspect of Artemis, representing mysteries of femininity and the moon. In some tales Hecate is the mother of the mortal sorceresses Circle and Medea.
Helios: God of the sun and sight (and to a lesser extent the measurement of time by the sun). He steers the sun-chariot across the sky with four fiery wild horses. He is so bright that only the gods can look at him directly in his true glory.
Hephaestus: The forge and fire god, born lame in one foot (or crippled when thrown from Olympus to the earth by jealous Zeus or angry Hera). A master craftsman, he and his cyclopes forged Zeus’ thunderbolts and many of the metal monsters of Greek stories. He was married to Aphrodite, but divorced her because of her many affairs.
Hera: Goddess of marriage and women, queen of the gods, wife of Zeus. Jealous of all of his infidelity (many myths revolve around Zeus’ attempts to evade her wrath), she managed to conceive two sons (one of them Hephaestus) by herself. Zeus is the father of her children Ares, Eileithyia (goddess of childbirth), and Hebe (goddess of youth). She aided some heroes (such as Jason, leader of the original Argonauts) and sided with the Greeks in the Trojan War.
Hermes: God of messengers, guides, travel, herds, and invention. He helped many Greek heroes in their tasks. Hermes created the first lyre, and it is said his spirit watches over travelers from the small cairns of stones placed at crossroads.
Hestia: Virgin goddess of the sacred hearth and sacrificial flame. A gentle goddess, she is the oldest sister of Zeus. She gave up her seat in Olympus for Dionysus, so she was made the goddess of the sacrificial fire, and a portion of every sacrifice to the gods goes to her.
Hyperion: The titan of watching and observation, and father to Eos, Helios, and Selene.
Iris: Goddess of the rainbow and messenger of the gods. Dressed in a gown of iridescent drops, she carries news to and from Olympus and the mortal world.
Japet: The titan of spoken words and thoughts, husband of Clymene (titan of fame and infamy, daughter of titan Oceanus). He was Cronus’ general in the god-titan war.
Leto: Titan of unnoticed and hidden things (gifts she bestowed on the living things of the earth) as well as motherhood. She is the mother of Apollo and Artemis, and said to be the gentlest of all the Olympians.
Metis: Daughter of Oceanus, she is the titan of good counsel and prudence. Prophecy said that if she bore a son to Zeus, he would overthrow his father, so Zeus tricked her into changing into a fly and swallowed her so that he might always have her advice. Her unborn daughter Athena grew within Zeus’ skull and sprung forth from his head fully grown.
Mnemosyne: Titan of memory and inventor of words. She was one of the first goddesses of music and her nine daughters the Muses (fathered by Zeus) carry on that role.
Muses: Minor goddesses of music, arts, literature, and performance. Their names and domains are Calliope (eloquence and epic poetry, she is the mother of Orpheus), Clio (historical writing), Erato (mimicry and erotic poetry), Euterpe (lyric poetry), Melpomene (tragic performance), Polyhymnia (hymns), Terpsichore (dance and choral song), Thalia (idyllic poetry and comedic performance), and Urania (astronomical writing). Calliope is the mother of Orpheus, the greatest mortal musician in the world.
Nike: Goddess of victory. She has great feathered wings. Though born of obscure titans, she was welcomed to Olympus by Zeus and aided Athena in her tasks. Her brothers Kratos and Zelos represent strength and rivalry, and her sister Bia represents force.
Oceanus: The titan personification of the great river that surrounded the world, as well as titan of all fresh water. He is father to the spirits of rivers, seas, clouds, and rains of the Greek world with his wife Tethys.
Pan: The god of flocks and shepherds. A nature god, Pan is the son of Hermes and has goat’s legs, pointed ears, and shaggy hair all over his body. He is the protector of hunters, shepherds, and flocks. He enjoys music and wine, and the satyrs serve him.
Phoebe: Titan of answering intellect and the wife of fellow titan Coeus; together they form the core of all knowledge and discovery in the world. She is the mother of Leto, and thus grandmother of Apollo and Artemis. Phoebe is the original owner of the oracle at Delphi, which she gifted to her grandson Apollo.
Poseidon: God of the sea, earthquakes, and horses. He created horses as a gift to Demeter after several failed experiments such as the hippo, camel, and giraffe. He is a moody and violent god, prone to lash out with waves or earthquakes. He is the father of many godlings and water-spirits and a few mortal heroes as well.
Prometheus: The titan of forethought, he created the second race of humans after the first race was wiped out by the battles of the gods. Stole firefrom the heavens to give to mankind, chained to a mountain as punishment where the Kaukasian eagle would tear out his immortal liver each day. Eventually Heracles freed him.
Rhea: Titan of female fertility, queen of the titans, primary wife of Cronus, and mother to the six first Olympian gods.
Selene: Goddess of the moon, she lights the world at night while her brother Helios rests. Her husband Endymion was granted eternal sleep at her request so he may stay forever young, and he fathered her fifty daughters (the Menai, who represent the fifty lunar months between each Olympiad).
Tethys: The titan of nursing and of water flowing underground, she is the wife of Oceanus. As mother to thousands of river-spirits and other minor godlings of nature, she is normally accompanied by Eileithyia, a minor goddess of childbirth.
Themis: Titan of customs and order. An oracular goddess, she is the mother of the three goddesses of destiny as well as the goddesses of seasons and divination.
Thia: Titan of sight, and the one responsible for imbuing precious metal and gems with their sparkle and value. The Greeks believe that sight worked by a kind of ray emitted by the eyes, so it follows that she is the mother to the sun and moon, whose lights illuminate the world.
Zeus: Leader of the Olympians, god of thunder, sky, kingship, and justice. He fathered many gods and mortal heroes on many different women (some immortal, some not), much to the annoyance of his queen Hera. His weapon is the thunderbolt.
