The family tree of the gods of Olympus

The gods of Mount Olympus, or Olympian gods as they are often called, are a group of gods from Greek mythology who ruled from the top of Mount Olympus after they defeated the Titans. This group of gods typically includes the twelve major gods of the Greek pantheon, including the sons of the Titans Cronus (or Kronus) and Rhea, as well as several of the children fathered by Zeus both in and out of his marriage to the goddess Hera.

The full list of those commonly considered the gods of Olympus is shown in the following table:

Among the deities of Olympus we can find brothers, cousins, uncles, lovers and other family relationships. It is not uncommon for Greek mythology to tell of sons and mothers uniting in marriage and begetting children, who in turn may unite with sisters or brothers, cousins, and all sorts of members of the same family.

However, before judging this from the human perspective and, moreover, from the perspective of current society, we must remember that we are talking about 1) mythological beings that only represent the vision that ancient Greek culture had about the origin of the universe and 2) supernatural deities to which the rules or laws of human beings do not apply.

Hesiod ‘s Theogony

In the first centuries of Greek culture there was no agreement on the genealogy of the Olympic gods; the stories varied depending on the region and the bard telling it. With the invention of the Greek alphabet, things changed. It was not until the eighth century BC that Hesiod established the affiliation between the gods and narrated what is considered the “standard” version of the origin of the universe in his poem Theogony Of Him. It is thanks to Hesiod’s Theogony that we know the information that we present in this article.

Importance of genealogy in Greek mythology

Knowing the genealogy in Greek mythology is not only about better understanding the origin of the myths and legends of ancient Greek culture. The genealogical and family relationships between the Greek gods also provide us with a clue about the concepts that the ancient Greeks had about family, ethics and morality.

Many of these views and conceptions were so widespread in ancient Western civilization that they became part of their way of behaving and seeing the world. In short, studying and understanding the genealogy between the Greek deities opens the door to understand what the ancient Greeks were like. This, in turn, gives us clues about the way of being and acting in the most modern Western societies, at least before globalization.

The ancient primordial deities

To contextualize the genealogy of the gods of Olympus, let’s start at the beginning, that is, at the beginning of the universe according to Greek mythology. This mythology considers that a group of ancient gods or primordial deities existed in the vastness and emptiness of the newly created universe.

The first to exist was Chaos, from whom the other primordial gods descended, who later gave rise to the Titans, who in turn were the parents of the greater gods of Olympus. The primordial deities are:

Chaos: It was the first divinity according to Greek mythology. Chaos (air) created Nix out of nothing at the dawn of the universe’s creation. Nix would be the wife of Chaos.

Nix: Nix was the dark goddess of the night and wife of Chaos. Between Nix and Chaos they created Erebos, the god of darkness.

Erebus: Erebus was the primordial god of darkness. The son of Nix and Chaos, Erebus supplanted his father Chaos by marrying Nix and fathering two children, Ether and Hemera. Erebus is often associated with the underworld, specifically Charon, the ferryman who transports souls to the afterlife.

Aether: Aether was the god of daylight and blue skies. He united with his sister Hémera to beget Eros (god of desire), Tartarus (god of the abyss), Ponto and Gaia, and together they dethroned his parents Erebus and Nix.

Hémera: Sister and wife of Ether, she is the goddess of the day and the mother of Gaia, Eros, Ponto and Tartarus.

Gaia or Gea: Gea is the goddess of mother earth. She is the daughter of the brothers Ether and Hémera, that is, of light and day. Also called Gaia, Gaea created Urano, who later became her husband. Gaia is known as the mother of the Titans, the Cyclops and the Giants, among other mythological creatures.

Uranus: Son and husband of Gaia and who together with her engendered the Titans (among which are the parents of the gods of Olympus), the Cyclops and other creatures of great importance in Greek mythology.

The Titans and the Titanides

We could say that the primordial gods, particularly Gaia and Uranus, were the grandfathers of the gods of Olympus, which is why it is necessary to tell their story to have a complete idea of ​​where these gods came from. Gaia and Uranus spawned many mythological creatures that existed before men came into the world. Among these creatures were the titans and female titans.

The following is a brief list of the six Titans and the six Titans that spawned Gaia and Uranus:

the six titans

Ocean: He was the first of the Titans. He married his sister Thetis and they fathered three thousand Oceanids.

Lapeto: He was also the son of Gaia and Urano. Unlike most of his brothers, he did not marry a Titaness but Clymene or Asia, one of the Oceanids daughters of Oceanus and Tethys. He is the father of Atlas, Prometheus, and Epimetheus.

Hyperion: The titan of the east, whose name means “he who goes before the sun.” He was the brother of Cronos and lord of light. He married his sister Tía with whom he fathered three children, Helio, Selene and Eos.

Ceo: Phoebe’s brother and husband, father of Leto and grandfather of Apollo and Artemis.

Crios: The god of the constellations, consort of Eurybia and father of Astros, Pallas and Perseus.

Cronos: Cronos, god of time, was the youngest son of Gaia and Uranus. He married his sister, the Titaness Rhea to father six of the Olympian gods, specifically Zeus, Demeter, Hestia, Hera, Hades , and Poseidon.

the six titans

Rhea: As mentioned before, Rhea was the wife of Cronos and with him she engendered six Olympic gods.

Thetis: Sister and wife of Ocean, mother of the Oceanids among which is the mother of Athena.

Mnemosyne: This Titaness bore Zeus nine daughters, Zeus’s nine muses. She is the goddess of memory and the inventor of words.

