Each and every one of the civilizations that have populated the earth have had their own deities, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, etc. Today we are going to dedicate this article to the Greek and Roman Goddess NamesLet us know their names, who they protected and whom, what relationship existed between the Greek and Roman Goddesses.
Greek Goddess Names
The gods of Olympus were the main Greek deities, they were the gods who lived on top of Mount Olympus. Mount Olympus was the highest in Greece and a privileged place to govern the destinies of the city, there they lived in great temples. Greek gods and goddesses they had family misunderstandings that in most cases ended in big fights, they loved and envied, they suffered and enjoyed, they had human behaviors but with divine powers. Each god was given a weapon or element that identified him. Let’s see who the Goddesses of ancient Greece were and what they represented.
Elpis
We are before the goddess of hope. Elpis is the daughter of Nix, goddess of the night. And according to mythology, she is the only goddess who remains in Pandora’s jar. How is this? Well, for a beautiful reason and that is that it is said that only a human can release hope. Not in vain, it is hope that has never abandoned humanity nor should it. Only we have the power to make it disappear.
Gaia
Gaia is a very special goddess, because she is the Goddess of the earth. In addition, she was the mother of the parents of the first gods of Olympus, Cronos and Rhea who fathered the gods Zeus, Demeter, Poseidon, Hera, Hades, Estia and the rest of the Olympian gods.
Irene
She is the goddess who brings peace as her name indicates. You will recognize her because she is represented as a beautiful young woman with a scepter and a torch or a rhyton, as well as a cornucopia. She is the daughter of Themis and Zeuz.
Gea
Gaia is the first goddess. She created the Earth, so she is revered as the “Mother Earth”. Due to her role, Gea is goddess of lifeof the death and fertility.
Hebe
Those who do not wish to grow old have Hebe as their goddess, since she is the goddess of youth. His parents are Zeus and Hera and his mission was to assist all the gods. That is to say, she was like his assistant who made sure they didn’t lack for anything. She later married Heracles and in doing so she abandoned her labor which was taken over by Ganymede.
female
Was the goddess of bad fame and rumors. Yes, although it may seem curious to you, by that time there were already gossip and they even had a goddess dedicated to it. And it is that Feme was in charge of disseminating facts, true or not, of men. This caused conflicts due to misunderstandings.
daughter of aphrodite she was also seen as the messenger of Zeus. She has a curious image, because she wears wings to be able to be fast in her mission to spread information. And on each wing she has eyes and a tongue. She also realizes that Feme never sleptbut always kept his eyes wide open so as not to miss the gossip.
Hera
Hera is the queen of all the gods, protector of the family and of marriage, she is the youngest daughter of the union of the God Crono with her sister the Goddess Rhea and therefore sister of the God Zeus, whose wife she was also.
What wife of Zeus and being the protective goddess of family and marriageShe often took revenge on the lovers her husband and brother Zeus had, as well as the children he had with them.
Symbols: Peacock, cow, lion, cuckoo, crown and pomegranate.
Artemis
Artemis is the eldest daughter of Zeus and Leto., who in his opinion is the daughter of the Titans Ceo and Phoebe. When Hera finds out about Zeus’s infidelity, she persecuted Leto to prevent her birth, despite everything, Artemis was born with her twin brother Apollo.
Artemis is the goddess of the hunt, of wild animals, of the forest, of virgin lands, of births, virginity. When a Greek woman had some “women’s” illness, she went to the temple of Artemis. Represented with a bow and arrows, she even assumed the role of Ilithyia in helping the Parthians.
Symbols : The moon, the hunting dog, the deer, the bear, the snake, the bow and arrow and the cypress.
Athena
Athena is the daughter of Zeus and the Oceanid Metis., first wife and lover of Zeus and responsible for the emetic that made Cronus vomit the children he swallowed. When Zeus learned of the prophecy about the birth of a son who would rule the world, Zeus ended up devouring her while she was pregnant. Zeus would later give birth to a daughter, who was born from her head, Athena.
Athena is the goddess of war, wisdom, science, justice, crafts or skill and civilization, one of the most important deities of Greece. Athena received worship from all the Greek people, including the area of Greek influence, whether they were the colonies of Asia or Hispania.
symbols: The Owl and the Olive Tree
Aphrodite
It’s about the goddess of love, desire and beauty. aphrodite is daughter of the god Zeus and the Oceanid Dione. Aphrodite is said to born from the foam of the seawhen the blood of Uranus fell on the land and the sea after the amputation committed by his own son Cronus.
Aphrodite married to Hephesus, She was never faithful to her husband since she had different love relationships, the most important being her relationship with Ares. From the name of Aphrodite, the term aphrodisiac is born.
Symbols: The dove, apple, bee, swan, rose and myrtle.
Demeter
Daughter of Cronus and Rhea, she is often confused with her mother Rea and even her Grandmother Gea. Goddess of fertility, agriculture, nature and the annual seasons.
