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The Olympians

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Twelve Olympians. Major deities of the Greek pantheon Fragment of a Hellenisticrelief (1st century BC–1st century AD) depicting the twelve Olympians carrying their attributes in procession; from left to right, Hestia (scepter), Hermes (winged cap and staff), Aphrodite (veiled), Ares (helmet and spear), Demeter (scepter and wheat sheaf), Hephaestus (staff), Hera (scepter), Poseidon (trident), Athena (owl and helmet), Zeus (thunderbolt and staff), Artemis (bow and quiver), Apollo (lyre), from the Walters Art Museum.[1] Although Hades was a major ancient Greek god, and was the brother of the first generation of Olympians (Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia), his realm was the underworld, far from Olympus, and thus was not usually considered to be one of the Olympians. Besides the twelve Olympians, there were many other cultic groupings of twelve gods. Olympians[edit] Twelve gods[edit] List[edit] There is no single canonical list of the twelve Olympian gods.

Genealogy[edit] See also[edit] Notes[edit] The Olympians. The Olympians is an opera in three acts by Arthur Bliss to a libretto by J. B. Priestley, first performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on 29 September 1949, conducted by Karl Rankl in a production by Peter Brook.[1] After the initial run the next performance was in concert on 21 February 1972 at the Royal Festival Hall, London, conducted by Bryan Fairfax, which was also broadcast by BBC radio.

Background[edit] Bliss and Priestley had first met at a music party in the late 1920s. In 1972 Priestley reflected that to describe the first night as under-rehearsed was one of the "understatements of the last half-century". In a letter to Bliss (quoted in As I Remember), E.J. Roles[edit] Synopsis[edit] Legend has it that when men ceased to believe in the Gods of Olympus, some of the gods became a group of strolling players, walking through Europe over the centuries. Time: 1836, at midsummer Setting: Berasson, a small town in the south of France Act 1[edit] Act 2[edit] Act 3[edit] APHRODITE. Aphrodite ( Because of her beauty, other gods feared that their rivalry over her would interrupt the peace among them and lead to war, so Zeus married her to Hephaestus, who, because of his ugliness and deformity, was not seen as a threat. Aphrodite had many lovers—both gods, such as Ares, and men, such as Anchises. She played a role in the Eros and Psyche legend, and later was both Adonis's lover and his surrogate mother.

Many lesser beings were said to be children of Aphrodite. Aphrodite had many other names, such as Acidalia, Cytherea, and Cerigo, each used by a different local cult of the goddess in Greece. The Greeks recognized all of these names as referring to the single goddess Aphrodite, despite the slight differences in what these local cults believed the goddess demanded of them. Etymology A number of folk etymologies have been proposed through the ages. A number of improbable non-Greek etymologies have been suggested in scholarship. Mythology Birth Adulthood Adonis Other myths.

APHRODITE

APOLLO. Apollo (Attic, Ionic, and Homeric Greek: Ἀπόλλων, Apollōn (GEN Ἀπόλλωνος); Doric: Ἀπέλλων, Apellōn; Arcadocypriot: Ἀπείλων, Apeilōn; Aeolic: Ἄπλουν, Aploun; Latin: Apollō) is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in classical Greek and Roman religion and Greek and Roman mythology. The ideal of the kouros (a beardless, athletic youth), Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of light and the sun, truth and prophecy, healing, plague, music, poetry, and more. Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto, and has a twin sister, the chaste huntress Artemis. Apollo is known in Greek-influenced Etruscan mythology as Apulu.

Etymology Tetradrachm from the Illyro-Paeonian region, representing Apollo The etymology of Apollo is uncertain. Several instances of popular etymology are attested from ancient authors. A Luwian etymology suggested for Apaliunas makes Apollo "The One of Entrapment", perhaps in the sense of "Hunter".[11] Greco-Roman epithets.

APOLLO

ARES. ARTEMIS. In the classical period of Greek mythology, Artemis (Ancient Greek: Ἄρτεμις) was often described as the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. She was the Hellenic goddess of the hunt, wild animals, wilderness, childbirth, virginity and protector of young girls, bringing and relieving disease in women; she often was depicted as a huntress carrying a bow and arrows.[6] The deer and the cypress were sacred to her. In later Hellenistic times, she even assumed the ancient role of Eileithyia in aiding childbirth. Etymology Didrachm from Ephesus, Ionia, representing the goddess Artemis Silver tetradrachm of the Indo-Greek king Artemidoros (whose name means "gift of Artemis"), c. 85 BCE, featuring Artemis with a drawn bow and a quiver on her back on the reverse of the coin Artemis in mythology Leto bore Apollon and Artemis, delighting in arrows, Both of lovely shape like none of the heavenly gods, As she joined in love to the Aegis-bearing ruler.

Birth Childhood Intimacy Actaeon.

