The Gods

Egyptians

Note ;; This is in no way a complete list, it just has the majority.

THE SUN GOD: RA - Played by

Ra was the sun god. He was the most important god of the ancient Egyptians.
The ancient Egyptians believed that Ra was swallowed every night by the sky goddess Nut, and was reborn every morning. The ancient Egyptians also believed that he traveled through the underworld at night. In the underworld, Ra appeared as a man with the head of a ram.

THE GODDESS OF LOVE: HATHOR

Hathor was a protective goddess. She was also the goddess of love and joy. Hathor was the wife of Horus, and was sometimes thought of as the mother of the pharaoh. Hathor was connected with foreign places and materials. For instance, Hathor was the goddess of the desert and the turquoise mines in the Sinai.

THE GODDESS OF DESTRUCTION: SEKHMET - Played by

Sekhmet was the goddess of war.

THE EARTH GOD: GEB

Geb was the god of the earth. Geb was the husband and brother of the sky goddess Nut. He was also the father of Osiris, Isis, Nepthys and Seth.

When Seth and Horus fought for the throne of Egypt, Geb made Horus the ruler of the living. The ancient Egyptians believed that earthquakes were Geb's laughter.

THE GODDESS OF THE SKY: NUT

Nut was the sky-goddess, whose body created a vault or canopy over the earth.
Nut was the sister/wife of Geb, the god of the earth. She was also the mother of Isis, Osiris, Nepthys and Seth.

The ancient Egyptians believed that at the end of the day, Nut swallowed the sun-god, Ra, and gave birth to him again the next morning.

THE GOD OF REBIRTH: OSIRIS

Osiris was the god of the dead, and ruler of the underworld. Osiris was the brother/husband of Isis, and the brother of Nepthys and Seth. He was also the father of Horus. As well as being a god of the dead, Osiris was a god of resurrection and fertility. In fact, the ancient Egyptians believed that Osiris gave them the gift of barley, one of their most important crops.

THE STORM GOD: SETH

Seth was the god of chaos. Seth represented everything that threatened harmony in Egypt. He was the brother of Osiris and Isis, as well as the brother/husband of Nepthys. He murdered his brother Osiris, then battled with his nephew Horus to be the ruler of the living. At certain times in the history of ancient Egypt, Seth was associated with royalty.

THE MOON GOD: HORUS

Horus was a god of the sky. He is probably most well-known as the protector of the ruler of Egypt. The Egyptians believed that the pharaoh was the 'living Horus'. The ancient Egyptians had many different beliefs about the god Horus. One of the most common beliefs was that Horus was the son of Isis and Osiris.

After Osiris was murdered by his brother Seth, Horus fought with Seth for the throne of Egypt.

In this battle, Horus lost one of his eyes. The eye was restored to him and it became a symbol of protection for the ancient Egyptians. After this battle, Horus was chosen to be the ruler of the world of the living.

THE GODDESS OF HEALING: ISIS - Played by Nefetiri Kahotep

Isis was a protective goddess. She used powerful magic spells to help people in need.
Isis was the wife of Osiris and the mother of Horus. Since each pharaoh was considered the 'living Horus', Isis was very important. Isis is often shown holding Horus on her lap. Isis is associated with thrones because her lap was the first 'throne' that Horus sat upon.

THE GOD OF WISDOM: THOTH

Thoth was the god of writing and knowledge. The ancient Egyptians believed that Thoth gave them the gift of hieroglyphic writing. Thoth was also connected with the moon.

THE GOD OF DEATH: ANUBIS - Played by

Anubis was the god of embalming and the dead. Since jackals were often seen in cemeteries, the ancient Egyptians believed that Anubis watched over the dead. Anubis was the god who helped to embalm Osiris after he was killed by Seth. Thus, Anubis was the god who watched over the process of mummifying people when they died. Priests often wore a mask of Anubis during mummification ceremonies.

