Gods+and+Goddesses

What we know about the major Gods toc and Goddesses

Demeter and Persephone by Charlie


Demeter presided over grains, seasons and the harvest. She was also the goddess of the earth, corn and country life. Demeter was the one who showed man how to plant for a living, so she was a very popular goddess with the rural population. One of her symbols was a single grain of wheat. In Greek mythology, Demeter is the daughter of Cronus and Rhea. Demeter was the sister of Zeus; whom she later married and had a daughter named Persephone. Demeter is often portrayed as a solemn woman usually wearing a wreath. She is often shown with her favorite child, Persephone. She was as important as any of the other gods or goddesses and to the Greek people. The Roman equivalent of Demeter is Ceres.

Persephone was the daughter of Demeter and Zeus. She was so beautiful that even Hades the god of the underworld wanted her for himself, so he decided to abduct her. One day, Persephone was collecting flowers when all of a sudden the earth opened up. Then Hades rose from the underworld and took her with him. Only Helios the all seeing sun and the all mighty Zeus witnessed it. Demeter soon went hunting for Persephone. She searched the globe when finally Helios revealed what had happened. Demeter was so furious with this that she withdrew herself in loneliness. By doing this the earth stopped becoming fertile. Zeus knew this could not be a good thing for the people of so he sent for Hermes to retrieve Persephone from the underworld. Hades had to agree to give her back, but before she left he gave her some pomegranate seeds to eat. When she later ate the seeds, she was bound to the underworld forever and she had to stay there one-third of the year and the other months she spent with her mother. When Persephone was in the Underworld Demeter refused to let anything grow and that is how winter began.

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Hermes is the messenger of the gods. and he led the souls of the underworld to Hades. Hermes wore a golden helmet and magic sandals in case there was bad weather on the way. He was born in a cave on Mount Cyllene. His mother was Maia and his father was Zeus. Hermes was a prankster and brilliant at making and inventing new things. He invented the lyre, fire, written music and helped to make mankind. He was a young, handsome man and he carried a crooked staff. It symbolizes when Hermes led the dead souls to the underworld.

There is a great story about Apollo, Hermes and the cows. This story began as baby Hermes crawled out of his crib at night and went to Apollo's cows and stole the finest fifty cows. He put pieces of bark under the cows legs and tied brooms to their tails to erase their tracks. Hermes did this to confuse Apollo so he wouldn't find the cows again. To confuse Apollo more, he tied piles of branches to his own little feet and arms so he looked like a monster. He went home at night with the cows and his them in a grove. He then sacrificed two of them to the twelve Olympian Gods. He took the entrails of the sacrificed cows and made seven strings which he used to make the first lyre.

When Hermes went back to bed, his mother knew how he had taken the cows. Hermes had done this so his mother would not have to live in a cave forever and so that he could become one of the twelve Olympian Gods. He put his mother to sleep by playing a lullaby with the lyre. Apollo came at dawn and Hermes pretended to be asleep in his crib. Zeus had told Apollo that Hermes was the thief, but he refused to tell the truth. Zeus made him confess and so Hermes returned the cows. Apollo and Hermes became friends and Hermes didn't steal again.

Hephaestus by Milo and Hayley
Hephaestus was the God of Smiths and Fire. He was a calm and peace loving god, who spent a lot of time in his workshop. He married Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love and Beauty. Aphrodite did not really like Hephaestus and she would have rather married his brother Ares, God of War and Violence. Hephaestus’s attributes were the hammer and donkey. Those were his attributes because, the hammer is usually used in metalworking and the donkey is used for carrying his stuff, and resembles him because it is hard-working. He was born to Zeus and Hera, King and Queen of the Gods. He usually wore tired and ragged clothing. With his hammer, he made the twelve Golden Thrones of Olympus, jewels for Hera and Aphrodite, and two robots to help him walk. Hephaestus had large skilled hands, but sadly his legs were to weak to hold up his weight. With his bare hands, he built two robots to support his legs. The robots were made of gold and silver. They had silver tongues so they could speak. Hephaestus was a really interesting god to read and learn about!

=Aphrodite By Kate=

Aphrodite is the great goddess of love. She had no parents unlike any other gods. Some people say that she was made from the blood She rose out on a bed of foam when she was a baby. She was greeted by the three graces who are now her loyal servants. They dressed her up in a gold shimmering dress covered in sequins; the three graces presented her to the gods on a chariot of doves.

Zeus took her in as the goddess of love and assigned a husband for fear they would fight over her. He chose Hephaestus, the steadiest of the gods. Aphrodite would have preferred marrying his brother, Ares.

Aphrodite gave birth to a mischievous son named Eros or cupid. He would run around with a bow and arrow and shot people and then they would fall in love with the next person they see.

Ares by Zander and Charlie


Ares was the god of war and a very brutal and courageous god. He was like a plague, killing everything in sight. Ares loved to fight battles with mortals and he didn’t care who won. He just wanted to have lots of bodies strewn across the battlefield. His half-sister Athena was also considered a war idol, but her war tactics were to use battle strategies and Ares just wanted everything dead.

Athena and Ares were enemies because they always fought and quarrelled. Personally, we think Athena was much smarter. Ares was considered Zeus’s worst child because of his destructive nature. He was a killer of mortals and immortals. Most of the gods and goddesses didn’t like him, but because of this, Aphrodite thought he was tremendously attractive. Ares and Aphrodite had an affair and had seven children. Ares was probably in an affair with Aphrodite because we think that Aphrodite thought it was cool that Ares always got into fights and came back alive. (Girls dig scars.)

Hera by Kristi
Hera was the wife of Zeus and also his sister. She was a very jealous wife and didn’t want Zeus to have other wives because she was so jealous. Hera hated all of Zeus’s wives. She hated them so much that she threatened all of them. Hera tried to keep Zeus in line so he would not cheat on her, but he always found ways to have other wives. Hera was a very strong and powerful god and put spells on other gods and animals to get what she wanted.

