What is the difference between demeter and other gods of olympus

Helius encouraged Demeter to accept the situation, but instead she grew so angry that she refused to go back to Olympus [see Olympus Mons on map ]. Demeter wandered the earth in the likeness of an old woman named Dos until she came upon the city of Eleusis. There, at the town well, she met the daughters of the king, who offered to help her find work as a nurse.

They did not recognize her as a goddess because of her disguise. In fact, they said that their mother, Metaneira, had just given birth to a baby boy, and that she would probably welcome Dos into her home as a nurse.

So Demeter, disguised as Dos, became the nurse for the son of the king, Demophon. As a way of thanking the family for their kindness, Demeter began a process that would make the boy immortal.

She gave him ambrosia to eat ambrosia is the food of the gods and every night she would place him in the fire to burn away his mortal parts. She screamed in alarm, but this angered Demeter, who being a goddess did not like her actions questioned. Another time a man, Erysichthon, was cutting down trees from a grove that was sacred to Demeter. When he refused to stop she cursed him to be eternally hungry. In these cases we see in Demeter great love and a quick temper. Both of these qualities help in the explanation that the ancient people had for winter and spring time.

She can either give us beauty and abundance, or a stark world with little or nothing for us to eat. When Posieden was pursueing her she turned herself into a horse. When her daughter was taken from her she turned the whole of the earth into a barren wasteland, and out of love for Demophon she tried changing him into an immortal.

Through this changing nature which characterizes Demeter she can bestow upon mortals wonderful gifts or terrifying punishments.

Roman Name: Pluto. Appearance: Like Zeus, Hades is usually represented as a vigorous bearded man. Symbol or Attribute: Invisible helmet. Animal: Cerberus, his Three headed dog. Strengths: Rich with the wealth of the earth, especially precious metals. Persistent and determined. Weaknesses: Passionate over Persephone , the daughter of Demeter , whom Zeus promised to Hades as his bride.

Unfortunately, Zeus apparently neglected to mention it to either Demeter or Persephone. Impulsive, favoring sudden, decisive actions. Can also be deceptive. Spouse: Persephone , who must stay with him part of each year because she ate a few pomegranate seeds in the Underworld. Basic Myth: Hades springs out of the earth and captures Persephone, dragging her off to be his queen in the Underworld. Her mother Demeter searches for her and stops all foods from growing until Persephone is returned.

Finally, a deal is worked out where Persephone stays one-third of the year with Hades, one-third of the year serving as a handmaiden to Zeus at Mount Olympus, and one-third with her mother; other stories skip Zeus's portion and divide Persephone's time between Hades and her Mom. Roman Name: Vulcan. Appearance : A dark haired man who has difficulty walking due to misformed feet.

Some accounts make him small in stature. Symbol or Attribute: The forge and fire. Strengths: Creative, cunning, an able metal worker. Weaknesses: Drink too much liquor; can be crafty and vindictive. Parents: Usually said to be Zeus and Hera. Hera is also said to have thrown him into the sea, where he was rescued by Thetis and her sisters.

Spouse: Aphrodite. Children: He created Pandora of the famous box. Basic Story: Feeling rejected by his mother Hera, Hephaestus made a lovely throne for her and sent it to Olympus. She sat in it and discovered she could not get up again. Then the chair levitated. The other Olympian gods tried to reason with Hephaestus, but even Ares was driven off with his flames. He finally was given wine by Dionysus and, drunk, was brought to Olympus. Drunk or not, he still refused to free Hera unless he could have either Aphrodite or Athene as wife.

He ended up with Aphrodite, who in this instance was not a quick learner. When she lay with his brother Ares in the bed Hephaestus had made, chains emerged and they could not leave the bed, exposing them to the laughter of the rest of the Olympians when Hephaestus called them all together to witness his adulterous wife and brother. Hera: Queen of Olympus. Roman Name: Juno. Appearance : A young beautiful woman, maybe even beating out Aphrodite in some opinions.

Symbol or Attribute: Pomegranate. Animal: The peacock. Strengths: Determined defender of the sanctity of marriage. Weaknesses: Determined defender of marriage- married Zeus. Birthplace: Said to be born on the island of Samos or at Argos.