ARTEMIS

ATHENA. In Greek religion and mythology, Athena or Athene (/əˈθiːnə/ or /əˈθiːniː/; Attic: Ἀθηνᾶ, Athēnā or Ἀθηναία, Athēnaia; Epic: Ἀθηναίη, Athēnaiē; Ionic: Ἀθήνη, Athēnē; Doric: Ἀθάνα, Athānā), also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene (/ˈpæləs/; Παλλὰς Ἀθηνᾶ; Παλλὰς Ἀθήνη), is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, just warfare, mathematics, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, and skill.

Minerva is the Roman goddess identified with Athena.[3] Athena is portrayed as a shrewd companion of heroes and is the patron goddess of heroic endeavour. She is the virgin patroness of Athens. The Athenians founded the Parthenon on the Acropolis of her namesake city, Athens (Athena Parthenos), in her honour.[3] Athena's veneration as the patron of Athens seems to have existed from the earliest times, and was so persistent that archaic myths about her were recast to adapt to cultural changes. Origin traditions[edit] Patroness[edit] Mythology[edit] Birth[edit]

ATHENA

DEMETER. In ancient Greek religion and myth, Demeter (/diˈmiːtər/; Attic: Δημήτηρ Dēmḗtēr; Doric: Δαμάτηρ Dāmā́tēr) is the goddess of the harvest, who presided over grains and the fertility of the earth. Her cult titles include Sito (Σιτώ), "she of the Grain",[1] as the giver of food or grain[2] and Thesmophoros (θεσμός, thesmos: divine order, unwritten law; "phoros": bringer, bearer), "Law-Bringer," as a mark of the civilized existence of agricultural society.[3] Etymology[edit] Demeter's character as mother-goddess is identified in the second element of her name meter (μήτηρ) derived from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr (mother).[11] In antiquity, different explanations were already proffered for the first element of her name.

An alternative, Proto-Indo-European etymology comes through Potnia and Despoina; where Des- represents a derivative of PIE *dem (house, dome), and Demeter is "mother of the house" (from PIE *dems-méh₂tēr).[20] Agricultural deity[edit] Festivals and cults[edit] Myths[edit]

DEMETER

DIONYSUS. The earliest cult images of Dionysus show a mature male, bearded and robed. He holds a fennel staff, tipped with a pine-cone and known as a thyrsus. Later images show him as a beardless, sensuous, naked or half-naked androgynous youth: the literature describes him as womanly or "man-womanish".[10] In its fully developed form, his central cult imagery shows his triumphant, disorderly arrival or return, as if from some place beyond the borders of the known and civilized. His procession (thiasus) is made up of wild female followers (maenads) and bearded satyrs with erect penises.

Some are armed with the thyrsus, some dance or play music. The god himself is drawn in a chariot, usually by exotic beasts such as lions or tigers, and is sometimes attended by a bearded, drunken Silenus. This procession is presumed to be the cult model for the human followers of his Dionysian Mysteries. In his Thracian mysteries, he wears the bassaris or fox-skin, symbolizing a new life. Names Etymology Epithets.

DIONYSUS

Greek Gods. OTHER GODS. The most enduring of H.P. Lovecraft's literary characters, Cthulhu first appeared in Weird Tales in 1928. Great Old Ones[edit] An ongoing theme in Lovecraft's work is the complete irrelevance of mankind in the face of the cosmic horrors that apparently exist in the universe, with Lovecraft constantly referring to the "Great Old Ones": a loose pantheon of ancient, powerful deities from space who once ruled the Earth and who have since fallen into a deathlike sleep.[3] Lovecraft named several of these deities, including Azathoth, Cthulhu, Ghatanothoa, Shub-Niggurath, Yog-Sothoth, Nyarlathotep and Yig. With a few exceptions, Cthulhu, Ghatanothoa, et al, this loose pantheon apparently exists 'outside' of normal space-time. Table of Great Old Ones[edit] This table is organized as follows: In Joseph S. Outer Gods[edit] The Outer Gods are ruled by Azathoth, the "Blind Idiot God", who holds court at the center of the universe.

List of Outer Gods[edit] Abhoth[edit] See Clark Ashton Smith deities. Hades. Names and epithets As with almost every name for the gods, the origin of Hades's name is obscure. The name as it came to be known in classical times was Ἅιδης, Hāidēs. Later the iota became silent.[3] Originally it was *Awides which has been claimed to mean "unseen".[4] This changed into Ἀΐδης, Aïdēs (and afterwards Āïdēs), with the dropping of the digamma. This Ionic and epic form of the name is the one used in epic poetry.[5] Poetic variants of the name include Ἀϊδωνεύς, Aïdōneus, and *Ἄϊς, Aïs (a nominative by conjecture), from which the derived forms Ἄϊδος, Āïdos, Ἄϊδι, Āïdi, and Ἄϊδα, Āïda, (gen., dat. and acc., respectively) are words commonly seen in poetry.[7] Epithets of Hades include Agesander (Άγήσανδρος) and Agesilaos (Άγεσίλαος),[10] both from agein (ἆγειν, "fetch" or "carry") and anēr (ἀνήρ, "man") or laos (λαός, "men" or "people"), describing Hades as the god who carries away all.[11][12][13][14] Nicander uses the form Hegesilaus (Ἡγεσίλαος).[15] God of the underworld Cult.

