Divided into two sections, Tartarus and Erebus, Hades has five famous rivers: Acheron, the river of woe Cocytus, the river of lamentation Phlegethon, the river of fire Styx, the river of the gods' unbreakable oath and Lethe, the river of forgetfulness. Many myths concern a mortal's journey to the underworld and his encounters with its vicious guardian, the three-headed dog Cerberus. A mysterious locale somewhere under the earth, it is the realm of the dead. Hades and his queen, Persephone, are the only rulers of the underworld-a place often simply referred to as Hades, after its king. There is a different god for every river, and the Titan Ocean-lord of the mysterious river that encircles the earth-lives there along with several other minor water gods. Poseidon rules the sea, which is populated by the Nereids, sea nymphs who are distinct from the Naiads, the freshwater nymphs Triton, the trumpeter of the sea the shape-shifting Proteus, Poseidon's son or attendant Pontus, a god of the deep sea and Nereus, a god of the Mediterranean. There are also a few abstract forces personified, if not completely, who live on Olympus: Themis, Divine Justice Dike, Human Justice Nemesis, Righteous Anger and Aidos, the sense of respect and shame that keeps humans from sinning.īesides the Olympians, supernaturals also abound in the sea and underworld. Several, like Hebe, goddess of Youth, are rarely mentioned in myths.

There are twelve proper Olympians: Zeus his two brothers, Poseidon and Hades his two sisters, Hestia and Hera (who is also his wife) his children, Ares, Athena, Apollo, Hermes, and Artemis and two gods sometimes considered his offspring, Hephaestus and Aphrodite.There are also lesser gods in Olympus, like Eros, the Graces, and the Muses.

Rain never falls there, and the gods while away their time eating, drinking, and listening to music.

Shared by all the gods, Olympus is perfect. The Titans-who include such notables as Ocean, Mnemosyne (Memory), and Prometheus, mankind's benefactor-rule the universe until Zeus and their other children conquer them.The term 'Olympians' comes from Mount Olympus, the gods' mystical home, which is conceived as a high mountaintop but is really a magical place that exists on a heavenly plane-not the heavens (which Zeus alone rules), earth, sea, nor underworld. Their children are the Titans, whose children, in turn, are the Olympians, the main Greek gods. In the beginning, two entities exist, Heaven and Earth. Unlike many other creation stories, in the Greek versions the gods are created by the universe instead of the other way around.

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