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The bust of Zeus found at Otricoli (Sala Rotonda, Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican) Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the Ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. Modern scholars refer to the myths and study them in an attempt to throw light on the religious and political institutions of Ancient Greece and on the Ancient Greek civilization, and to gain understanding of the nature of myth-making itself.[1] Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1840x2800, 2899 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Greek mythology Otricoli Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1840x2800, 2899 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Greek mythology Otricoli Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used... For other uses, see Zeus (disambiguation). ... Otricoli (pop. ... Entrance to the museum Staircase of the Vatican Museum The Vatican Museums (Musei Vaticani) are the public art and sculpture museums in the Vatican City, which display works from the extensive collection of the Roman Catholic Church. ... The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history in Classical Antiquity, lasting ca. ... Polytheism is belief in or worship of multiple gods or deities. ... For other uses, see Hero (disambiguation). ... In traditional usage, the cult of a religion, quite apart from its sacred writings (scriptures), its theology or myths, or the personal faith of its believers, is the totality of external religious practice and observance, the neglect of which is the definition of impiety. ... A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value, which is prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. ... For other uses, see Myth (disambiguation). ... Greek mythology is embodied explicitly in a large collection of narratives and implicitly in representational arts, such as vase-paintings and votive gifts. Greek myth explains the origins of the world and details the lives and adventures of a wide variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines, and other mythological creatures. These accounts were initially disseminated in an oral-poetic tradition; the Greek myths are known today primarily from Greek literature. The oldest known literary sources, the epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, focus on events surrounding the Trojan War. Two poems by Homer's near contemporary Hesiod, the Theogony and the Works and Days, contain accounts of the genesis of the world, the succession of divine rulers, the succession of human ages, the origin of human woes, and the origin of sacrificial practices. Myths are also preserved in the Homeric Hymns, in fragments of epic poems of the Epic Cycle, in lyric poems, in the works of the tragedians of the 5th century BC, in writings of scholars and poets of the Hellenistic Age and in writers of the time of the Roman Empire, for example, Plutarch and Pausanias. Bilingual amphora by the Andokides Painter, ca. ... An icon of Aghia Paraskevi with votive offerings hung beside it. ... A listing of Greek mythological beings. ... Creatures of Greek mythology. ... Oral tradition or oral culture is a way of transmitting history, literature or law from one generation to the next in a civilization without a writing system. ... // Main article: Ancient Greek literature Ancient Greek literature refers to literature written in Ancient Greek from the oldest surviving written works in the Greek language until the 4th century and the rise of the Byzantine Empire. ... The epic is a broadly defined genre of narrative poetry, characterized by great length, multiple settings, large numbers of characters, or long span of time involved. ... title page of the Rihel edition of ca. ... Beginning of the Odyssey The Odyssey (Greek Οδύσσεια (Odússeia)) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to the Ionian poet Homer. ... The fall of Troy, by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713–1769). ... For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). ... Roman bronze bust, the so-called Pseudo-Seneca, now identified by some as possibly Hesiod Hesiod (Hesiodos, ) was an early Greek poet and rhapsode, who presumably lived around 700 BC. Hesiod and Homer, with whom Hesiod is often paired, have been considered the earliest Greek poets whose work has survived... Theogony (Greek: Θεογονία, theogonia = the birth of God(s)) is a poem by Hesiod describing the origins and genealogies of the gods of the ancient Greeks, composed circa 700 BC. The title of the work comes from the Greek words for god and seed. // Hesiods Theogony is a large-scale... The book Works and Days Works and Days (in ancient Greek , which sometimes goes by the Latin name Opera et Dies, as in the OCT) is a Greek poem of some 800 verses written by Hesiod (around 700 BC). ... The anonymous Homeric Hymns are a collection of ancient Greek hymns. ... The Epic Cycle (Greek: Επικός Κύκλος) was a collection of Ancient Greek epic poems that related the story of the Trojan War, which includes the Kypria, the Aithiopis, the Little Iliad, the Iliou persis (The Sack of Troy), the Nostoi (Returns), and the Telegony. ... // Lyric poetry refers to either poetry that has the form and musical quality of a song, or a usually short poem that expresses personal feelings, which may or may not be set to music. ... The 5th century BC started the first day of 500 BC and ended the last day of 401 BC. // The Parthenon of Athens seen from the hill of the Pnyx to the west. ... The term Hellenistic (derived from HéllÄ“n, the Greeks traditional self-described ethnic name) was established by the German historian Johann Gustav Droysen to refer to the spreading of Greek culture over the non-Greek people that were conquered by Alexander the Great. ... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ... Mestrius Plutarchus (Greek: Πλούταρχος; 46 - 127), better known in English as Plutarch, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist. ... Pausanias (Greek: ) was a Greek traveller and geographer of the 2nd century A.D., who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. ... Monumental evidence at Mycenaean and Minoan sites helped to explain many of the questions about Homer's epics and provided archaeological evidence of many of the mythological details about gods and heroes. Greek mythology was also depicted in artifacts; Geometric designs on pottery of the 8th century BC depict scenes from the Trojan cycle, as well as the adventures of Heracles. In the succeeding Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods, Homeric and various other mythological scenes appear to supplement the existing literary evidence.