Ancient Greek Gods
Siphnian Treasury, Delphi, ca. 530 BC
The Greeks believed in many gods: they were polytheistic
(PA-lee-thee-ISS-tick). It is impossible to say how many Greek gods
there were, because different Greeks worshipped different gods. Certainly
there were hundreds. The most famous of them, and the ones which the
most people sacrificed to, were Zeus, Hera,
Apollo, Artemis,
Poseidon, Aphrodite,
Athena, Demeter, Hermes,
Ares, and Hades. But
there were many others: Asclepius, the god
of medicine, Persephone,
Demeter's daughter, Gaia the earth goddess, Hecate,
and so forth.
In addition, every little village had its own gods. The local stream,
an especially big tree, an oddly shaped rock, all were thought to have
their own god inside them, who had to be worshipped or he or she would
get mad. It was, as Keith Hopkins has said, "a world full of gods."
Greek people also worshipped foreign gods, if for some reason they thought this might help them somehow. The Egyptian goddess Isis was especially popular in Athens in the Hellenistic period, for instance. And many Hellenistic Greeks worshipped Astarte, too.
To keep their gods happy, most Greek people sacrificed to their gods. Most people in Greece also asked the gods to tell them about the future through oracles.
For the Greek myths (stories about the gods), click here.
To find out more about the Greek gods, check out these books from Amazon.com or from your library:
D'aulaire's Book of Greek Myths, by Edgar and Ingri D'Aulaire.
Greek Religion, by Walter Burkert (reprinted 1987). By a leading expert, for adults. He has sections on each of the Greek gods, and discusses their deeper meanings, and their function in Greek society.
Main Greek religion page
Main religion page
Ancient Greek Religion books, costumes, toys, games and movies
Kidipede - History for Kids home page
Tell a friend about this page
Did Kidipede answer your question?
Yes, thanks! / No, can you help me?
