Mythological names Greek to Roman

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Goddess of love and desire, she was born of the sea and where ever she touched the earth grass and flowers sprang up. The belief that foods from the sea act as an aphrodisiac may come from the sea being the birthplace of Aphrodite. Her only employment was to make love and inspire others to do the same.

This perfect beauty was married to the lame Hephaestus, through this alliance she became the patron of smiths and all that work in the mechanical arts.

Her attribute is the dove and the love knot. The young Eros (Cupid) with his quiver of golden arrows attends Aphrodite.

Apollo / Sol

Twin brother to the moon goddess Artemis, Apollo brings music, healing and divine visions to mankind. He is the patron of musicians, poets and those who practice the healing arts.

His attributes are the lyre, sun, and the leaf of the medicinal acanthus plant. He is often shown in his chariot drawn by fiery steeds or in repose with his lyre.

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Divine personification of the moon, twin sister of Apollo, the sun. Early images of Artemis (6^th century BC) show her with wings, a symbol of her divinity. In her earliest forms she represented the force of civilization on nature. For this reason Artemis was the patron goddess of teachers and the protectres of children. She is also the goddess of the hunt and is often portrayed with the moon and the hind, her favorite animal.

Athena was born from the head of Zeus after he had made a meal of her unfortunate mother Metis. Not to worry, her mother became "the voice within" that plagued Zeus later on throughout his long, long life.

From her man learned science and numbers. Women she taught the arts of cooking, spinning and weaving. She is also credited with inventing the flute, horse bridal, ox yoke, chariot and ships. She also created the first court. Athena is the only one who has access to Zeus’ thunderbolts, not by permission but by right.

She is the patron goddess of lawyers and judges, weavers, potters, horsemen, cooks and seamen.

Her attributes are the owl the thunderbolt and the head of Medusa who she helped to slay.

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Sister to Zeus, Demeter is the "earth mother", goddess of agriculture. Through the successful tilling of the soil she shares the responsibility for the creation of towns and civilized life with Rhea the mother of Zeus. Plutus the god of the riches found under ground is her son. Her daughter Persephone became the queen of the underworld causing her mother Demeter such grief during her annual absences that the earth grew cold and wintry till her return in the spring.

The attributes of Demeter are the spray of grain and industrious bees. 

God of wine Dionysus shares with his half sister Athena the honor of being born from their father Zeus’ own body.

He is best known as the god who introduced wine and it’s cultivation to the world. In his far-reaching travels he spread his knowledge to the corners of the earth.

The grapevine and leaf are his attributes along with the spotted leopard. Dancing Maenads with vine entwined staffs; satyrs and centaurs are his companions.

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The god of desire and passion, Eros makes no distinction between age and station. He sets all hearts on fire with his golden arrows. He is often depicted blindfolded signifying his indiscriminate use of his "Love" arrows. He is often the companion of Aphrodite, but she can not restrain his antics or direct his arrows for him. Hearts, wings, and arrows along with the "love" knot all proclaim "Eros was here".

She is the queen of the heavens along with her brother/husband Zeus. She is the protector of every woman throughout her life particularly at her time of marriage. Her name month Iunonius (June) was considered the most auspicious time for weddings. By simple arithmetic we can see that a June wedding would guarantee the first child born would arrive in early spring after the end of cold weather, giving the new born and it’s mother a better chance at survival. She is the bringer of rain and thunder and the Iris the rainbow is one of her handmaids.

Her attributes are the peacock, and the pomegranate.

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The greatest of all the heroes Heracles was the favorite son of Zeus and the only mortal to join the gods on Mount Olympus. Renaissance princes adopted Heracles and his twelve labors as their inspirational model. To them he represented all that was in the power of a man to accomplish.

The attributes of Heracles are the knot. The lion skin and his ever present club. 

The early delinquencies of Zeus’ son were put behind him when Hermes became the messenger and herald of the Olympian gods. His great speed makes him both the patron god of athletes, travelers and commerce. Having returned the cattle he stole from Apollo he became the protector of property, and surprisingly the patron god of thieves as well! He is the father of the woodland Pan who protects shepherds and their flocks.

Wings are his attribute; they appear on his sandals helmet or staff.

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Frighteningly ugly in her earliest representations, this unhappy creature regained some of her human beauty during the Hellenistic period. The later Greeks chose to accent the tragedy of her downfall rather than her monstrous punishment.

As the story goes, Poseidon seduced the beautiful Medusa in Athena’s temple. Outraged by this sacrilege Athena transformed Medusa into a monster with living snakes replacing her once beautiful hair. Through her encounter with Poseidon Medusa became the mother of Chrysaor and the winged horse Pegasus.

The head of Medusa rides on the aegis of Athena. It became a popular deign for armor decoration since to look on the face of Medusa was believed to turn the viewer to stone.

This beautiful winged horse came from the union of Poseidon and the once beautiful Medusa. He is the symbol for poetry and the imagination.

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"The Mother of the Gods" Rhea represents the fruitfulness of nature. She was the the wife of Cronos, Zeus and Hera are among her offspring. Her earliest worshipers came from Crete and she is sometimes confused with Demeter the "Great Mother". Rhea brings civilization through control of nature. She is the patron of cities and wears a diadem of towers as the symbol of her accomplishments. The oak, acorn, pine and lion are also sacred symbols of Rhea’s.

Zeus the most powerful of all the Olympian gods. Mother Earth raised him thus his interest in the worldly affairs of men and his interest in the ladies. His children by various conquests number Athena, Hermes, Dionysus, Apollo and Artemis among countless others. His favorite child was Heracles who was the only mortal to be made immortal and taken to Mount Olympus.

The worship of Zeus was the beginning of patriarchal monotheism that took hold of the Mediterranean world. This shift from the worship of female "earth goddesses" was accomplished by giving Zeus as many female attributes as possible. The most striking example would be his bearing of children, Athena from his head and Hermes from his thigh. The bright side to the usurpation of the female deities’ roles was that Zeus was satisfied with the blood of bulls instead of the blood of a human victim.

Zeus’ attribute is the thunderbolt, his favored animal is the eagle with which he communicates with mankind.

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