Welcome to the Pantheon, temple of the gods and heroes of Greek mythology! Here, you'll find useful information on the famous characters of Greek myth. With a little work, you might find your own research and writings about one of these characters added to their biography. Give it a try! Maybe you're already working on a dossier for one of these gods or heroes, or another that does not yet have a place in our Pantheon. Let the world know about their epic adventures and incredible deeds!
Creation of Mankind
The Race of Gold
Zeus, the father of the gods, was also the father of human beings. He created a race of man that was mortal, kind, respectful, and that lived comfortably in freedom, safety, and peace. They lived long lives and died peacefully in their sleep. Zeus, though, had neglected giving them the ability to procreate, so that eventually they all passed away.
The Race of Silver
Zeus created a second race of mankind (without procreative abilities). This race was far less virtuous than the first and much more juvenile. They spent most of their time in the pursuit of childish pleasures. They never learned respect for each other, or for the gods. Zeus became angry with them, and changed the conditions on earth so that it was much harder to find food and shelter. When their attitudes remained unchanged, he brought their lives to an early end.
The Race of Bronze
Zeus then created a third race of mankind (without procreative abilities). These mortals were far inferior to even the Silver Race. They were endowed with brute strength and were cruel and war-loving people. They also eventually died off.
The Race of Heroes
Zeus now created a fourth race of mankind (still without procreative abilities). These beings were more noble and virtuous than the Silver or Bronze race, and those that did not die in the Trojan War, or other wars, were placed upon the islands of heroes at the ends of the earth, to be ruled over by Cronus whom Zeus freed for that purpose.
The Race of Iron
The fifth race created by Zeus is the one now inhabiting the earth. So far, this race shows the defects of all the races (except the Gold) that preceded it; this bodes ill for our continuing existence, as Zeus has shown he has little patience for this kind of behavior.
Poseidon
Poseidon was the god of the sea, earthquakes and horses. Although he was officially one of the supreme gods of Mount Olympus, he spent most of his time in his watery domain.
Poseidon was brother to Zeus and Hades. These three gods divided creation between them. Zeus became ruler of the sky, Hades had dominion of the Underworld and Poseidon was given dominion over all water, both fresh and salt. In dividing creation, the Olympians agreed that the earth itself would be ruled jointly, with Zeus as king. This led to a number of disputes among the gods.
Poseidon vied with Athena to be patron deity of Athens. The god demonstrated his power and benevolence by striking the Acropolis with his three-pronged spear, which caused a spring of salt water to emerge.
Because Odysseus blinded the Cyclops Polyphemus, who was Poseidon's son, the god delayed the hero's homeward return from the Trojan War, and caused him to face enormous perils. …the raft on which he set sail was destroyed by Poseidon, who lashed the sea into a storm with his trident. Odysseus barely escaped with his life and washed ashore days later, half-drowned.
Prometheus
Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus, were spared imprisonment after the war between the Olympians and the Titans because they had stayed neutral. According to one legend, Prometheus shaped man out of mud, and Athena breathed life into the clay figure. Then Prometheus allowed Epimetheus to dispense various qualities to the animals and man.
Epimetheus began with the animals, to which he gave the best traits (swiftness, courage, cunning, stealth). He soon found he had nothing left to give man. Prometheus took over and, after long deliberation, gave man an upright posture like the gods. This enabled man to survive.
It was decided by the Olympians that man would sacrifice animals to the gods to show their respect. Zeus was to decide which parts of the animals would go to the gods and which parts would go to man. Prometheus made two piles of animal parts so Zeus could make his choice. The sneaky Prometheus made one pile of bones wrapped in the juicy fat of the animal and another pile of the edible meat, which he wrapped in the ugly hide of the animal. Naturally Zeus chose the fat-wrapped package, and was very angry when he saw that he had been fooled. In revenge he deprived man of fire.
Prometheus was not yet done. He ascended into heaven and lighted a torch at the sun; then returned to earth and gave the fire to man. This enraged Zeus. He ordered Hephaestus to create a mortal of stunning beauty, to whom Hermes gave a deceptive heart and a lying tongue. This was the first woman, Pandora. Prometheus had warned his brother not to accept gifts from Zeus, but Epimetheus could not resist this radiant creature and brought her to man. The gods had given Pandora a jar, which they forbade her to open. Being a woman, her curiosity doomed her. She opened the lid and a multitude of evils flew out and scattered over the world to afflict man. The only thing that remained in the jar was Hope, the thing that could keep man going.
