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Zeus

The Ruins of Taormina Theater, Sicily (romas_ph / Adobe Stock)

Sicily: Where Cultures and Histories Converge and Giants Roam

Sicily is the most famous triangle in the middle of the Mediterranean. But unlike Bermuda , nothing disappears here - it’s actually where many things and people have been gathered. The island shines...
Titanomachy, war of Greek gods versus giant Titans (matiasdelcarmine / Adobe Stock)

Battle of the Gods, When Titans Took on Zeus

When discussing the creation myths of the ancient Greek gods, as told by the poet Hesiod (750-650 BC), it is best to imagine an audience huddled around a single speaker by way of a fire pit in the...
Hades, god of the underworld and Cerberus, his dog. (rudall30 / Adobe Stock)

Hades, God of the Underworld and His Unsung Powers

In Greek mythology , Hades was the god of the dead and the ruler of the Underworld. Thus, he was an important god in the Greek pantheon . Nevertheless, he is not considered to be a member of the...
The Battle between the Gods and the Titans by Joachim Wtewael. The beginning of the Greek Gods

Greek Gods: The 7 Core Males Exposed

The ancient Greeks were a polytheistic people and worshiped a multitude of gods. The most important gods of the Greek pantheon were the Twelve Olympians, so-called due to the belief that they resided...
Temple of Athena in Priene. Source: Yilmaz Oevuenc / CC BY-SA 2.0

Is Zeus To Join Stellar Crowd At Ancient City In Turkey?

A temple has been discovered by archaeological excavators in the ancient city of Priene in Turkey . The Ionian ruins of Priene are located within the borders of the modern village Güllübahçe, 9.3...
My Name Is Heracles, And I Have Father Issues

My Name Is Heracles, And I Have Father Issues

The story of Heracles is considered one of the oldest of the Greek myths . Heracles’ popularity stretched from the western world to the far reaches of northern India. His likeness has appeared as...
Modern representation of Pandora with the infamous box.

Pandora: Unleashing Hell and Hope Upon Humanity

Most people are familiar with the creation of Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis. But the story of mankind’s creation in Greek mythology is probably less well-known, and is arguably darker in tone...
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Can You Name the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World?

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World are seven awe-inspiring monuments of classical antiquity that reflect the skill and ingenuity of their creators. The list, comprised by ancient Greek historians...
Helen of Troy

Helen of Troy, The Beauty Who Sparked the Trojan War

In Greek mythology, Helen of Troy is known as the woman whose beauty sparked the Trojan War. But Helen’s character is more complex than it seems. When considering the many Greek and Roman myths that...
God the Father’ (1510-1520) by Ludovico Mazzolino.

Dyeus Pater—The Original All-Father of the Gods

The ancestors of the Indo-European peoples looked up into the sky and saw a father, a cosmic patriarch with authority over the realm of daylight. Many Indo-European pantheons contain gods associated...
Leda and the Swan fresco found at Pompeii

Steamy Fresco Discovered In Pompeii Bedroom Depicts The Seduction Of Queen Leda By A Swan

Archaeologists in Italy have discovered an “excellently" preserved and highly-colorful detailed fresco in an ancient Pompeii bedroom depicting an erotic scene in which a god disguised as a swan...
Gaia

Gaia: The Greek Earth Goddess Had No Tolerance for Cruel Family Members

According to the ancient Greeks, Gaia was a primordial deity and the personification of the Earth. In fact, her name can actually be translated to mean ‘land’ or ‘earth’. In Greek mythology, Gaia was...
What the chryselephantine statue of Zeus at Olympia may have looked like.

Chryselephantine: Sculpting the Most Luxurious Greek Cult Statues

Gold and ivory – what could be a richer mix? The ancient Greeks saw this as one of the most luxurious combinations as well, which is why they reserved the chryselephantine sculpting technique for...
The famous Omphalos considered to be the center of the Universe for ancient Greeks, Delphi, Greece.

The Sacred Omphalos Stone, Navel of the World and Communicator of the Gods

An omphalos is a powerful symbolic artifact made from stone. Considered the ‘navel of the world’, the central point from which terrestrial life originated, an omphalos was an object of Hellenic...
Prometheus and Hercules by Christian Griepenkerl.

Betrayed by the Acts of Others? The Events that Led to Prometheus’s Perennial Punishment

The story of Prometheus, Epimetheus and Pandora is a popular myth of ancient Greece - one that has been told and retold throughout the ages. It is a tale of Prometheus, the son of a titan, who was...
Ancient Greek Vase Celebrates the Exaltation of Our Ancestors as Gods

Ancient Greek Vase Celebrates the Exaltation of Our Ancestors as Gods

In 2016, Christie’s sold the Greek vase depicted above—a red-figure bell krater used for mixing wine with water—to a buyer in London for $220,000. It dates from 410 BC. For a mythology buff, what a...
A vase-scene from about 410 BC. Nimrod/Herakles, wearing his fearsome lion skin headdress, spins Noah/Nereus around and looks him straight in the eye. Noah gets the message and grimaces, grasping his scepter, a symbol of his rule - soon to be displaced in the post-Flood world by Nimrod/Herakles, whose visage reveals a stern smirk.

Ancient Greek Vase Artists Painted Images of Biblical Figures Noah and Nimrod Over 2,000 Years Ago

The Book of Genesis describes human history. Ancient Greek religious art depicts human history. While their viewpoints are opposite, the recounted events and characters match each other in convincing...
The statue of a seated Zeus at Olympia.

Unleashing The Power of the Gods: Hexes and Black Magic in the Ancient Greek Olympics

When the ancient Olympics began, the greatest athletes in Greece gathered before a statue of Zeus Horkios, the god of oaths. Laid before its feet would be the freshly cut meat of a boar sacrificed by...
Pan

The Failed Sex God: The Horned God Pan and His Unrequited Lusts

"The bounteous Pan, the god of rural scenery, shepherdi, and huntsmen," as the poet Milton calls him, is the Greek god of woods and fields. Originally a pastoral god from Arcadia and depicted as a...
Pandora, lifting the lid of the ‘pithos’. By Nicolas Régnier

Pandora: The Tale of a Good Girl Gone Bad?

When Pandora opened her box, as the Ancient Greek myth goes, all manner of evil was released into the world - ending the Golden Age of man and forsaking them to a life of death and rebirth. Being the...
Why Do We Ignore the Ancient Treasures on top of Mediterranean Mountains?

Why Do We Ignore the Ancient Treasures on top of Mediterranean Mountains?

Jason König / The Conversation The mountains of the Mediterranean are permanent reminders of the past. The ancient Greeks climbed to their summits to offer sacrifices to the gods for centuries, even...
Skeleton 3,000 years old lends credence to claims of Ancient Greeks sacrificing humans

Skeleton 3,000 years old lends credence to claims of Ancient Greeks sacrificing humans

The ancient Greeks told myths about human sacrifice, but did they really kill people as some sort of sinister sacrifice to the gods? The 3,000-year-old skeleton of a teenage boy discovered in a mound...
Solar deity bronze relief, Deriv.

Those Who Once Reigned: Experts Name Famous and Forgotten Ancient Gods

Ancient Origins asked experts to weigh in on the topic of ancient deities. Some ancient gods get all the attention - but which gods are largely forgotten… and why? The following is their views on...
One of the Greek temples in the Valley of Temples outside Agrigento, Sicily

New Study Shows Some Greek Temples Were Oriented to the Moon or Stars, Rather than the Sun

The Ancient Greeks, who designed temples in honor of gods, goddesses and heroes, usually oriented them facing the rising sun or to the cardinal directions. But a new study shows that a few of the...

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