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upright=1.8, Fragment of a relief (1st century BC1st century AD) depicting the twelve Olympians carrying 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) and Apollo (lyre) from the Walters Art Museum. In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the twelve Olympians are the major Deity, deities of the Greek mythology, Greek
pantheon Pantheon may refer to: * Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building Arts and entertainment Comics *Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization * ''Pantheon'' (Lone St ...
, commonly considered to be Zeus,
Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; grc-gre, Ἥρα, Hḗrā; grc, Ἥρη, Hḗrē, label=none in Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she ...
, Poseidon,
Demeter In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Demeter (; Attic: ''Dēmḗtēr'' ; Doric: ''Dāmā́tēr'') is the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, grains, food, and the fertility of the earth. Although s ...
, Aphrodite, Athena,
Ares Ares (; grc, Ἄρης, ''Árēs'' ) is the Greek god of war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for success in war b ...
, Artemis, Apollo, Hephaestus, Hermes, and either Hestia or
Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...
. They were called ''Olympians'' because, according to tradition, they resided on Mount Olympus. Although
Hades Hades (; grc-gre, ᾍδης, Háidēs; ), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also ...
was a major ancient Greek god and was the brother of the first generation of Olympians (Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia), his realm was the underworld, far from Olympus, and thus he was not usually considered to be one of the Olympians. Besides the twelve Olympians, there were many other cultic groupings of twelve gods.


Olympians

The Olympians were a race of
deities A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...
, primarily consisting of a third and fourth generation of immortal beings, worshipped as the principal gods of the Greek
pantheon Pantheon may refer to: * Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building Arts and entertainment Comics *Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization * ''Pantheon'' (Lone St ...
and so named because of their residency atop Mount Olympus. They gained their supremacy in a ten-year-long war of gods, in which Zeus led his siblings to victory over the previous generation of ruling immortal beings, the Titans, children of primordial deities Uranus and
Gaia In Greek mythology, Gaia (; from Ancient Greek , a poetical form of , 'land' or 'earth'),, , . also spelled Gaea , is the personification of the Earth and one of the Greek primordial deities. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parthenog ...
. They were a family of gods, the most important consisting of the first generation of Olympians, offspring of the Titans
Cronus In Ancient Greek religion and mythology, Cronus, Cronos, or Kronos ( or , from el, Κρόνος, ''Krónos'') was the leader and youngest of the first generation of Titans, the divine descendants of the primordial Gaia (Mother Earth) and ...
and Rhea: Zeus, Poseidon,
Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; grc-gre, Ἥρα, Hḗrā; grc, Ἥρη, Hḗrē, label=none in Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she ...
,
Demeter In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Demeter (; Attic: ''Dēmḗtēr'' ; Doric: ''Dāmā́tēr'') is the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, grains, food, and the fertility of the earth. Although s ...
and Hestia, along with the principal offspring of Zeus: Aphrodite, Athena,
Ares Ares (; grc, Ἄρης, ''Árēs'' ) is the Greek god of war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for success in war b ...
, Artemis, Apollo, Hermes,
Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...
and Hephaestus. Although
Hades Hades (; grc-gre, ᾍδης, Háidēs; ), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also ...
was a major deity in the Greek pantheon and was the brother of Zeus and the other first 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. Olympic gods can be contrasted to
chthonic The word chthonic (), or chthonian, is derived from the Ancient Greek word ''χθών, "khthon"'', meaning earth or soil. It translates more directly from χθόνιος or "in, under, or beneath the earth" which can be differentiated from Γῆ ...
gods including Hades and his wife Persephone, by mode of sacrifice, the latter receiving sacrifices in a '' bothros'' (, "pit") or '' megaron'' (, "sunken chamber") rather than at an altar. The canonical number of Olympian gods was twelve, but besides the (thirteen) principal Olympians listed above, there were many other residents of Olympus, who thus might be considered to be Olympians. Heracles became a resident of Olympus after his
apotheosis Apotheosis (, ), also called divinization or deification (), is the glorification of a subject to divine levels and, commonly, the treatment of a human being, any other living thing, or an abstract idea in the likeness of a deity. The term has ...
and married another Olympian resident Hebe. In the '' Iliad'', the goddess Themis, who is listed among the twelve Titans, dwells on Olympus alongside the other gods, making her a Titan and an Olympian at the same time. According to Hesiod, the children of
Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, whic ...
:
Zelus In Greek mythology, Zelus or Zelos (; Ancient Greek: Ζῆλος ''Zēlos,'' literally 'zeal') was the daimon that personifies dedication, emulation, eager rivalry, envy, jealousy, and zeal. The English word "zeal" is derived from his name. Hi ...
(Envy), Nike (Victory), Kratos (Strength), and Bia (Force), "have no house apart from Zeus, nor any dwelling nor path except that wherein God leads them, but they dwell always with Zeus". Some others who might be considered Olympians include the the Horae,
Muses In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the p ...
, the Graces, Eileithyia, Iris,
Dione Dione may refer to: Astronomy *106 Dione, a large main belt asteroid *Dione (moon), a moon of Saturn *Helene (moon), a moon of Saturn sometimes referred to as "Dione B" Mythology *Dione (Titaness), a Titaness in Greek mythology *Dione (mythology) ...
, and Ganymede.