For Prometheus, Zeus reserved a special punishment. He had Prometheus chained to a rock, and every day he sent an eagle to peck out the Titan’s liver, which grew back again every night. This agony was to last for eternity, or until an immortal would sacrifice his life for Prometheus and a mortal would kill the eagle and unchain Prometheus. Eventually, after many ages, the centaur Chiron agreed to die for Prometheus, and Heracles (Hercules) killed the eagle and unbound Prometheus.
Orion
Orion was a son of Poseidon, and famous as a hunter. It was said he was so large that he could walk through the oceans with his head above water. He fell in love with Merope, but grew impatient at her father’s conditions, and stole her. Her father blinded him as punishment.
Orion traveled east to the point where Helios (the sun) arose from the ocean. Dawn fell in love with Orion, whereupon Helios cured his sight. Orion decided to seek out Merope’s father for revenge, but Artemis persuaded him to become her hunting companion instead.
Apollo, fearing for the safety of his sister Artemis, sent a giant scorpion to chase Orion. Unable to slay the scorpion, Orion set out across the water to escape it. Apollo convinced Artemis to shoot the bobbing object on the waves. Her arrow pierced Orion’s head and killed him. In grief she placed him in the heavens as the constellation Orion. Apollo then placed the scorpion in the sky as a constellation, where it still chases Orion.
Tithonus
Eos (goddess of dawn) fell in love with the Trojan prince Tithonus, and asked Zeus to grant him immortality, but she forgot to ask for eternal youth along with the immortality, so Tithonus was fated to live forever, but continue to grow older and older. In time he withered into a parody of a man and his voice grew shrill. Eos shut this loathsome creature away in a closet, where it turned into a cricket or a grasshopper.
Midas and the Donkey’ Ears
Midas, as judge of a musical contest between Pan and Apollo, unwisely chose Pan as the victor, so Apollo replaced Midas’ ears with those of a donkey. Midas hid his ears under a cap, and only his barber knew of them, and he promised to tell no one. Burdened with this secret, the barber went down to the shore of a river, scooped out a hole and whispered, “Midas has donkey ears,” into it. The next year, reeds grew in that spot and, as the wind rustled through them, the reeds repeated the secret to all who passed by.
Ariadne & Theseus: The Labyrinth
King Minos of Crete angered Poseidon, for he had promised to sacrifice to the Sea God his most beautiful bull, but when the time came he could not bring himself to do so. Queen Pasiphaê, his wife, had also neglected the Rites of Aphrodite, thereby incurring that goddess’s wrath. Therefore Poseidon and Aphrodite caused Pasiphaê to fall in love with the bull. They mated and so was born the Minotaur. Minos, in shame, ordered that Daidalos build a labyrinth to house the Minotaur. The labyrinth was so designed that it was easy to go in, but difficult, if not impossible, to come out again.
At this time Crete was in conflict with Athens, and when the Athenians, struck by a terrible drought, asked advice from the oracle they were told they must appease Minos. Whereupon Minos demanded that every nine years, seven youths and seven maidens, chosen from the noblest of Athenian families, were to be sacrificed to the Minotaur. When Minos came for the sacrificial victims, Theseus was chosen to be among them. Theseus picked six valiant youths and seven brave maidens to go with him to try to slay the beast.
Ariadne was the daughter of Minos. When she beheld Theseus disembarking from the boat, she immediately fell in love with him. She consulted with Daidalos and he told her the only way to exit the labyrinth was by the exact same path by which one entered. She designed Ariadne’s Thread - a string to mark the way by which Theseus could escape after the monster was killed. The Minotaur was slain and the Athenians were able to return from the labyrinth using the string. The Athenians set sail to Athens with Ariadne. However, an ill wind blew the ship off course to the isle of Dia. There, Theseus and Ariadne were drugged and put to sleep. While they slept, Dionysos claimed Ariadne as his bride. When Theseus awoke, Athena told him that his destiny was in Athens, and that he must leave Ariadne behind. Theseus sadly boarded his ship and sailed for home.
