Myth of the 12 Families That Rule the World

Major deities of the Greek pantheon

Fragment of a Hellenistic relief (1st century BC–1st century AD) depicting the twelve Olympians conveying their attributes in procession; from left to right: Hestia (scepter), Hermes (winged cap and staff), Aphrodite (veiled), Ares (helmet and spear), Demeter (scepter and wheat sheaf), Hephaestus (staff), Hera (scepter), Poseidon (trident), Athena (owl and helmet), Zeus (thunderbolt and staff), Artemis (bow and quiver), Apollo (lyre), from the Walters Art Museum.^[1]

In ancient Greek organized religion and mythology, the twelve Olympians are the major deities of the Greek pantheon, normally considered to be Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Hermes, and either Hestia or Dionysus.^[two] They were chosen Olympians because, according to tradition, they resided on Mount Olympus.

Although Hades was a major ancient Greek god and was the brother of the offset generation of Olympians (Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia), his realm was the underworld, far from Olympus, and thus he was not unremarkably considered to be one of the Olympians.

Besides the twelve Olympians, there were many other cultic groupings of twelve gods.

Olympians [edit]

The Olympians were a race of deities, primarily consisting of a third and quaternary generation of immortal beings, worshipped as the primary gods of the Greek pantheon and so named because of their residency atop Mount Olympus. They gained their supremacy in a ten-yr-long war of gods, in which Zeus led his siblings to victory over the previous generation of ruling gods, the Titans. They were a family unit of gods, the most important consisting of the first generation of Olympians, offspring of the Titans Cronus and Rhea: Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter and Hestia, along with the principal offspring of Zeus: Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite,^[iii] Hephaestus, Hermes, and Dionysus. Although Hades was a major deity in the Greek pantheon and was the blood brother of Zeus and the other outset generation of Olympians, his realm was far away from Olympus in the underworld, and thus he was not usually considered to be one of the Olympians.^[4] Olympic gods tin can be assorted to chthonic gods^[5] including Hades, by mode of sacrifice, the latter receiving sacrifices in a bothros ( βόθρος , "pit") or megaron ( μέγαρον , "sunken chamber")^[vi] rather than at an altar.

The canonical number of Olympian gods was twelve, but besides the (thirteen) principal Olympians listed in a higher place, there were many other residents of Olympus, who thus might exist considered to be Olympians.^[7] Heracles became a resident of Olympus later on his apotheosis and married another Olympian resident Hebe.^[viii] In the Iliad, the goddess Themis, who is listed amidst the twelve Titans, dwells on Olympus alongside the other gods,^[9] making her a Titan and an Olympian at the same time. According to Hesiod, the children of Styx: Zelus (Green-eyed), Nike (Victory), Kratos (Strength), and Bia (Force), "take no house apart from Zeus, nor any dwelling nor path except that wherein God leads them, but they dwell always with Zeus".^[x] Some others who might be considered Olympians include the Muses, the Graces, Iris, Dione, Eileithyia, the Horae, and Ganymede.^[11]

Twelve gods [edit]

Besides the twelve Olympians, there were many other various cultic groupings of twelve gods throughout ancient Hellenic republic. The primeval bear witness of Greek religious exercise involving twelve gods (Greek: δωδεκάθεον , dōdekátheon , from δώδεκα dōdeka , "twelve", and θεοί theoi , "gods") comes no earlier than the tardily sixth century BC.^[12] According to Thucydides, an altar of the twelve gods was established in the agora of Athens by the archon Pisistratus (son of Hippias and the grandson of the tyrant Pisistratus), around 522 BC.^[13] The altar became the primal point from which distances from Athens were measured and a identify of supplication and refuge.^[14]

Olympia apparently also had an early on tradition of twelve gods.^[15] The Homeric Hymn to Hermes (c. 500  BC) has the god Hermes separate a sacrifice of two cows he has stolen from Apollo, into twelve parts, on the banks of the river Alpheus (presumably at Olympia):

Next glad-hearted Hermes dragged the rich meats he had prepared and put them on a smooth, flat stone, and divided them into twelve portions distributed by lot, making each portion wholly honorable.^[16]

