The gods living in Olympus were 12 in number. However, in Greek mythology, there were also many other smaller gods and deities that lived in the earth. For example, the nymphs of the sea lived in the waves and the nymphs of the forest lived inside the boles of the trees.
For the ancient Greeks, many natural phenomena or nature itself were also personalized as gods. Aether was the god of the upper air, Hemera was the goddess of daylight, Erebus the god of darkness or Zephyros, the god of the west wind. There were also special gods for feelings and situations, such as goddess Themis for justice, Via for violence, Eris for discord, Hebe for youth, Hypnos for sleep, Mania for insanity and many, many others.
The gods would usually mate to each other or with mortals and have children. For example, Aphrodite, goddess of beauty, and Ares, god of war,
gave birth to Cupid, the god of love. Also, the coupling of Zeus and a mortal woman named Leto gave birth to two important gods, Apollo and Artemis. It was very frequent that the child of a god and a mortal person was made god or at least had superficial powers.
Let's take the example of Hercules, the son of Zeus and mortal Alcmena. Although he was not considered a god, he had
inherited some extra-human powers. He had a great strength and could beat huge giants in battle. Hercules is mostly known in mythology for his twelve labors, such as the slay of the Nemean Lion and of the 9-headed Lernaean Hydra, the steal of the Esperides Apples and the Capture of Cerberus.
Another hero with superficial powers was Theseus, the son of mortal Aethra and Poseidon. He is famous as a king of Athens and also for his difficult tasks: to kill the Minotaur and to win the legendary Amazons during their siege against Athens.
Gods, for the ancient Greeks, had a very liberal attitude in life. Family unions were not applicable to them, that is why brothers could marry their sisters and have children or a son could kill his parents. How much liberal rules were for the gods, this would not apply for mortals. If a mortal broke up a moral rule, the punishment was severe.
Particularly strong for the mortals was the anti-blasphemy rule, which banned people from talking unrespectfully against a god. If someone did so, the god would get angry and punish him.
In general, the ancient Greeks would treat something bad in their lives as a punishment for gods. If they had a disease, they would pray to the gods to forgive his sins. If a floud would occur and destroy their city, they would make a sacrifice to calm down the gods. From this, it can be seen that
there was a sense of respect and fear between people and the gods and that people didn't feel free to live their lives, but thought that everything would come or be taken away from them.
More about: Olympian Gods |
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