Gods And Goddesses

Gods and Goddesses

"For the Greeks, it was important to keep the gods happy, which was done not by having the correct beliefs, but by doing the right things (Kirby 278)." "The Greeks believed that their gods had a guiding hand in human affairs (Sacks 203). Therefore, they worshipped the gods faithfully, in hope of receiving good fortune. Gods and goddesses were a central part of the Greek culture in many different aspects.

There were believed to be twelve main gods that resided on Mount Olympus including Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Artemis, Athena, Demeter, Hephaestus, Hera, Hermes, Poseidon, and Zeus, with either Dionysus or Hestia being the twelfth (Kirby 278; O'Connell and Singer). Each god controlled a different area of life. Aphrodite was the goddess of love and fertility and Apollo was the god of prophecy, music, archery, purification, healing, and the sun (Kirby 278). Ares was the god of war and Artemis was the goddess of wildlife, women, and childbirth (Kirby 279). Athena was the goddess of war, wisdom, and crafts and Demeter was the goddess of grain and agriculture (Kirby 279-280). Dionysus was the god of wine, intoxication, ecstasy, and the theatre and Hephaestus was the god of fire and crafts (Kirby 280). Hera was the goddess of marriage and royalty and Hermes was the god of oracles, literature, merchants, and thieves (Kirby 280-281). Poseidon was the god of the ocean, earthquakes, and horses and Zeus was the god of justice and friendship (Kirby 281-282).

"The Greek gods were created by man to explain the world around them (Greek Gods Ð'- Greek Myth)." The Greeks needed a way to explain nature and they used the gods to do that. When something unfortunate happened, they could say that the gods were angry with the city that had been plagued. They used myths to show the creation of the gods and also used them for entertainment. They would create stories about the gods and use it to explain why things were the way they were.

The Greeks did not worship the gods in an