[2] Mycenaean Greece, the last phase of the Bronze Age in ancient Greece, is the historical setting of the epics of Homer and much other Greek mythology. ... The Minoan civilization was a bronze age civilization which arose on Crete, an island in the Aegean Sea. ... For referencing in Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:Citing sources. ... (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium) Ruins of the training grounds at Olympia, Greece. ... Alcides redirects here. ... The archaic period in Greece is the period during which the ancient Greek city-states developed, and is normally taken to cover roughly the 9th century to the 6th century BCE. The Archaic period followed the dark ages, and saw significant advancements in political theory, and the rise of democracy... The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history in Classical Antiquity, lasting ca. ... The Hellenistic period of Greek history was the period between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the annexation of the Greek peninsula and islands by Rome in 146 BC. Although the establishment of Roman rule did not break the continuity of Hellenistic society and culture, which... Greek mythology has had extensive influence on the culture, the arts and the literature of Western civilization and remains part of Western heritage and language. It has been a part of the educational fabric from childhood, while poets and artists from ancient times to the present have derived inspiration from Greek mythology and have discovered contemporary significance and relevance in classical mythological themes.[3] For this articles equivalent regarding the East, see Eastern culture. ... Contents 1 Sources of Greek mythology 1.1 Literary sources 1.2 Archaeological sources 2 Survey of mythic history 2.1 Age of gods 2.1.1 Cosmogony and cosmology 2.1.2 Greek gods 2.2 Age of gods and men 2.3 Heroic age 2.3.1 Heracles and the Heracleidae 2.3.2 Argonauts 2.3.3 House of Atreus and Theban Cycle 2.3.4 Trojan War and aftermath 3 Greek and Roman conceptions of myth 3.1 Philosophy and myth 3.2 Hellenistic and Roman rationalism 3.3 Syncretizing trends 4 Modern interpretations 4.1 Comparative and psychoanalytic approaches 4.2 Origin theories 5 Motifs in Western art and literature 6 Notes 7 References 7.1 Primary sources (Greek and Roman) 7.2 Secondary sources 8 Further reading 9 External links [edit] Sources of Greek mythology Prometheus (1868 by Gustave Moreau). The myth of Prometheus was first attested by Hesiodus and then constituted the basis for a tragic trilogy of plays, possibly by Aeschylus, consisting of Prometheus Bound, Prometheus Unbound and Prometheus Pyrphoros The Roman poet Virgil, here depicted in the 5th century manuscript the Vergilius Romanus, preserved details of Greek mythology in many of his writings. Achilles killing a Trojan prisoner in front of Charon on a red-figure Etruscan calyx-krater, made towards the end of the 4th century-beginning of the 3rd century BC. Greek mythology is known today primarily from Greek literature and representations on visual media dating from the Geometric period (c. 900-800 BC) onward.[4] Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1576x2656, 354 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Prometheus ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1576x2656, 354 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Prometheus ... For other uses, see Prometheus (disambiguation). ... Self portrait of Gustav Moreau, 1850 Gustave Moreau (April 6, 1826 – April 18, 1898) was a French Symbolist painter. ... Prometheus Bound is an Ancient Greek tragedy. ... There are two plays named Prometheus Unbound. ... Prometheus Pyrphoros was the third play in the Prometheia, a series of plays written by the ancient Greek playwright, Aeschylus, chronicaling the trials of Prometheus, the creator and protector of man, who was imprisoned for giving man fire. ... Image File history File links RomanVirgilFolio014rVergilPortrait. ... Image File history File links RomanVirgilFolio014rVergilPortrait. ... For other uses, see Virgil (disambiguation). ... Folio 14 recto of the Vergilius Romanus contains an author portrait of Virgil. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 553 × 599 pixels Full resolution (1623 × 1758 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 553 × 599 pixels Full resolution (1623 × 1758 pixel, file size: 1. ... For other uses, see Achilles (disambiguation). ... Michelangelos rendering of Charon. ... Red-figure pottery is a style of Greek pottery in which the figure outlines, details and the background are painted black, while the figure itself is not painted. ... Extent of Etruscan civilization and the twelve Etruscan League cities. ... Dipylon Vase The Geometric Style is a style of Greek art preserved largely in the form of vase painting that flourished towards the end of the Greek Dark Ages, circa 900 BCE to 800 BCE. Its centre was in Athens and was diffused amongst the trading cities of the Aegean. ... [edit] Literary sources Mythical narration plays an important role in nearly every genre of Greek literature. Nevertheless, the only general mythographical handbook to survive from Greek antiquity was the Library of Pseudo-Apollodorus, which attempts to reconcile the contradictory tales of the poets and provides a grand summary of traditional Greek mythology and heroic legends.[5] The Bibliotheca (in English Library), in three books, provides a grand summary of traditional Greek mythology and heroic legends. ... Apollodorus was a common name in ancient Greece. ... Among the literary sources first in age are Homer's two epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Other poets completed the "epic cycle", but these later and lesser poems are now almost entirely lost. Despite their traditional name, the Homeric Hymns have no connection with Homer. They are choral hymns from the earlier part of the so-called Lyric age.[6] Hesiod, a possible contemporary with Homer, offers in Theogony (Origin of the Gods) the fullest account of the earliest Greek myths, dealing with the creation of the world; the origin of the gods, Titans and Giants; elaborate genealogies and folktales and etiological myths. Hesiod's Works and Days, a didactic poem about farming life, also includes the myths of Prometheus, Pandora and the Four Ages. The poet gives advice on the best way to succeed in a dangerous world rendered yet more dangerous by its gods.