Twelve gods

Besides the twelve Olympians, there were many other various cultic groupings of twelve gods throughout ancient Greece. The earliest evidence of Greek religious practice involving twelve gods ( Greek: , , from , "twelve", and , "gods") comes no earlier than the late sixth century BC. According to Thucydides, an altar of the twelve gods was established in the
agora The agora (; grc, ἀγορά, romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states. It is the best representation of a city-state's response to accommodate the social and political order of t ...
of Athens by the
archon ''Archon'' ( gr, ἄρχων, árchōn, plural: ἄρχοντες, ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem αρχ-, mean ...
Pisistratus (son of Hippias and the grandson of the tyrant
Pisistratus Pisistratus or Peisistratus ( grc-gre, Πεισίστρατος ; 600 – 527 BC) was a politician in ancient Athens, ruling as tyrant in the late 560s, the early 550s and from 546 BC until his death. His unification of Attica, the triangular ...
), around 522 BC. The altar became the central point from which distances from Athens were measured and a place of supplication and refuge.
Olympia The name Olympia may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games * ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...
apparently also had an early tradition of twelve gods. The '' Homeric Hymn to Hermes'' (c. 500  BC) has the god Hermes divide a sacrifice of two cows he has stolen from Apollo, into twelve parts, on the banks of the river Alpheus (presumably at Olympia): Pindar, in an ode written to be sung at Olympia c. 480 BC, has Heracles sacrificing, alongside the Alpheus, to the "twelve ruling gods": Another of Pindar's Olympian odes mentions "six double altars". Herodorus of Heraclea (c. 400 BC) also has Heracles founding a shrine at Olympia, with six pairs of gods, each pair sharing a single altar. Many other places had cults of the twelve gods, including
Delos The island of Delos (; el, Δήλος ; Attic: , Doric: ), near Mykonos, near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. The excavations in the island are ...
, Chalcedon, Magnesia on the Maeander, and
Leontinoi Lentini ( scn, Lintini, historically Liuntini; la, Leontīnī; grc, Λεοντῖνοι) is a town and in the Province of Syracuse, South East of Sicily (Southern Italy). History The city was founded by colonists from Naxos as Leontini in 72 ...
in Sicily. As with the twelve Olympians, although the number of gods was fixed at twelve, the membership varied. 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 example, 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 In Ancient Greek religion and mythology, Cronus, Cronos, or Kronos ( or , from el, Κρόνος, ''Krónos'') was the leader and youngest of the first generation of Titans, the divine descendants of the primordial Gaia (Mother Earth) and ...
and Rhea. Thus, while this list includes the eight Olympians: Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Athena, Hermes, Apollo, Artemis, and Dionysus, it also contains three clear non-Olympians: the Titan parents of the first 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 one of the twelve in proposing that the final month be devoted to him and the spirits of the dead.Rutherford, pp. 45–46; Plato, '' The Laws'' 82
b-d
The Roman poet Ennius gives the Roman equivalents (the ) as six male-female complements, preserving the place of Vesta (Greek Hestia), who played a crucial role in
Roman religion Religion in ancient Rome consisted of varying imperial and provincial religious practices, which were followed both by the people of Rome as well as those who were brought under its rule. The Romans thought of themselves as highly religious, ...
as a state goddess maintained by the Vestals.