Zeus wanted to marry Hera but she refused because she did not like him. To trick her, he turned himself into a bird and flew onto her lap. Hera was very mad when she found out that Zeus was the bird that she was petting in her arms. Later, however, she agreed to marry him. A lot of times Hera saw when Zeus was trying a trick on her or hiding something from her. She was a very strict and bossy wife. Hera never had a smile on her face so she always looked mad and frustrated and a lot of times bossed Zeus around. Once when Hera found out that Zeus had cheated on her she turned one of his wives into a cow. Hera knew what he was up to and she knew it wasn’t something good. She always wanted to be the only one Zeus wanted and loved. Hera showed Zeus that it was not good to cheat on your wife and I think he learned his lesson... hopefully.

=Zeus by Ben and Matt=



Zeus was the almighty ruler of the gods. His parents were Cronus and Rhea and he was the youngest of five children.This god was powerful, courageous, smart, and forgiving. He was powerful and courageous because when all the other gods were running from Typhon, a very strong monster, Zeus turned around and started to fight. This encouraged his fellow gods to fight back. He was also forgiving because when he kicked Hephaestus out of Olympus he later let him back. Zeus was smart because he understood that he would need other gods to be able to defeat his child eating father, Cronus.

All of these traits are those of a good leader. Zeus also gods allowed other to lead with him. He made a good decision by doing this by sharing his ruler ship, it allowed for there to be votes and multiple ideas opposed to one idea that the people may not like. This is another example of how smart Zeus is. He was a great decision maker.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Zeus's son Hephaestus made Zeus weapons in his volcano lair. Zeus’s favorite weapon was the lightning bolts. They were the most powerful weapons in all of Olympus. Zeus was one of the best rulers ever.

=Poseidon by Adrian and Joe=

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Poseidon is the god of the seas. His symbol is the trident <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">and it allows him to summon giant w <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">aves to the shores of land. Poseidon created horses from sea foam when he was calm.When he was angry, he summoned giant waves to the beaches and terrorised towns. He was called the earth shaker because his trident also shook the land and split the earth. Poseidon helped his brothers and sisters take down their father, Cronus, and the other Titans.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Zeus, Poseidon and Hades drew sticks to see who was controlling what. Zeus got the sky, Poseidon got the seas and Hades got the Underworld. Zeus freed the Cyclopes from Tartarus, the deepest pit in the underworld and they made the thunder bolts for Zeus, the trident for Poseidon and the helmet for Hades. The Cyclopes came with Poseidon under the sea where they worked on weapons and such.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Poseidon had two immortal sons called Triton and Proteus. Triton was the messenger of Poseidon. He was a merman, half human and half fish. He had the power to move whole islands and he also had the power of prophecy. Poseidon's other son, Proteus, was the herdsman of the seals and also had the gift of prophecy. Proteus would never tell about the future unless he was captured. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Poseidon was a pretty powerful god. He played a large role in our world.

=**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Athena by Alex and Elizabeth **=

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Athena is the goddess of wisdom, battle, and useful arts. She is very stern and likes to be treated with respect. She is Zeus’s favorite child, and her mother is Metis, Zeus’s first wife.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mother Earth told Zeus that if Metis had a son, he would cast Zeus into Tartarus like Zeus did to his father. Zeus needed to stop that from happening, but he also needed Metis’s advice so he tricked her into turning into a fly and swallowed her. At that time Metis was going to give birth to a daughter. So she made a helmet and robe as clothing for the daughter she was going to have, while she was inside Zeus’s head. After a while Zeus started to have horrible headaches, so Hephaestus (Zeus’s son) cracked open his head and Athena came out.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Athena helped artists in Greece and was very good at the loom along with other useful arts. While Athena liked to see her pupils do well, she got very angry if they did not show her respect.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">One example is Arachne, a girl from the country. Arachne wove so well on the loom; she boasted that she was even better than Athena, the goddess who had taught her. So Athena competed with her to see who was better. Athena’s weaving showed the gods in their glory, but Arachne’s weaving made fun of the gods. This offended Athena, so she turned her into a spider and ripped up Arachne’s weaving.

=Apollo by John and Eli=

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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Apollo was the God of music. He was Artemis’ twin brother. He was a very nice God but was very angry with Hermes when he stole his best cattle. Hermes was his baby brother. He immediately forgave Hermes when he saw the lyre that Hermes made. He said that he would forgive him if he gave it to him. Apollo was from then on famous for that lyre.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Once a satyr challenged him to a music competition. The satyr had a double flute. Apollo won the competition which meant that he won the satyr’s hide. Apollo was very famous for sitting on the hide of a satyr over his pedestal.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Apollo has a chariot drawn by white swans. He was sent to find the oracle of Delphi. The oracle was guarded by a dragon named Python. Apollo had shot Python with one thousand arrows and finally killed Python. The Oracle of Delphi was then free. There was then light and music in the air.

=<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**Artemis by Stella and Anna** =



<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Artemis is the daughter of Zeus and Leto and the twin sister of Apollo. This god was born on the island of Delos that Poseidon raised out of the sea. Artemis and Apollo loved their mother Leto dearly.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Artemis was the goddess of hunting and was a cold and pitiless goddess. When she was younger, she asked her father, Zeus to grant her many wishes. She asked her father never to make her marry and to make her stay young forever. Artemis also asked for 50 fleet nymphs and a pack of lop-eared dogs to hunt with.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Artemis can be identified by the crescent moon she wears on her forehead. The ancient Romans also had the same gods just with different names, Artemis is known as Diana in Rome.

=Dionysis by Andrew and Colin=