[2] // Lyric poetry refers to either poetry that has the form and musical quality of a song, or a usually short poem that expresses personal feelings, which may or may not be set to music. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion, because: it is patent nonsense. ... Jack the Giant-Killer by Arthur Rackham. ... For other uses, see Prometheus (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Pandora (disambiguation) and Pandoras box (disambiguation). ... The Ages of Man are the stages of human existence on the Earth according to Classical mythology. ... Lyrical poets sometimes take their subjects from myth, but the treatment becomes gradually less narrative and more allusive. Greek lyric poets, including Pindar, Bacchylides, Simonides, and bucolic poets, such as Theocritus and Bion, provide individual mythological incidents.[7] Additionally, myth was central to classical Athenian drama. The tragic playwrights Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides took their plots from the age of heroes and the Trojan War. Many of the great tragic stories (i.e. Agamemnon and his children, Oedipus, Jason, Medea etc.) took on their classic form in these tragic plays. For his part, the comic playwright Aristophanes used myths, as in The Birds or The Frogs.[8] Pindar (or Pindarus) (probably born 522 BC in Cynoscephalae, a village in Boeotia; died 443 BC in Argos), was perhaps the greatest of the nine lyric poets of ancient Greece. ... Bacchylides, Ancient Greek lyric poet, was born at Iulis, in the island of Ceos. ... Bold textil8jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjpooSimonides of Ceos (ca. ... Theocritus (Greek Θεόκριτος), the creator of ancient Greek bucolic poetry, flourished in the 3rd century BC. Little is known of him beyond what can be inferred from his writings. ... Bion, Greek bucolic poet, was born at Phlossa near Smyrna, and flourished about 100 BC. The account formerly given of him, that he was the contemporary and imitator of Theocritus, the friend and tutor of Moschus, and lived about 280 BC, is now generally regarded as incorrect. ... A view of the Acropolis of Athens during the Ottoman period, showing the buildings which were removed at the time of independence The history of Athens is the longest of any city in Europe: Athens has been continuously inhabited for at least 3,000 years. ... For other uses, see Drama (disambiguation). ... This article is about the ancient Greek playwright. ... This article is about the Greek tragedian. ... A statue of Euripides. ... This article is about a character in Greek mythology. ... For other uses, see Oedipus (disambiguation). ... This article is about the hero from Greek mythology. ... This article is about the Greek mythological figure. ... Sketch of Aristophanes Aristophanes (Greek: , ca. ... The Birds (Ornithes) is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes in 414 BC, and performed that year for the Festival of Dionysus. ... Greek Wikisource has original text related to this article: The Frogs Frogs (Βάτραχοι (Bátrachoi)) is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. ... Historians Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus, and geographers Pausanias and Strabo, who traveled around the Greek world and noted the stories they heard, supply numerous local myths, often giving little-known, alternative versions.[7] Herodotus in particular, searched the various traditions presented him and found the historical or mythological roots in the confrontation between Greece and the East.[9] Herodotus of Halicarnassus (Greek: HÄ“rodotos Halikarnāsseus) was a Greek historian from Ionia who lived in the 5th century BC (ca. ... Diodorus Siculus (c. ... Pausanias (Greek: ) was a Greek traveller and geographer of the 2nd century A.D., who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. ... The Greek geographer Strabo in a 16th century engraving. ... The poetry of the Hellenistic and Roman ages, which although composed as a literary rather than cultic exercise, nevertheless contains many important details that would otherwise be lost. This category includes the works of: The term Hellenistic (established by the German historian Johann Gustav Droysen) in the history of the ancient world is used to refer to the shift from a culture dominated by ethnic Greeks, however scattered geographically, to a culture dominated by Greek-speakers of whatever ethnicity, and from the political dominance... Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ... The Roman poets Ovid, Statius, Valerius Flaccus, Seneca and Virgil with Servius's commentary. The Greek poets of the Late Antique period: Nonnus, Antoninus Liberalis and Quintus Smyrnaeus. The Greek poets of the Hellenistic period: Apollonius of Rhodes, Callimachus, Pseudo-Eratosthenes and Parthenius. The ancient novels of Greeks and Romans such as Apuleius, Petronius, Lollianus and Heliodorus. The Fabulae and Astronomica of the Roman writer styled Pseudo-Hyginus are two important, non-poetical compendiums of myth. The Imagines of Philostratus the Elder and Younger and the Descriptions of Callistratus, are two other useful sources. For other uses, see Ovid (disambiguation) Publius Ovidius Naso (March 20, 43 BC – 17 AD) was a Roman poet known to the English-speaking world as Ovid who wrote on topics of love, abandoned women and mythological transformations. ... Publius Papinius Statius, (c. ... Gaius Valerius Flaccus (late 1st century AD) was a Roman poet, who flourished under the emperors Vespasian and Titus. ... Seneca may refer to: Roman figures (any links to Seneca in Roman pages should be relinked to one of these two) Marcus (or Lucius) Annaeus Seneca also called rhetor, Roman orator and father of Seneca the philosopher and dramatist. ... For other uses, see Virgil (disambiguation). ... Maurus (or Marius) Servius Honoratius, Roman grammarian and commentator on Virgil, flourished at the end of the 4th century AD. He is one of the interlocutors in the Saturnalia of Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius, and allusions in that work and a letter from Quintus Aurelius Symmachus to Servius show that he... Late Antiquity is a rough periodization (c. ... The Greek epic poet Nonnus (Greek Nonnos), a native of Panopolis (Akhmim) in the Egyptian Thebaid, probably lived at the end of the 4th or the beginning of the 5th century AD. He produced the Dionysiaca, an epic tale of the god Dionysus, a paraphrase of the Gospel of John... Antoninus Liberalis, Greek grammarian, probably flourished about AD 150. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Apollonius of Rhodes, also known as Apollonius Rhodius (Latin; Greek Apollōnios Rhodios), early 3rd century BC - after 246 BC, was an epic poet, scholar, and director of the Library of Alexandria. ... Callimachus (Greek: ; ca. ... This article is about the Greek scholar of the third century BC. For the ancient Athenian statesman of the fifth century BC, see Eratosthenes (statesman). ... The name Parthenius may refer to one of several persons: the Greek grammarian and poet Parthenius of Nicaea the Armenian Saint Parthenius Hierarch Parthenius, bishop of Lampsacus one of several Patriarchs of Alexandria one of several Patriarchs of Constantinople the chief chamberlain of Domitian (died 96) a silver-chaser mentioned... Lucius Apuleius (c. ... This article is about the Roman author Petronius. ... Lollianus (sometimes rendered in English as Lollian) is a Roman personal name which can refer to many figures of classical antiquity, including: Lollianus (sometimes called Lollianus Spurius), a general proclaimed emperor by his soldiers in Gaul and very soon murdered; he is one of the Thirty Tyrants whose lives are... Heliodorus of Emesa, from Emesa, Syria, was a Greek writer generally dated in the 3rd century of the Common Era, and is known for the ancient Greek romance or novel called the Aethiopica (the Ethiopian Story) or sometimes Theagenes and Chariclea. According to his own statement, his fathers name... Gaius Julius Hyginus, (c. ... Philostratus, was the name of several, three (or four), Greek sophists of the Roman imperial period: Philostratus the Athenian (c. ... Finally, the Christian apologist Arnobius, quoting cult practices in order to disparage them, and a number of Byzantine Greek writers provide important details of myth, some of it sourced from lost Greek works. These preservers of myth include Hesychius' lexicon, the Suda, and the treatises of John Tzetzes and Eustathius. The Christian moralizing view of Greek myth is encapsulated in the saying ἐν παντὶ μύθῳ καὶ τὸ Δαιδάλου μύσος / en panti muthōi kai to Daidalou musos ("In every myth there is also the defilement of Daidalos"), on which subject the encyclopedic Sudas reported of the role of Daedalus in satisfying the "unnatural lust" of Pasiphae for the bull of Poseidon: "Since the origin and blame for these evils were attributed to Daidalos and he was loathed for them, he became the subject of the proverb."[10] Arnobius of Sicca (died c. ... page of Marc. ... Suda (Σουδα or alternatively Suidas) is a massive 10th century Byzantine Greek historical encyclopædia of the ancient Mediterranean world. ... John Tzetzes, was a Byzantine poet and grammarian, known to have lived at Constantinople during the 12th century. ... Eustathius(or Eumathius) surnamed Macrembolites (living near the long bazaar), the last of the Greek romance writers, flourished in the second half of the 12th century AD. His title Protonobilissimus shows him to have been a person of distinction, and if he is also correctly described in the manuscripts, as... Sudas is a king from the Rig Veda. ... Daedalus and Icarus, by Charles Paul Landon, 1799 (Musée des Beaux-Arts et de la Dentelle, Alençon) In Greek mythology, Daedalus (Latin, also Hellenized Latin Daedalos, Greek Daidalos (Δαίδαλος) meaning cunning worker, and Etruscan Taitle) was a most skillful artificer, so skillful that he was said to have invented... ... [edit] Archaeological sources The discovery of the Mycenaean civilization by German amateur archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann in the 19th century, and the discovery of the Minoan civilization in Crete by British archaeologist, Sir Arthur Evans in the 20th century, helped to explain many of the questions about Homer's epics and provided archaeoloical evidence of many of the mythological details about gods and heroes. Unfortunately, the evidence about myth and ritual at Mycenaean and Minoan sites is entirely monumental, as the Linear B script (an ancient form of Greek found in both Crete and Greece) was mainly used to record inventories, though the names of gods and heroes have been doubtfully revealed.[2] Archaeology or sometimes in American English archeology (from the Greek words &#945;&#961;&#967;&#945;&#943;&#959;&#962; = ancient and &#955;&#972;&#947;&#959;&#962; = word/speech) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains, including architecture, artefacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ... Portrait of Heinrich Schliemann. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century &#8212; 19th century &#8212; 20th century &#8212; more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Minoan civilization was a bronze age civilization which arose on Crete, an island in the Aegean Sea. ... For other uses, see Crete (disambiguation). ... For Arthur Evans, the recipient of the Victoria Cross, see Arthur Evans (VC) Sir Arthur John Evans (July 8, 1851 - July 11, 1941), brought into the light of day the civilization he dubbed Minoan, which had been a dim mythic memory. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901&#8211;2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900&#8211;1999... This article is about the ancient syllabary. ... Geometric designs on pottery of the 8th century BC depict scenes from the Trojan cycle, as well as the adventures of Heracles.[2] These visual representations of myths are important for two reasons; on the one hand, many Greek myths are attested on vases earlier than in literary sources (of the twelve labors of Heracles, only the Cerberus adventure occurs for the first time in a literary text[11]) and, on the other hand, visual sources sometimes represent myths or mythical scenes that are not attested in any extant literary source. In some cases, the first known representation of a myth in geometric art predates its first known representation in late archaic poetry by several centuries.[4] In the Archaic (c. 750–c. 500 BC), Classical (c. 480–323 BC), and Hellenistic periods, Homeric and various other mythological scenes appear to supplement the existing literary evidence.[2] (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium) Ruins of the training grounds at Olympia, Greece. ... Heracles and threatened Cerberus, Attic black-figure neck-amphora, ca. ... [edit] Survey of mythic history The Greeks' mythology has changed over time to accommodate the evolution of their own culture. The earlier inhabitants of the Balkan Peninsula were an agricultural people who assigned a spirit to every aspect of nature. Eventually, these vague spirits assumed human shape and entered the local mythology as gods and goddesses.