Pindar, in an ode written to exist sung at Olympia c. 480 BC, has Heracles sacrificing, alongside the Alpheus, to the "twelve ruling gods":^[17]

He [Heracles] enclosed the Altis all around and marked it off in the open, and he made the encircling expanse a resting-identify for feasting, honoring the stream of the Alpheus along with the twelve ruling gods.^[xviii]

Another of Pindar'south Olympian odes mentions "six double altars".^[19] Herodorus of Heraclea (c. 400 BC) likewise has Heracles founding a shrine at Olympia, with six pairs of gods, each pair sharing a single chantry.^[twenty]

Many other places had cults of the twelve gods, including Delos, Chalcedon, Magnesia on the Maeander, and Leontinoi in Sicily.^[21] Every bit with the twelve Olympians, although the number of gods was stock-still at twelve, the membership varied.^[22] While the majority of the gods included as members of these other cults of twelve gods were Olympians, non-Olympians were also sometimes included. For case, Herodorus of Heraclea identified the six pairs of gods at Olympia as: Zeus and Poseidon, Hera and Athena, Hermes and Apollo, the Graces and Dionysus, Artemis and Alpheus, and Cronus and Rhea.^[23] Thus, while this listing includes the 8 Olympians: Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Athena, Hermes, Apollo, Artemis, and Dionysus, information technology also contains three clear non-Olympians: the Titan parents of the get-go generation of Olympians, Cronus and Rhea, and the river god Alpheus, with the status of the Graces (here apparently counted as one god) being unclear.

Plato connected "twelve gods" with the twelve months and implies that he considered Pluto 1 of the twelve in proposing that the final calendar month exist devoted to him and the spirits of the dead.^[24]

The Roman poet Ennius gives the Roman equivalents (the Dii Consentes ) equally six male-female complements,^[25] preserving the place of Vesta (Greek Hestia), who played a crucial role in Roman religion as a country goddess maintained by the Vestals.

List [edit]

There is no single canonical list of the twelve Olympian gods. The thirteen Greek gods and goddesses, along with their Roman counterparts, most commonly considered to exist 1 of the twelve Olympians are listed below.