List

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 be one of the twelve Olympians are listed below.


Genealogy


See also

* 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 The following is a list of gods, goddesses, and many other divine and semi-divine figures from ancient Greek mythology and ancient Greek religion. Immortals The Greeks created images of their deities for many purposes. A temple would house the ...
*
Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes The Supreme Council of Ethnic Hellenes ( el, Ύπατο Συμβούλιο των Ελλήνων Εθνικών, ), commonly referred to by its acronym YSEE, is a non-profit Hellenic organisation established in Greece in 1997. Its primary goal i ...
*
Hellenismos Hellenism (Ἑλληνισμός) in a religious context refers to the modern pluralistic religion practiced in Greece and around the world by several communities derived from the beliefs, mythology and rituals from antiquity through and up t ...
*
Olympia The name Olympia may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games * ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...
* Greek mythology in popular culture *
Olympian spirits Olympian spirits (or ''Olympic spirits'', ''Olympick spirits'') refers to seven (or sometimes fourteen) spirits mentioned in several Renaissance and post-Renaissance books of ritual magic/ceremonial magic, such as the ''Arbatel de magia veterum'', ...


Notes


References

* Burkert, Walter, ''Greek Religion'', Harvard University Press, 1985. . * Chadwick, John, ''The Mycenaean World'', Cambridge University Press, 1976. . * Dillon, Matthew, ''Girls and Women in Classical Greek Religion''. London: Routledge. (2002). . * Dowden, Ken, "Olympian Gods, Olympian Pantheon", in ''A Companion to Greek Religion'', Daniel Ogden editor, John Wiley & Sons, 2010. . * Gadbery, Laura M., "The Sanctuary of the Twelve Gods in the Athenian Agora: A Revised View", ''Hesperia'' 61 (1992), pp. 447–489. * Gantz, Timothy, ''Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: (Vol. 1), (Vol. 2). * Hansen, William, William F. Hansen, ''Classical Mythology: A Guide to the Mythical World of the Greeks and Romans'', Oxford University Press, 2005. . * Hard, Robin (2004), ''The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology"'', Psychology Press, 2004,
Google Books
* Herodotus; ''Histories'', A. D. Godley (translator), Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1920;
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
*
Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...
, '' Theogony'', in ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by
Hugh G. Evelyn-White Hugh Evelyn-White (1884, Ipswich - 1924) was a classicist, egyptologist, coptologist and archaeologist. In 1907 he graduated with a degree in classics from Wadham College. He is noted for his many translations of ancient Greek works, most notable ...
'', 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
* Homer; ''The Odyssey with an English Translation by A. T. Murray, Ph.D., in two volumes''. Cambridge, Massachusetts., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
, . * ''Homeric Hymn to Hermes (4)'', in ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White'', Cambridge, Massachusetts., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Long, Charlotte R., ''The Twelve Gods of Greece and Rome'', Brill Archive, Jan 1, 1987
Google Books
* Morford, Mark P. O., Robert J. Lenardon, ''Classical Mythology'', Eighth Edition, Oxford University Press, 2007. . * 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. . * Pache, Corinne Ondine, "Gods, Greek" in ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome, Volume 3'', Oxford University Press. 2010. . * Pindar, ''Odes'', Diane Arnson Svarlien. 1990. * Plato, '' Laws'' in ''Plato in Twelve Volumes'', Vols. 10 & 11 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.
Online version
* Shapiro, H. A., "Chapter 20: Olympian Gods at Home and Abroad" in ''A Companion to Greek Art'', editors Tyler Jo Smith, Dimitris Plantzos, John Wiley & Sons, 2012. . * 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. . * Thucydides, ''Thucydides translated into English; with introduction, marginal analysis, notes, and indices. Volume 1.'', Benjamin Jowett. translator. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1881
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
{{Authority control Twelve Olympians 12 (number) Olympian deities Mount Olympus