The Twelve Olympians: The Complete Guide to the Greek Gods

The Twelve Olympians are the most important gods of the ancient Greek pantheon. They lived on Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece, and they were the central figures of Greek religion, mythology, and art for more than a thousand years. The canonical list of twelve was fixed by the Greek poet Hesiod, although there was considerable variation across city-states and over the centuries. The Twelve Olympians are the gods and goddesses whose names are most familiar to us today, and most of the planets of our solar system are named after them (or after their Roman equivalents).

This page is a complete guide to the Twelve Olympians. It explains who they were, what they were gods of, and what their stories were. It links back to the Greek Mythology cluster, the Twelve Labors of Heracles page, and the Iliad and Odyssey long-tails.

The Twelve

The canonical list of the Twelve Olympians, as fixed by Hesiod in his Theogony, is as follows:

Zeus, king of the gods, god of the sky, thunder, and lightning.
Hera, queen of the gods, goddess of marriage and family.
Poseidon, god of the sea, earthquakes, and horses.
Demeter, goddess of agriculture, the harvest, and the seasons.
Athena, goddess of wisdom, craft, and war.
Apollo, god of the sun, music, prophecy, and medicine.
Artemis, goddess of the hunt, the moon, and wild animals.
Ares, god of war.
Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty.
Hephaestus, god of the forge and craft.
Hermes, messenger of the gods, god of travelers and thieves.
Hestia (or, in some lists, Dionysus), goddess of the hearth, the home, and the family.

The list is not fixed. Some versions include Hades, Persephone, Heracles, or Hebe. Some include the river god Achelous or the morning star Hesperus. The list of twelve was more a matter of convenience (twelve was a sacred number) than of doctrine.

Zeus

Zeus was the king of the gods, the son of Cronos and Rhea, the husband of Hera, and the father of most of the other gods and many of the heroes. He was the god of the sky, the thunder, and the lightning bolt, and his symbol was the thunderbolt. His sacred animal was the eagle; his sacred tree was the oak. He was worshipped across the Greek world, but his most famous sanctuaries were at Olympia (the site of the Olympic Games), at Dodona (the oldest Greek oracle), and on Mount Olympus itself.

Zeus was famous for his many love affairs with goddesses, nymphs, and mortal women. He transformed himself into a bull to abduct Europa, into a swan to seduce Leda, and into a shower of gold to impregnate Danaë. Hera, his wife, was endlessly jealous and persecuted his illegitimate children, including Heracles, whose famous Twelve Labors are the most famous of all the Greek hero myths.

Hera

Hera was the wife and sister of Zeus, the queen of the gods, and the goddess of marriage, women, and childbirth. She was the patron of married women, and her marriage to Zeus was the model of the divine marriage. She was, however, also the most jealous and vengeful of the gods, and she persecuted Zeus’s many lovers and illegitimate children with relentless ferocity.

Poseidon

Poseidon was the god of the sea, the earthquakes, and the horses. He was the second of the three sons of Cronos and Rhea, and he received the sea as his domain when the world was divided among the three brothers. He was the father of many heroes and monsters, including Theseus, the Cyclops Polyphemus, and (in some accounts) the famous winged horse Pegasus. His most famous sanctuaries were at Corinth and on the island of Samos.

Demeter

Demeter was the goddess of agriculture, the harvest, and the seasons. She was the sister of Zeus and the mother of Persephone, whose abduction by Hades was the central myth of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Demeter’s grief over the loss of her daughter caused the earth to become barren, and the seasons were explained by the months that Persephone spent in the underworld.

Athena

Athena was the goddess of wisdom, craft, and war. She was the daughter of Zeus and Metis, born fully armed from Zeus’s head after he had swallowed her mother. She was the patron of the city of Athens, and her most famous temple, the Parthenon, was built on the Acropolis of Athens. She was also the patron of crafts, especially weaving, and of heroes, especially Odysseus.

Apollo

Apollo was the god of the sun, music, prophecy, and medicine. He was the son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin brother of Artemis. He was the patron of the Oracle at Delphi, the leader of the Muses, and the god of light, music, and rational thought. He was also a fearsome archer, and with his sister Artemis he could bring sudden death to mortals.

Artemis

Artemis was the goddess of the hunt, the moon, and wild animals. She was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, the twin sister of Apollo, and a virgin goddess. She was the patron of hunters, and she roamed the wilderness with her band of nymphs. She was also the protector of children and young animals.

Ares

Ares was the god of war, the son of Zeus and Hera. He was the most unpopular of the Olympians, feared and disliked even by the other gods. He was the lover of Aphrodite, and the father of the famous love-child Eros. His most famous worshippers were the warlike Spartans.

Aphrodite

Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty, born (according to Hesiod) from the foam of the sea. She was the wife of Hephaestus, but the lover of Ares. She was the most beautiful of the goddesses, and the most powerful: she could make gods and mortals fall in love. Her most famous sanctuary was on the island of Cyprus.

Hephaestus

Hephaestus was the god of the forge, the fire, and craftsmanship. He was the son of Hera (in some versions, also of Zeus), the husband of Aphrodite, and the smith of the gods. He was lame, having been thrown from Olympus by Hera (or Zeus) at birth, and he worked at his forge under Mount Etna in Sicily. He made the famous shield of Achilles, described in the Iliad.

Hermes

Hermes was the messenger of the gods, the god of travelers, thieves, and commerce. He was the son of Zeus and the nymph Maia, and he was born on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia. He was the trickster of the gods, the inventor of the lyre (made from a tortoise shell), and the guide of the dead to the underworld. The Romans identified him with Mercury.

Hestia

Hestia was the goddess of the hearth, the home, and the family. She was the daughter of Cronos and Rhea, the sister of Zeus, and a virgin goddess. She gave up her seat among the Twelve Olympians in some lists in order to avoid a quarrel between Dionysus and Poseidon, and she was replaced by Dionysus in some later accounts.

Dionysus

Dionysus was the god of wine, the vine, the theater, and religious ecstasy. He was the son of Zeus and the mortal woman Semele, and he was born from the thigh of Zeus after Semele had been killed by Hera. He was the patron of the theater (the Greek word tragedy comes from the goat sacrificed to Dionysus), and his cult involved ecstatic rituals, including the famous Bacchanalia.