Page 125 - Purple Butterfly 1

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Another huge part, besides the monsters and the heroes in Greek mythology, is, of course, the gods. There were thought to be hundreds of deities, each with their own area of importance, personality, and powers. Most have many names, making it impossible to know the exact number. Of the most important gods and goddesses, however, there were only 12. Each member of this dozen was related to the most important god of all, the leader of the gods, Zeus. This group of twelve was called the Olympians. This name comes from Mount Olympus, the mountain where they all lived. Another name for these twelve is the Dodekatheon, which literally means “twelve gods.”
Lets start with the most important: Zeus. He was the god of sky and thunder, and the king of all Gods. His parents were not gods, but Titans, who were children of Gaia (Earth) and Uranus (Sky). They were much like the gods, but later overthrown by them in the “Titanomachy” or “War of the Titans.” Once they won, Zeus divided up the world between his two brothers and himself, and ruled the skies.
Zeus’ wife, Hera, was the queen of the gods.
She was the goddess of family and marriage.
Though this makes her sound like a nice person,
she was actually really cruel, and almost evil. She was incredibly jealous of Zeus, and would hurt any woman who got close to him. She even turned one girl into a cow!
Poseidon was Zeus’ brother. When the world was divided, he got the seas. He also was god of earthquakes and tidal waves. His symbols were the horse, which he was said to have created out of sea foam, dolphins (which he used to pull his carriage), and the trident. He was as likely to save people from drowning as he was to destroy an island. He was very unpredictable and powerful.
Hades was Zeus’ other brother. He got the Underworld when the world was split up. The Underworld was where everyone who died, and a few heroes that tried to bring people back, were. Nobody liked it, since it was dark, cold, and sad, and it made Hades dark, cold, and sad as well. He felt angry at the other gods since he got stuck with what nobody else wanted, and was very bitter because of this.
Demeter was the goddess of fertility, agriculture, and nature. She was basically the goddess of farmers, so many people prayed to her so their crops wouldn’t fail. She tended to fight with Hades, since he had kidnapped her daughter, Persephone, and married her. Her favorite animal was the pig.
Dionysus was the opposite of stern Demeter, and the youngest of the Olympians. He was the god of wine, celebrations, and theatre. He was the only one of the Olympians to have had a mortal mother. His father was Zeus. His followers would throw parties that would never end in the forests. Dionysus spent most of his time making enormous, wild parties, and he never seemed to be completely sane. He tended to be in a good mood however, and was one of the nicer gods.
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