#Greek Goddesses

[yourlocalmessenger]

Hestia, the Goddess of the Hearth

[aureliaeiter]

Friendly reminder that you don't need to be on any “level” of witchcraft to worship the Hellenic gods because

1. Being a polytheist or a pagan doesn't equal being a witch.

2. These deities were worshipped by literal children back then as there was no fear of them being harmed.

If someone is telling you “this deity is for beginners/advanced practitioners/whatever” then they're either misinformed or they're purposefully trying to seem spiritually above you so you consider them as some sort of spiritual guide.

[mask131]

Another reminder that Greek mythology is always somehow symbolic, metaphorical, allegorical, since we are dealing with anthropomorphic personifications and other embodiments of cosmic powers.

For example: Demeter has sex with both Zeus and Poseidon. Something-something about the relationship of the Earth with the Sky and the Sea (or the celestial and chthonian powers). ESPECIALLY since these relationships are said to happen at the beginning of the world, in the primordial times during which the world settled itself for what it is now.

Herakles' wedding with Hebe, the personification of youth, checks in with when he becomes an immortal god (aka, an eternally young entity). What better way to symbolize a hero escaping the clutches of death than by him becoming the husband of the spirit of eternal youth?

Why is Hestia never leaving Olympus? Something-something about her being the literal personification of the hearth, which is at the center of the house/community and does not move.

Why is Ares getting his ass kicked by Athena? Because Athena is civilization, and Ares savagery, and in the Ancient Greek mindset intelligence, wisdom and craft will always be above brutality, bloodlust and random cruelty.

Do I need to spell it out that the myth of Persephone-Hades-Demeter is about the cycle of the seasons, and how the earth renews itself and brings back life after a time of death?

And I wonder why Ares' companions during his mass-slaughters are called Phobos, Deimos and Eris - Fear, Panic and Discord... Why would the goddess that breaks harmony and sows feuds and chaos be depicted as the close sister of the god of the ravages of war and of the brutality of conflicts, what a strange mystery!

And I can go on, and on, and on. Remember, the Greek gods aren't just super-heroes or wizards (that's more in line with more "humanized" mythologies, like the Irish or Nordic ones). They are embodiments of concepts and ideas, personifications of natural forces and cosmic powers, they are living allegories and fleshed metaphors. Zeus wields the lightning because he IS the lightning and thunder. Dionysos is both the bringer of joy and madness because he IS alcohol. Hades is both the name of the god of the dead, and of the realm of the dead. Hestia's name is literaly "hearth" in Greek, Hebe "youth", Nyx "night", Gaia "earth", Eros "desire". You can write "Eris met Helios at Okeanos' palace" or you can write "Strife encountered the Sun at the palace of Ocean" and that is the EXACT SAME THING!

[Mind you to limit the gods to being JUST allegories is also a mistake not to make. Greek deities are much more than just X concept or X idea... But one part of the myths will always be, down the line, some weather metaphor or some natural cycle motif]

[ghostwithwings]

The fact Hermes warned Odysseus about Circe and helped him to front her the right way but, before of all this, he also warned Circe about Odysseus' arrival and that he wasn't like others, doesn't get the attention it should.

[cityoftheangelllls]

Here it is: my completed first Greek mythology series!

Which one is your favorite?

Commissions info

[scatterbrainedart]

Chat. I may have gone a bit overboard

[sarafangirlart]

Debunking some misinformation about Hephaestus and Aphrodite’s Marriage

I’m so sick and tired so I’m making a thread, enjoy. I’ll break it down into several points.

