Meet the Main Characters of Greek Mythology

     There are Thousands of elements and Characters in Greek Mythology and in this matter, in addition to knowing the main ones, you will also know the most interesting ones, check it out.

What is Greek Mythology?

     Greek Mythology is the study of sets of narratives related to the myths of the ancient Greeks and their meanings. For many modern scholars, understanding Greek myths is tantamount to shedding light on the understanding of ancient Greek society and its behavior, as well as its ritualistic practices. Greek myths illustrate the origins of the world, the ways of life, the adventures and misfortunes of a wide variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines and other mythological creatures.

     Throughout the ages, these myths have been expressed through an extensive collection of narratives, which constitute Greek literature, and also in the representation of other arts, such as the painting of Ancient Greece and the ceramics of red figures. Initially disseminated in oral-poetic tradition, these myths are now treated only as part of Greek literature.

Greek Gods and Goddesses:

• Ares: God of war, bloodshed and violence. The son of Zeus and Hera, he was represented as a young beardless man, either naked with a helmet and spear or sword, or as an armed warrior.
  
• Apollo: God of music, arts, knowledge, healing, plague, prophecy, poetry, manly beauty, archery, and the sun. He is the son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin brother of Artemis.
• Aphrodite: Goddess of love, beauty, desire and pleasure. Although married to Hephaestus she had many lovers, especially Ares, Adonis and Anquises. She was represented as a beautiful woman and is the only goddess who appears nude or half-naked.

• Hades: King of the underworld and the dead, and the god of repentance. His consort was Persephone. Attributes of it are the cornucopia, the key, the scepter, and the three-headed dog Cerberus. The lechuza was her sacred animal.

• Poseidon: God of the sea, rivers, floods, droughts and earthquakes. He is one of the sons of Cronos and Rhea and brother of Zeus and Hades. He rules one of the three kingdoms of the universe as king of the sea and the waters.
• Zeus: King and father of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and god of heaven, time, thunder, lightning, law, order and justice. He was the youngest son of Kronos and Rhea. He defeated his father Cronos and won the sovereignty of the heavens for himself.

Check: Perseus Story

Primordial Deities (which arose out of nowhere):

• Erebus: The god of darkness and shadow;
  
• Chronos: The personification of time. It should not be confused with the Titan (Cronos), the father of Zeus, Poseidon and Hades;
• Chaos: The nothingness from which everything else arose. Described as a void;
• Ether: The god of the upper atmosphere and light;

• Nyx: The goddess of the night.
  
• Hypnos: The personification of the dream;
• Thanatos: God of death. Brother of Hipnos (dream) and in some cases Moros (condemnation);
• Tartarus: The god of the deepest and darkest part of the lower world.
• Nesus: The island and sea goddesses;
• Pontus: The god of the sea, father of fish and other sea creatures;
• Gaia: Personification of the land (Mother Earth); mother of the titans;
• Oreas: The mountain gods;
• Uranus: The god of the heavens (Father of the heavens); father of the titans;
• Eros: The god of love and attraction;

Titans and Titanides:

• Themis: Titanium of divine law and order.
  
• Tethys: Titanium of fresh water, and the mother of rivers, springs, streams, springs and clouds;
• Rhea: Titanium of fertility, maternity and mountain forests. She was the sister and consort of Cronos, and the mother of Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Hera, Démeter, and Hestia;
• Phoebe: Titanium of the 'brilliance' of intellect and prophecy, and consort of Céos.
• Ocean: Titan of all oceanic rivers around the earth, the source of all the fresh water on Earth;
• Japeto: Titans of mortality and father of Prometeus, Epimeteo, Menoécio and Atlas;
• Ceos: Titan of the intellect and the axis of the skies around which the constellations revolved;
• Hyperion: Titans of light. With Tea, he was the father of Helio (the Sun), Selene (the Moon), and Eos (the Aurora);
• Cronus: The leader of the Titans, who defeated his father Uranus only to be defeated as well by his son, Zeus. It should not be confused with Chronos, the god of time;

Giants:

• Polyphemus: a cyclops who captured Odysseus and his men, only to be overcome and blinded by the hero.
  
• Leon: possibly one of the Giants, killed by Heracles;
• Hippolytus: he was killed by Hermes, who was wearing Hades' helmet, which made him invisible;

• Typhon: a monstrous and immortal storm-giant that tried to launch an attack on Mount Olympus but was defeated by the Olympians and imprisoned in the pits of Tartarus.
  
• Gerion: a three-body giant that lived on the red island of Eriteia;
• Cyclopes: a tribe of man-eating giants that graze sheep on the island of Sicily;

Personified Concepts:

• Cratos: spirit of fortress, strength, power and sovereign government.
  
• Nike: goddess of victory;
• Morus: the spirit of fatality;
• Lisa: the spirit of rabies, fury and rabies in animals;
• Keres: spirit of violent or cruel death;
• Geras: the spirit of old age;
• Deimos: spirit of awe, fear and terror;
• Kairos: spirit of opportunity;
• Bia: the spirit of strength, power, physical strength and coercion;
• Apate: spirit of deception and fraud;

Relevant Mortals and Heroes:

• Ajax: a hero of the Trojan war and the king of Salamina;
  
• Aeneas: a hero of the Trojan war and progenitor of the Roman people;
• Heracles: or Hercules, the most famous of the Greek heroes;
• Eaco: a king of Aegina, designated as Judge of the Dead in the underworld after his death;
• Achilles: hero of the Trojan war and a central character in Homer's Iliad;

• Perseus: son of Zeus and the founding king of Mycenae and assassin of the Gorgon Medusa.
  
• Theseus: son of Poseidon and a king of Athens and assassin of the Minotaur;
• Odysseus: a hero and king of Ithaca whose adventures are the object of Homer's Odyssey; it also played a key role during the Trojan war;
• Jason: leader of the Argonauts;
• Bellerophon: hero who killed Chimera;

Relevant Women:

• Pandora: the first woman;
  
• Medusa: a mortal woman turned into a horrible gorgon by Athena;
• Medeia: a sorceress wife of Jason, who killed his own children to punish Jason for his infidelity;
• Helena: daughter of Zeus and Leda, whose kidnapping caused the Trojan War;
• Europe: a Phoenician woman, kidnapped by Zeus;
• Electra: daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, she helped her brother Orestes in revenge on his mother's hand for the murder of his father;
• Danae: the mother, next to Zeus, of Perseus;
• Atalanta: fast heroine who participated in the hunting of Calidon's boar;
• Ariadne: daughter of Minos, king of Crete, that helped Theseus in the defeat of the Minotaur and became the wife of Dionísio;
• Aracne: an experienced weaver, transformed by Athena into a spider for her blasphemy;
• Andromeda: wife of Perseus, who was placed among the constellations after his death.

Check: Medusa History and Myth