Greek Mythology Overview

Athena

Goddess of wisdom

Hephaestus

God of fire

Demeter

Goddess of agriculture

Apollo

God of light

Zeus

Thunderbolt; eagle

Mars

God of war

Hera

A jealous wife of Zeus

Vestia

Goddess of hearth and home

Cronus

Father of Zeus

Artemis

Goddess of moon and hunt

Poseidon

God of the sea

Cupid

Son of Venus

Hades

God of the underworld

Aphrodite

Doves and Sparrows

Hermes

Messenger of the gods

Cyclopse

one-eyed son of Gaea

Bacchus

Jolly god of wine and grapes

Aurora

Goddess of dawn

Chaos

Before creation, nothingness

Pan

Part goat, god of nature

Erebus

The dead pass first for judgement

Minos

A judge of the underworld

Furies

Chase evil sinners

Tartarus

Place of torture in Hades

Charon

Boatman who ferried the dead

Persephone

Wife of Hades

Elysian Fields

Place of bliss and happiness in Hades

Lethe

River of forgetfulness

Cerebus

Guard dog with 3 heads

Phlegethon

River of fire

Styx

River of the gods' oaths

Acheron

River of woe that leads to the underworld

Atalanta and Hippomenes

They become the animal they resembled most, lions

Orpheus and Eurydice

He sang to get his wife back from the underworld

Echo and Narcissus

She fell in love with a handsome youth but was unable to speak correctly

Persephone and Hades

He kidnapped this woman so that he could make her his wife

Psyche and Cupid

He would not allow the woman he loved to see his face

Mount Olympus

Home of the gods

Baucis and Philemon

Were good hosts to strangers that turned out to be gods

Apollo and Daphne

Were attacked by Cupid's arrows

Callisto and Arcus

We turned into bears

Pygmalion and Galatea

Fell in love with a statue

Bacchus and Midas

The golden touch

Arachne and Athena

Where spiders came from

Pandora's Box

A punishment of mankind; let evil into the world

Dionysus

Changed men into dolphins

Prometheus

Gave fire to mankind