Basic Roles of The Olympians

Zeus, you might say, had the JOB of basically screwing all the women - but that's a little RUDE of me to say......however, he did have sex with MANY MANY females, both deity and human
(and also, at least one inanimate OBJECT that Hera 'animated' to trick Zeus *shaking my head* Ahhhh those deities and their games!). I like to say that he is the God of ADULTERY!

*Note - sorry 'bout the terminology - 'screwing' - but face it, your sensibilities WILL BE DISTURBED if you don't understand RIGHT NOW that the Greek Gods did a LOT of things that seem 'far-out- there' to us now-a-days. (Be THANKFUL I favour the Greek Gods on this blog - over 18th Century British Literature - or you'd be more than 'screwed'!). If you can deal with the fact that I started this post with that BLUNT term, you'll be okay once I get to the myths where 'fertility celebrations' are commonplace.

Now - back to what ROLES the deities played in the grand scheme of things.

Zeus is the 'father' of both deities and of men.

Hera - is Zeus' sister AND Wife. She presides over matters
involving families.

Poseidon is ruler of the seas.

Hestia - the 'hearth-keeper', fire-watcher (domestic).

Demeter - sister to Zeus, in charge of fertility on earth.

Hades - ruler of the great Underworld which is usually also
called 'Hades.'

Hephaestus (there's a glitch here - Hephaestus is Hera's son but
not Zeus' son...but Hera did not commit adultery. Hephaestus
was born from Hera alone).....he is the eternal craftsman, brings
inspiration to metal-workers and 'smiths.'

Ares holds sway over WAR.

Athena governs practicality, operates in the realm of women's
skills, and is even involved in the 'Arts of War.'

Apollo is often called by an alternate name, Phoebus, and is the
god of healing and prophecy. (Very COMPLEX dude, as far as
God-dudes go!).

Artemis - the Huntress, guardian over wild animals.

Hermes - The Trickster and god of wide open spaces - the
traveller god, master of COMMERCE........also, conveniently,
master of lies and deception.

Well, well....that's TWELVE so far...
That's not the end though!

Aphrodite - goddess of sexual love, sexual attraction.

Dionysus - god of wine, instinct, life force (fertility, sometimes,
'zest for living' other times).

Okay - so again we have extras. But they're important.

It is highly probably that Dionysus was a 'lesser' personality for a long time while most of the aforementioned deities grew in popularity...until such a time as he displaced Hestia and filled
her 'greater' Olympian role.

A decline in the popularity of Hestia seems apparent by the lower count of myth-stories that revolve around her, as compared with other Olympians. Likely, the other goddesses represented 'enough' domesticity and femininity at a certain early time - and Hestia's need to represent these things became less pronounced.

Actually a 'decline in popularity' might be a dishonorable thing to say about the goddess, Hestia...rather, her 'persona' may have been stunted somewhere along the line while other female deities were allowed to blossom in 'personality' and grow more complex. Hestia isn't really LESS IMPORTANT, in the grand design - it's just that SOMETHING HAPPENED in Greek society and in the formations of myth...to include her less and so that her character didn't become more intricately wrapped about the other deities.

There are certainly some interesting details about Hestia in numerous mythological accounts - and she is still considered one of the more benevolent 'true domestic' goddesses.

Maybe, like a lot of women in ancient times, she just faded into the background as Heroes emerged to take the spotlight, as children grew up and displayed antics and had children of their own.....

And that is why I've dedicated several paragraphs to mentioning Hestia's presence among the Olympians while saying only a few words about some of the other deities.....it's because Hestia will basically 'fade away' as I continue this blog. I will re-visit her 'persona' from time to time, however, other personalities and 'events' will simply emerge.

Dionysus - that little, WILD, rascal! Out-positioning Hestia...

More later...

The Olympians

(Most??) Prominent Account of Who They Olympians Are:


The Olympians are usually considered as 12 deities, or 'The
Twelve' deities who interacted directly with mankind. Their
parents were not typically known to interact directly in human
affairs, however, the Olympians certainly did, to a startling
degree. Zeus had several sexual liasons with human females,
creating demi-gods/goddesses (half-deity and half-human) who
had mortal lives accompanied by some special, supernatural
'powers.'

