Greek Gods and Goddesses
Aphrodite
Goddess of love, lust, seduction, and beauty. Married to Hephaestus but she had many lovers, including Ares. She is usually depicted as a beautiful woman in sensual settings, often accompanied by Eros, her son. Symbols: dove, apple, myrtle wreath, and scallop shell.
Apollo
The god of music, healing, prophecies, poetry, and archery, Apollo is associated pictorally and literally with light, truth, flight, and the sun. He is Artemis' twin brother and a son of Zeus. He is a handsome and young god. Symbols: laurel wreath, bow and quiver, lyre, and the raven.
Ares
The god of war and violence, often associated with courage. He is the son of Zeus and Hera, portrayed as a bearded warrior donning armor and the arms of war, or a nude and beardless young man with a shield and spear. Ares can be recognized by his golden armor and a bronze-tipped spear. Symbols: Eagle owl, vulture, and snake.
Artemis
Goddess of hunting, the wild, animals, childbirth and the plague. Daughter of Zeus, twin sister of Apollo. In art she can be recognized as a young woman in a short chiton with a hunting bow and arrows. Symbols: the moon, hunting spears, animal pelts, and the deer.
Athena
The goddess of wisdom, warfare, strategy, heroism, and reason. Athena was born from Zeus's head fully armed and matured. In art she appears with shield and spear, wearing an aegis cloak trimmed with snake skin and ornamented with the Gorgon's head. Symbols: the aegis, the owl, and the olive tree.
Demeter
Goddess of fertility , agriculture, horticulture, grain, and harvest. She is the sister of Zeus, with whom she had Persephone, and the daughter of Kronos and Rhea. She is usually depicted holding or amongst wheat sheafs, holding a torch, crowned and mature. Symbols: cornuccopia, wheat, winged serpent, and lotus staff.
Dionysus
God of wine, drunkenness, parties and pleasure. He is usually depicted reclining with a drinking cup and a crown of ivy, either older and bearded or younger and effeminate. Symbols: grapes, wine, ivy, pinecone-tipped staff (thyrsus), drinking cup.
Eros
God of love, sex, desire, and pleasure; Aphrodite and Ares' son. Often depicted with wings and arrows, cupid-like, next to his mother. Symbols: Bow, arrow, candles, hearts, wings, and kisses.
Hades
King of the underworld and god of death and the dead. Although he is the brother of Zeus, Hades is not often listed among the Olympic gods because he resides in the underworld instead of Mount Olympus. Symbols: three-headed dog (Cerberus).
Hephaestus
Husband of Aphrodite, depicted riding a donkey and holding a metal smith's tools—hammer and tongs. Symbols: tongs, hammer, and anvil.
Hera
Hera is the queen of heaven, goddess of marriage, women, childbirth, heirs, empires, and kings. She is depicted magestically as a beautiful woman wearing a crown and holding a royal, lotus-tipped staff. Symbols: peacock, cuckoo, and pomegranate.
Hermes
God of travel, messengers, trade, cunning and cleverness, language, writing, athletics, diplomacy, and animal husbandry. He is the messenger of the gods, depicted young and athletic wearing winged sandals with a herald's wand and a traveler's cap. Son of Zeus. Symbols: winged sandals and herald's wand.
Hestia
The goddess of the earth, home, and cooking. Sister of Zeus, Hestia is depicted modestly as a veiled woman or tending the heart and fire. Sometimes she is not considered one of the Olympians because some accounts report her to have given up the Olympic seat to tend the sacred flame on Mount Olympus for Dionysus.
Poseidon
God of the sea, rivers, floods, droughts, earthquakes and horses; son of Kronos and brother of Zeus and Hades. Classically, Poseidon is shown as an older man with a dark beard and strong build holding a trident. Symbols: trident, dolphins, and horses.
Zeus
Zeus is the king of thd gods and the ruler of Mount Olympus and the sky, as well as thunder, law, and fate. Youngest son of Kronos and Rhea, and the brother and husband to Hera. He, too, is depicted magestically as a mature and sturdy man with a dark beard. Symbols: thunderbolt, sceptre, and eagle.