gods 1. Greek. The Greeks thought of their most important gods as living on Mount Olympus and numbering twelve. The number was fixed, although some slight variation of names was possible. The Olympian gods who appear as the central group on the east frieze of the Parthenon are Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Aphroditē, Hermes, Demeter, Dionysus, Hephaestus, and Arēs. It is likely that Hestia was originally one of the canonical twelve and was replaced by Dionysus. Lesser gods who were sometimes important in cult include Asclepius, Cabeiri, Charitēs, Cybelē, Eileithyia, Enyalios, Eros, Hadēs, Hecatē, Helios, Leto, Leucothea, Muses, Pan, Thetis, Titans, and various sea-gods (Glaucus, Nereus, Pontus, and Proteus). For each of these, see under the name.
2. Roman. See DIANA, FLORA, JANUS, JUNO, JUPITER, LARES, MAIA, MARS, MERCURY, MINERVA, PENATES, QUIRINUS, TERMINUS, VENUS, VESTA, and VULCAN.