The Olympians are 6 main siblings, headed by Zeus in the
dominant 'leader' role. What Zeus says, GOES...whenever Zeus
can clearly make up his mind - and if he doesn't change his mind
too often!

Zeus' SISTERS: Hera, Demeter, Hestia.
Zeus' BROTHERS: Poseidon and Hades.

Altogether, the largely accepted siblings are Zeus, Hera,
Demeter, Hestia, Poseidon, and Hades.

To round out the twelve, six of Hera and Zeus' children are
counted: Apollo and Artemis, Athena (reputed to be Zeus' favorite), Hephaestus (least liked by Zeus), Ares, and Hermes.

What about Aphrodite, you ask? Yeah........ she's in there - but
we already have 12 Olympians. There's no room for more. Mount
Olympus is FULL ALREADY!

Okay - so let's regroup these Olympia-based deities then:

How 'bout......Zeus and Hera, with their kids - or Zeus' kids along
with Hera's kids:

Aphrodite, Dionysus, Athena, Apollo and Artemis, Hephaestus,
Ares, Hermes..........wait a minute.....that's EIGHT kids...

Yeah I know, I know - it's confusing isn't it?

Okay - THE TWELVE OLYMPIANS - final answer:

Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia, Aphrodite, Hades, Apollo and Artemis, Athena, Hephaestus, Ares, Hermes, Dionysus (He is Zeus' son) - there you have it - the most common list of 14 of the TWELVE OLYMPIANS!

Yeah - I know, I know, again...it appears that I cannot count.
All I can say is.....

GET USED TO IT.

Make a choice...pick two deities and toss them OUT for now -
add them back in later when the 'myth' accounts require them!
That's all I can say. I cannot decide WHO of the 14 deities is
TRUE OLYMPIAN....they all are, according to dozens of
mythological renderings. I cannot say which 12 of the 14 are
MOST IMPORTANT.....because they all are.

As a really long strettttttttch of a notion, one may say that
because one of Zeus' daughters was born from his body (from his thigh) without a mother, that 'birth' is considered OUT...and take 1 other of the 12 'births' away because Apollo and Artemis are TWINS so there was only 1 birth experience.....that will get you to 12 instances of Olympians created.

No - this last part (about taking 2 away due to only 12 'birthing'
experiences) is NOT in a text-book - it was an explanation offered
by a peer during READING WEEK at the University when we
were collectively CRAMMING for mid-terms in
Mythology/Classics! As far as explanations go - you'll find that
it makes MORE SENSE than some of the ancient Greek
explanations or compared to instances where no explanations at
all can be found for deities who suddenly pop up where least
expected. Actually - the far-fetched explanation is almost 'Greek/myth' itself because it is INCONSISTENT with the fact that one account of another of Zeus' children, 'birthed' from his body alone tells of a daughter being born from a split in his head.....as if he 'thought her up??' LOL So.......then we can take away another 'birth' that wasn't 'regular' and have only 11 Olympians!

Yeah - I don't like that last bit, either - it's EASIER to just accept
that there are more than Twelve original Olympians, call them
"THE TWELVE" and move along to the GOOD STUFF!

By the way, along with these 12-14 deities, there are also Hebe
("Youth"), Eileithyia, Phobos, Deimos, Harmonia, and Eros
included under this Olympian family tree!

Don't check these latter folk out yet 'cos they're likely to damage
your sensibilities as they come from brother-sister unions,
mother-brother unions...........yeah, it all gets very complicated
FAST!

Actually - if you've read up to this point, you're probably
confused as all heck. This is about enough information for one
sitting!

More on the Olympians next time. I'll post about what the
Olympians were 'in charge of' - example, Zeus plays a leader and
father role, Hera's concerns were for 'the family,' Poseidon ruled
the seas, etc...