Parents: Rhea and Kronos. Spouse: Zeus. Children: With Zeus, Ares. Hephaestus -by Zeus. Her daughters were Hebe, goddess of health, and Eileithyia, the Cretan goddess of childbirth. Basic Story: Zeus was the brother of Hera, who fell in love with him from the first moment she saw him, and eventually got a love charm from Aphrodite to seal the deal. She is very relationship-oriented and spends much of her time driving off Zeus's innumerable nymphs, mistresses, and other dalliances.

She also sometimes torments the offspring of those unions, especially Hercules. To her credit, she's gorgeous and kept Zeus busy on his honeymoon on Samos for three hundred years, so she rightfully wonders why on earth he needs to go anywhere else.

When she's really fed up, she wanders off by herself, always hoping Zeus will miss her and seek her, usually eventually relenting and returning without being so sought.

Hermes: Messenger of the Gods. Roman Name: Mercury. Appearance: A handsome young man with a winged hat, winged sandals, and a golden staff twined with serpents. Symbol or Attribute: His staff, called kerykerion in Greek, caduceus in Latin. This is the symbol used by doctors, though Hermes' connection with healing is faint.

He is, however, the god of merchants. Strengths: Clever, bold, determined, athletic, a powerful magician. Can charm monsters with his flute or lyre music. Weaknesses: No major weakness unless you count seldom staying still for long. Hermes has it together. Spouse: Hasn't settled down yet. Children: By his affair with Dryope, Pan, lusty god of the wild; by the Goddess of Love Aphrodite , Hermaphroditus, a half-man, half-woman deity; Abderus mother unknown.

In this gold hat jewel, made in the 16th century, she is shown at the Judgement of Paris read more on that here and here accompanied by a blue peacock. She is the goddess of marriage, childbirth and fertility. God of the sea, horses and earthquakes, Poseidon — or Neptune — is often shown driving a chariot of horses or sea creatures and wielding the trident he used to control the waves.

On this ewer, Poseidon or Neptune is shown at the stem, riding a sea monster and holding his trident. As his brothers Zeus and Hades rule the skies and the underworld, Poseidon was given control of the sea and protected sailors and seafarers. This Romano-British statuette shows Mars, the god of war, fully decked out in his characteristic armour, missing the original spear and shield he would once have held. You can recognise Mars or Ares by his armour and weapons — usually a spear and a shield — and the god is sometimes accompanied by a boar or a vulture.

Although he was unpopular with the other gods of the classical pantheon, with the exception of his lover Aphrodite, Ares was particularly admired in Sparta as the ideal soldier. By contrast, his Roman equivalent Mars was far more popular, seen as second only to Jupiter, and was considered to be the protector of Rome. Goddess of reason, handicraft, wisdom, and war, she is the daughter of Zeus and according to legend, sprang fully grown from his forehead, dressed in armour.

She also gives her name to the city of Athens. Athena — and Minerva, her Roman equivalent — is often shown wearing a helmet to demonstrate her prowess in war, and her symbols include the owl and the olive tree. In the founding myth of Athens, Athena beat Poseidon in a competition over patronage of the city by growing the first olive tree, hence its association with her.

By contrast, Poseidon gave Athens a spring of salted water which was far less useful to the city. This tetradrachm coin from 5th century BC Athens shows Athena wearing a crested helmet decorated with olive leaves, and an owl with an olive spray features on the reverse side. Demeter — and her Roman counterpart Ceres — was the goddess of agriculture and the harvest and is often depicted with crops such as barley and wheat, or a cornucopia of produce. Demeter also presided over the fertility of the earth and the natural cycle of life and death.

She was the mother of Persephone who was abducted by Hades and forced to live in the underworld for six months of the year. According to Greek mythology, when her daughter was abducted, Demeter searched for her continuously, preoccupied with grief, and as a result, her attention was diverted from the harvest and plants began to die. When Persephone returned, Demeter cared for the earth again and things began to grow and this cycle was said to create the seasons.

This 2nd-century AD statue shows Demeter bearing a torch, which is associated with her endless search for her daughter. You can visit this object on display in the Enlightenment gallery. Apollo is the only god in the classical pantheon to share the same name in both Greek and Roman traditions.

The twin brother of Artemis — or Diana — Apollo has many associations including the sun, music, archery, prophecy and healing. His symbols include naturally enough the sun, a bow and arrow, a lyre, and a swan.