What were the Olympian gods as in Zeus was the god of gods?

Answer 1

Here's a list of information about the Olympians:

Zeus: King. God of the sky. Fairly useless except for creating lots of half-gods and annoying his wife. Symbol and weapon is the lightning bolt.

Hera: Zeus's wife--queen. Goddess of marriage, and therefore very testy because her husband is the womanizer to beat all womanizers.

Poseidon: Sea god. Also creates earthquakes. The creation of horses is attributed to him because the whitecaps on waves look similar to horses' manes.

Hades: God of death; rules over the underworld where Greeks supposedly went when they died. Not technically an Olympian, because he has no throne on Mount Olympus, but still really important. Owns the helmet of darkness that can make him invisible, also master of cerberus the three headed dog.

Demeter: Earth goddess. Created the seasons because her daughter, Persephone, was stolen away by the god Hades. Persephone spends half the year in the underworld, and therefore Demeter spends half the year despairing.

Athena: Goddess of wisdom, strategic warfare and crafts. The owl is her bird and she's the patron goddess of Athens. Interesting fact: She was born by bursting, fully grown, and in full battle armor out of Zeus's head.

Aphrodite: Goddess of love and beauty. Ironically, she did not marry for love. Her son is Eros--better known as Cupid.

Hephaestus: Smith god. Aphrodite's husband. Lame due to an unfortunate childhood argument with his parents which resulted in his being thrown from Mount Olympus.

Ares: God of War. Real angry guy and Aphrodite's illicit lover. Has a bunch of attendant small-time goddesses like Eris (discord.)

Artemis: Goddess of the moon, the hunt, and for some reason, baby animals. One of Zeus's illegitimate children, born with a twin. Elected to live untethered by men--real symbol of girl power. Possesses silver arrows. Leads an immortal band of girls called the hunters of Artemis.

Apollo: Artemis's twin. God of the sun, prophecy, music--a well-rounded sort of guy. He's the patron of the Oracle at Delphi, which was made in the area where he killed the dragon-like monster called Python. Possesses golden arrows. Because of a failed love affair with a nymph who turned herself into a laurel tree to escape him, the laurel wreath is his sign--and a sign of greatness.

Hermes: God of travelers, thieves, etc.--a trickster. Messenger god. Illegitimate son of Zeus. As a baby he stole Apollo's herd of sheep, and then placated him by creating the lute and giving it to him. Owns a pair of winged sandals.

Dionysus: God of wine and revelry. Yet another illegitimate son of Zeus. Was hidden away from the other gods for a while because...well, you know they say "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," and Hera'd been scorned near-constantly. He got a throne on Olympus because the other gods liked him so much that one of them gave up her throne for him.

Hestia: Hearth goddess. Not active at all in mythology. The most significant thing about her that I've heard is that she gave her throne to Dionysus, to make 6 gods and 6 goddesses on Olympus.