[12] When tribes from the north of the Balkan Peninsula invaded, they brought with them a new pantheon of gods, based on conquest, force, prowess in battle, and violent heroism. Other older deities of the agricultural world fused with those of the more powerful invaders or else faded into insignificance.[13] The Balkans is the historic and geographic name used to describe southeastern Europe (see the Definitions and boundaries section below). ... After the middle of the Archaic period myths about relationships between male gods and male heroes become more and more frequent, indicating the parallel development of pedagogic pederasty (Eros paidikos, παιδικός ἔρως), thought to have been introduced around 630 BC. By the end of the 5th century BC, poets had assigned at least one eromenos to every important god except Ares and to many legendary figures.[14] Previously existing myths, such as that of Achilles and Patroclus, were also cast in a pederastic light.[15] Alexandrian poets at first, then more generally literary mythographers in the early Roman Empire, often adapted stories of Greek mythological characters. Pederastic courtship scene Athenian black-figure amphora, 5th c. ... In the pederastic tradition of Classical Athens, the eromenos (Greek ἐρόμενος, pl. ... This article is about the ancient Greek god; for other uses, see Ares (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Achilles (disambiguation). ... A cup depicting Achilles bandaging Patroklos arm, by the Sosias Painter. ... Religious narrative has included stories interpreted by many as accounts of same-sex love and sexuality. ... The achievement of epic poetry was to create story-cycles, and as a result to develop a sense of mythological chronology. Thus Greek mythology unfolds like a phase in the development of the world and of man.[16] While self-contradictions in the stories make an absolute timeline impossible, an approximate chronology may be discerned. The mythological history of the world can be divided in 3 or 4 broader periods: The myths of origin or age of gods (Theogonies, "births of gods"): myths about the origins of the world, the gods, and the human race. The age when gods and mortals mingled freely: stories of the early interactions between gods, demigods, and mortals. The age of heroes (heroic age), where divine activity was more limited. The last and greatest of the heroic legends is the stories of the Trojan War and after (regarded by some researchers as a separate fourth period).[17] While the age of gods has often been of more interest to contemporary students of myth, the Greek authors of the archaic and classical eras had a clear preference for the age of heroes. For example, the heroic Iliad and Odyssey dwarfed the divine-focused Theogony and Homeric Hymns in both size and popularity. Under the influence of Homer the "hero cult" leads to a restructuring in spiritual life, expressed in the separation of the realm of the gods from the realm of the dead (=heroes), of the Olympian from the Chthonic.[18] In the Works and Days, Hesiod makes use of a scheme of Four Ages of Man (or Races): Golden, Silver, Bronze, and Iron. These races or ages are separate creations of the gods, the Golden Age belonging to the reign of Cronus, the subsequent races the creation of Zeus. Hesiod intercalates the Age (or Race) of Heroes just after the Bronze Age. The final age was the Iron Age, during which the poet himself lived. The poet regards it as the worst; the presence of evil was explained by Pandora's myth.[19] In Metamorphoses Ovid follows Hesiod's concept of the four ages.[20] The term demigod, meaning half-god, is a modern distinction, often misapplied in Greek mythology. ... For other uses, see Chthon (disambiguation). ... The Ages of Man are the stages of human existence on the Earth according to Classical mythology. ... The Bronze Age is a period in a civilizations development when the most advanced metalworking has developed the techniques of smelting copper from natural outcroppings and alloys it to cast bronze. ... Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ... // Cover of George Sandyss 1632 edition of Ovids Metamorphosis Englished The Metamorphoses by the Roman poet Ovid is a poem in fifteen books that describes the creation and history of the world in terms according to Greek and Roman points of view. ... [edit] Age of gods [edit] Cosmogony and cosmology See also: Greek primordial gods and Family tree of the Greek gods Amor vincit omnia (Love Conquers All), a depiction of the god of love, Eros. By Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, circa 1601–1602. "Myths of origin" or "creation myths" represent an attempt to render the universe comprehensible in human terms and explain the origin of the world.[21] The most widely accepted account of beginning of things as reported by Hesiod's Theogony, starts with Chaos, a yawning nothingness. Out of the void emerged Ge or Gaia (the Earth) and some other primary divine beings: Eros (Love), the Abyss (the Tartarus), and the Erebus.[22] Without male assistance Gaia gave birth to Uranus (the Sky) who then fertilised her. From that union were born, first, the Titans: six males and six females (Oceanus, Coeus and Crius and Hyperion and Iapetus, Theia and Rhea, Themis and Mnemosyne, Phoebe and Tethys, and Cronus); then the one-eyed Cyclopes and the Hecatonchires or Hundred-Handers. Cronus ("the wily, youngest and most terrible of [Gaia's] children"[22])castrated his father and became the ruler of the gods with his sister-wife Rhea as his consort and the other Titans became his court. This motif of father/son conflict was repeated when Cronus was confronted by his son, Zeus. Zeus, persuaded by his mother, challenged him to war for the kingship of the gods. At last, with the help of the Cyclopes, (whom Zeus freed from Tarturus), Zeus and his siblings were victorious, while Cronus and the Titans were hurled down to imprisonment in Tartarus.