Page 45 - Kallima Spiritual Centre - Newsletter - June-July 2021

“Even the gods who are not his natural children address him as Father, and all the gods rise in his presence.”
Zeus, was the son of Cronus and Rhea. He married his sister Hera, and they had three children Area, Hebe and Hephaestus.
In ancient art, this god of gods is typically depicted as either standing or striking forward with a thunderbolt clenched in his raised right hand or seated in majesty.
Some of Zeus’ children are Aphrodite (though note that there are two versions to her birth), Apollo, Artemis, Athena, Dionysus, Hercules, Hermes, Helen of Troy and Persephone.
Poseidon
The brother of Zeus and Hades, Poseidon was the god of the sea, earthquakes and horses. Although he was officially one of the supreme gods of Mount Olympus, he
spent most of his time in his kingdom of water and was particularly important as a protector of sailors and fisherman. He was also known for his violent temper and hot- headedness and had many disputes with gods and mortals. During the Trojan War, and against the advice of his brother and King Zeus, he found on the side of the Greeks, sending a sea monster named Cetus to torment the Trojans.
As well as ill-tempered, he was greedy. Deciding that he wanted to steal Athens from the goddess Athena, he struck his trident into a rock, creating a seawater stream, which welled up on the north side of the Acropolis. This, he said, proved how beneficial he could be to Athens, Athena, in turn, planted an olive tree. When Cecrops, the king of the city, saw both gifts, he chose
Athena’s as being the most useful (it provided food, wood and oil). Athena kept Athens, since then, the olive branch has been a universal symbol of peace.
Though married to Amphitrite, a sea nymph, the god of the sea was as much a philanderer as his brother Zeus. He wooed numerous women, those who didn’t respond favourably he often took by force. This included Caeneus and Medusa, the latter, being transformed in a beast by Athena as a punishment for allowing such a thing to happen.
Upon her death, Medusa gave birth to Poseidon’s children, Chrysaor and the winged horse Pegasus.
Hera
The queen of the gods and goddess of women and marriage. She was Zeus’ wife and sister and was known for her jealousy and thirst for revenge. Not surprisingly, perhaps, considering how
faithless her husband was.
However, her vindictiveness extended to those who coupled with Zeus and his innocent illegitimate offspring. She caused the death of Zeus’s mortal lover, Semele, turned Callisto into a bear, and never forgave Hercules for being Zeus’s son. That said, when Hercules died and was taken to Olympus, he and Hera reconciled, and he even married Here’s daughter Hebe.
Hera is associated with the peacock – integrity and beauty – and the cuckoo, the form Zeus first took when he courted Hera, both of which the goddess reportedly kept as pets on Mount Olympus, and she is
often featured with a lion or wearing a
crown and holding a lotus staff. 45