THE GODDESS OF PROTECTION: BASTET

Bastet was usually seen as a gentle protective goddess. However, she sometimes appeared with the head of a lioness to protect the king in battle. Bronze cat. The cat was a symbol of Bastet. The ancient Egyptians made many statues of cats like this one to honor Bastet.

Bastet was one of the daughters of the sun god, Ra. A great temple was built in her honor at Bubastis in the Delta.

Romans

KING OF THE GODS: JUPITER

Jupiter was king of the Gods. The eagle was his messenger. His weapon was the Thunderbolt (thunder and lightning). All other gods were terrified of him, although he was a little scared of his wife Juno! Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto were the three sons of Saturn. They divided up the world between themselves. Jupiter took the air, Neptune had the sea and Pluto ruled under the earth, the home of the Dead.

QUEEN OF THE GODS: JUNO

Juno was the wife of Jupiter and queen of the gods. She was the goddess of women and marriage. Her bird was the peacock. The Romans believed that every man had a spirit that looked after him all his life. This was called his genius. Some people believed each man had both a good genius and a bad genius. Women didn't have a genius, they had a juno instead.

THE SUN GOD: APOLLO

Apollo was the god of the sun. Each day he drove his chariot of fiery horses across the sky to give light to the world. Apollo had a son called Phaethon, who was human. Phaethon nagged at Apollo to let him borrow the sun chariot and fly across the sky. Finally Apollo agreed. Phaethon proudly drove the sun chariot up into the sky, but then he lost control of the horses. The sun chariot dived towards the earth, burning everything. Finally Jupiter had to stop him with a thunder bolt.
Apollo was also the god of music, and played the lyre.

His most famous temple was at Delphi in Greece. There, his priestess would prophesy the future. But she wasn't easy to understand. One day, a great king asked the priestess if he should invade a nearby kingdom. She said, "If you do this, a great kingdom will be destroyed." He thought that she meant he would be successful, and so started the war. He lost disastrously. It was his own kingdom that got destroyed!

THE GOD OF WAR: MARS

The Romans were great soldiers and thought Mars, the god of War, was very important. They said that he was the father of Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. When Romulus and Remus were babies, they were left to die. But they were found by a mother wolf, who suckled them. Romulus gave his name to Rome.

The Campus Martius or field of Mars, was next to the river Tiber in ancient Rome. It was used to train soldiers and hold horse races. March was called after Mars because that was when the soldiers started fighting again after winter.

THE EARTH GODDESS: CERES

Ceres was the Earth goddess and goddess of corn. She carried the cornucopia, a horn full of vegetables and fruit. Her daughter was Proserpine.

Pluto fell in love with Proserpine, and carried her off to the Underworld. Ceres searched everywhere, but couldn't find her. Eventually Ceres refused to let the plants grow any more, and everyone begun to die of hunger. So Pluto admitted he had Proserpine, but said she could only go back home if she had eaten none of the food of the Dead. Proserpine had eaten almost nothing, as she was so sad at being kept underground, but she had eaten six seeds from a pomegranate. This means that she could go home, but had to return to her husband for six months every year. When this happens, Ceres stops everything growing, and winter comes.

THE GODDESS OF WISDOM: MINERVA

Minerva was the goddess of wisdom. Her symbol was the owl. Her Greek name was Athena, and Athens was her city.

She had a strange birth. One day, Jupiter had a bad headache. Nothing would cure it. Eventually Vulcan split open Jupiter's head. Out jumped Minerva in armor with shield and spear! Jupiter felt much better afterwards. Don't try this at home.

Minerva was the goddess of arts and crafts. She was particularly good at weaving. Once a woman called Arachne wove a beautiful picture. Minerva tried to find something wrong with it. When she couldn't, she tore it up and turned Arachne into a spider. The spider still weaves beautiful webs.

