Greek Gods and their Roles in Greek Mythology
Homer provided the general ideas about the ancient Greek deities on
his famous writings Iliad and the Odyssey. It was around 800 BC when he
was able to establish the belief of the existence of Gods and Goddesses
in Greece. Although these have been long past especially for the modern
people, the influence of the Greek Gods are still widely seen around
today. Even scientists give high acclaim to the deities and use them for
naming discovered planets. In Greece, many people are still avid
believers of the ancient religion centred with the Greek Gods and
Goddesses.
Each God or Goddess has roles and tasks as well as immortal life
stories included in Greek mythology. The myths about the Greek Gods
contain many deities, performing both major and minor roles in the
story. Overall, you can say that there are hundreds of Greek Gods,
including the minor gods, within the Greek mythology. Among the Greek
Gods, the Olympians are considered as the most powerful entities.
According to Greek mythology, there are twelve major gods, which were
also referred to as the Olympian Gods. They are considered as the most
important gods in the ancient religion and were recognized as the
primary deities of the Romans before the Christian era.
Of the twelve major gods, half of them were the offspring of Chronos and
Rhea. However, only four of these siblings have power over Olympus. The
highest ruler among the Greek Gods is Zeus. He has the capability to
control the weather and can be able to use the power to protect the
people and punish those who have sinned. He has the ability to hurl
lightning bolts directly from the heavens. Zeus was able to overthrow
his father and succeeded power over the Titans. He was able to rescue
his brothers and sisters and was proclaimed the supreme ruler of the
Olympians. To honour his greatness, their home in the northern part of
Greece was named after him. Mount Olympus became the throne of Zeus and
the home of the Greek Gods. Zeus was married to the mother Goddess in
order to integrate the conflicts about the theologies of the people. The
marriage of the two major Gods brought balance and harmony to the
religion. The combined power of Zeus and the mother Goddess consolidated
the conquered people and prevented the occurrence of resistance.
Hephaestus, the brother of Ares, was recognized as the blacksmith god.
Greeks worship and honour all of the Greek Gods but each person have
their own personal preferences on which they would worship the most. The
greatest gods in Greek mythology lived in the marvellous palace located
on the peak of Mount Olympus. Among these great gods are Aphrodite, the
Goddess of love, and Eros the God of love. Greek gods have supernatural
abilities and immunity to diseases. Although they have magnificent
powers, they resemble human form and emotion and have the same form of
society as human beings. One great difference between Gods and humans is
immortality. |