[23] The ancient Greeks proposed many different ideas about the primordial gods in their mythology. ... Another tree with color coding Hesiods Family of the Gods graphic of family tree of gods from Hesiods Theogony Categories: | | ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (871x1190, 212 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Greek mythology John the Baptist (Caravaggio) Ancient Greek eros ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (871x1190, 212 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Greek mythology John the Baptist (Caravaggio) Ancient Greek eros ... Amor Vincit Omnia (meaning Love Conquers All, known in English by a variety of names including Amor Victorious, Victorious Cupid, Love Triumphant, Love Victorious, or Earthly Love) is a painting by the Baroque artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610), currently in the Gemäldegalerie (Berlin). ... Caravaggio re-directs here; for alternate uses see Caravaggio (disambiguation) Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610), often short Caravaggio after his hometown, was an Italian Baroque painter, whose large religious works portrayed saints and other biblical figures as ordinary people. ... Roman bronze bust, the so-called Pseudo-Seneca, now identified by some as possibly Hesiod Hesiod (Hesiodos, ) was an early Greek poet and rhapsode, who presumably lived around 700 BC. Hesiod and Homer, with whom Hesiod is often paired, have been considered the earliest Greek poets whose work has survived... Theogony (Greek: Θεογονία, theogonia = the birth of God(s)) is a poem by Hesiod describing the origins and genealogies of the gods of the ancient Greeks, composed circa 700 BC. The title of the work comes from the Greek words for god and seed. // Hesiods Theogony is a large-scale... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Chaos. ... For other uses, see Gaia. ... In Greek mythology, Eros was the god responsible for lust, love, and sex; he was also worshipped as a fertility deity. ... An abyss (Greek: a-, privative, bussos, bottom) is a bottomless depth; hence any deep place. ... In classic Greek mythology, below Heaven, Earth, and Pontus is Tartarus, or Tartaros (Greek Τάρταρος, deep place). ... In Greek mythology Erebus (Έρεβος Erebos, Deep blackness/darkness or shadow from Ancient Greek Έρεβος) was the son of a primordial God, Chaos, the personification of darkness and shadow, which filled in all the corners and crannies of the world. ... Uranus is the Latinized form of Ouranos (), the Greek word for sky. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion, because: it is patent nonsense. ... Oceanus, with his wife, Tethys, ruled the seas before Poseidon. ... In Greek mythology, Coeus (also Koios) was the Titan of intelligence. ... In Greek mythology, Crius was one of the Titans, a son of Uranus and Gaia. ... This article is about Hyperion, a Titan in Greek mythology. ... In Greek mythology Iapetus, or Iapetos, was a Titan, the son of Uranus and Gaia, and father (by an Oceanid named Clymene or Asia) of Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Menoetius and through Prometheus and Epimetheus and Atlas an ancestor of the human race. ... In Greek mythology, Theia (also written Thea or Thia), also called Euryphaessa (wide-shining), was a Titan. ... Rhea (or Ria meaning she who flows) was the Titaness daughter of Uranus and of Gaia. ... In Greek mythology, Hesiod mentions Themis among the six sons and six daughters—of whom Cronos was one—of Gaia and Ouranos, that is, of Earth with Sky. ... Mnemosyne (Greek , IPA in RP and in General American) (sometimes confused with Mneme or compared with Memoria) was the personification of memory in Greek mythology. ... Phoebe (pronunced fee-bee) was one of the original Titans, one set of sons and daughters of Uranus and Gaia. ... In Greek mythology, Tethys was a Titaness and sea goddess who was both sister and wife of Oceanus. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... This page is about the mythical creature. ... The Hecatonchires, or Hekatonkheires, were three gargantuan figures of an archaic stage of Greek mythology. ... For other uses, see Zeus (disambiguation). ... In classic Greek mythology, below Heaven, Earth, and Pontus is Tartarus, or Tartaros (Greek Τάρταρος, deep place). ... The earliest Greek thought about poetry considered the theogony to be the prototypical poetic genre — the prototypical mythos — and imputed almost magical powers to it. Orpheus, the archetypal poet, was also the archetypal singer of theogonies, which he uses to calm seas and storms in Apollonius' Argonautica, and to move the stony hearts of the underworld gods in his descent to Hades. When Hermes invents the lyre in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes, the first thing he does is sing the birth of the gods.[24] Hesiod's Theogony is not only the fullest surviving account of the gods, but also the fullest surviving account of the archaic poet's function, with its long preliminary invocation to the Muses. Theogony was also the subject of many lost poems, including those attributed to Orpheus, Musaeus, Epimenides, Abaris and other legendary seers, which were used in private ritual purifications and mystery-rites. There are indications that Plato was familiar with some version of the Orphic theogony.[25] A few fragments of these works survive in quotations by Neoplatonist philosophers and recently unearthed papyrus scraps. One of these scraps, the Derveni Papyrus now proves that at least in the 5th century BC a theogonic-cosmogonic poem of Orpheus was in existence. This poem attempted to outdo Hesiod's Theogony and the genealogy of the gods was extended back with Nyx (Night) as an ultimate beginning before Uranus, Cronus and Zeus.[26] For other uses, see Orpheus (disambiguation). ... The Argonautica (Greek: ) is a Greek epic poem written by Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BC. The only surviving Hellenistic epic, the Argonautica tells the myth of the voyage of Jason and the Argonauts to retrieve the Golden Fleece from the mythical land of Colchis. ... Hades, Greek god of the underworld, enthroned, with his bird-headed staff, on a red-figure Apulian vase made in the 4th century BC. For other uses, see Hades (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Hermes (disambiguation). ... “Lyres” redirects here. ... In Greek mythology, the Muses (Greek , Mousai: perhaps from the Proto-Indo-European root *men- think[1]) are a number of goddesses or spirits who embody the arts and inspire the creation process with their graces through remembered and improvised song and stage, writing, traditional music and dance. ... Musaeus was the name of three Greek poets. ... Epimenides of Knossos Epimenides of Knossos (Crete) (Greek: Επιμενίδης) was a semi-mythical 6th century BC Greek seer and philosopher-poet, who is said to have fallen asleep for fifty-seven years in a Cretian cave sacred to Zeus, after which he reportedly awoke with the gift of prophecy. ... Abaris the Hyperborean was a legendary or semi-legendary sage, healer and priest known to the ancient Greeks. ... Mystery religions, or simply Mysteries, were belief systems of the Graeco-Roman world full admission to which was restricted to those who had gone through certain