Glossary of Names / Pseudonyms of some of the Gods and Goddesses in Greek and Cretan mythology

Aphrodite - Olympian goddess of desire, sexual love and lust. Married to Hephaestus

Apollo - Olympian god of light. Son of Zeus and the nymph Leto. Associated with music and a general spiritual well being.

Ares - Olympian god of war and strife. Son of Zeus and Hera, both of whom held him in low regard. Actions typified by violence and hot-headedness which were often at odds with the Athenian ideals. Committed adultery with Aphrodite

Artemis - Olympian goddess variously associated with light, childbearing, viriginity, protection and the hunt. Twin sister to Apollo

Athena / Athene - Olympian goddess of wisdom and valour. Lends her name to the capital she came to protect, having vied with, and succeeded against, Poseidon for patronage of the city. The voice of equitable justice and reason. Daughter of Metis and Zeus (prior to his marriage to Hera) and reputed to have emerged fully grown from his head wearing what would become her trademark robe and helmet

Demeter - Olympian goddess of fertility and the ground

Dionysus - Son of Zeus and the mortal Semele. God of wine and worshipped by men for the joys of life and love of festivity which he taught to them. Brought his mother back from the underworld after she had died due to the deception of jealous Hera caused Zeus to visit her in divine form. Borne children by Ariadne, whom he carried off after she had been abandoned by Theseus. Denied as a god by Pentheus, the Theban king

Eileithya / Ilythia / Ilithia / Eilithia / Eilithya etc - Goddess of childbirth and daughter to Zeus and Hera.

Eris - Olympian minor goddess of strife (and sister to Ares) whose uninvited attendance at the wedding of Thetis and Peleus effectively brought about the Trojan War. The Olympians had attended en-masse and although Eris was the only one not to be invited she did so anyway. She proceeded to throw a golden apple on to the table inscribed for 'the fairest' which was then quarelled over by Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. Zeus decided that Paris, son of Priam (the king of Troy) was to settle the argument but in choosing Aphrodite and her bribe to give him the most beautiful woman, Paris sealed the fate of his own city. Menelaus, king of Sparta and his brother Agamemnon, king of Argos and their troops laid siege to Troy for ten years to return Helen to her husband, the Spartan king.

Gaia - Wife of Ouranos, the first king of the gods. Meaning the earth and traditionally seen as the the holder of all foreknowledge.

Hephaestus / Hefaestus - Olympian god of working with fire. Married to Aphrodite and renowned as a craftsman, especially that of the smith and metalwork. Sent by Zeus to chain Prometheus to the rock. Creator of the first woman, Pandora, at the behest of Zeus, who ultimately by her actions in removing the lid of brought illness, hard work and evils on mankind in retaliation for the actions of Prometheus who had passed the divine fire to them. Also, in some accounts, renowned for creating Talos the bronze giant who kept guard over Minoan Crete. Accounts vary of his parents as being Zeus and Hera, Hera alone and even Talos himself.

Hades - Brother of Zeus and Poseidon who received the underworld after his siblings had taken the heavens and the waters. Although a lesser deity than his powerful brothers, as the earth held valuable minerals and gems he is also associated with wealth. Lord of the domain that included the Elysian fields, for the good, Tartarus, for the bad and the Asphodel Meadows, for those in between!

Hera - Sister and wife to Zeus. Olympian Goddess of virtuous love. Protector of women and the family

Hermes / Ermes - Olympian messenger. Son of Zeus and Maia, the daughter of Atlas. Famed for his golden sandals and lyre and associated with delivering entreaties of peace, travel and commerce although also renowned for his mischievous nature and theft of Apollo's cattle. Quickly became the trusted messenger of Zeus and was the one to lead Hera, Aphrodite and Athena to learn the judgement of Paris as to which of the three goddesses should receive the apple Eris had tossed onto the table at the wedding of Thetis and Peleus

Hestia - Sister of Zeus and goddess of the hearth. Despite amorous approaches from Poseidon and Apollo she insistently rejected both, preferring to keep her maidenhood pure. Associated with the home, virginity, rejection of warfare and the value of virtue. Often regarded as having allowed her place in the pantheon of Olympic gods to be taken up by Dionysos instead. Noted as being made protector of the eternal flame and having a share in all honours received by the gods from mortal men.

