The Gods of Mount Olympus

The Council of the Godsby Peter Paul Rubens (1625)

Greek God Family Tree

Zeus and Hera,King and Queen of the Gods

Poseidon, God of the Sea

Hades, God of the Underworld

Demeter, Goddess of the Harvest

Hestia, aka. Vesta

• Goddess of the hearth and home

• Goddess of the right ordering of domesticity and the family

• Received the first offering at every sacrifice in the household

Titans: Atlas and Prometheus

• The Titan brothers Atlas and Prometheus undergo their torments.

• Atlas, hounded by the Hesperian serpent, holds the rock of heaven upon his shoulders.

• Prometheus, tied to a post, has his heart pecked out by the eagle.

Prometheus and the Eagleby Pieter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)

The Birth of Aphrodite by Sandro Botticelli The wind gods Boreas and Zephyrus waft the goddess to shore

where she is clothed by one of the Seasons.

Mars and Venusby Sandro Botticelli

Ares, the God of War

• A son of Zeus and Hera, Ares (aka. Mars) always carried a spear, ready for battle.

• He had an affair with his brother Hephaestus’s wife, Aphrodite.

• He was father to the Amazon women.

Mercury Instructing Cupid in the Presence of Venus by Correggio

Venus de Milo

• According to myth, Venus guided a man to find the island and since then, she has been the protector of the island of Milos.

• The artist, Alexandros of Antioch, created the statue in adoration and thanksgiving to the goddess of love.

Birth of Athena from Zeus’s Head

Minerva, aka. Athena

• Minerva was the goddess of wisdom, war, art, schools, handicrafts, and commerce.

• She was the Roman counterpart to the Greek Athena.

Athena on the State Seal of California

Apollo, God of Sun, Light, and Truth

Apollo Helios with his Sun Chariot

The Greek Ideal

• Apollo was also the twin brother of Artemis; the patron god of archery, music, medicine, healing, prophecy, and truth; and the protector of law and defender of the social order.

Insignia of the Apollo 13 Lunar Landing Mission

• Represented in the emblem is Apollo, the sun god, symbolizing how the NASA Apollo flights have extended the light of knowledge to all mankind.

• The Latin phrase “Ex Luna, Scientia” means “From the Moon, Knowledge.”

Artemis of Versailles

• Artemis, the goddess of the moon and hunt, was almost always portrayed as a huntress: with bow, arrows, hunting dogs, and sometimes wild game.

An Ancient Mixing Bowl

• Artemis shooting an arrow at Actaeon who has fallen to the ground, attacked by his own hunting dogs.

• Actaeon was a hunter, and the goddess of the hunt killed him by turning him into a stag, so that his own dogs tore him to pieces.

Hermes, the Messenger of the Gods

• Hermes is also the patron god of travelers, shepherds, thieves, orators, literature and poets, athletics, weights and measures, invention, and of general commerce.

• His symbols include the tortoise, the rooster, the winged sandals, and the caduceus.

• The analogous Roman deity is Mercury.

Hermes above Grand Central Stationin New York City

Primavera by Sandro Botticelli• The three Graces dance as

Mercury stands nearby.• Mercury may be identified

by his winged shoes and the staff in his raised hand, the so-called caduceus, around which two snakes are winding themselves.

• Mercury used his staff to separate two fighting snakes, upon which the staff became the symbol of peace.

Dionysus, the Greek God of Wineby Caravaggio

Bacchus and Ariadne by Titian

The Muses of Urania and Calliopeby Simon Vouet

• The two female figures seated on the ground are Urania and Calliope, two of the nine muses, goddesses who bestowed creative inspiration on practitioners in the arts and sciences.

• Urania, muse of astronomy, is identified by her diadem of six stars and a celestial globe.

• The second figure has a book in her lap inscribed "Odiss," Homer's Odyssey, which distinguishes her as Calliope, muse of epic poetry.

Pan, God of Shepherds and the Countryside,Player of the Pan Pipe

Heracles (aka. Hercules) fighting the Hydraby Antonio del Pollaiuolo (1429-1498)

Theseus Slays the Minotaur

Bellerophon Fights the Chimaeraby Bernard Picart (1731)

Pegasus, the Winged Horse

The Chimaera: part lion, part, goat, and part serpent or dragon

Perseus, Slayer of Medusa• After he killed Medusa,

one of the three Gorgon, using the polished Zeus' shield, Perseus gave the head of the monster to the goddess Athena.

• The Medusa's head was set into the shield and with that new weapon, Perseus could defeat a monstrous sea serpent and free the beloved Andromeda.

The Head of Medusa on Athena’s Shield

Perseus Releases Andromedaby Joachim Wiewael (1630)

Midas Daughter Turned to Goldby Walter Crane

Landscape with the Fall of Icarusby Hans Bol

The Lament for Icarusby Herbert Draper, 1898

Orpheus and Eurydice

Cupid and Psyche (Heart and Soul)

Psyche and Riverboat Guide Charon, Crossing the River Styx

Narcissus Falls in Love with His Reflection

A Modern Narcissus

Oedipus and the Sphinx

Juno Discovering Jupiter with Ioby Pieter Lastman (1618)

Leda and the Swan (Zeus)

The Judgment of Paris by Peter Paul Rubens (1636)

The Abduction of Helen by Paris

Achilles in Hiding with the Ladies

Thetis Receives Achilles’ New Armor from Hephaestusby Anton van Dyck

An Ancient Water Jar (Hydria)

• A dramatic scene of Achilles dragging the body of Hector behind his chariot.

The Cyclops

Ulysses Deriding Polyphemusby J. M. W. Turner