Apollo- God of music, prophecy, sickness, and medicine
Ares- God of war and conflict
Artemis- Goddess of the hunt and animals
Athena (also Athene)- Goddess of war and wisdom
Demeter- Goddess of the harvest, or giver of the grain
Dionysus- God of wine, merryment, and festivity
Hades- God of the underworld
Hephaistos- God of craftsmanship, builder and craftsman of the gods
Hera- Goddess of marriage and jealousy, Queen of the gods.
Hermes- God of commerce
Hestia- Goddess of the Hearth
Persephone- Queen of the underworld
Poseidon- God of the sea
Zeus- God of Lightning, King of the gods
-Ancient Greece-
ATHENS
Athens is the symbol of freedom, art, and democracy in the conscience of the civilized world. The capital of Greece took its name from the goddess Athena, the goddess of wisdom and knowledge.
In Athens memory never fades. Wherever you stand, wherever you turn, the city's long and rich history will be alive in front of you. This is where that marvel of architecture, the Parthenon, was created. This is where art became inseparable from life, and this is where Pericles gave the funerary speech, that monument of the spoken word. In the centre of town are two hills, the Acropolis with the monuments from the Age of Pericles, and Lycabettus with the picturesque chapel of Ai Giorgis.
Ancient ruins provide a vivid testimony to the glory of Athens, hailed by many people as the cradle of western civilization.
THE PARTHENON
The Parthenon was built to house a huge gold and ivory (chryselephantine) statue of the goddess Athena, patron of the polis of Athens. The polis--or city-state--was the Greeks' distinctive political formation--a walled town with surrounding villages and countryside, and ideally politically independent of its neighbors. The high place of a polis-- the acropolis- -was the site of shrines to locally important deities.
A BIT MORE OF THE ANCIENT GODS AND GODDESSES
Note: When referring to the war, the Trojans, or the Achaians in these discriptions, we are referring to the Trojan War.
Aphrodite- Daughter of Zeus, goddess of passionate love, Aeneas' mother, patron of Paris, faught on the trojan side, married to Hephaestus but loved Ares.
Apollo- Son of Zeus, god of prophecy, god of light, god of poetry, god of music, faught on the trojan side.
Ares- Son of Zeus and Hera, god of war, lover of Aphrodite, faught on the trojan side even though he promised Hera and Athena he would not.
Artemis- Daughter of Zeus, sister of Apollo, goddess of chastity, faught on trojan side with little effect.
Athena- Daughter of Zeus, goddess of wisdom and war, played prominent role in the war, faught on achaian side.
Hades- God of the dead and ruler of the underworld
Hera- Sister and wife of zeus, goddess of married love, faught on the achaian side, went to great lenghts for the achaians, helped defeat troy.
Hermes- Ambassador of the gods, conductor of the dead to Hades, patron of travelers, faught on achaians but did little to aid them.
Iris- Messenger to the gods.
Poseidon- God of the sea, younger brother of zeus, strong achaian supporter because of an old grudge against troy, built great wall of troy but became mad at them when they refused to pay.
Thetis- Sea nymph, mother of achilles, a staunch advocate of her son in a quarrel with Agamemnon and does all she can to help him, isn't involved much in the war.
Xanthus- Son of Zeus, god of one of the major rivers in troy, faught against achilles but is defeated by hephaestus' fire.
Zeus- Supreme god and king of olympus, duty is to carry out the will of destiny, didn't fight on either side in the war, symphathetic toward the trojans in the war.