Demeter was in charge of giving the grain to the Athenians, teaching them the art of agriculture, such as seeding, ploughing, harvesting, etc. Adored among the people dedicated to the field.
Symbols: The pig, poppy, wheat and torches.
The main Greek goddesses are these, but Greek mythology is much broader, so if you want to find more information, we leave you with more goddesses that were important within this mythology.
Persephone
Persephone is the daughter of the god Zeus and the goddess Demeter. Legend has it that she was kidnapped by Hades and also forced to marry him for which she, in addition to being a goddess, is also known as the queen of the underworld. This legend has been illustrated in numerous works of art such as The abduction of Persephone. In the myth they focus on her mother’s pain and also her daughter’s return to Olympus, which explains the different seasons of the year.
Although she is currently a highly idealized character in mythology, the Greeks also knew the other side of Persephone, being the queen of the underworld. In fact, they did not dare to pronounce her name out loud and called her “The Maiden”. Other names that have been assigned to her is that of the “Iron Queen” as she is named by Odysseus when he travels to the underworld. In fact, the rites that in theory the goddess carried underground by which she promised the attendees immortality and great banquets are also known.
Aura
Aura’s name means breeze and she was the daughter of Peribea, Oceanid, and the Titan Lelanto. It is said that she was very fast as the wind and that Dionysus fell in love with her but he could never run as fast as her since she was much lighter than him. However, Dionysus turned to the goddess Aphrodite and finally Aura went mad at the feet of Dionysus. She had two twin sons with him but, following her madness, she killed one of them and then threw herself into the Sangrario river, turning Zeus into a fountain. Her other son, named Yaco, was protected by Artemis and survived.
Hestia
Although Hestia appeared in some stories, it wasn’t too significant in greek mythology. goddess of home, order and family, was sister of Demeter, Hades, Poseidon, Hera and Zeus.
Eldest daughter of Cronus and Rhea. Hestia was in charge of the sacrificial fires and prayers were addressed to her before and after meals. She although she appears in very few myths, and in fact, is omitted entirely from Homer’s works, author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, most cities had a common home for Hestia where the sacred fire burned. In Rome, Hestia was worshiped as Vesta and its importance was remarkable: its fire was fed by six virgin priestesses known as vestals.
Circe
In Greek mythology, Circe was a goddess of magic, although she was sometimes depicted as a nymph (minor nature god), a witch or sorceress. In any case, she was associated with magic. A goddess who knew a lot about potions and herbs, she and sometimes used this knowledge against her enemies and people who offended her, turning them into wild animals. Also he had a wand or staff that he also used to channel his magic. In fact, this was the first mention of a “magic wand or staff” in Western writings; it was mentioned in Homer’s epic poem, the Odysseywhen Circe used it to turn Odysseus’s men into beasts.
Circe was the daughter of Helios, a titan who represented the Sun, and Perse, an ocean nymph. She was one of three thousand of her kind, daughters of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys. In another version, Circe was the daughter of Hecate, a goddess of witchcraft.
In some stories, Circe was exiled by her father Helios to live alone in Aeaea, a fictional island, as punishment for killing the prince of Colchis, who was her husband at the time. She later had children with Odysseus, the king of Ithaca from Homer’s writings. Her three sons were Ardeas, Latinus and Telegonus.
Eris
Eris was the goddess of conflict and dispute. Eris is said to be the daughter of Zeus and Hera. the king and queen of the Olympian gods, but in other myths, she is the daughter of Erebus and Nyx, the king and queen of the darkest night.
A goddess of whom stories are told in which it always leads to conflict. One of these times happened during the wedding of Peleus, a Greek king who married Thetis, a sea nymph. All the Olympian gods had been invited. However, Eris had been left out of the guest list on purpose and naturally decided to take revenge.
During the party, Eris threw something into the center of the crowd: a beautiful golden apple marked with the words “For the most beautiful”. Unfortunately, Hera, Aphrodite and Athena thought that the apple should belong to her, and so, as Eris expected: they all started arguing about who should get the prize. None of the Olympian gods wanted to get involved in this fight, so they got Paris, the prince of Troy, to judge the beauty pageant on the spot.
Each of the goddesses tried to bribe Paris into choosing her. Athena promised wisdom to Paris; Hera offered power, but Aphrodite tempted Paris with something she couldn’t refuse: the most beautiful mortal woman ever born. Paris awarded Aphrodite the apple and went to claim her prize, but there was a catch. Helena, the most beautiful woman in the world, was already married. When Paris ran away with Helen and took her to his city of Troy to make her his wife, Helen’s husband Menelaus he vowed revenge on the Trojans and gathered a thousand ships to force the Trojans to return her.
This conflict became known as the Trojan War. It lasted ten years and ultimately resulted in the city of Troy being burned to the ground. The only person who was happy with this turn of events was, Eris. With an apple, she managed to start a decades-long drama.
Iris
a goddess called “Iris” personified the rainbow in the mythology of ancient Greece. Most works of art depict her in the form of a beautiful rainbow or as a beautiful maiden. He had wings…