Title: The Lesser Deities also lived in Olympus.
1The Lesser Deities also lived in Olympus. These
deities were more useful to mortals, as they were
easier to understand and worship. Indeed they
were mankind's best friends.
Aeolus was the keeper of the winds. He was king
of the island of Aeolia. Later classical writers
regarded him as a god. He often either freed or
penned up the winds at the bidding of some deity.
Demeter- Goddess of Agriculture she and Dionysus
were mankind's best friends. She lost her
daughter to Hades The grains sacred to her were
the wheat, corn, millet, rye, and barley.
Symbols Poppies and modius (or corn measure) as
a symbol of the fertility of the earth.
2- Castor was famous as tamer of horses, and
- Pollux was known for his specialty in boxing.
- Both represented wrestling.
- They were transported to the sky as
constellations and became guardians of mariners,
the Gemini.
- Castor and Pollux the great twin brethren, were
sons of Zeus. - They took part in the Caledonian boar-hunt
- they went on the Quest of the Golden Fleece
- they rescued Helen when Theseus carried her off.
3- Dionysus - God of Wine son of Zeus and Semele
- Thebes was his own city, where he was born.
- The vine and ivy were sacred to him.
- Associated with freedom and joy and with savage
brutality - He was man's benefactor and he was man's
destroyer (as alcohol can be).
- The Maenads, (Bacchantes) accompanied him when he
traveled. - Frenzied with wine they danced and sang exultant
songs, wearing fawn-skins over their robes. - Nothing could stop them.
- They would tear to pieces the wild creatures they
met and devour the bloody shreds of flesh.
4- Cupid - God of Love son of Aphrodite fairest of
the deathless gods. - In the early stories, he is most often a
beautiful serious youth who gives good gifts to
men. - In the later poets he was almost invariably a
mischievous, naughty boy, or worse. - His heart was evil but his tongue was honey
sweet. - He was often represented as blindfolded, because
love is often blind.
- Eos, (Aurora) was a daughter of Titans Helios
(sun) and Selene (moon) were her brother and
sister - She was a personification of the dawn of the
morning. - A fresh wind was felt at her approach,
- she was called "rosy-fingered Morn."
- She loved all fresh young life, and showed
special favor to those persons whose active
spirit led them abroad in the morning to hunt or
to make war
5- Hebe - personification of the beauty of youth
youngest daughter of Zeus and Hera - Official cupbearer of the gods
- Among her other duties she assisted Hera in
yoking her chariot.. - When Apollo and the Muses played, she danced with
other deities. - Best known as the bride and wife of Hercules
- Hymen - God of marriage said variously to have
been from Apollo and Calliope, or from Dionysus
and Aphrodite, while at other times he is said to
have been by birth a mortal and afterwards
defied. - His home was among the Muses on Mount Helicon.
- He is always a picture of youthful beauty, and
of charms of love and song.
6- Iris - The rainbow and a messenger of the gods,
especially Hera daughter of Titans - A beautiful virgin with wings of varied hue, in
robes of bright colors, and riding on a rainbow - The ancients believed it was Iris who charged the
clouds with water to cause rain. - when her bow appeared in the clouds the farmer
welcomed it as a sign of rain to quicken the
fields, and gladly paid honors to the goddess.
- Hypnos - God of Sleep son of Nyx (Night) and
twin brother of Thanatos (Death) - His influence extended to gods as well as men.
- Dreams ascended from the lower world to men.
- They passed through two gates, one of horn which
true dreams went, one of ivory for false dreams. - The Greeks believed that sleep was a "little
taste of death."
7- Nike - Goddess of Victory daughter of Pallas and
the Oceanid Styx, - Inseparable from Zeus and Athena
- Nike appears standing on a globe, draped, winged,
holding a wreath and a palm-branch. - Sometimes she carries a staff (caduceus) like
that of Hermes, as a sign of her power, and
floating in air coming down to earth to point the
way to a victor, reaching a wreath down to his
brow or driving his horses.
- Nemesis - Goddess of Punishment daughter of Nyx
- Personification of Vengeance
- A mysterious power, she was conceived as shaping
the demeanor of men in their times of prosperity,
punishing crime, taking luck away from the
unworthy, and tracking every wrong to its doer. - Her name is usually translated as "Righteous
Anger." - To execute her commands she had three attendants,
Dike (justice), Poena (punishment), and Erinys
(vengeance).
8- Pan - God of Green Pastures and Flocks son of
Hermes by Penelope or of Zeus and Hybris. - He was fond of sportive dances, singing with the
nymphs, and playing on pipes. - invented the sprinx or Pan pipes
- Pan fell in love and chased a nymph named Syrinx.
She begged the local nymphs to transform her into
marsh reeds, detesting his ugliness with goat
legs and horns. They did so and Pan had to
content himself by fashioning several lengths of
the reeds together with wax that produced sweet
notes when skillfully played.
- Pan once ventured to challenge Apollo to a
musical competition. - Midas awarded the prize to Pan.
- Apollo punished Midas making his ears grow like
those of a donkey. - Pan's customary method of overcoming an enemy
force was to infect it by means of a sudden,
horrified shout, or "panic." - He used this weapon effectively against the
Titans during their war against the gods.