Kronos / Cronos - Father of Zeus and other Olympians. A fearsome and ruthless Titan, son to Gaia, who had killed his own father (Ouranos) and progressed to develop a prediliction for attempted infanticide. His reign, although the one in which the human race was created, is typified as a period of anarchy predating all 'modern' institutions and behaviour. Only his sixth child, Zeus, escaped being eaten due to the quick-wittedness (and despair) of Kronos' wife Rea. His actions in effect brought about the rise of the new Olympian centred religion with a battle of the gods that saw his children victorious.

Metis - Mother of Athena and first wife to Zeus. Metis, as one of the younger Titanides and daughter of Okeanis, was a pre Olympian goddess of wisdom who assisted Zeus by supplying the potion that made Kronos regurgitate his devoured children. She was ultimately repaid with a similar fate. Zeus ate her for fear of a prophecy that a son born to them would rise to take his place

Ouranos / Uranus - The first king of the gods. The sky who married Gaia, the earth.

Poseidon - Brother of Zeus. Olympian god who spent much of his time in his own watery kingdom. God of the sea and easily identifiable by his trident and chariot which could be used to create massive shifts in the waters. Challenged Athena for the city they both coveted although Athena's olive tree was more attractive a proposition to the inhabitants than Poseidon's salt water spring. Persuaded Aphrodite to cause King Minos' wife, Pasiphae, to fall in love with the bull from the sea, a creature Minos himself had requested as proof of his right to Kingship, when Minos reneged on his promise to sacrifice it. The result of this coupling was the infamous minotaur.

Prometheus - A son of Gaia, the earth who assisted the Olympians in defeating the forces of anarchy so the world and heavens could move towards order. Rewarded by being invited to dine at the table of the new dynastic order. However inkeeping with his defiance of tyranny in all forms and sympathy for mankind, he stole fire and conveyed it to man. Zeus had him chained to a rock by Hephaestus and when he claimed to know of a prophecy told to him by his mother, Gaia, that could mean the downfall of the Olmypian chief Zeus had him tortured for a thousand years. Only when Zeus relented and offered release and pardon did Prometheus reveal the prophecy of the sea-nymph Thetis

Rea / Rheia - Mother of Zeus and wife of Kronos

Zeus - most famous of the Greek Olympian gods and son to Kronos and Rea. Meaning the sky. Reputed birthplace to be the Dikteon Cave on Crete. Kronos had previously eaten all five of their children, out of fear of one becoming victorious over him, and Zeus only escaped the same fate by virtue of his mother fooling Kronos into devouring a stone wrapped in blankets instead. Zeus did ultimately defeat his father, forcing him to regurgitate his adult siblings (Hades, Hera, Hestia, Demeter, Poseidon) who then came to his side in the battle against the Titans and the old religion

Further Characters in Greek / Cretan mythology, literature and history

Britomartis / Vritomartis / Dictynna / Lady of the Nets - Inventor of nets (diktia) according to Diodorus Siculus and also celebrated on the island of Aegina, to where she fled, as Aphaia. Also referred to as the 'nymphe of Gortyn' and Laphria. Born to Zeus and Carme / Karme and the object of King Minos' desires. Other writers claim the name is derived from the fishermen's nets into which she threw herself in her flight from his lust.

Daedalus - Fabled inventor (the name meaning ingenious) and father of Icarus, variously reputed by diverse classical authors to be responsible for, amongst other things, sails on ships, the axe, the labyrinth of King Minos, the statue of Britomartis at Olous and the feather and glue wings that would ultimately bring about the death of his son.

Minos - The king whose reign lends its name to early Crete history, the Minoan period. Fabled for the palace / labyrinth at Knossos and the story of the Minotaur

Thetis - Sea nymph. Beloved by Zeus until Prometheus revealed an ancient prophecy foretelling of Thetis' destiny to give birth to a son who would be more powerful than the child's father. Zeus then chose Peleus, a mortal who had sailed on the Argo, to be her husband instead. Their son, the famed Achilles, bore out the legitimacy of the prophecy.