Zeus was the king of all the gods. He had many magical powers. He could shape shift and make himself look like anybody. He could throw his lightning bolts and do all kinds of damage. He could throw his voice and make himself sound like anybody. He also had powers that came from being king of all the gods. These were powers of government. He could give other gods titles and jobs. And he could take those titles and jobs away. He could direct other gods, like any leader, to do things. His was an elected position. There were 12 gods on the council.

They could have voted someone else king.

But they never did.

And Zeus never retired.

Hera was the queen of all the gods, and also the goddess of marriage. She was Zeus' sister. She was also his wife. The gods did things like that.

Hera and Zeus had two children, both boys, Ares and Hephaestus. Zeus also had children with other mothers, children like Hermes and Apollo and Artemis and Hercules. Hera did not like that. She was very jealous. She was often mean to Zeus' other children. Some, like Hercules, she even tried to kill.

She was also jealous of Zeus. Probably the only thing in the earth or heavens that Zeus truly feared was his wife, Hera - or rather, he feared her temper.

You never knew what Hera might do,

but quite often,

it was something pretty rotten.

There were three very important brothers in the ancient Greek god world - Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon. Zeus was the king of all the gods. Hades ran the Underworld. Poseidon was the Lord of the Sea.

Poseidon was not at all jealous of his brothers or their power. He did not want to be in charge of the Underworld. And he certainly did not want all the responsibility that Zeus had shouldered. He was very happy being Lord of the Sea.

The job suited him perfectly. Poseidon had deep blue eyes and streaming green hair. He was moody and restless and powerful. He could magically make an island appear, or a tidal wave cover the shoreline, or send a wave to suck you right off the beach. All it took was a wave of his hand!

People who lived inland were not that worried about Poseidon. But all the Greeks who lived along the coastline were terrified of him. They build temples to honor him. They brought gifts every day. Sometimes the gifts made Poseidon happy, and the water was calm and sparkling. Sometimes

the gifts did not make him happy,

and a terrible storm would break over the land.

The people tried very hard to keep Poseidon happy.

Hades was not the lord of death. He did not decide who lived and who died up on earth. His job was to run things down in the Underworld, the place where you went after you died.

The Underworld was a big place. Some areas were really nice, and some were not nice at all. The Elysian Fields, for example, was the place heroes were sent after they died. It was a great neighborhood. But parts of the Underworld were scary! People who behaved badly on earth might end up in one of those sections. Hades decided where you were sent. It was not wise to anger Hades, whether you were alive or dead, or you might end up someplace you really did not want to be.

Hades was never lonely. For a long time, he did not have a wife, but he did have a faithful and deeply loved companion, his three-headed dog, Cerberus. His family visited now and then. Zeus popped in whenever he felt like it. His nephew, Hermes, the deal maker for the gods, stopped by,

whenever things had to be smoothed over and fixed.

Ares was the god of war. He was true royalty as far as the gods were concerned. His parents were the king and queen of the ancient Greek god world. His father was Zeus and his mother was Hera.

Ares was tall. He was handsome. He was mean. He was self-centered. Nobody liked him much.

Ares best friend was Eris, the spirit of disagreement. The two often traveled together, and they often brought the spirits of Pain, Panic, and Famine with them.

When the ancient Greeks went to war, Ares often got involved. He did not care who won or lost a battle. He just liked bloodshed. His best friend, the spirit Eris, did not care that much about

bloodshed, but she loved to cause disagreement –

the angrier, the better.

The pair of them were nothing but trouble.

Hermes was Zeus' youngest son. Hermes' mother was Maia.

Zeus liked having his son Hermes around, even as a baby. Hermes was always full of fun. He was very bright. He had great ideas. He was a natural athlete. He had a mischievous grin. He seemed to be able to talk others into just about anything.

Both gods and humans liked and trusted Hermes. Their trust was well placed. Hermes could keep a secret. Zeus decided to make him the messenger and the deal maker of the gods. That would put Hermes in the midst of things all the time, and it would make sure that Hermes was important.

Between fixing problems and carrying messages, Hermes was part of many a myth. He knew just about everything going on in the mythical world. But he never told what he knew to hurt anyone. Hermes had a true warmth. He wanted to solve things in a way that would work out best for everyone.

The gods trusted him. That was important. He could never have fixe all

the problems he fixed without trust. As he grew older,

he became better and better at what he did,

until he was the best deal maker in the world.