Greek	Roman	Image	Functions and attributes
Zeus	Jupiter		King of the gods and ruler of Mountain Olympus; god of the sky, lightning, thunder, constabulary, order and justice. The youngest child of the Titans Cronus and Rhea. Blood brother and husband of Hera and brother of Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, and Hestia. He had many affairs with goddesses and mortals, such as his sister Demeter, the Titan Leto, mortals Leda and Alcmene, and more than.[26] His symbols include the thunderbolt, eagle, oak tree, bull, scepter, and scales.
Hera	Juno		Queen of the gods and the goddess of marriage, women, childbirth and family. The youngest daughter of Cronus and Rhea. Sister and wife of Zeus. Being the goddess of marriage, she oft tried to get revenge on Zeus' lovers and their children. Her symbols include the peacock, cuckoo, and cow.
Poseidon	Neptune		God of the seas, water, storms, hurricanes, earthquakes and horses. The middle son of Cronus and Rhea. Brother of Zeus and Hades. Married to the Nereid Amphitrite; although, as with many of the male Greek gods, he had many lovers. His symbols include the equus caballus, bull, dolphin, and trident.
Demeter	Ceres		Goddess of the harvest, fertility, agriculture, nature and the seasons. She presided over grains and the fertility of the earth. The heart daughter of Cronus and Rhea. Too the lover of Zeus and Poseidon, and the mother of Persephone, Despoine, Arion. Her symbols include the poppy, wheat, torch, cornucopia, and sus scrofa.
Athena	Minerva		Goddess of wisdom, handicraft, and warfare.[27] The daughter of Zeus and the Oceanid Metis, she rose from her father's head fully grown and in full battle armor. Her symbols include the owl and the olive tree.
Apollo / Apollon	Apollo		God of calorie-free, the Sun, prophecy, philosophy, archery, truth, inspiration, poetry, music, arts, manly dazzler, medicine, healing, and plague. The son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin brother of Artemis. His symbols include the Lord's day, bow and arrow, lyre, swan, and mouse.
Artemis	Diana		Goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, virginity, the Moon, archery, childbirth, protection and plague. The daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. Her symbols include the Moon, equus caballus, deer, hound, she-bear, serpent, cypress tree, and bow and arrow.
Ares	Mars		God of war, violence, bloodshed and manly virtues. The son of Zeus and Hera, all the other gods despised him except Aphrodite. His Latin proper noun, Mars, gave usa the word "martial." His symbols include the boar, snake, dog, vulture, spear, and shield.
Aphrodite	Venus		Goddess of beloved, pleasure, passion, procreation, fertility, beauty and desire. The daughter of Zeus and the Oceanid Dione, or perhaps born from the sea foam after Uranus' blood dripped into the ocean after existence castrated past his youngest son, Cronus, who so threw his begetter's genitals into the sea. Married to Hephaestus, although she had many adulterous affairs, near notably with Ares. Her name gave us the discussion "aphrodisiac", while her Latin name, Venus, gave united states of america the word "venereal". Her symbols include the dove, bird, apple, bee, swan, myrtle, and rose.
Hephaestus	Vulcan		Main blacksmith and craftsman of the gods; god of the forge, craftsmanship, invention, burn down and volcanoes. The son of Hera, either by Zeus or through parthenogenesis. Married to Aphrodite. His Latin proper noun, Vulcan, gave us the give-and-take "volcano." His symbols include fire, anvil, axe, donkey, hammer, tongs, and quail.
Hermes	Mercury		Messenger of the gods; god of travel, commerce, communication, borders, eloquence, diplomacy, thieves, and games. He was also the guide of dead souls. The son of Zeus and the nymph Maia. The second-youngest Olympian, but older than Dionysus. His symbols include the caduceus (staff entwined with two snakes), winged sandals and cap, stork, and tortoise (whose shell he used to invent the lyre).
Most lists of the "twelve Olympians" consist of the above eleven plus either Hestia or Dionysus
Hestia	Vesta		Goddess of the hearth, burn and of the right ordering of domesticity and the family; she was born into the first Olympian generation and was one of the original twelve Olympians. She is the first child of Cronus and Rhea, the elderberry sister of Hades, Demeter, Poseidon, Hera, and Zeus. Some lists of the Twelve Olympians omit her in favor of Dionysus, merely the speculation that she gave her throne to him in social club to keep the peace seems to be modern invention.
Dionysus / Bacchus	Bacchus		God of wine, the grapevine, fertility, festivity, ecstasy, madness and resurrection. Patron god of the art of theatre. The son of Zeus and the mortal Theban princess Semele. Married to the Cretan princess Ariadne. The youngest Olympian god, as well as the only one to have a mortal mother. His symbols include the grapevine, ivy, cup, tiger, panther, leopard, dolphin, goat, and pinecone.

Genealogy [edit]

Major Olympians' family tree[28]
Uranus Gaia Uranus' genitals Cronus Rhea ZEUS HERA POSEIDON Hades DEMETER HESTIA     a [29]      b [thirty] ARES HEPHAESTUS Metis ATHENA [31] Leto APOLLO ARTEMIS Maia HERMES Semele DIONYSUS Dione     a [32]      b [33] APHRODITE

Run into too [edit]

• Dii Consentes, the Roman equivalent of the twelve Olympians
• Family tree of the Greek gods
• Interpretatio graeca, including a table of mythological equivalents
• List of Greek mythological characters
• Supreme Quango of Ethnikoi Hellenes
• Hellenismos
• Olympia
• Olympians (Curiosity Comics)
• Olympian Gods (DC Comics)
• Olympian spirits
• Percy Jackson & the Olympians

Notes [edit]