Theseus forgot that he had promised his father that if he killed the Minotaur, he would take down the black sail and put up a white one. When King Aigeus saw the black sail come over the horizon, he threw himself in grief from the Acropolis and drowned. Ariadne and Dionysos meanwhile ascended together into the heavens where her crown is still visible (the constellation Corona).
Glaucus
Anthêdôn was born to Minôs of Crete and his wife Pasiphaê. One day the child went into a cave that was used to store mead. He accidentally drowned in the liquor, but nobody knew what had happened to him. Minôs sent for the Curetes, who were known as great seers, and they told him that whoever could best describe Minôs’ miraculous cow would be able to restore Anthêdôn alive to him. Poluidos won and was entrusted with finding Anthêdôn. He went to the cave, found the drowned boy and brought him to Minôs.
The grief-stricken Minôs was not satisfied because the boy was dead, so he ordered Poluidos shut up with the boy’s body in a tomb until he brought Anthêdôn back to life. This was beyond Poluidos’ power and he prayed to the Gods for help. After a while, as his eyes became accustomed to the dark, he saw a snake approaching the corpse. He killed the snake, because he feared it would nibble on the corpse.
Soon, a second snake came forth and discovered the body of the first. It went away and came back holding in its mouth a twig with three blue-green leaves. The snake laid this twig upon the first snake, which immediately came to life and left with its companion. Poluidos was astonished, but quickly took the serpent’s twig and applied it to the boy. Like the snake, the boy immediately returned to life. Anthêdôn had a shiny blue-green scar over his heart where the twig had touched him, and so he was thereafter called Glaucus (Blue-Green).
Scylla
Glaukos ate a mysterious herb and became a sea creature with a thick green beard, bluish skin, and feet like the tail of a fish. Not long after Glaukos’ transformation, Scylla, a beautiful Nêreid, came down to the seashore at night to bathe. There she disrobed and refreshed herself in a shallow pool.
In the moonlight she saw a beautiful boy floating with his chest and arms out of the water. She called to him. They talked for a time, but when he got close, she saw that his thick hair was green and that his skin was blue. When Scylla saw that he was half-fish, she jumped from the pool and ran to the top of a cliff. She donned her robe and ran away laughing and yelling about what a disgusting creature he was.
Glaukos was furious, but was still in love for her. He made his way to the hidden kingdom of Kirkê (Circe), sorceress and sister of Pasiphaê, his mother. He explained that he was filled with love for a nymph. He begged her to cast a spell that would turn Scylla’s heart so that she would love him. Kirkê instead used her powers so that he felt the same love for her that she felt for him. Soon, however, Glaukos admitted to Kirkê that he would never stop loving Scylla.
Kirkê was furious and would have destroyed Glaukos, but she loved him too much. She turned her wrath toward Scylla. She gathered secret herbs and mixed them together while she sang a magic spell. She went to that pool where Scylla bathed and poured her magic potion into the water.
When Scylla entered to the pool, she felt something churning in the water around her thighs. Then the water around her waist erupted with snarling dogs’ heads. She jumped from the pool to escape them, but discovered to her horror that they were part of her. Her legs had become barking dogs.
Scylla went to hide in a cave by the shore, where she would lure sailors into her cave. When they came to her, her hungry dog-heads would eat them. Scylla stayed in this cave for many years, until she was mercifully turned to stone.
Daphne and Apollo
Apollo taunted Eros after having slain a dangerous serpent. Eros got revenge. He swiftly winged his way through the air to summit of Parnassus. From his quiver, he drew two arrows with very different properties. One kindled love; the other put love to flight. With the second arrow, the god pierced the nymph, Daphne, but Apollo he wounded with the other. Immediately Apollo fell in love, while Daphne rejected love, spending her time in the forest hinting wild beasts.
Many men wooed her, but she cared nothing for love. As soon as Apollo saw Daphne, he fell in love with her, and wanted to marry her. But Daphne ran off and did not stop to hear his words. Apollo sped after her, never giving up. Finally, Daphne’s strength was spent, and she grew pale and weary with the effort of her flight.
Then she saw the waters of the Peneus: “Oh, father,” she cried, “help me! If your rivers really have divine powers, work some transformation, and destroy my beauty so I will no longer be pursued!”
