Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (2024)

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major figures in Greek mythology, the significant characters, including gods, goddesses, heroes, and other legendary figures, of Greek mythology. The personalities are known primarily from ancient Greek literature, including such classic works as Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, Hesiod’s Works and Days and Theogony, and Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The mythological figures are also featured in the dramas of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. This body of stories has had an extensive influence on the arts and literature of Western civilization, which is heir to much of Greek culture.

Greek name Description Also called
gods and goddesses
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (2) Aphrodite goddess of sexual love and beauty Venus*
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (3) Apollo god of light, youth, music; twin of Artemis Phoebus Apollo, Apollon
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (4) Ares god of war in its savage and brutal aspects; lover of Aphrodite Mars*
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (5) Artemis goddess of the hunt and of the moon; twin of Apollo Diana*
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (6) Athena goddess of wisdom, crafts, and war, specifically in strategy and skill in battle Minerva*, Pallas Athena
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (7) Demeter goddess of agriculture, especially grain Ceres*
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (8) Dionysus god of wine and vegetation Bacchus*
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (9) Hades god of the underworld Pluto*, Orcus, Dis
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (10) Hephaestus god of fire and the forge; blacksmith to the gods; consort of Aphrodite Vulcan*
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (11) Hera protector of women and marriage; wife and sister of Zeus; queen of the gods Juno*
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (12) Hermes messenger of the gods Mercury*
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (13) Hestia goddess of hearth and home Vesta*
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (14) Poseidon god of the waters Neptune*
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (15) Zeus supreme ruler Jupiter*, Jove, Jupiter Fulgur, Fulminator, Jupiter Tonans, Jupiter Pluvius, Jupiter Optimus Maximus, Jupiter Fidius
Titans
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (16) Atlas carried the world on his shoulders N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (17) Cronus ruled the other Titans until his son Zeus dethroned him Saturn*
Hyperion father of sun, moon, and dawn N/A
Iapetus father of Atlas and Prometheus N/A
Mnemosyne goddess of memory; mother of the Muses N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (18) Oceanus river that encircled the earth N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (19) Prometheus savior of humankind, who brought them fire N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (20) Tethys wife of Oceanus N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (21) Themis personification of justice, goddess of wisdom and good counsel, and the interpreter of the gods’ will N/A
lesser deities
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (22) Aeolus controller of the winds N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (23) Aristaeus keeper of bees; son of Apollo and water nymph Cyrene N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (24) Asclepius god of medicine Aesculapius*
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (25) Castor and Pollux twin deities of boxing, wrestling, and equestrian sports Dioscuri
Eos personification of the dawn Aurora*, Hemera
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (26) Eros god of love and friendship Cupid*, Amor
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (27) Ganymede Hebe’s successor as cupbearer of the gods N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (28) Hebe goddess of youth; cupbearer of the gods N/A
Hecate chief goddess presiding over magic and spells N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (29) Helios the sun god; sometimes called a Titan N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (30) Hygieia goddess of health Hygea, Hygia
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (31) Pan a fertility deity concerned with flocks, pastures, fields, and forests Faunus*
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (32) Persephone goddess of death and spring; daughter of Zeusand Demeter; consort of Hades Proserpine*
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (33) Phaëthon son of Helios, the sun god N/A
Proteus shepherd of the sea’s flocks N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (34) Tyche goddess of chance Fortuna*
heroes and other legendary figures
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (35) Achilles hero of the Trojan War; the greatest warrior of the Greek army N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (36) Agamemnon king of Mycenae and leader of the Greek forces in the Trojan War N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (37) Ajax Greek hero of the Trojan War N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (38) Aeneas Trojan hero of the Trojan War, second only to Hector in ability N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (39) Daedalus Greek inventor, architect, and sculptor who is said to have built the Labyrinth to imprison the Minotaur N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (40) Hector greatest of the Trojan heroes of the Trojan War N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (41) Helen of Troy the most beautiful woman of Greece, who was carried off by the Trojan prince Paris and thus indirectly caused the Trojan War N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (42) Heracles hero who was renowned for his great strength and who performed 12 seemingly impossible tasks called the Labours of Heracles Hercules*
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (43) Jason leader of the Argonauts who retrieved the Golden Fleece with the help of the enchantress Medea, whom he married N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (44) Medusa Gorgon who was killed by Perseus and whose severed head had the power of turning all who looked upon it into stone N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (45) Midas king of Phrygia who was granted his wish that everything he touched would turn to gold, with disastrous results N/A
Minos king of Crete, whose wife, Pasiphae, fell in love with a bull and gave birth to the Minotaur; Minos imprisoned the creature in the Labyrinth N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (46) Minotaur a creature who had the body of a man and the head of a bull and who devoured the seven young men and seven young women from Athens who were sent every nine years into the Labyrinth N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (47) Odysseus king of Ithaca, who, after capturing Troy in the Trojan War, endured nine years of wandering and adventures before he was able to return home N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (48) Oedipus king of Thebes who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (49) Orpheus hero and musician who sang and played the lyre beautifully and who traveled to the underworld to try to bring his dead wife, Eurydice, back to life N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (50) Pandora first woman on Earth, who unleashed misery and evil when she opened a mysterious jar N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (51) Paris Trojan prince who judged a beauty contest between goddesses Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite (the “judgment of Paris”) and who carried off Helen, thereby starting the Trojan War N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (52) Perseus hero who killed Medusa, a frightful Gorgon, and who also rescued the princess Andromeda from a sea monster N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (53) Sisyphus king of Corinth who was punished in the underworld by having to roll a huge stone up a hill over and over again N/A
Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (54) Theseus hero who killed the Minotaur N/A
*Denotes the Roman name.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.

Major figures in Greek mythology | List, Descriptions, & Facts | Britannica (2024)
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