1. ^ Walters Fine art Museum, accretion number 23.40.
2. ^ Hansen, p. 250; Burkert, pp. 125 ff.; Dowden, p. 43; Chadwick, p. 85; Müller, pp. 419 ff.; Pache, pp. 308 ff.; Thomas, p. 12; Shapiro, p. 362; Long, pp. 140–141; Morford, p. 113; Hard p. lxxx.
3. ^ According to Homer, Aphrodite was the daughter of Zeus (Iliad iii.374, xx.105; Odyssey viii.308, 320) and Dione (Iliad 5.370–71), run into Gantz, pp. 99–100. Nonetheless, According to Hesiod, Theogony 183–200, Aphrodite was born from Uranus' severed genitals, meet Gantz, pp. 99–100.
4. ^ Hansen, p. 250; Morford, p. 113; Hard p. 80.
5. ^ Chadwick, p. 85.
6. ^ Dillon, p. 114.
7. ^ Ogden, pp. 2–3; Dowden, p. 43; Hansen, p. 250; Burkert, p. 125.
8. ^ Herodotus, two.43–44.
9. ^ Homer, Iliad 15.88
10. ^ Hesiod, Theogony 386–388.
11. ^ Just who might be called an Olympian is not entirely articulate. For example, Dowden, p. 43, describes Heracles, Hebe, the Muses, and the Graces as Olympians, and on p. 45, lists Iris, Dione, and Eileithyia among the Homeric Olympians, while Hansen, p. 250, describes Heracles, Hebe, the Horae, and Ganymede as notable residents of Olympus, just says they "are non normally classified as Olympians".
12. ^ Dowden, p. 43; Rutherford, p. 43.
13. ^ Rutherford, pp. 43–44; Thucydides, 6.54.six–7.
14. ^ Gadbery, p. 447.
15. ^ Dowden, p. 43; Rutherford, p. 44; Long, pp. 58–62 (T 13), 154–157.
16. ^ Long, pp. 61–62 (T 13 G), 156–157; Homeric Hymn to Hermes, 128–129.
17. ^ Dowden, p. 43; Rutherford, p. 44; Long, pp. 59–threescore (T 13 C), 154–155.
18. ^ Pindar, Olympian x.49.
19. ^ Rutherford, p. 44; Long, pp. 58 (T thirteen A), 154; Pindar, Olympian 5.5.
20. ^ Dowden, p. 43; Rutherford, p. 47; Long, pp. 58–59 (T 13 B), 154; FGrH 31 F34a-b.
21. ^ Rutherford, p. 45; Delos: Long, pp. 11, 87–ninety (T 26), 182; Chalcedon: Long, pp. 56–57 (T xi D), 217–218; Magnesia on the Maeander: Long, pp. 53–54 (T 7), 221–223; Leontinoi: Long, pp. 95–96 (T 32), p. 157.
22. ^ Long, pp. 360–361, lists 54 Greek (and Roman) gods, including the thirteen Olympians mentioned above, who have been identified as members of 1 or more than cultic groupings of twelve gods.
23. ^ Dowden, p. 43; Rutherford, p. 47; Hard, p. 81; Long, pp. 58–59 (T 13 B), 141, 154; FGrH 31 F34a-b.
24. ^ Rutherford, pp. 45–46; Plato, The Laws 828 b-d.
25. ^ "Greek mythology". Encyclopedia Americana. Vol. 13. 1993. p. 431.
26. ^ Hamilton, Edith. Mythology : timeless tales of gods and heroes. Tierney, Jim. (75th anniversary illustrated ed.). New York. ISBN978-0-316-43852-0. OCLC 1004059928.
27. ^ Inc, Merriam-Webster (1995). Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature. Merriam-Webster. p. 81. ISBN9780877790426.
28. ^ This chart is based upon Hesiod's Theogony, unless otherwise noted.
29. ^ According to Homer, Iliad ane.570–579, 14.338, Odyssey 8.312, Hephaestus was apparently the son of Hera and Zeus, see Gantz, p. 74.
30. ^ According to Hesiod, Theogony 927–929, Hephaestus was produced by Hera alone, with no father, run across Gantz, p. 74.
31. ^ According to Hesiod, Theogony 886–890, of Zeus' children by his seven wives, Athena was the starting time to be conceived, but the last to exist born; Zeus impregnated Metis then swallowed her, later Zeus himself gave birth to Athena "from his head", see Gantz, pp. 51–52, 83–84.
32. ^ According to Hesiod, Theogony 183–200, Aphrodite was born from Uranus' severed genitals, see Gantz, pp. 99–100.
33. ^ According to Homer, Aphrodite was the daughter of Zeus (Iliad three.374, 20.105; Odyssey 8.308, 320) and Dione (Iliad v.370–71), see Gantz, pp. 99–100.

