Glossary of Gods
Created | Updated Dec 15, 2010
The following list of gods from the Greco-Roman pantheon
is presented in alphabetical order as found in the Glossary
pages of the Penguin Classic paperback edition of "Hesiod
and Theognis" (translated by Dorothea Wender)
AEGIS: a magic cloth or shield, carried by Zeus or Athene.
Perhaps it is a goatskin. If shaken, it puts panic into
the hearts of men
AIDONEUS: another name for HADES
AMBROSIA: food of the gods, it preserves their immortality
APHRODITE: the great goddess of love. Also called Cytherea,
Cyprogenes, Cypris, the Cyprian. Latin name: Venus
APOLLO: often called PHOEBUS (shining) APOLLO, he who shoots
from far off. The archer god, patron of prophecy, music and
medicine. Later associated with the sun.
ARES: god of war, not admired by Homer or Hesiod. Husband or
lover of APHRODITE, Latin name: Mars
ARTEMIS: sister of APOLLO, virgin goddess of wild animals and
hunting; also sometimes of childbirth and fertility, and sudden
painless death. Latin name: Diana
ATHENE: virgin goddess of crafts, civilisation and cleverness.
Personal patron of the hero Odysseus and the city of Athens.
Latin name: Minerva
ATLAS: Titan son of Iapetos who holds up the sky on his shoulders
BOREAS: the north wind
CYPRIAN, Cyprogenes, Cytherea: epithets of APHRODITE
DEMTER: goddess of grain and the earth's fertility, mother of
Persephone. Latin name: Ceres
DIONYSUS: god of wine, dance, theatre and uninhibited religious
enthusiam. Latin names: Bacchus, Liber
EOS: the dawn. Latin name: Aurora
EPIMETHEUS: short-sighted brother of PROMETHEUS. He started all
the trouble for men by accepting Zeus's gift of Pandora, the first
woman
EREBOS: 'the dark place', part of (or all of) the underworld
EROS: sexual love. In early Greek an awesome powerful force but
later more playful equivalent to Roman Cupid
FURIES: Greek Erinues. Terrifying spirits of retribution, particularly
interested in punishing crimes against the family
GAIA, or GE: the goddess Earth. Her husband was OURANOS, Heaven,
but she was quite capable of producing children without assistance
from a male; in fact she produced OURANOS
GORGONS: see Perseus
HADES: a great god, brother of Zeus and king of the underworld.
His wife is PERSEPHONE, whom he kidnapped from her mother DEMETER.
Latin names: Dis, Pluto
HEBE: goddess of youth, wife of the deified Heracles
HELICON: largest mountain in Boeotia, in Greece. Home of the MUSES
HELIOS: the sun
HEPHAISTOS: the lame blacksmith god, patron of handcrafts and one
of the few Olympian gods who are consistently benevolent. Latin name: Vulcan
HERA: the wife and sister of ZEUS Queen of the Olympian gods. Patron
of marriage and the family and the city of Argos, enemy of Heracles. Latin name: Juno
HERACLES: a hero famous for his strength. He performed twelve celebrated
labours and slew in the process many a monster. He was perhaps,
originally, a real man but by Hesiod's time had been diefied. Latin
name: Hercules
HERMES: the gods' messenger guide of souls to the underworld, patron
of liars, thieves and merchants. Latin name: Mercury
IRIS: the rainbow, a swift messenger of the gods
KRONOS: son of Ouranos and Gaia, father of Zeus. He castrated and
dethroned his father and was in turn overthrown by his son. He is
often called 'clever' or 'crooked'.
LETO: mother of Apollo and Artemis by Zeus
LIMPING GOD: Hephaistos
MEDUSA: see PERSEUS
MNEMOSYNE: Memory, mother of the nine Muses
MUSES: goddesses of song and poetry. Their individuals functions
had not yet been established in Hesiod`s day.
NECTAR: drink of the gods
NEMESIS: spirit of divine retribution
NOTOS: the south wind
OCEANUS: the river that encircles the earth. A prolific parent
he fathered the rivers and innumerable Oceanids (water nymphs)
OLYMPUS: a high mountain in Thessaly where the gods were originally
believed to live. By Hesiod's day the name had become rather hazily
connected with the sky, an equivalent to heaven.
PANDORA: 'all gifts', An artificial woman sent to punish mankind
for Prometheus theft of fire.
PERSEPHONE: queen of the underworld (see HADES) but also Demeter's
daughter and a goddess of springtime and fertility. Latin name: Prosperina
PERSES: Hesiod`s no-good brother to whom `Works and Days` is addressed
PERSEUS: a hero, son of Zeus and Danae. Sent by wicked king Polydektes
to collect the head of Medusa the Gorgon.
PLOUTOS: the god of money
POSEIDON: god of earthequakes, horses and the sea. A powerful god,
brother of Zeus. Latin name: Neptune
PROMETHEUS: a god, friend and patron of mankind, who stole fire for
men and taught them how to cheat the gods in sacrificing and was
punished by Zeus
RHEA: wife of Kronos, mother of several important gods including Zeus
SELENE: the moon
TARTARUS: lowest part of the underworld, the underworld itself
TITANS: the children of Ouranos and Gaia, or any of the older race of gods
who were challenged by the Olympians and defeated. They are now in Tartarus.
THEMIS: the personification of Law or Right, a goddess who married
Zeus and bore the Hours and the Fates
ZEPHYRUS: the gentle west wind
ZEUS: king of the Olympian gods, `father of gods and men`, bearer of the Aegis,
counsellor, thunderer, god of suppliants and guests, son of Kronos,
husband and brother of Hera, lover of many, whose name probably
means `bright sky`. Latin name: Jupiter
is presented in alphabetical order as found in the Glossary
pages of the Penguin Classic paperback edition of "Hesiod
and Theognis" (translated by Dorothea Wender)
AEGIS: a magic cloth or shield, carried by Zeus or Athene.