She was changed into a tree. Even as a tree, Apollo loved her. He placed his hand against the trunk, and felt her heart beating under the new bark. He kissed the wood but, even as a tree, she shrank from his kisses. Then
Apollo said: “Since you will not be my bride, surely you will at least be my tree. My hair, my lyre, my quivers will always display the laurel.”
Aristaeus
Aristaeus was a keeper of bees, the son of Apollo and a water nymph Cyrene. When his bees all died from some unknown cause, he went for help to his mother. She told him that Proteus, the wise old god of the sea, could show him how to prevent another such disaster, but would do so only if forced. Aristaeus must seize him and chain him, a very difficult task, since Proteus had the power to change himself into many different forms. However, if his captor could hold him through all the changes, he would finally give in and answer what he was asked.
Aristaeus followed his mother’s directions. He went to the favorite haunt of Proteus. There he seized Proteus and did not let him go, in spite of the terrible forms he assumed, until the god was discouraged and returned to his own shape. Then in answer to the question, he told Aristaeus to make a sacrifice to the gods and leave the carcasses of the animals in the place of sacrifice. Nine days later he must go back and examine the bodies. Again Aristaeus did as he was bid, and on the ninth day he found a marvel, a great swarm of bees in one of the carcasses. He never again was troubled by any blight or disease among them.
Theseus & Pityocamptes
Theseus was walking in the woods when he ran into a huge brute of a man. He was called Pityocamptes, which means “pine-bender”. He said to Theseus, “Just hold this for a moment like a good fellow, will you?”
“Certainly,” said Theseus. Theseus grasped the pine tree, let his mind go dark and all his strength flow downward, anchoring him to the earth like a rock. Pityocamptes let go of the tree, expecting to see Theseus fly into the air.
Nothing happened. The giant could not believe his eyes. He leaned his head closer to see. Then Theseus let go. The tree snapped up, catching the giant under the chin, knocking him unconscious. Theseus bent the tree again and bound the giant’s wrists to it. He pulled down another tree and tied Pityocamptes’ legs to that one, then let go of both pines trees. They sprang apart. Half of Pityocamptes hung from one tree, half from the other. Theseus wiped the pine tar from his hands and continued on his way.
Hephaestus
No one celebrated the birth of Hephaestus. His mother, Hera, had awaited him with great eagerness, hoping for a child so beautiful, so gifted, that it would make Zeus forget all of his other children. But when the baby was born, she was appalled to see that he was shriveled and ugly, with a bleating wail. She did not wait for Zeus to see him, but snatched the infant up and hurled him off Olympus. For a night and a day he fell, and hit the ground at the edge of the sea with such force that both of legs were broken. He lay there on the beach crying piteously, wracked with pain, but unable to die because he was immortal.
Finally the tide came up. A huge wave curled him under its arm and carried him off to sea. He sank like a stone and was caught by Thetis, a naiad, who thought he was a tadpole. When Thetis saw it was a baby, she made a pet of him and kept him in her grotto. She was amazed at the way the crippled child worked shells and bright pebbles into jewelry.
One day she appeared at a great festival of the gods, wearing a necklace he had made. Hera noticed the ornament, praised it and asked her how she had come by it. Thetis told her of the strange twisted child whom someone had dropped into the ocean, and who lived now in her cave making wonderful jewels.
Hera divined that it was her own son and demanded him back. Hephaestus returned to Olympus. There Hera presented him with a broken mountain nearby, where he could set up forges and bellows. She gave him the brawny Cyclopes to be his helpers, and promised him Aphrodite as a bride if he would labor in the mountain and make her fine things.
Hephaestus agreed because he loved her and excused her cruelty to him. “I know that I am ugly, Mother,” he said, “but the fates would have it so. And I will make you gems so beautiful for your tapering arms and white throat and black hair that you will forget my ugliness sometimes, and rejoice that you have taken me back from the sea.” He became the smith-god, the great artificer, and lord of mechanics. And the mountain always smoked and rumbled with his toil, and he has always been very ugly and very useful.