References [edit]

• Burkert, Walter, Greek Religion, Harvard University Printing, 1985. ISBN 0-674-36281-0.
• Chadwick, John, The Mycenaean Earth, Cambridge Academy Printing, 1976. ISBN 9780521290371.
• Dillon, Matthew, Girls and Women in Classical Greek Religion. London: Routledge. (2002). ISBN 0415202728.
• Dowden, Ken, "Olympian Gods, Olympian Pantheon", in A Companion to Greek Religion, Daniel Ogden editor, John Wiley & Sons, 2010. ISBN 9781444334173.
• Gadbery, Laura One thousand., "The Sanctuary of the Twelve Gods in the Athenian Agora: A Revised View", Hesperia 61 (1992), pp. 447–489.
• Gantz, Timothy, Early on Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Creative Sources, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: ISBN 978-0-8018-5360-9 (Vol. 1), ISBN 978-0-8018-5362-3 (Vol. ii).
• Hansen, William, William F. Hansen, Classical Mythology: A Guide to the Mythical World of the Greeks and Romans, Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN 9780195300352.
• Hard, Robin, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H. J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004, ISBN 9780415186360. Google Books.
• Herodotus; Histories, A. D. Godley (translator), Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1920; ISBN 0674991338. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Hesiod, Theogony, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English language Translation past Hugh Thousand. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, Massachusetts., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A. T. Murray, Ph.D., in two volumes. Cambridge, Massachusetts., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. The Iliad (Murray) – via Wikisource.
• Homer; The Odyssey with an English Translation by A. T. Murray, Ph.D., in two volumes. Cambridge, Massachusetts., Harvard Academy Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Vol. I, Vol. Ii at the Internet Annal.
• Homeric Hymn to Hermes (four), in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh 1000. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, Massachusetts., Harvard University Printing; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Long, Charlotte R., The Twelve Gods of Hellenic republic and Rome, Brill Archive, Jan 1, 1987. Google Books.
• Morford, Mark P. O., Robert J. Lenardon, Classical Mythology, 8th Edition, Oxford University Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-19-530805-1.
• Müller, Karl Otfried, Ancient Art and Its Remains: Or, A Manual of the Archaeology of Art, translated by John Leitch, B. Quaritch, 1852.
• Ogden, Daniel "Introduction" to A Companion to Greek Religion, Daniel Ogden editor, John Wiley & Sons, 2010. ISBN 9781444334173.
• Pache, Corinne Ondine, "Gods, Greek" in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Hellenic republic and Rome, Volume 3, Oxford University Press. 2010. ISBN 9780195170726.
• Pindar, Odes, Diane Arnson Svarlien. 1990.
• Plato, Laws in Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vols. 10 & eleven translated by R. G. Bury. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1967 & 1968. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Rutherford, Ian, "Canonizing the Pantheon: the Dodekatheon in Greek Religion and its Origins" in The Gods of Ancient Greece: Identities and Transformations, editors Jan N. Bremmer, Andrew Erskine, Edinburgh University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0748637980. Online version.
• Shapiro, H. A., "Affiliate 20: Olympian Gods at Home and Abroad" in A Companion to Greek Art, editors Tyler Jo Smith, Dimitris Plantzos, John Wiley & Sons, 2012. ISBN 9781118273371.
• Thomas, Edmund, "From the pantheon of the gods to the Pantheon of Rome" in Pantheons: Transformations of a Monumental Idea, editors Richard Wrigley, Matthew Craske, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2004. ISBN 9780754608080.
• Thucydides, Thucydides translated into English; with introduction, marginal analysis, notes, and indices. Volume i., Benjamin Jowett. translator. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1881. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.

moodychases.blogspot.com

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Olympians

Share this post