THE Greek mythology brings together a set of legends and myths that were created by the Greeks in antiquity.
The main objective was to explain some facts, such as the origin of life, life after death, or even the phenomena of nature.
Thus, the creation of the fantastic narratives that engulf Greek mythology was the way found by the Greeks to preserve their history.
It is important to emphasize that the Greek civilization was based on a polytheistic religion, that is, they worshiped several gods.
Mythological Beings
Greek mythology is permeated by numerous mythological figures. Among the most important we can mention:
- heroes: considered the demigods, that is, children of gods with humans. Of the Greek heroes stand out: Perseus, theseus and bellerophon.
- nymphs: female mythological figures always beautiful and cheerful and who took care of the forests. For example, the Alseides, nymphs of flowers and woods; the Dryads, nymphs of the oak trees; the Nereids, water nymphs.
- mermaids: female figures who sang and had the body of a fish. They could be represented with a woman's wings and head and bust, just like the Harpies.
- centaurs: hybrid and strong beings with half human and half horse bodies. It stands out Chiron, friend of Heracles raised by Kronos.
- satyrs: they had a man's body with goat legs and horns. They correspond to the fauns of Roman mythology. Of the Greek satyrs stands out: Pan, the God of the woods.
- Gorgons: female figures that had snake hair, for example, the Jellyfish.
Greek gods
Interesting to note that the Greek gods they were immortal and anthropomorphic figures. That is, they were gods with human forms and that also had human feelings such as love, hate, evil, envy, goodness, selfishness, weakness.
The most powerful gods are the Gods of Olympus who lived on top of Mount Olympus, they are considered the main gods of the Greek pantheon.
There are 12 main gods of Olympus: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Dionysus, Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Artemis, Athena, Hephaestus and Hermes.
Main Gods of Greek Mythology
- Zeus: The supreme god of the sky.
- Ivy: protector goddess of women, marriages and motherhood.
- Poseidon: god of the seas and oceans.
- Hades: god of hell, the dead and the underground.
- aphrodite: goddess of love, sex and beauty.
- hestia: goddess of home and heart.
- Apollo: god of sunshine, music, poetry, the arts, male beauty and divination.
- Artemis: goddess of hunting, chastity, light and wildlife.
- Ares: God of War.
- Eros: god of passion, sex, love.
- Athena: goddess of wisdom, justice, arts, war and serenity. Considered the protector of the city of Athens.
- Cronos: god of time.
- Demeter: god of harvest and agriculture.
- persephone: queen of the underworld and goddess of flowers and fruits.
- Dionysus: god of parties, pleasure and wine.
- Hermes: god of commerce and communications; messenger of the gods, protector of merchants and travelers.
- hephaestus: god of fire, metals and work.
- Gaia: goddess of the earth.
- Pan: god of forests, woods, fields and shepherds.
Trivia: Did You Know?
- You Olympic Games emerged from Greek narratives, where the gods were honored through games and sports competitions held on Mount Olympus.
- To get rid of problems or even to know the future, the Greeks consulted their oracles to interpret the will of the gods.
Read too:
- What is a myth?
- Roman gods
- greek goddesses
- Egyptian gods
- Roman Mythology
- Norse mythology
- Egyptian Mythology
- Myths and legends from Brazil and the world
- The Origin of Philosophy
- Phoenix