Perhaps it is a goatskin. If shaken, it puts panic into
the hearts of men
AIDONEUS: another name for HADES
AMBROSIA: food of the gods, it preserves their immortality
APHRODITE: the great goddess of love. Also called Cytherea,
Cyprogenes, Cypris, the Cyprian. Latin name: Venus
APOLLO: often called PHOEBUS (shining) APOLLO, he who shoots
from far off. The archer god, patron of prophecy, music and
medicine. Later associated with the sun.
ARES: god of war, not admired by Homer or Hesiod. Husband or
lover of APHRODITE, Latin name: Mars
ARTEMIS: sister of APOLLO, virgin goddess of wild animals and
hunting; also sometimes of childbirth and fertility, and sudden
painless death. Latin name: Diana
ATHENE: virgin goddess of crafts, civilisation and cleverness.
Personal patron of the hero Odysseus and the city of Athens.
Latin name: Minerva
ATLAS: Titan son of Iapetos who holds up the sky on his shoulders
BOREAS: the north wind
CYPRIAN, Cyprogenes, Cytherea: epithets of APHRODITE
DEMTER: goddess of grain and the earth's fertility, mother of
Persephone. Latin name: Ceres
DIONYSUS: god of wine, dance, theatre and uninhibited religious
enthusiam. Latin names: Bacchus, Liber
EOS: the dawn. Latin name: Aurora
EPIMETHEUS: short-sighted brother of PROMETHEUS. He started all
the trouble for men by accepting Zeus's gift of Pandora, the first
woman
EREBOS: 'the dark place', part of (or all of) the underworld
EROS: sexual love. In early Greek an awesome powerful force but
later more playful equivalent to Roman Cupid
FURIES: Greek Erinues. Terrifying spirits of retribution, particularly
interested in punishing crimes against the family
GAIA, or GE: the goddess Earth. Her husband was OURANOS, Heaven,
but she was quite capable of producing children without assistance
from a male; in fact she produced OURANOS
GORGONS: see Perseus
HADES: a great god, brother of Zeus and king of the underworld.
His wife is PERSEPHONE, whom he kidnapped from her mother DEMETER.
Latin names: Dis, Pluto
HEBE: goddess of youth, wife of the deified Heracles
HELICON: largest mountain in Boeotia, in Greece. Home of the MUSES
HELIOS: the sun
HEPHAISTOS: the lame blacksmith god, patron of handcrafts and one
of the few Olympian gods who are consistently benevolent. Latin name: Vulcan
HERA: the wife and sister of ZEUS Queen of the Olympian gods. Patron
of marriage and the family and the city of Argos, enemy of Heracles. Latin name: Juno
HERACLES: a hero famous for his strength. He performed twelve celebrated
labours and slew in the process many a monster. He was perhaps,
originally, a real man but by Hesiod's time had been diefied. Latin
name: Hercules
HERMES: the gods' messenger guide of souls to the underworld, patron
of liars, thieves and merchants. Latin name: Mercury
IRIS: the rainbow, a swift messenger of the gods
KRONOS: son of Ouranos and Gaia, father of Zeus. He castrated and
dethroned his father and was in turn overthrown by his son. He is
often called 'clever' or 'crooked'.
LETO: mother of Apollo and Artemis by Zeus
LIMPING GOD: Hephaistos
MEDUSA: see PERSEUS
MNEMOSYNE: Memory, mother of the nine Muses
MUSES: goddesses of song and poetry. Their individuals functions
had not yet been established in Hesiod`s day.
NECTAR: drink of the gods
NEMESIS: spirit of divine retribution
NOTOS: the south wind
OCEANUS: the river that encircles the earth. A prolific parent
he fathered the rivers and innumerable Oceanids (water nymphs)
OLYMPUS: a high mountain in Thessaly where the gods were originally
believed to live. By Hesiod's day the name had become rather hazily
connected with the sky, an equivalent to heaven.
PANDORA: 'all gifts', An artificial woman sent to punish mankind
for Prometheus theft of fire.
PERSEPHONE: queen of the underworld (see HADES) but also Demeter's
daughter and a goddess of springtime and fertility. Latin name: Prosperina
PERSES: Hesiod`s no-good brother to whom `Works and Days` is addressed
PERSEUS: a hero, son of Zeus and Danae. Sent by wicked king Polydektes
to collect the head of Medusa the Gorgon.
PLOUTOS: the god of money
POSEIDON: god of earthequakes, horses and the sea. A powerful god,
brother of Zeus. Latin name: Neptune
PROMETHEUS: a god, friend and patron of mankind, who stole fire for
men and taught them how to cheat the gods in sacrificing and was
punished by Zeus
RHEA: wife of Kronos, mother of several important gods including Zeus
SELENE: the moon
TARTARUS: lowest part of the underworld, the underworld itself
TITANS: the children of Ouranos and Gaia, or any of the older race of gods
who were challenged by the Olympians and defeated. They are now in Tartarus.
THEMIS: the personification of Law or Right, a goddess who married
Zeus and bore the Hours and the Fates
ZEPHYRUS: the gentle west wind
ZEUS: king of the Olympian gods, `father of gods and men`, bearer of the Aegis,
counsellor, thunderer, god of suppliants and guests, son of Kronos,
husband and brother of Hera, lover of many, whose name probably
means `bright sky`. Latin name: Jupiter
