The Gods of Greece, the Autocrats of the Ancient World (Part Three)

There were twelve “core” gods of the ancient Greek pantheon. In the first of these articles we looked at the Big Three, that is Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, and in the second we looked at the main goddesses. Now we get into the really interesting stuff: the specialists.

The greater gods may have had responsibilities, but they acted rather as a beneficiary of a charity might: showing an interest, bestowing patronage and holding ultimate responsibility, but not actually doing that much work. The other gods though, they had jobs to do.

The twelve Olympian gods include Hermes, for example, forever zipping between gods and mortals and delivering (usually) Zeus’s messages when the latter was too busy elsewhere to attend in person. Demeter, goddess of agriculture is responsible for the harvest, Hephaestus the god of the hearth is constantly making stuff. These gods are occupied, they like to keep busy.

There is also a tiny amendment for those keeping track of these twelve gods. While there are twelve Olympians this number does not include Hades, who was separate as king of the underworld and considered a “Chthonic Deity” unlike his siblings. He was included before because no story of the gods of Olympus would be complete without him but in truth he is not one of their number.

It is worth the diversion to explore why. Sure, he had his own kingdom (or rather set of kingdoms) but then both Zeus and Poseidon had their own domains, the sea and the sky, and yet they lived on Olympus. What was it that made Hades different?

The division between Hades and, say, his brother Zeus is not one of lands divided between the two. The difference comes from the people they rule: Zeus and the Olympians rule over the lands of the living, Hades over the lands of the dead.

Hades is even known as “Chthonic Zeus” in some sources, and has his own pantheon of subterranean gods over whom he rules much as Zeus does. Anything that dies belongs to them, but also anything that grows: if it comes from the ground it is Hades, ultimately, that you have to thank.

But for most the gods of Greece are those musclebound half naked figures atop their mountain, bronzed and idealized. At least, idealized in their outward appearance: as we have noted with Zeus, their physique may be flawless but their behavior is very flawed indeed.

Header Image: Apollo, prettiest of the gods of Greece, hanging out with Hyacinthus and Ciparis. Source: Alexander Ivanov / Public Domain.