MEPX
Chapter 2 of 10All chapters
  1. 1What myths are
  2. 2Greek mythology
  3. 3Roman mythology
  4. 4Norse mythology
  5. 5Egyptian mythology
  6. 6Mesopotamian myth
  7. 7Myths of Asia
  8. 8Africa, the Americas and Oceania
  9. 9Patterns across cultures
  10. 10Myth in the modern world

Chapter 2 of 10

Greek mythology

The best documented.

The Olympians

Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hermes, Demeter and Dionysus, with Hades ruling the underworld apart from them.

  • Gods are powerful but not moral exemplars, which is part of the point.
  • Hesiod's Theogony gives the standard genealogy.

Heroes and tragedy

Heracles, Perseus, Theseus, Odysseus and Achilles carry stories about limits, hubris and fate. Greek tragedy reworked these myths to ask civic and ethical questions.