Minerva was one of Rome’s most important gods, considered a goddess of war, wisdom, and the arts. While she is often described as the equivalent of Athena, and she certainly has many parallels with her sister Greek goddess, Minerva was a unique goddess in many ways. She was also arguably more important in Rome than... Continue Reading →

The Roman goddess Juno is considered the equivalent of the Greek goddess Hera, with many Roman deities borrowing Greek mythology. But Juno was much more in Rome than Hera was in Greece. Juno Regina, alongside Jupiter Optimus Maximus and Minerva, was part of the Capitoline Triad. These were some of the most important deities in... Continue Reading →

Hera was the queen of the gods in the Greek pantheon. The wife of Zeus, she was the queen of the 12 Olympians. She was widely worshipped by the ancient Greeks, even if she is less well-known today than Aphrodite and Athena. She was known as Juno among the Romans. Hera Basilis - Queen of... Continue Reading →

Athena may be the most well-known of the Greek goddesses, associated with war, wisdom, and many crafts. Closely related to the Roman goddess Minerva, her many epithets reveal aspects of the goddess. Likely, Athena was originally an Aegean goddess linked to the palace who presided over household crafts and protected the king. She is mentioned... Continue Reading →

Zeus was the sky god in Greek mythology who carried the mighty lightning bolt. He was also the father of most of the gods, making him a mighty progenitor and leader, giving him authority over areas such as fate and justice. His central role in Greek religion as the leading Olympian god is clear from... Continue Reading →

According to the Greek creation story as told in Hesiod’s Theogony, in the beginning, there was a great emptiness called Chaos. From Chaos, Gaia, a goddess and the earth itself, emerged, as did Tartarus. The goddess Nyx, night and darkness, may also have emerged at this time, representing what remained of Chaos. A similarly complex... Continue Reading →

The ideas of night, sleep, and dreams were intimately connected in ancient Greek mythology. Night represented the chaos of nothingness, and sleep and dreams existed within the night, making them dangerous and powerful ideas. Dreams were believed to be divinely sent and were used in ancient Greek medicine to diagnose and treat illness. Nyx –... Continue Reading →

When studying Greek mythology, it can be challenging to know how all the stories recorded in distinct myths preserved in disparate sources go together. This timeline for Greek mythology is meant to help put each individual myth into the bigger picture. So, below is a very brief summary of the chronology of the main events... Continue Reading →