Hades

HEPHAESTUS. As a smithing god, Hephaestus made all the weapons of the gods in Olympus. He served as the blacksmith of the gods, and was worshipped in the manufacturing and industrial centers of Greece, particularly Athens. The cult of Hephaestus was based in Lemnos.[2] Hephaestus' symbols are a smith's hammer, anvil, and a pair of tongs. Etymology[edit] Hephaestus, is probably associated with the Linear B (Mycenean Greek) inscription 𐀀𐀞𐀂𐀴𐀍, A-pa-i-ti-jo, found at Knossos; the inscription indirectly attests his worship at that time because it is believed that it reads the theophoric name Haphaistios or Haphaistion.[3][4][5] The name of the god in Greek (Hēphaistos), has a root which can be observed in names of places, of Pre-Greek origin.[6] Epithets[edit] Hephaestus is given many epithets.

Mythology[edit] The craft of Hephaestus[edit] Parentage[edit] Fall from Olympus[edit] In another account, Hephaestus, attempting to rescue his mother from Zeus' advances, was flung down from the heavens by Zeus.

HEPHAESTUS

HERA. Portrayed as majestic and solemn, often enthroned, and crowned with the polos (a high cylindrical crown worn by several of the Great Goddesses), Hera may bear a pomegranate in her hand, emblem of fertile blood and death and a substitute for the narcotic capsule of the opium poppy.[2] A scholar of Greek mythology Walter Burkert writes in Greek Religion, "Nevertheless, there are memories of an earlier aniconic representation, as a pillar in Argos and as a plank in Samos. "[3] Etymology[edit] The cult of Hera[edit] Hera may have been the first to whom the Greeks dedicated an enclosed roofed temple sanctuary, at Samos about 800 BC.

We know that the temple created by the Rhoecus sculptors and architects was destroyed between 570- 60 BC. In Euboea the festival of the Great Daedala, sacred to Hera, was celebrated on a sixty-year cycle. Hera's early importance[edit] According to Walter Burkert, both Hera and Demeter have many characteristic attributes of pre-Greek Great Goddesses.[15] Epithets[edit]

HERA

HERMES. Hermes is the divine messenger of the Olympian gods in Greek mythologyHermes Trismegistus ("Hermes the thrice-greatest"), the Greek name for the Egyptian god Thoth Hermes can also refer to: Hermès, a Paris-based, high-fashion luxury-goods manufacturerHermes cover, a German export credit-guarantee schemeEFG-Hermes Holding Company, an Egyptian financial groupHermes Abrasives, a German-based abrasive manufacturer HERMES may mean: HERMES experiment, a fixed target experiment at HERAHERMES method, a general project management method developed by the Swiss governmentHERMES Project, or the Hotspot Ecosystems Research on the Margins of European Seas.

HERMES

Information technology. Information technology (IT) is the application of computers and telecommunications equipment to store, retrieve, transmit and manipulate data,[1] often in the context of a business or other enterprise.[2] The term is commonly used as a synonym for computers and computer networks, but it also encompasses other information distribution technologies such as television and telephones. Several industries are associated with information technology, including computer hardware, software, electronics, semiconductors, internet, telecom equipment, e-commerce and computer services.[3][a] Humans have been storing, retrieving, manipulating and communicating information since the Sumerians in Mesopotamia developed writing in about 3000 BC,[5] but the term information technology in its modern sense first appeared in a 1958 article published in the Harvard Business Review; authors Harold J.

Leavitt and Thomas L. History of computer technology[edit] Data storage[edit] Databases[edit] Data retrieval[edit]

OTHER GODS

POSEIDON. There is a Homeric hymn to Poseidon, who was the protector of many Hellenic cities, although he lost the contest for Athens to Athena. According to the references from Plato in his dialogue Timaeus and Critias, the island of Atlantis was the chosen domain of Poseidon.[4][5][6][7] Etymology The earliest attested occurrence of the name, written in Linear B, is 𐀡𐀮𐀆𐀃 Po-se-da-o or 𐀡𐀮𐀆𐀺𐀚 Po-se-da-wo-ne, which correspond to Poseidaōn and Poseidawonos in Mycenean Greek; in Homeric Greek it appears as Ποσειδάων (Poseidaōn); in Aeolic as Ποτειδάων (Poteidaōn); and in Doric as Ποτειδάν (Poteidan), Ποτειδάων (Poteidaōn), and Ποτειδᾶς (Poteidas).[8] A common epithet of Poseidon is Γαιήοχος Gaiēochos, "Earth-shaker," an epithet which is also identified in Linear B tablets.

Another attested word 𐀁𐀚𐀯𐀅𐀃𐀚, E-ne-si-da-o-ne,[9][10] recalls his later epithets Ennosidas and Ennosigaios indicating the chthonic nature of Poseidon.[11] The origins of the name "Poseidon" are unclear. Birth.

POSEIDON

The Olympians. The Gods Home. Zeus. Zeus.