The Twelve Olympians

The Olympians were the principal gods of the Greek pantheon, said to live on Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece.

Zeus

Zeus was the king of the gods and ruler of the sky and thunder. He was the son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea. Cronus swallowed his children at birth, but Rhea hid the infant Zeus on Crete, and Zeus later forced his father to release his siblings. His symbols were the thunderbolt, the eagle and the oak tree.

Hera

Hera was the queen of the gods and the goddess of marriage and family. She was both the sister and the wife of Zeus. The peacock was sacred to her, and its tail was said to carry the hundred eyes of her watchman Argus.

Poseidon

Poseidon ruled the sea and was also the god of earthquakes and horses. He carried a trident. He competed with Athena to become patron of Athens: he struck the rock and produced a salt-water spring, but the Athenians preferred Athena's gift of the olive tree.

Athena

Athena was the goddess of wisdom, crafts and military strategy. She was born fully grown and armored from the head of Zeus. The owl and the olive tree were her symbols, and the Parthenon in Athens was built in her honor.

Apollo and Artemis

Apollo and Artemis were twins, the children of Zeus and Leto, born on the island of Delos. Apollo was the god of music, prophecy and healing, and his oracle at Delphi was the most famous in the Greek world. Artemis was the goddess of the hunt and the wilderness.

Hermes

Hermes was the messenger of the gods and the protector of travelers, merchants and thieves. On the day he was born he stole fifty cattle from Apollo and invented the lyre from a tortoise shell, which he gave to Apollo to make peace.

Aphrodite

Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty. According to the poet Hesiod she was born from the foam of the sea and came ashore at Cyprus. She was married to Hephaestus, the god of the forge.

Dionysus

Dionysus was the god of wine, festivity and theater. Athenian drama grew out of festivals held in his honor. In some lists he takes the place of Hestia, goddess of the hearth, among the twelve Olympians.