1. Hephaestus demanded Aphrodite’s hand in marriage in exchange for Hera’s freedom and Aphrodite was forced into the marriage

You’d be surprised by how this isn’t even attested in ancient sources, rather it’s just a theory made by modern scholars bc of how spotty and limited our knowledge about this marriage is, let’s look at the actual sources:

Notice how Aphrodite isn’t even mentioned mentioned as the “prize”? Hephaestus does ask for a goddess in exchange for freeing Hera, but it’s not Aphrodite, it’s Athena. The usual course of events is this:

Hephaestus is angry at Hera for her mistreatment and sends a golden throne that traps her

The other gods try to persuade him to free her but he refuses

Dionysus convinces him by getting him drunk

Again the theory that Aphrodite was the prize for whoever gets Hephaestus to Olympus is just that, a theory. Not a really good one either bc wouldn’t Aphrodite be married to Dionysus instead? It’s a really shallow portrayal of all figures involved tbh, why would Ares only be interested in freeing his mother if it meant he gets to marry Aphrodite? Why would anyone on Olympus not be worried about their queen being chained up? Believe it or not but Hera isn’t as disliked as one would think lol

Now even if Aphrodite wasn’t a prize how did she end up marrying Hephaestus? And was she forced into doing it? No actually (Lucian’s Dialogue of the gods):

That’s not to say this wasn’t an arranged marriage (it most likely was) but arranged marriage and forced marriage are not the same thing. If you think this is a forced marriage then what about Cadmus and Harmonia? Heracles and Hebe? Both these marriages were arranged by Zeus but no one would claim they’re forced marriages.

2. Aphrodite hated Hephaestus

Now this is more open to interpretation, after all love is subjective, but to say they outright hated each other would be incorrect, there is this myth that Aphrodite cursed Lemnos to have the men abandon their wives and female family members, usually bc they neglected on worshipping her (tho a late Latin source says it’s revenge for exposing her affair).

Apollonius of Rhodes' Argonautica:

However this bit seems to be rather… genuine? Almost as if she might have truly felt bad for what she did and wanted to reconcile, sounds like someone with a deeply messy and complicated relationship with their partner, but not outright hate.

Also there is this moment in Lucian’s Dialogue of the Gods which is pretty funny:

3. Hephaestus only saw Aphrodite as property

Ok I don’t like using the “it was a different time” card but like… it really does apply here lol

Now we’ve already established that Aphrodite was never a prize for Hephaestus to begin with so what about the betrothal gifts he gave to Zeus? Obviously that means he was buying Aphrodite right?

Well, no actually this is a normal part of Ancient Greek marriage (obviously it varied between cities and time periods but it usually goes something like this), the father of the bride and the groom exchange gifts with each other to establish a bond between the two, the bride herself wasn’t the “gift” Zeus’s gift to Hephaestus was most likely his place on Olympus.

To say that Hephaestus bought Aphrodite would mean that Odysseus bought Penelope, or Hector bought Andromache, both are ludicrous claims.

4. Hephaestus is an incel and Ares is this big feminist icon

No, just… no.

Ares was never considered “the protector of women” in Ancient Greece that’s tumblr fanfiction and plenty of other ppl have made posts debunking this (including me) so I won’t repeat that here. Now about Hephaestus being an “incel” all the male Olympians have at least one story where they harm an innocent/defenseless woman, all of them, yes including Ares who persecuted Leto while she was heavily pregnant by Hera’s orders.

5. Aphrodite cheated to “regain her sexuality”

No Patrick, cheating on your disabled spouse with his brother in the bed and palace he made for you is not a girlboss move it’s being an asshole (all the gods are flawed, how thought provoking). Hell, even Zeus wouldn’t pull shit like this with Hera.

Aphrodite and Ares most likely did this hoping it would be the last place anyone would suspect an affair, since Aphrodite could’ve had sex with Ares in his own place or some meadow somewhere but that might cause ppl to be too suspicious.

6. Ares is a big dumb brute who can’t take a hint and only saw Aphrodite for her beauty

Believe it or not, just bc I criticize Aphrodite and Ares doesn’t mean I hate them lol. Now look, all the gods care deeply about looks but that’s not the only thing that Ares and Aphrodite love about each other. Here is Ares being a total simp and actually listening to her:

Iliad book 5

Thebaid book 3

7. Aphrodite felt neglected by Hephaestus bc he’s too busy at the forge

No lol, she straight up works with him at the forge, why wouldn’t she? If anything this claim makes Aphrodite even more shallow than she actually is.