secret initiation rites. ... PLATO was one of the first generalized Computer assisted instruction systems, originally built by the University of Illinois (U of I) and later taken over by Control Data Corporation (CDC), who provided the machines it ran on. ... Neoplatonism (also Neo-Platonism) is the modern term for a school of religious and mystical philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD, founded by Plotinus and based on the teachings of Plato and earlier Platonists. ... For other uses, see Papyrus (disambiguation). ... The Derveni papyrus is an ancient Greek papyrus scroll which was found in 1962. ... In Greek mythology, Nyx (, Nox in Roman translation) was the primordial goddess of the night. ... The first philosophical cosmologists reacted against, or sometimes built upon, popular mythical conceptions that had existed in the Greek world for some time. Some of these popular conceptions can be gleaned from the poetry of Homer and Hesiod. In Homer, the Earth was viewed as a flat disk afloat on the river of Oceanus and overlooked by a hemispherical sky with sun, moon and stars. The Sun (Helios) traversed the heavens as a charioteer and sailed around the Earth in a golden bowl at night. Sun, earth, heaven, rivers, and winds could be addressed in prayers and called to witness oaths. Natural fissures were popularly regarded as entrances to the subterranean house of Hades, home of the dead.[27] Oceanus, with his wife, Tethys, ruled the seas before Poseidon. ... For other uses, see Helios (disambiguation). ... [edit] Greek gods See also: Religion in ancient Greece and Twelve Olympians The Twelve Olympians by Monsiau, circa late 18th century. According to Classical-era mythology, after the overthrow of the Titans, the new pantheon of gods and goddesses was confirmed. Among the principal Greek deities were the Olympians (The limitation of their number to twelve seems to have been a comparatively modern idea),[28] residing atop Mount Olympus under the eye of Zeus. Besides the Olympians, the Greeks worshiped various gods of the countryside, the goat-god Pan, Nymphs (spirits of rivers), Naiads (who dwelled in springs), Dryads (who were spirits of the trees), Nereids (who inhabited the sea), river gods, Satyrs, and others. In addition, there were the dark powers of the underworld, such as the Erinyes (or Furies), said to pursue those guilty of crimes against blood-relatives.[29] In order to honor the ancient Greek pantheon, poets composed the Homeric Hymns (a group of thirty-three songs).[30] Gregory Nagy regards "the larger Homeric Hymns as simple preludes (compared with Theogony), each of which invokes one god".[31] Greek religion encompasses the collection of beliefs and rituals practiced in Ancient Greece in form of cult practices, there for the practical counterpart of Greek mythology. ... Twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon (Greek: Δωδεκάθεον < δωδεκα, dodeka, twelve + θεον, theon, of the gods), in Greek religion, were the principal gods of the Greek pantheon, residing atop Mount Olympus. ... Image File history File links Olympians. ... Image File history File links Olympians. ... Twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon (Greek: Δωδεκάθεον < δωδεκα, dodeka, twelve + θεον, theon, of the gods), in Greek religion, were the principal gods of the Greek pantheon, residing atop Mount Olympus. ... Monsiaus Consulta of the République cisalpine to receive the First Consul, 26 January 1802 (1808) Nicolas-André Monsiau (1754- 31 May 1837) was a French history painter and refined draughtsman,[1] who turned to book illustration to supplement his income when the French Revolution disrupted patronage. ... A pantheon (from Greek Πάνθειον, temple of all gods, from πᾶν, all + θεός, god) is a set of all the gods of a particular religion or mythology, such as the gods of Hinduism, Norse, Egyptian, Shintoism, Greek, vodun, Yoruba Mythology and Roman mythology. ... God, as a male deity, contrasts with female deities, or goddesses while the term goddess specifically refers to a female deity, words like gods and deities can be applied to all gods collectively, regardless of gender. ... For the 1934 film, see, see The Goddess (1934 film). ... This article is about the Greek mountain. ... Pan (Greek , genitive ) is the Greek god of shepherds and flocks, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music: paein means to pasture. ... For other uses of nymph see Nymph (disambiguation). ... Naiad by John William Waterhouse, 1893 In Greek mythology, the Naiads (from the Greek &#957;&#940;&#949;&#953;&#957;, to flow, and &#957;&#7939;&#956;&#945;, running water) were a type of nymph who presided over fountains, wells, springs, streams, and brooks, as river gods embodied rivers, and some very... The Dryad by Evelyn De Morgan Dryads are tree spirits in Greek mythology. ... In Greek mythology, the Nereids (NEER-ee-eds) are blue-haired sea nymphs, the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris. ... Satyrs (Satyri) in Greek mythology are half-man half-beast nature spirits that haunted the woods and mountains, companions of Pan and Dionysus. ... Two Furies, from an ancient vase. ... In the wide variety of myths and legends that Greek mythology consists of, the deities that were native to the Greek peoples are described as having essentially corporeal but ideal bodies. According to Walter Burkert, the defining characteristic of Greek anthropomorphism is that "the Greek gods are persons, not abstractions, ideas or concepts".[32] Regardless of their underlying forms, the ancient Greek gods have many fantastic abilities; most significantly, the gods are not affected by disease, and can be wounded only under highly unusual circumstances. The Greeks considered immortality as the distinctive local variants, which do not always agree with one another. When these gods were called upon in poetry, prayer or cult, they are referred to by a combination of their name and epithets, that identify them by these distinctions from other manifestations of themselves (e.g. Apollo Musagetes is "Apollo, [as] leader of the Muses"). Alternatively the epithet may identify a particular and localized aspect of the god, sometimes thought to be already ancient during the classical epoch of Greece. Walter Burkert (born Neuendettelsau (Bavaria), February 2, 1931), the most eminent living scholar of Greek myth and cult, is an emeritus professor of classics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland who has also taught in the United Kingdom and the United States. ... An epithet (Greek - επιθετον and Latin - epitheton; literally meaning imposed) is a descriptive word or phrase. ... For other uses, see Apollo (disambiguation). ... In Greek mythology, the Muses (Greek , Mousai: perhaps from the Proto-Indo-European root *men- think[1]) are a number of goddesses or spirits who embody the arts and inspire the creation process with their graces through remembered and improvised song and stage, writing, traditional music and dance. ... Most gods were associated with specific aspects of life. For example, Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty, Ares was the god of war, Hades the god of the dead, and Athena the goddess of wisdom and courage.