Twelve placards at the top of the stairs. The Greeks agreed there were Twelve Olympians but never fixed the list: the Parthenon frieze seats Dionysus among them, while other lists keep Hestia, goddess of the hearth, whom Plato pictures staying home while the other gods ride out. We follow the frieze. Each placard gives a Roman name, a realm, emblems to look for, parents, sacred creatures and a short portrait from the poets.
Zeus
Roman name: Jupiter
Cloud-gatherer, father of gods and men
Realm
Sky, weather, kingship, oaths and the rights of guests
Emblems to look for
Thunderbolt, sceptre, eagle
Parents
Cronus and Rhea
Sacred creatures and plants
Eagle / oak
Youngest son of Cronus, saved from his father’s swallowing by Rhea’s trick with a swaddled stone, Zeus led his brothers and sisters against the Titans and drew the sky as his lot when the world was shared out. He gathers the clouds, hurls the thunderbolt and guards oaths, kings and the stranger at the door. His temper and his many affairs drive half the stories in these galleries. At Olympia his gold-and-ivory statue by Pheidias was counted among the wonders of the world.
Hera
Roman name: Juno
Ox-eyed queen of Olympus
Realm
Marriage, the lives of women, queenship
Emblems to look for
Diadem, sceptre, pomegranate
Parents
Cronus and Rhea
Sacred creatures and plants
Cow and peacock / pomegranate
Queen of Olympus, sister and wife of Zeus, Hera presides over marriage and the lives of women. Homer calls her ox-eyed and white-armed, and shows her quarrelling, scheming and once lulling Zeus to sleep so that she can help the Greeks at Troy. Her anger at her husband’s lovers and their children pursues Heracles from the cradle onwards. Her greatest sanctuaries stood at Argos and on Samos, where her temple was among the largest in the Greek world.
Poseidon
Roman name: Neptune
Earth-shaker, lord of the sea
Realm
The sea, earthquakes and horses
Emblems to look for
Trident, dolphin, horse
Parents
Cronus and Rhea
Sacred creatures and plants
Horse and bull / pine
Lord of the sea, Poseidon also shakes the ground, which is why Homer calls him Earth-shaker, and Greek stories credit him with the gift of horses. He drew the sea as his share when the brothers divided the world. Sailors prayed to him and feared him: Odysseus spent years paying for blinding Poseidon’s son, the Cyclops Polyphemus. He lost Athens to Athena in a contest of gifts, offering a salt spring against her olive tree.
Demeter
Roman name: Ceres
Lovely-haired giver of grain
Realm
Grain, the harvest, the ploughed earth and the Mysteries of Eleusis
Emblems to look for
Ears of wheat, torch, sceptre
Parents
Cronus and Rhea
Sacred creatures and plants
Pig / wheat and poppy
Goddess of grain and of the ploughed field, Demeter is the reason the harvest comes at all. When her daughter Persephone was carried off to the Underworld, her grief stopped every seed from sprouting until Zeus negotiated a return. At Eleusis, near Athens, her Mysteries promised initiates a happier lot after death and kept their secret for centuries. On vases and reliefs she carries ears of wheat, a sceptre or a pair of torches from her long search.
Wisdom and counsel, crafts and weaving, strategy in war, the city
Emblems to look for
Aegis with the Gorgon’s head, helmet, spear, shield
Parents
Zeus, who swallowed her mother Metis; she sprang from his head
Sacred creatures and plants
Owl / olive
Born fully armed from the head of Zeus, after he swallowed her mother Metis, Athena is the goddess of clever counsel, of weaving and of the disciplined side of war. She guided Odysseus home, steered Perseus to Medusa and blesses the hands of every good craftsman. Athens is her city, won with the gift of an olive tree. Her aegis bears the Gorgon’s head: a monster’s stare, borrowed to protect her own.
Apollo
Roman name: Apollo
Far-shooting lord of Delphi
Realm
Prophecy, music, healing, plague and archery
Emblems to look for
Lyre, bow, laurel wreath, tripod
Parents
Zeus and Leto
Sacred creatures and plants
Swan, raven and wolf / laurel
Son of Zeus and Leto and twin of Artemis, born on the island of Delos, Apollo is the god of prophecy, music and healing, and of the plague-arrow that undoes it. His oracle at Delphi answered cities and kings, often in riddles. The laurel became his after the nymph Daphne escaped him by turning into one. Bright and orderly in later imagination, he is also, in the Iliad, the god who strikes the Greek camp with sickness for nine days.
