MRS. CROWE THE LESSER GODS OF OLYMPUS & EARTH There were other divinities in heaven besides the twelve great Olympians.

M R S . C R O W E

THE LESSER GODS OF OLYMPUS & EARTH

There were other divinities in heaven besides the twelve great Olympians.

EROS• Cupid in Latin• God of Love• Gives good gifts to men• Often portrayed as blindfolded because “love is blind”• Son of Aphrodite• Married to Psyche

HYMEN• God of the Wedding Feast• He is often depicted with a marriage feast torch in his hand. • This god was the son of Aphrodite by Dionysus

HEBE•Goddess of Youth•Daughter of Zeus and Hera•Married Hercules

IRIS•Goddess of the Rainbow•Messenger to the gods (like Hermes)

TWO BANDS OF “LOVELY SISTERS”

•Muses and the Graces

GRACES• 3 daughters of Zeus and

Eurynome (child of Ocean)• Represent Splendor,

Mirth & Good Cheer• Aglaia (Splendor),

Euphrosyne (Mirth), and Thalia (Good Cheer)

• Always together• Triple incarnation of

grace and beauty, danced to Apollo’s lyre,• “queens of song”

MUSES• 9 daughters of Zeus & Mnemosyne (Memory)• Goddesses of music, poetry & the arts• Inspire men• Each muse has a specialty• Calliope: muse of epic poetry

THE GODS OF THE WATERS

• Poseidon (Neptune)• The lord and ruler of the sea

• Ocean (a Titan) • Lord of the River• Wife is Tethys

• Nereus• Old Man of the Sea• “A trusty god and gentle”

• Triton• Trumpeter of the Sea;• trumpet a great shell;• son of Poseidon and

Amphitrite• Proteus• power of foretelling

the future and of changing his shape at will

• Naiads• water nymphs• Found ins prings,

fountains and brooks

RIVERS OF THE UNDERWORLD

• Phlegethon: the river of fire• Styx: the river of

unbreakable oath by which the gods swear• Lethe: the river of

forgetfulness

THE LESSER GODS OF EARTH

•Earth called “All-Mother”

DEMETER (CERES)• Goddess of the Corn & Harvest• Daughter or Cronus and Rhea

• Mother of Persephone• Lives on Earth

• Goddess of vegetation

• Had powers of growth and

resurrection

• Her symbols are the Cornucopia (horn

of plenty), wheat-ears, the winged

serpent and the lotus staff.

DIONYSUS (BACCHUS)

• God of Wine• Lives on Earth•Mother was mortal• Can bring joy, but can also cause madness & brutality• Symbols: the thyrsus (a pinecone-tipped staff), drinking cup, grape vine, and a crown of ivy.

PAN• Son of Hermes• God of nature• Part man, part goat

• Companion of the nymphs – always rejected by them because he was unattractive

• Played the pipes

SATYRS & CENTAURS• Satyr: half man,

half goat• Centaur: half

man, half horse• Chiron:

known everywhere for his goodness and his wisdom

CASTOR AND POLLUX

•Said to live half their time on earth and half their time in heaven•A very popular pair of brothers•Protector of sailors•Always represented as riding snow white horses

NYMPHS & DRYADS• Nymphs: minor nature goddesses that lived in rivers, trees, caves, etc. • Oreads: nymphs of the mountains• Dryads: tree nymphs

AEOLUS• King of the Winds• Lives on an island, Aeolia & earth

FOUR CHIEF WINDS

• Boreas (the North Wind-Latin: Aquilo)• Zephyr (West Wind-Latin: Favonius) • Notus (South Wind-Latin: Auster)• Eurus (East Wind)

GORGONS•Earth-dwellers•Dragon-like creatures with wings

THE GRAIAE•Sisters of the Gorgons•3 old gray women•Shared an eye

SIRENS

•Enchanting voices and their singing lured sailors to their death•Not known what they looked like because whoever saw them never returned

THE FATES• Clotho: the

Spinner; wove the thread of life• Lachesis: Disposer

of Lot; assigned to each man his destiny• Atropos: cuts the

thread at death