Olympians / Iconography

• Zeus is typically depicted as a bearded god with a lightning bolt and an eagle.
• Zeus is the king of the gods and the god of sky, lightning, and thunder. He is also the god of justice and hospitality towards strangers.
• Poseidon is the ruler of the sea, and the god of water, earthquakes, and horses.
• Poseidon is typically depicted as a bearded god with a trident and a horse.
• Hera is the queen of the gods. She is the goddess of marriage.
• Hera is typically depicted as a matronly woman with a diadem/crown and a scepter.
• Hades is technically not an olympian, but is the ruler of the underworld.
• Hades is typically depicted as a bearded god with a staff and a three-headed dog (Cerberus).
• Demeter is the goddess of grain and agriculture.
• Demeter is typically depicted with a diadem or crown and a cornucopia.
• Aphrodite is the goddess of sex and love.
• Aphrodite is typically depicted as a young woman with a dove, winged Eros (love), an apple, or a mirror.
• Athena is the goddess of strategic war, wisdom, and craft.
• Athena is typically depicted as a woman with a Corinthian helmet, a spear or a shield, the aegis (goatskin fetish), and an owl.
• Ares is the god of violent war.
• Ares is typically depicted as a young man with a helmet, sword, and other weapons.
• Apollo is the god of archery, prophecy, music, and healing.
• Apollo is typically depicted as a young man with a lyre or kithara, a bow, the sun, a laurel crown, and animals.
• Artemis is the goddess of the hunt, animals, and child birth.
• Artemis is typically depicted as a young woman with a fawn skin, hunting boots, the moon, a bow, and a stag or hunting dogs.
• Hermes is the messenger god, as well as the psychopomp (escort of souls to the underworld).
• Hermes is typically depicted with a traveller’s cloak, a staff with snakes (caduceus), and winged sandals or headband.
• Hephaestus is the god of the forge and craftsmanship.
• Hephaestus is typically depicted as a man who does not walk, uses leg braces, and has a hammer or tongs.
• Dionysus is the god of wine, theatre, and (to a certain extent) parties.
• Dionysus is typically depicted as a bearded god with fabulous clothes, grape vine, wine cup, thyrsus (stick with pinecone), satyrs, and an ivy crown.
• Hestia is the goddess of the hearth.
• Hestia is typically depicted with the hearth flame, a flowered veil, kettle/cookware, flowers, and a staff.