8. Aphrodite and Ares didn’t care about being humiliated in the golden net and Ares straight up brags about cucking his brother

Yes I’ve heard such claims and no Ares and Aphrodite are actually capable of feeling shame lol, almost as if they were in the wrong. Also why would Ares actively antagonize the guy who makes all his stuff? Maybe that’s why Athena keeps beating his ass, bc Hephaestus purposely gives Ares shitty weapons and armor lol

Anyways umm… I think that’s it? Maybe I missed a few things bc I’m frustrated af rn

Just so y’all know, I’m not a scholar I’m just autistic and read a lot lol. I hope I didn’t miss something or get anything wrong.

Have a good day (or night).

[cottagecore-raccoon]

"seducing" in this case doesn't need to be sexual - could also just be convincing you to enter a dramatic love affair or run away with them (also would love to hear your specific fantasies in the tags)

Obviously I can't fit everyone, so I'm sticking with the classics (sorry)

[cece693]

hi! loved your pjo first they're amazing. I was wondering if I can request a headcannon of percy x son of aphrodite male reader? probably about how percy wants to ask them out and then them dating. thank you!

Fountain of Love (Percy Jackson x Son of Aphrodite)

Thanks for the request :) It's a little short, but I hope you enjoy it!

tags: nervous Percy, asking out, dating, son of Aphrodite is not only a pretty face but good with a sword, oblivious reader, puppy love

From the first moment Percy stepped foot into Camp Half-Blood, he knew your name—M/N, son of Aphrodite. You were somewhat of a legend at camp, not just for being devastatingly handsome, but also for your skill with a sword.

But you were oblivious as fuck. Even more so than Percy himself, which said a lot. No matter how many heads you turned as you passed by, or how many gifts appeared outside your cabin, you remained unaware of the effect you had on others. For you, the attention never seemed more than friendly admiration, nothing deeper.

Percy, however, was different. From the moment he first spent time with you, sitting by the lake, talking about sword techniques, and exchanging stories of battle until the dinner horn blew, he knew one thing—you were the one. It wasn’t just about how incredible you looked, it was how easy it felt to be around you, the way your smile softened his nerves.

But Percy wasn’t alone in his feelings. Dozens of campers—some Apollo kids, others from various cabins—were also vying for your attention, and Percy knew he wasn’t the only one wanting to ask you out.

Over time, he noticed the competition intensify. A couple of campers, Ares kids, constantly tried to one-up him during sword training, cracking jokes about him in your presence, trying to win your favor. Even the children of Hermes, known for their mischievous pranks, tried to outshine Percy in their own crafty ways. It was like everyone was fighting for their chance to stand out, hoping to catch your eye.

Percy fought through the jealousy and frustration, determined to find the perfect moment to finally ask you out. But every time he gathered his courage, something interrupted him—a monster drill, a sparring match, or another camper cutting him off.

One day, as Percy finally approached you by the campfire, an Ares kid—who clearly had the same idea—stepped in and asked you if you wanted to hang out. Percy clenched his jaw, stepping back in defeat, watching the moment slip away again.

Little did he know, you liked him back. You always had. His easy smile, his sense of humor, the way he seemed so sincere around you—it all made you fall for him in ways you hadn’t expected. But since Percy hadn’t made a move, you assumed maybe he wasn’t interested.

Days passed, and finally, Percy couldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t wait for the perfect moment because every moment with you was already perfect. So, after a long training session, where the two of you fought side by side during a particularly difficult capture-the-flag game, Percy found the nerve.

The two of you were covered in dirt and sweat, but it didn’t matter. As you both sat by the lake, cooling off, Percy finally turned to you and blurted it out, “I like you. A lot. And, um, would you maybe want to go out with me? Like, officially?”

You blinked, a bit stunned by his sudden confession, but then you laughed, a soft sound that sent Percy’s heart racing. “I like you too, Percy. I’ve been waiting for you to ask.”