Artemis
Roman name: Diana
Mistress of wild beasts
Realm
Hunting, wild places, young creatures, girls and childbirth
Emblems to look for
Bow and quiver, torch, hunting dogs
Parents
Zeus and Leto
Sacred creatures and plants
Deer and bear / willow
Twin sister of Apollo, Artemis roams the mountains with her nymphs and hounds, mistress of wild animals and protector of the young. Women in labour called on her, and girls served her before marriage; at Brauron, near Athens, they were known as little bears. She punishes harshly: Actaeon, who saw her bathing, was turned into a stag and torn apart by his own dogs. At Sparta her ancient image was said to have been found in a willow thicket.
Ares
Roman name: Mars
Bane of mortals, stormer of walls
Realm
War, battle-fury and slaughter
Emblems to look for
Helmet, spear, shield
Parents
Zeus and Hera
Sacred creatures and plants
Dog and vulture
Son of Zeus and Hera, Ares is war at its most brutal: the charge, the blood and the panic, with his sons Deimos and Phobos, Dread and Fear, running beside him. In the Iliad even his father calls him the most hateful of the gods on Olympus. The Odyssey tells how Hephaestus caught him in bed with Aphrodite under an invisible net while the gods laughed. Athens named its ancient homicide court, the Areopagus, after his hill.
Aphrodite
Roman name: Venus
Laughter-loving goddess of Cyprus
Realm
Love, desire and beauty
Emblems to look for
Mirror, embroidered girdle, golden apple
Parents
Born from the sea foam around the severed parts of Uranus (Hesiod), or Zeus and Dione (Homer)
Sacred creatures and plants
Dove and sparrow / myrtle and rose
Goddess of desire and beauty, Aphrodite has two birth stories. Hesiod says she rose from the sea foam around the severed genitals of Uranus and came ashore on Cyprus; Homer makes her the daughter of Zeus and Dione. Her power works on gods as well as mortals, and not even Zeus is safe from it. Her embroidered girdle holds love and persuasion, and her victory in the judgement of Paris set the Trojan War in motion.
Hephaestus
Roman name: Vulcan
Famed craftsman of the forge
Realm
Fire, the forge, metalwork and crafts
Emblems to look for
Hammer, tongs, anvil, workman’s cap
Parents
Hera alone (Hesiod), or Zeus and Hera (Homer)
Sacred creatures and plants
Donkey, his mount in vase paintings
The smith of Olympus works in fire: armour, palaces, golden handmaids who move and speak, the shield of Achilles and, in tragedy, the chains of Prometheus. Hesiod says Hera bore him alone. Homer has him thrown from Olympus twice: once by Hera, ashamed of his lameness, and once by Zeus, when he fell for a whole day before landing on Lemnos. The Odyssey marries him, unhappily, to Aphrodite. Vase painters liked to show his return to Olympus, tipsy, on a donkey.
Hermes
Roman name: Mercury
Slayer of Argus, guide of souls
Realm
Messages, travel, trade, thieves, luck and the road to the dead
Emblems to look for
Herald’s staff, winged sandals, travelling hat
Parents
Zeus and Maia
Sacred creatures and plants
Tortoise and ram
Born to Zeus and the nymph Maia in a cave on Mount Cyllene, Hermes stole Apollo’s cattle on the day of his birth and made the first lyre from a tortoise shell. He is the messenger of the gods, patron of travellers, traders, thieves and lucky finds, and he crosses between worlds. As guide of souls he leads the dead down to Hades and, in one famous marble relief, takes Eurydice back by the wrist.
Dionysus
Roman name: Bacchus (Liber)
Twice-born god of the vine
Realm
Wine, ecstasy, masks and the theatre
Emblems to look for
Thyrsus, drinking cup, ivy wreath, mask
Parents
Zeus and Semele
Sacred creatures and plants
Panther, bull and goat / vine and ivy
Twice born, first from the mortal Semele, who died on seeing Zeus in his true form, then from his father’s thigh, Dionysus is the god of wine, ecstasy, masks and the theatre. He arrives as a stranger and punishes those who refuse him, as Pentheus learns in Euripides’ Bacchae. The Parthenon frieze seats him among the Twelve. The tale that Hestia gave up her throne for him is modern, not ancient; the hearth goddess simply stayed home.
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