Before Delving Into The Olympians

The Greek paradigm of deities is often criticized as having too many contradictions, too many 'versions of story' and other shortcomings. These things are TRUE, however, should not be considered 'shortcomings.' If you think of a little bit of history BEHIND the creation of Greek myth, characters, deities, etc., then the discrepancies in versions of myth, character representation, and other slight confusions will no longer hinder your enjoyment of learning about the Greek pantheon of Gods and Goddesses.

Just as a reminder - histories and hints BEHIND the 'creations' are found in the real lives of the creators who lived so long ago. If they were at a loss to understand certain events happening in their time, they had to start testing out 'explanations' that helped their minds rest more at ease in the face of great amounts of unexplained phenomena.

Likely, ZEUS (with his symbolic THUNDERBOLT) was a partial explanation behind 'why are there storms?' Quite notably, Zeus' personality has an unstable quality - just like the weather often does as it changes from pleasant to stormy. Zeus' moods are unpredictable like the weather - and he has problems with controlling his temper. When Zeus loses his temper (which is often!), he is described in much the same way that we describe stormy weather...violent winds (Zeus darting around, ranting and raving), lightning strikes (Zeus pounding his thunderbolt on the ground in a terrible fit), and howling wind (Zeus yelling and screaming).

Zeus is typically considered the 'Father' of all the Olympian deities, yet he doesn't ACT very responsible. His words are considered 'the final words' yet he often changes his mind about 'final decisions' once they're made. If comparing to 'weather' - Zeus is, again, much like the weather. The present state of weather is indisputable like the 'final words' of Zeus....however, the weather is bound to change - much like Zeus is apt to change his mind about things. If comparing Zeus' personality and characteristics to 'real people,' then Zeus is also very much like a real person. Many Fathers don't always act responsible. Many fathers are authorities in the household, yet will change their mind often about rules of the house.

One of the most notable quirks in Greek myth - is the account of arrival of one of Zeus' daughters. Even Ancient people knew quite a bit about the birds and the bees, reproduction, and other gender or sexual matters, however, one of Zeus' daughters is birthed directly from Zeus - without having a mother! One account says the daughter is born out of Zeus' thigh, which even the ancients would not have truly believed as fact.

The reason why an account of this would be taken in and 'believed' (passed on as an integral part of the story - from generation to generation):

To account for MALE AUTHORITY in Ancient times. The myth isn't designed to explain the gods and goddesses. The myth is created to explain social, power and gender positioning! Therefore - though the account sounds ridiculous - it serves a very important and serious purpose - to have males strive to take responsibility or positions as fathers, to place men at the top of power structures in society and in families, to re-assert MALE DOMINANCE in a society that did, indeed, have women in power positions from time to time. Within the vast pantheon of Greek deities, there are a great number of powerful, respected WOMEN. An account of Zeus birthing a child on his own places the male Zeus in a very mighty position, making a very strong statement about the power of men over children, the existence of men as individuals. (Wife, Hera also birthed a child completely without Zeus, in certain accounts involving the birth of Hephaestus).

These are just bare examples of the discrepancies that occur in Greek myth. To tell the truth, I've become more interested in studying 'discrepancies' than in detailing particular accounts of Greek mythological characters and events. The discrepancies hold great value to me - of explaining what the Ancient Greeks were like, why they decided to alter details of their stories, what characteristics and materials they valued years ago, which qualities they considered human vices, what kind of social positions they valued, etc. I will never be without material to study in this area. I have a long list of 'versions' to compare and of discrepancies to investigate concerning the Greek gods and goddesses. It it likely that I will know much more about the myriad of characters (thousands!) and their notable actions as a whole - well before I ever get even half-way finished my list of research items, simply because Greek myth is inherently FULL OF discrepancies and alterations.

I don't believe that one can go barging into Greek myth WITHOUT understanding the presence of 'discrepancy' in accounts. To stumble in blindly - expecting mostly 'whole' and 'reasonable' accounts of the deities would be akin to blindly expecting to learn Greek language within a day - without first the basics of how English works.

That all said, my next post will outline the Greek 'Olympian' deities and many of their interesting, mis-fitted discrepancies.

tr~~