9- Proteus - a minor sea-deity, often called the Old
Man of the Sea. - His dwelling place was the depths of the sea.
- Thought to possess prophetic power and the
secrets of witchcraft.. - Proteus would not be persuaded to exercise this
power except by deceit or under threat of
violence. - He made every effort to evade questioners,
changing himself into a great variety of shapes,
such as those of a lion, panther, swine or
serpent, and as a last resource, into a form of
fire or water.
- Persephone - daughter of Zeus and Demeter wife
of Hades - Struck by the charms of her beauty, Hades
obtained permission from his brother, Zeus, to
carry her off by force. - An arrangement was made allowing her to stay with
her mother half the year on earth, and the other
half as queen of the Underworld.
10- Tritona minor sea deity, was the son of Poseidon
and Amphitrite, sometimes of Oceanus and Tethys. - As the herald of Poseidon, Triton announced his
approach, and summoned other marine deities. - He blew through a conch-shell horn a loud blast
to agitate the sea with storms, and a gentle note
when a storm was to be hushed into rest.
11- The Group Deities were sisters who were in charge
of a general function. - Each had a special attribute.
- The Graces and Muses were daughters of Zeus who
lived in Olympus and on earth. - The nymphs were beautiful ladies that resembled
the mermaids and fairies of modern superstition. - They were gifted with the power of making
themselves visible or invisible at pleasure. - There were several classes of nymphs that lived
in mountains and grottoes, or rivers and trees. - The Fates were daughters of Night. They have the
subtle but, awesome power of deciding a mans
destiny. The assign a man to good or evil.
12The Graces - all things that were pleasant and
cheerful could come to mortals through them
sisters, unknown parents beautiful, winning and
charming always dancing, singing, and running, or
the rose was sacred to them Aglaia represented
Splendor and Festivity Euphrosyne represented
Cheerfulness and Merriment Thalia represented
Bountifulness and Bloom.
- The Fates - three sisters that controlled the
destinies of all mortals daughters of Erebus and
Night - Clotho, the youngest, put the wool around the
spindle and spun the thread of life. - This determined a person's life.
- Lachesis measured the thread once it was spun.
- She determined how long a person should live.
- Atropos, cut the thread.
- Once she cut the thread, the person was dead.
13- Muses - nine females who specialized in the fine
arts such as history, comedy, dance, poetry, and
song daughters of Mnemosyne and Zeus. - Generally associated with Apollo
- Sources of artistic inspiration.
- Defeated the Sirens in a musical contest and
often referred to as the queens of songs. - No Olympian banquet was complete without their
presence.
Cleio - Muse of history Euterpe - Muse of
flute-playing Thaleia - Muse of
comedy Melpomene - Muse of tragedy Terpsichore
- Muse of lyric poetry and dance Erato - Muse of
wedding songs Polymnia - Muse of mime Urania -
Muse of astronomy Calliope - Muse of epic
poetry.
14- Nymphs - personifications of all of nature's
living things it is assumed that they were the
offspring of Zeus and the Nereid Thetis. - On a level just beneath gods
- inhabited every mountain, valley, plain, forest,
every thicket, bush, and tree, and every
fountain, stream, and lake. - They greatly resembled what we consider today to
be mermaids and fairies. - The nymphs were friend to both man and god.
- They could be seen if they wanted to be, or
remain invisible. - They feasted on ambrosia, as the gods did, but
they were not immortal. - Any place that featured dripping or flowing water
was sacred to the nymphs. - The actual origin of the Nymphs is hard to
classify there are many stories concerning their
parentage.
15- There are twelve different types of Nymphs,
usually classified by their dwelling places. - Dryads, or Hamadryads were the Nymphs of the
woods and trees, and were often seen frolicking
with Apollo, Hermes, and Pan, and were usually
described as being dressed as huntresses. - Oreads, or the mountain nymphs, were sometimes
named after the particular areas where they
lived, such as Peliads, (from Pelion), Idæan
(from Ida), Kithæronian (from Kithæron), etc. - Limoniads, or Leimoniads were nymphs of flowers
and meadows. - Napææ, or Auloniads were nymphs of the mountain
vales in which herds fed. They were usually found
in the company of Pan, rushing swiftly and
happily over the hills and valleys. One of the
favorite nymphs was Eurydice, who was felled by a
snakebite. Orpheus sang a song of her in what
remains a touching love myth throughout history.
16- Okeanids - daughters of Okeanos,
- Nereïds - daughters of Nereus, were sometimes
called Dorids, after their mother. - Naiads - Nymphs of the liquid element. They were
usually found in the company of Zeus, Poseidon,
and Dionysus, as well as Demeter, Persephone, and
Aphrodite, and were seen as deities of marriage
and sacred rites. - Potamids - Nymphs of the rivers and streams.
- Limnads - Nymphs of lakes, marshes, and swamps.
They were dangerous, because they tried to allure
and trap travelers by their songs or mimicking
screams for help. - Pleiads - the seven daughters of Atlas and
Pleione, and sisters of the Hyads. - Atlantids - Offspring of Atlas
- Hyads - daughters of Atlas and Æthra nurses of
Zeus - distraught over the death of Hyas by wild
animals, they were changed into stars, which are
the seven stars of the constellation Taurus.