Themis: Titan lover of Zeus, goddess of justice and order.

Aunt: She was the sister and wife of Hyperion, and mother of Helio, Selene and Eos.

Phoebe: Titaness sister and wife of Ceo, mother of Leto and grandmother of Apollo and Artemis.

The gods of Olympus

Now that we have a clear idea of ​​who the ancestors of all the gods and other creatures in Greek mythology were, we can focus on the genealogy of the Olympian gods. These were led by Zeus after the fall of the titans in which Zeus himself had an essential participation.

We will cite each of the gods followed by their respective wife or husband, as well as their sons or daughters who, according to mythology, acquired the status of divinity and ascended Mount Olympus.

Zeus

He was the youngest son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea. He is the king of the Olympian gods and is considered the god of justice and the fate of the universe, as well as the god of lightning. Zeus was the only one of his six brothers to survive the wrath of his father, Cronus, who had gobbled up all of his eldest sons after Gaia prophesied that one of his sons would overthrow him. Rhea hid Zeus from Cronos who, growing up, confronted his father and forced him to vomit out his brothers. Then, Zeus and his brothers defeated the Titans and imprisoned them in the abyss of Tartarus, thus ending the era of monsters and Titans and beginning the era of gods and men.

Zeus married his sister, Hera, with whom he had only three children. The two sons were Ares, the god of war, and Hephaestus, god of smithy and fire, while the couple’s legitimate daughter was Hebe, the goddess of youth (Iuventus in Roman mythology). However, Zeus is famous for his countless infidelities, despite being the husband of the goddess of the family. He is the father of countless illegitimate children with other goddesses, with mortal women, with Oceanids and more. In fact, his favorite daughter was Athena, goddess of wisdom, war and crafts, and daughter of the oceanid Metis.

Hera

The Greek goddess of the family, motherhood, women and marriage and at the same time sister and wife of Zeus. By marrying Zeus she became the queen of Olympus, but she had to suffer the constant infidelities of her husband, as well as the humiliation of enduring her sons and illegitimate daughters among the Olympian deities.

Poseidon

Another of the sons of Cronus and Rhea and therefore brother of Zeus and Hera. He is known as the god of the seas and earthquakes, for which he is nicknamed the “Earth Shaker”. He is famous for disputing Athena for the privilege of being the patron deity of the most important city in Greece, Athens. As a gift to the city, he made a spring of salt water gush forth from his temple, but he still lost to Athena’s invention.

athena

Favorite daughter of Zeus with the Oceanid Metis, she is the goddess of wisdom, crafts and war. She earned Poseidon the right to be the patron deity of Athens by presenting the city with the first olive tree. In addition, she is famous for creating the gorgon Medusa and for helping Perseus to destroy her, after which she received from him the head of the monster that she would later use as an amulet in a gorgoneion . Said gorgoneion became one of the characteristic symbols of Athena.

Ares

One of the legitimate sons of Zeus and also god of war. He represents masculinity and is famous for being the lover of more than thirty mortal women, as well as the goddess Aphrodite, who was the wife of the god Hephaestus. Ares fathered more than 60 children, including Phobos and Demios, the personifications of fear and horror.

Aphrodite

Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, and lust. It is said that Aphrodite comes from the primordial god Uranus and was created when Cronus, son of Uranus, castrated his father and threw his genitals into the ocean, where Aphrodite emerged from the foam of the sea. Aphrodite was the wife of the god Hephaestus, but she was the lover of Ares, to whom she bore several children.

hephaestus

Hephaestus is the god of fire and the forge or blacksmith, and was the husband of Aphrodite, who was unfaithful to him with Ares. He was a specialist in the creation of weapons, among which are said to be the lightning bolts of Zeus himself.

Apollo

It is one of the main deities of Greek mythology. In fact, he is the national divinity of the Greeks, considered, among other things, as the god of archery, music, dance, truth, healing and more. Apollo is the illegitimate son of Zeus by Leto and is the twin brother of the goddess Artemis.

Sagebrush

Daughter of Zeus and Leto and twin sister of the god Apollo. She is considered the goddess of hunting, nature, wild animals, childbirth, the moon, and chastity.

Hermes

Hermes was the herald of the gods of Olympus, which is why he is considered the god of messengers, travelers, merchants, thieves, and orators. He is the son of Zeus with Maia, one of the Pleiades. He was Aphrodite’s lover and her father with her Hermaphrodite; among many more children he also had Pan, god of the jungle, of shepherds and flocks.

Dionysus

He is the god of religious rites, festivities, fertility and wine. He is one of the sons of Zeus with a mortal woman, in this case Selene.

Hestia

She is another of the daughters of Cronus and Rhea and sister of Zeus, Poseidon, Hera and the others. She is the virgin goddess of domesticity and personified the fire of the hearth.

demeter

Sister of Zeus and daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea. She was considered the goddess of agriculture and the harvest. Demeter was also the lover of Zeus, to whom she gave a daughter named Persephone who would become the wife of Hades and therefore the goddess of the Underworld in the company of her husband.

Hades

Another of Zeus’ older brothers, Hades is the god of the Underworld in charge of guarding the gates of Tartarus or the abyss of the afterlife. He was the husband of Persephone, who in turn is the daughter of Demeter and, therefore, his niece. He possesses the power to disappear into the shadows and inspire maddening, deadly fear in mortals. Residing in the Underworld as king of the dead, he is not considered one of the Olympian gods, but he is one of the main deities of the Greek pantheon.

References

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