Greek Gods and Goddesses

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Greek Gods and Goddesses

• Joseph Red
• Mrs. Spriggs English II Class

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Polytheism

• Can you define this word?
• Polytheism literally means a belief in many gods.
• The Greeks practiced polytheism as they believed
  in a family of deities-gods and goddesses in
  human form who behaved like people with
  superhuman powers (Chin 205).

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Thesis

• By studying Greek gods and goddesses one can
  better understand Greek culture.

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A Place of Worship

• The Greeks built temples to honor the gods and
  goddesses. They also sacrificed animals to them
  (Chin 205).

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Mount Olympus-The Meeting Place

• The twelve major gods and goddesses were
  believed to often meet on Mount Olympus (Chin
  205).

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Meet the royal family

• Zeus, the chief god, ruler of the sky and
  weather.
• Pluto, the brother of Zeus and the god of the
  underworld.
• Athena, Zeuss favorite daughter, goddess of
  wisdom.
• Apollo, the sun of Zeus and the god of light,
  health, and poetry (Chin 205)

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Gods and Goddesses in everyday life

• Sometimes gods and goddesses were believed to be
  involved in everyday events.
• Demeter was the goddess of the corn and harvest.
  Her daughter was abducted, but later returned
  causing Demeter to create spring because of her
  joy. Her daughter had to return, however, to her
  abductor each fall. Therefore, Demeters caused
  winter to occur each year in her daughters
  absence (Ancient Greece)

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Gods of Emotion

• Gods and goddesses not only were responsible for
  the seasons, but they also were in charge of
  emotions.
• Eros was the god of love and his mother Aphrodite
  was the goddess of love (Ancient Greece).

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Gods of knowledge

• Gods guarded the emotions, but they also provided
  wisdom to the Greeks. Athena was the goddess of
  wisdom (Carr).

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A source of explanation

• The Greeks also used gods and goddesses to
  explain great mysteries such as the creation of
  the earth and the after life.
• One myth explains that in the beginning there was
  only the god chaos, then came the gods of night,
  death, and love (James).

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Bad Role Models

• Sometimes the gods and goddesses were bad role
  models. Chronos was the god of time, but he ate
  his children because he feared they would
  overthrow him (Carr).

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God is everywhere

• Besides having countless god and goddess
  throughout all of Greece, each individual village
  had their own gods assigned to various rocks and
  streams (Carr).

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Gods and goddesses in incognito

• Sometimes gods and goddesses would disguise
  themselves as humans. Zeus disguised himself as
  Alcemens husband and slept with her. She then
  gave birth to Hercules (Rymer).

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In the drama of it all

• Gods and goddesses would also become involved in
  the drama of Greek life. For instance, Athena
  helped Odysseus return home despite Poseidon's
  wrath (Rymer).

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To Sum it all up

• In conclusion, by examining Greek gods and
  goddesses one can understand the important
  elements of Greek life such as the importance of
  seasons, the need for knowledge, and the desire
  to reach for a higher power during times of need.

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Work Cited

• Ancient Greece. Universal Artists, 2006. 26 April
  2006. lthttp//www.ancientgreece.com/.gt
• Carr, Karen. History for Kids Ancient Greece.
  Portland State University 2006. 22 April 2006.
  lthttp//www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/.gt
• Chin, Beverly A., et al. World Literature the
  Readers Choice. New York Glencoe, 2000.
• James, Tonya. Characters of Greek
  Mythology.1998. 24 April 2006.
  lthttp//mythology.tonyarn.com/creation.htmlgt
• Rymer, Eric. History Link Ancient Greece. 2006.
  23 April 2006.