Greek Mythology

Probably of Aryan origin, the Greek deities were at first mere personifications of natural phenomena or moral powers. The mother of all was Gæa, the Earth, who bore Uranus, the Sky. To him succeeded his son Kronos, the Harvest god, whose son Zeus, God of the Light of Heaven, finally reigned. The children of Uranus were destructive forces, the TITANS (q.v.), the three-hundred-armed He kat on che ires (gods of tempest and earthquake), and the three Cyclopes (gods of thunder and lightning). The gods of the first rank, called Olympian deities from their abode, were children either of Kronos or Zeus; viz., Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia, Ares, Hephæstus, Aphrodite, Pallas-Athene, Nene Phoibos, Artemis, Dionysus and Hermes. Hades and Perse phone were also included, although their realm was in the under world. Gods of inferior rank independently worshiped were Horæ, seasons; Pomona and Vertumnus, fruits; Priapus, fertility; Pan, herds and pasture; Komos, mirth; Hebe, youth; Æsculapius, healing: Hygeia, health; Nike, victory; Eris, strife: Nox, night; Hypnos, sleep; Eos, dawn; Elus, wind; Hymen, marriage; and Mœæra, fate. Other minor deities were the Satyrs, of the forests; the Oceanides, Nereides, Tritons, and Naiads, of the waters; and the Nymphs, Erynnys, Harpies, Gorgons, Graces, and Muses. Last came the Heroes and Demigods, elevated to the rank of deities and locally worshiped.