A Quick Synopsis of Greek Mythology (by Eve Curras)

When I was eleven years old, my older brother and Mom became obsessed with a series new to them, called Percy Jackson & The Olympians.  My brother doesn't often read, so I knew this series would be good.  I quickly became just as obsessed, and Percy Jackson is still one of my favorite book series to date.  The novels are about a young boy who is thrown into a world of gods and goddesses, magical creatures and beasts, and most significantly: demi-gods.  He comes to find that he himself is a demi-god (meaning half-god) and that he is the son of Poseidon, the god of the Sea.  The series entails Percy and his friends attempting to survive and navigate their way through a world like ours, with the exception of a few centaurs, lightning bolts and flying, winged shoes here and there.  This series is what sparked my love for Greek mythology, and I quickly became engrossed in this world that at the time I believed did not differ much from my own.  (Okay, maybe I still believe in gods and goddess, you never know!)

In class we are reading The Iliad, an ancient Greek poem, that much like the Percy Jackson series intertwines Greek mythology with an epic storyline.

To truly understand Greek Mythology, you must understand the main players.  

There are the 3 main gods:

1. Zeus, the King of the Gods & God of the Sky

2. Poseidon, God of the Seas

3. Hades, God of the Underworlds 

Together, they make up The Big Three.

(Zeus/Left, Poseidon/Middle, Hades/Right)

There were a total of 12 gods and goddesses who overthrew the Titans, members of the second generation of divine beings.  They were known as The Olympians.

Including The Big Three, there are 9 other gods and goddesses who contributed to the defeat of the Titans:

-Hestia, Goddess of Family & Domestic Life

-Hera, Goddess of Marriage

-Ares, God of War

-Athena, Goddess of Wisdom

-Apollo, God of Music & Medicine

-Aphrodite, Goddess of Love

-Hermes, Messenger of the Gods

-Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt

-Hephaestus, God of Fire, Blacksmiths & Sculptors

These 12 made up the major deities of the Greek pantheon.  They were led to victory over their predecessor gods, the Titans, by Zeus.  In any novel, story, or epic that is written using Greek mythology, those names will most certainly be mentioned.  I can only hope this helped some students understand the myths and major players of Greek mythology a little bit better.