Since I was a kid, I've always been fascinated with the Greek and Roman Gods and I recently enjoyed reading the book "Heroes, Gods and Monsters of Greek Myths" by Bernard Evslin. The book came out in 1984, and was really well done. I can't believe it took this long for me to read about them.MY FASCINATION - perhaps it's because the men are handsome and muscular, or just that they are like superheroes of old. Of course, Greek gods have always been part of the Wonder Woman and Shazam canons, which is what made them even more interesting to me.
WHAT THEY SAY - The stories explain how humans received some things like fire, song, and more. It's also interesting to see where Christianity borrowed from the Greek God mythology. All in all, a fascinating collection.
DID YOU KNOW? That a number of words in the English language come from Greek mythology? Over the next couple of blogs, we'll highlight some of them.
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| Some Greek Gods. Credit; DC Comics |
BOOK SUMMARY: The heroes, gods, and monsters of Greek mythology come alive in this exciting collection of retellings of the ancient myths that includes tales of Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Artemis, and many more. Written in simple, direct language, Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths is an accessible and entertaining guide to the Greek myths and their players, following fearless heroes as they battle epic beasts under the eyes of the mighty immortals who rule them.
From mortal warriors like Perseus and his impossible task of slaying the monstrous Medusa, to Zeus, the king of the Gods whose thunderbolts can shake the earth, to the minotaur, a gruesome beast, half-man and half-bull, who destroys young victims that are sacrificed to his terrifying power, this world is one of magic and adventure.
A LIST OF GODS (Source: Wikipedia):
| Ancient Greek name | English name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Ἀχλύς (Akhlýs) | Achlys | The goddess of poisons, and the personification of misery and sadness. Said to have existed before Chaos itself. |
| Αἰθήρ (Aithḗr) | Aether | The god of light and the upper atmosphere. |
| Αἰών (Aiôn) | Aion | The god of eternity, personifying cyclical and unbounded time. Sometimes equated with Chronos. |
| Ἀνάγκη (Anánkē) | Ananke | The goddess of inevitability, compulsion, and necessity. |
| Χάος (Cháos) | Chaos | The personification of nothingness from which all of existence sprang. Depicted as a void. Initially genderless, later on described as female. |
| Χρόνος (Chrónos) | Chronos | The god of empirical time, sometimes equated with Aion. Not to be confused with the TitanCronus (Kronos), the father of Zeus. |
| Ἔρεβος (Érebos) | Erebus | The god of darkness and shadow. |
| Ἔρως (Eros) | Eros | The god of love and attraction. |
| Γαῖα (Gaîa) | Gaia (Gaea) | Personification of the Earth (Mother Earth); mother of the Titans. |
| Ἡμέρα (Hēméra) | Hemera | The goddess of day. |
| Ὕπνος (Hypnos) | Hypnos | The personification of sleep. |
| Νέμεσις (Némesis) | Nemesis | The goddess of retribution. |
| Nῆσοι (Nē̂soi) | The Nesoi | The goddesses of the islands and sea. |
| Νύξ (Nýx) | Nyx | The goddess of night. |
| Οὔρεα (Oúrea) | The Ourea | The gods of mountains. |
| Φάνης (Phánēs) | Phanes | The god of procreation in the Orphic tradition. |
| Πόντος (Póntos) | Pontus | The god of the sea, father of the fish and other sea creatures. |
| Τάρταρος (Tártaros) | Tartarus | The god of the deepest, darkest part of the underworld, the Tartarean pit (which is also referred to as Tartarus itself). |
| Θάλασσα (Thálassa) | Thalassa | Personification of the sea and consort of Pontus. |
| Θάνατος (Thánatos) | Thanatos | God of Death. Brother to Hypnos (Sleep) and in some cases Moros (Doom) |
| Οὐρανός (Ouranós) | Uranus | The god of the heavens (Father Sky); father of the Titans. |
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