[33] Some deities, such as Apollo and Dionysus, revealed complex personalities and mixtures of functions, while others, such as Hestia (literally "hearth") and Helios (literally "sun"), were little more than personifications. The most impressive temples tended to be dedicated to a limited number of gods, who were the focus of large pan-Hellenic cults. It was, however, common for individual regions and villages to devote their own cults to minor gods. Many cities also honored the more well-known gods with unusual local rites and associated strange myths with them that were unknown elsewhere. During the heroic age, the cult of heroes (or demi-gods) supplemented this of the gods. The Birth of Venus, (detail) by Sandro Botticelli, 1485 For other uses, see Aphrodite (disambiguation). ... This article is about the ancient Greek god; for other uses, see Ares (disambiguation). ... Hades, Greek god of the underworld, enthroned, with his bird-headed staff, on a red-figure Apulian vase made in the 4th century BC. For other uses, see Hades (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Athena (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Apollo (disambiguation). ... This article is about the ancient deity. ... In Greek mythology, virginal Hestia (ancient Greek ) is the goddess of the hearth, of the right ordering of domesticity and the family, who received the first offering at every sacrifice in the household. ... The Greeks began to build monumental temples in the first half of the eighth century BC. The temples of Hera at Samos and of Poseidon at Isthmia were among the first erected. ... [edit] Age of gods and men The Marriage of Peleus and Thetis, by Hans Rottenhammer Bridging the age when gods lived alone and the age when divine interference in human affairs was limited was a transitional age in which gods and men moved together. These were the early days of the world when the groups mingled more freely than they did later. Most of these tales were later told by Ovid's Metamorphoses and they are often divided in two thematic groups: tales of love, and tales of punishment.[34] Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2536x1845, 316 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Greek mythology ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2536x1845, 316 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Greek mythology ... Minerva and the Muses, by Hans Rottenhammer, painted 1603 Hans Rottenhammer, or Johannes Rottenhammer, (1564-1625) was a German painter. ... Tales of love often involve incest, or the seduction or rape of a mortal woman by a male god, resulting in heroic offspring. The stories generally suggest that relationships between gods and mortals are something to avoid; even consenting relationships rarely have happy endings.[35] In a few cases, a female divinity mates with a mortal man, as in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, where the goddess lies with Anchises to produce Aeneas.[36] The marriage of Peleus and Thetis, which yielded Achilles, is another such myth. Aeneas Bearing Anchises from Troy, by Carle van Loo, 1729 (Louvre) In Greek mythology, Anchises was a son of Capys and Themiste (daughter of Ilus, son of Tros) or Hieromneme, a naiad. ... Aeneas flees burning Troy, Federico Barocci, 1598. ... Peleus consigns Achilles to Chirons care, white-ground lekythos by the Edinburgh Painter, ca. ... This article is about the Greek sea nymph. ... For other uses, see Achilles (disambiguation). ... Dionysus with satyrs. Interior of a cup painted by the Brygos Painter, Cabinet des Médailles The second type (tales of punishment) involves the appropriation or invention of some important cultural artifact, as when Prometheus steals fire from the gods, when Tantalus steals nectar and ambrosia from Zeus' table and gives it to his own subjects—revealing to them the secrets of the gods, when Prometheus or Lycaon invents sacrifice, when Demeter teaches agriculture and the Mysteries to Triptolemus, or when Marsyas invents the aulos and enters into a musical contest with Apollo. Prometheus' adventures mark "a place between the history of the gods and that of man".[37] An anonymous papyrus fragment, dated to the third century BC, vividly portrays Dionysus' punishment of the king of Thrace, Lycurgus, whose recognition of the new god came too late, resulting in horrific penalties that extended into the afterlife.[38] The story of the arrival of Dionysus to establish his cult in Thrace was also the subject of an Aeschylean trilogy.[39] In another tragedy, Euripides' The Bacchae, the king of Thebes, Pentheus, is punished by Dionysus, because he disrespected the god and spied on his Maenads, the female worshippers of the god.[40] Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 602 × 599 pixels Full resolution (1974 × 1965 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 602 × 599 pixels Full resolution (1974 × 1965 pixel, file size: 1. ... This article is about the ancient deity. ... A bald, bearded, horse-tailed satyr balances a winecup on his erect penis, a trick worthy of note, on an Attic red-figured psykter, ca. ... Dionysos and satyrs, tondo from a kylix by the Brygos Painter, ca. ... Gold 20-stater of Eucratides I (175-150 BCE), the largest gold coin ever minted in Antiquity. ... For other uses, see Prometheus (disambiguation). ... Tantalos, by Goya In Greek mythology Tantalus (Greek Τάνταλος) was a son of Zeus[1] and the nymph Plouto (riches)[2] Thus he was a king in the primordial world, the father of a son Broteas whose very name signifies mortals (brotoi)[3] Other versions name his father as Tmolus wreathed... In ancient Greek mythology, Ambrosia (Greek ) is sometimes the food, sometimes the drink, of the gods, often depicted as conferring immortality on whoever consumes it. ... For other uses, see Prometheus (disambiguation). ... Zeus turning Lycaon into a wolf, engraving by Hendrik Goltzius. ... This article is about the grain goddess Demeter. ...