Apollo was the son of Zeus, king of all the gods. His mother was the gentle Leto. Apollo had a twin sister, Artemis, the huntress. Apollo had lots of jobs in the ancient Greek god world. One of them was to bring up the sun. Another was to watch over music and musicians. Apollo was a gentle god. But he could lose his temper if provoked enough. When he did, Apollo always got even in very clever ways.

Artemis was the goddess of the hunt and the goddess of the moon. She was Apollo's twin sister. Her father was Zeus, king of all the gods. Her mother was the gentle Leto.

Artemis was Apollo's opposite. Her brother could be warm and loving. But Artemis was not like that. She adored her dogs. She loved her twin brother. She loved her Mom. She respected her Dad. She even liked most of her half-siblings. But to others, Artemis was cold and pitiless.

Artemis was a private goddess. There are not that many myths about her. She absolutely, positively, no question

about it, resented anyone who intruded upon her,

or spied upon her, or interrupted her, especially

any man. Artemis had swore never to marry.

She never did.

Athena was the goddess of wisdom. She could get angry, but more typically, she was wise, and kind, and understanding. Athena was born very oddly. Her father was the mighty Zeus. But she did not have a mother. Instead, as the myth goes, she was born directly out of Zeus' brain. Zeus loved all his children. But one of his favorites was Athena.

Athena held a powerful position in the ancient Greek god world. She was an Olympian, one of the council of 12, who held a seat on Mount Olympus. She also had a home there.

Here is a myth about Athena that shows how

clever and practical she was.

Hestia had two sisters. One was Hera, the queen of all the gods, and the goddess of marriage. The other was Demeter, the important goddess of the harvest. Hestia also had an important job. She was the goddess of hearth and home. To the ancient Greek women, Hestia was the most important goddess of all.

There are not many myths about Hestia. There did not need to be. Except for Sparta, women in ancient Greece lived very similar lives. Every day, when the ancient Greek women gathered in their central courtyards to sew, to cook, or to listen to stories of the gods, they knew Hestia was watching over them. They never doubted it. It gave them great comfort. They really did not want Hestia to have a

life of her own. They were very happy to have Hestia

spend her time watching over all the women

in ancient Greece,

even Spartan women.

Zeus, the king of all the gods, had two brothers and three sisters. Each had an important job. His sister, Demeter, was in charge of the harvest. If Demeter did not do her job, the crops could die, and everyone would starve. It was important to keep Demeter happy. Everyone helped out

with that - both gods and mortals.

It was that important.

Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty. Some people believed she was the daughter of Zeus, king of all the gods. Others insist she simply appeared one day, riding to shore on a wave of sea foam. Zeus had many daughters. As far as he was concerned, the lovely Aphrodite was welcome to be one of them. Nobody actually knows where she came from, but once she arrived, she became part of many Greek myths.

Aphrodite had a son, Eros, whom she loved dearly. She had a husband, the handyman to the gods, Hephaestus, whom she tolerated. She often hung out with Mars, the god of war. She also got along with Hera, queen of the gods, most of the time. Not many goddesses did.

Trouble seemed to follow Aphrodite. As Aphrodite would often insist, the things that went wrong were not really her fault. Not really. For example, if you believe the old myth, it was Aphrodite's vanity that caused the Trojan

War. Aphrodite would tell you that the whole war was her

half-sister's fault. But don't take either sister's

word for it; decide for yourself as you read

the myth Aphrodite and Queen Helen of Sparta.

Hephaestus and Ares were the sons of Hera and Zeus, the king and queen of the gods. Ares was the god of war. He liked to destroy things. Hephaestus was his opposite. He liked to build things.

Zeus made Hephaestus the god of fire and forge. (Somewhere along the way, Hephaestus also became the god of volcanoes.)

It was Hera, queen of the gods, who arranged a marriage between Hephaestus and Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Aphrodite was not pleased about it, but what could she do? Hera was even more powerful than she was. Mostly, Aphrodite ignored her husband.

Hephaestus busied himself by becoming the handyman of the gods. He built all the houses on Mount Olympus. When Zeus

directed him to do so, he even built a woman out

of clay, the lovely Pandora. Some say he created

Pandora with characteristics he wished his own wife ha

- gentleness, kindness, thoughtfulness – all the things

his own wife was not.

Dionysus was the Greek god of wine and theatre. He had quite a sense of humor and a dramatic flair.

Some gods were shape shifters. They could change their shape at will. They could turn into just about anything. Dionysus was very good at shape shifting. One minute, he could be a fierce animal with sharp claws and razor teeth,

and the next - his favorite shape –

a handsome young man with

glowing garments and expensive

jewels.

He had a lot of fun shape shifting.