Echo
Echo was a cheerful and very talkative nymph. One day Hera came down to Earth to check on her unfaithful husband Zeus, when she ran into Echo. Echo chattered with Hera so long that Zeus was able to sneak away before Hera could catch him. Hera was furious when she found out and punished Echo. She took away Echo’s ability to speak her own words, and decreed that she could only repeat the last words that others said. A little while later, Echo’s eyes fell upon Narcissus, and she fell in love with him. But, Narcissus did not return her love and she faded away, until only her voice remained, repeating the words of others.
Narcissus
Narcissus was one of the most handsome youths in all of Greece during his time. He loved to go hunting, but also liked to be loved by maidens who acknowledged his beauty over theirs. Every nymph who saw him instantly fell in love with him. Eventually they came to hate him because he was so cold and cruel to them. He never returned their love because he was so in love with himself. The nymphs, including Echo, prayed to the Gods to punish Narcissus for how he treated them, and the Gods heard their entreaties. A spell was cast on the vain Narcissus.
The next day, Narcissus stopped by a pool of water to get a drink. When he leaned over the lake to look into the water, he saw the most beautiful person he had ever seen and fell hopelessly in love. He fell in love with his own reflection, but he did not know it. Every time he tried to touch or kiss his love, it always disappeared.
Narcissus refused to leave the pool, even though his parents tried to break him away. Finally, they asked the Gods to end his misery taking his life, and Apollo took pity on him. Narcissus slowly vanished, and in his place grew a Narcissus flower – a low, beautiful plant whose blossom hung from the stem to look into the lake.
Hermes
Hermes was the messenger god, the son of Zeus and Maia. He was considered the fastest god, the god of thieves and commerce. He enjoyed playing tricks and games. During the Trojan War, it was always Hermes who was sent to steal things that were otherwise unattainable.
Hermes was the god who most easily crossed the line between the living and the dead, because it was his job to guide the newly dead to Hades, the underworld.
Hermes is usually depicted as a young man with a wide-brimmed hat and winged sandals, carrying a staff crowned with two snakes. The winged sandals allowed him to fly and the staff assured safe passage during times of war.
He invented the lyre, the pipes, the musical scale, astronomy, weights and measures, boxing, and gymnastics.
Demeter & Persephone
Demeter was the Greek goddess of vegetation and fruitfulness, the daughter of Cronos and Rhea. She was especially associated with corn. Demeter possessed mysterious powers of growth and resurrection. Demeter means ‘mother earth’, the abundant soil as well as the resting place of the dead.
Demeter’s myth is about her daughter Persephone. When Persephone was a young girl, Zeus promised his brother Hades that she would be his bride. Hades was impatient and rose from the underworld to steal the girl as she picked flowers in a field. In the underworld, Persephone refused to eat and pined away, while in the world of the living, her mother Demeter lost all interest in fertility, so that the plants and animals began dying.
Eventually Zeus had to intervene. Since Persephone had eaten something in the underworld, Hades did not have to give her up completely. Zeus ruled that she must spend half the year with Hades in the underworld and could spend the other half of the year with Demeter in the living world.
Zeus
Zeus was the god of the sky and ruler of the Olympian gods. He was considered the father of the gods, and of mortals. He was the rain god, and the cloud gatherer, who wielded the terrible thunderbolt. His breastplate was the aegis, his bird the eagle, his tree the oak. Zeus was the youngest son of the Titan gods, Cronus and Rhea, and the brother of the Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Demeter, and Hera.
According to one of the ancient myths of the birth of Zeus, his father Cronus, having heard the prophecy that he might be dethroned by one of his children, swallowed them as they were born. Upon the birth of Zeus, his mother Rhea wrapped a stone in swaddling clothes for Cronus to swallow and concealed the infant god in Crete, where he was reared by nymphs. When Zeus grew to maturity, he forced Cronus to disgorge the other children, who were eager to take vengeance on their father. In the war that followed, the Titans fought on the side of Cronus, but Zeus and the other gods were successful, and the Titans were banished to Tartarus.
Zeus henceforth ruled over the sky, and his brothers Poseidon and Hades were given power over the sea and the underworld, respectively. The earth was to be ruled in common by all three. He is represented as the god of justice and mercy, the protector of the weak, and the punisher of the wicked. He used his weapon, the thunderbolt or lightning bolt, to punish those who defied him.
