Description
Book SynopsisThe essential illustrated guide to the gods and goddesses of ancient Greece and Rome, vividly retelling their stories and exploring their origins. Who were the gods and goddesses of ancient Greece and Rome? What did they mean to the people who worshipped them? Although their time of widespread worship has long passed, the Greek and Roman gods have fascinated and inspired writers and artists for millennia. From Aphrodite to Apollo, Poseidon to Zeus, these are some of the most recognizable characters in Western culture, yet there is a much richer past behind famous paintings of the birth of Aphrodite or the bold iconography of Zeus and his thunderbolts. The Greek and Roman gods are enthralling characters in the enduringly powerful Iliad, Odyssey and Metamorphoses. They are immortal and powerful yet also vain, vindictive and vulnerable. Moreover, as manifestations of death, fertility, love and war, the gods are also our key to understanding how the Greeks and Romans saw their
Table of ContentsIntroduction
FIRST–GENERATION OLYMPIANS
Zeus / Jupiter
Hera / Juno
Aphrodite / Venus
Hades / Pluto
Poseidon / Neptune
Demeter / Ceres
THE NEXT GENERATION
Athena / Minerva
Artemis / Diana
Hermes / Mercury
Ares / Mars
Dionysus / Bacchus
Hephaestus / Vulcan
BEYOND OLYMPUS
Janus
Hecate / Trivia
Hestia / Vesta
Isis
Serapis
Asclepius / Aesculapius
Mithras
EPILOGUE
Between Human and Divine