Minerva helped the hero Perseus to kill the gorgon Medusa, who was a monster with snakes instead of hair. Anyone who looked at a gorgon turned to stone! But Minerva told Perseus to look at Medusa's reflection in a polished shield. That way he could cut the head off without looking directly at the gorgon. He gave the head to Minerva, who put it on her shield, so it would turn her enemies to stone.

Greeks

KING OF THE GODS: ZEUS

Zeus was the supreme god in Ancient Greece, the father of the Olympian gods and the ruler of mankind. Zeus had his golden throne on the highest summit of Mount Olympus and was respected and awed by all Gods and mortals. All the kings boasted that they descended from Zeus.

Zeus was the "Lord of Justice", punishing anyone who lied or broke an oath, but was fair and always striving to keep a balance of all things. Furthermore, Zeus was responsible for the weather and was shaping it according to his temper. When in high spirits, Zeus was blessing the world with fine weather; in case of bad mood, however, he would throw rain, winds, lightnings and thunderbolts to cause disaster to the mortals.

But even Zeus' powers had their limits, for, however powerful as he was, he had neither the right nor the ability to intervene in the decisions of the Fates.

GOD OF THE SEAS: POSEIDON

Poseidon was the Greek God of the seas, the horses and the earthquakes. Poseidon was the Greek god responsible for natural and supernatural events, mainly the ones associated to the sea world and was the savior of ships. He possessed a trident which was so powerful that it could shake the earth. Poseidon was able to cause tempests and earthquakes, drown lands, shatter rocks and had the ability to finally bring back peacefulness.

Poseidon possessed two palaces, the one was up in Mount Olympus and the other was located in the depths of the seas and was bejeweled with gold and precious gems. Usually Poseidon preferred to stay with his wife Amphitrite beneath the ocean.

GOD OF THE UNDERWORLD: HADES

Hades was the God and Ruler of the Underworld. Hades was the supreme ruler of the Underworld. Almost never did he leave his gloomy kingdom but was residing there instead, surrounded by darkness and silence...

Hades' helper was Charos, the angel of dead. Charos had the duty to transfer the souls of the dead with a boat over the River Acheron from the world of the living to the world of the dead. Furthermore, Hades had a dog with three heads which was named Cerberus.

GODDESS OF LOVE: APHRODITE - Played by

Aphrodite was the Greek goddess of Love, Beauty and Eternal Youth. Aphrodite was the most attractive goddess of Mount Olympus. She was the goddess of Love, Beauty and Eternal Youth, arousing desire to gods and humans as well as birds and beasts. In addition, she was connected to the death/rebirth of nature and human beings.

GODDESS OF THE HUNT: ARTEMIS

As a child, Artemis had asked from her father Zeus to remain an eternal virgin and therefore became one of the three Virgin Goddesses in Greek mythology. Artemis had absolute sovereignty over nature and was said to bring fertility to all places that worshipped her. Usually accompanied by Nymphs and Oceanids, Artemis loved to hunt with arrows dipped in poison.

GOD OF WAR: ARES

Ares was the Olympian god of war and defense and the figure behind all kind of violence. Just like his mother Hera, Ares had a very difficult character to deal with and was therefore rather unpopular among the other deities and mankind. For this reason, no Greek city wanted to have him as its patron. He often had conflicts and fights with his half-sisters Artemis and Athena, especially during the Trojan War.

GODDESS OF WISDOM: ATHENA Played by

Athena was the Greek goddess of Wisdom, Skill and War. Athena was the goddess who taught mankind various skills such as weaving and sewing to the women and agriculture and metallurgy to men. She was always giving precious advice and stood by on any danger. Athena protected the heroes as they went out to war and saved them on their coming back.

QUEEN OF THE GODS: HERA

Although Hera was one of the fairest goddesses in Mount Olympus, Zeus was giving Hera plenty of reason to be suspicious and jealous; Hera therefore used to stay in high places in order to keep an eye on her husband's doings. There were times she would also interfering, causing harm to Zeus' mistresses, since Zeus himself was invincible.