His eyes widened in surprise, and for a moment, he was speechless. You? Liked him back? He couldn’t believe it.

From that day forward, the two of you were inseparable, and when you became boyfriends, everyone in camp knew it. Percy’s friends teased him relentlessly, but nothing would wipe the dopey grin off his face whenver your name was mentioned.

You and Percy balanced each other perfectly—his brave heart and your calm confidence were an unbeatable pair.

But dating at Camp Half-Blood wasn’t without its challenges. There were moments when Percy’s duties as a hero pulled him away, leaving you to worry. You’d send messages through Iris, waiting anxiously for his return, and there were times when he came back battered from battles that left your heart aching. The other demigods, those who had once vied for your attention, sometimes stirred up trouble out of jealousy, testing the strength of your relationship with snide remarks and rumors.

Still, the two of you always found ways to push through. When Percy felt the weight of the world on his shoulders, you were there to remind him he didn’t have to carry it alone. You comforted him when nightmares from the Titan War resurfaced, holding his hand and promising that, together, you could face anything.

And when your own insecurities came up—doubts about whether Percy could love someone like you, despite the constant attention you received—he reassured you that you were more than enough.

“I chose you,” Percy would say, with that earnest smile that made everything feel okay. “And I’d choose you over and over again.”

No matter what challenges arose—whether it was monsters, the gods’ interference, or the complications of being demigods—the bond you shared only grew stronger. And eventually, when the Great War ended, Percy would drop on one knee and ask you to marry him :)

[starriinightii]

Percy Jackson is 17. Gaea has been defeated.

Zues asks the eleven about immortality.

They all accept.

Perseus Jackson is 17 years old when he becomes the lieutenant of Poseidon and the god of lakes and liquid control. He is just happy that he gets to spend time with Annabeth, as her god consort. Others were confused about 'liquid control' but she knows.

Annabeth Chase is 17 years old when she becomes the goddess of architechture. Her mother is still not happy about her relationship with Percy, but she doesn't care, he jumped into Tartarus for her. She plans to remains with Percy as his goddess consort for eternity.

Jason Grace is 16 years old when he becomes the god of flying. Thalia cries seeing him accept, knowing she will now have her brother forever. He hugs her tightly, and Artemis smiles. Perhaps the son of Jupiter is now a man she tolerates.

Piper Mclean is 15 years old when she is declared the goddess of charmspeaking and wealthy people. Aphrodite finally admits that Piper is a daughter of Aphrodite Areia. Piper learns what means from Annabeth, the maid-of-honor at her wedding 10 years later.

Leonidas Valdez is 15 years old when Hephaestus gives the title of god of fire and blacksmithing to his son. He promises to always use his powers for good. He, like Apollo and Hermes, decides to be a single god.

Frank Zhang is 16 years old when he becomes the god of shapeshifting, as well as a minor god of archery and war. He marries Hazel at 25. He regularly visits his mother in Elysium. Zues gets rid of his curse. Finally, he thinks, watching the stick burn.

Hazel Levesque is 14 years old when he becomes the goddess of precious stones and minerals. She marries Frank at 23. Her brother takes her with him to visit their sister, whom she bonds with fairly quickly. Her wedding ring is made from the first non-cursed diamond she pulls out of the earth.

Niccoló di Angelo is 14 years old when he becomes the lieutenant of his father, Hades. He officially assumes the title of 'The Ghost King', and marries William at 25. He regularly visits his sister, taking his other sister with him on multiple ocassions.

William Andrew Solace is 14 years old when he becomes the god of healing and doctors. The medic now works in the infirmary of Olympus, and married Niccoló at 25. Artemis tolerates him, as her lieutenant is the sister of his boyfriend.

Thalia Grace is 22 years old, seemingly 16, when she becomes the immortal lieutenant of Lady Artemis. Her vows now bind her forever, though a few men are exeptional, those who her lady tolerates, such as her brothers Jason, Perseus and Niccoló.

Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano is 16 years old when she becomes the goddess of leaders. She now has a shrine at Camp Jupiter, and new praetors take vows in her name. She gets over her dislike of Piper and Annabeth, and quickly the three rival the friendship of Persephone, Artemis and Athena.

[thereinart]

This is the heartwarming story of Atalanta being adopted by two lesbian disaster godesses

[h0bg0blin-meat]

Artemis: I'm worried about you.

Apollo: *dunks Oreo in whiskey* Why?

[angelicathedaisy]

currently obsessed with this gorgeous statue of Melpomene muse of tragedy

Roman statue of Melpomene, 2nd century A.D.

[mask131]

I want to briefly adress another BIG misconception about Greek gods that has (quite recently) been going on around the Internet. And it is again part due to the Percy Jackson TV show. I insist on the "TV show", because as we now know, the TV show made some changes to the book's original plotline when it came to the gods interacting with their children (like Athena's move with Echidna *cough cough*), and as a result here is what I have been hearing here and there.

"Yeah, well the Greek gods were all assholes, right, but what PJ REALLY got right was that they were especially assholes to their own children and the worst abusive parents ever".

... No?

In fact this is almost a counter-interpretation of Greek mythology, because in Greek myths and legends, the whole point was that, when a god was being an "asshole" as you say, they were an asshole to everybody... except their children. One of the reasons the Greek gods can look "bad" by modern standards is precisely because they had an habit of favorizing their own children, and taking care about them more than about other beings.

The most famous of these myths is of course Demeter's immense love and hyper-protection of Persephone - just look at the trials she went through to find her back after she disappeared.

Another famous example is how Poseidon turned on Odysseus and plagued him with curses and monsters for blinding his son - Polyphemus the cyclop (and the whole point here is that Poseidon favorized his son, despite his son being the actual criminal and monster in the case)

Ares, who was not one of the best gods, still went on an avenging mode every time his children were attacked, from the dragon slain by Cadmos to the rape of Alcippe.

There's how Apollo went berserk after the death of Asclepios. There's how Herakles had planned to be favorized by Fate since his birth thanks to Zeus, and how the entire reason Zeus inflicted on his wife the atrocious torture of hanging chained up by the sky was because he had enough of her constantly tormenting Herakles in the worst ways possible. Even Athena ended up taking care of Erichthonius as her own child despite her not being his true mother - showing that even the virgin, sexless, childless goddess has a mothering side to her.

It all goes back to Gaia, and how she keeps turning against Zeus for each time vanquishing her children - from the Titans, to the Giants, to Typhon - despite these children being again, bad news and even hurting Gaia herself. Another example of "primordial motherhood": Nyx shelters Hypnos from Zeus' wrath in the Iliad, and not even Zeus would dare anger such an elderly mother-goddess. And if we push beyond the boundaries of Greek mythology and into the very late Roman literature, we see this trend continues with Aphrodite's smothering-mothering of Eros during the Psyche legend.

A good lot of conflicts and feuds and problems in Greek mythology was precisely due to how much the gods loved their children, and how protective they were of them - with the problem that the god had the tendency to be blind to whether their children were good or evil, victims or criminals.

This is why, for example, Zeus and Hera's relationships to their children were especially important and unique in Greek myths, in the light of this god's tendency to favorize and spoil and protect their own children.

On Hera's case, her action of, for example, throwing Hephaistos into the sea at birth just because he is "ugly" is meant to come off as massively shocking. Remember that in a good bunch of Greek myths, Hera had a negative, evil, dangerous side to her, that popped up in various ways - from her jealous, vain, angry personality to how in some versions she literaly gave birth to Typhon... Unlike Zeus, who was the "ultimate father", Hera wasn't (in myths, I insist) seen as a postive mother, and was more of a mother-of-monsters avatar (after all, she did command a lot of Greek monsters), or an anti-mother (she was the one who prevented Leto from giving birth, a powerful symbol).

On the other side, Zeus was also seen regularly punishing or being very harsh to his children, but there was the secret to his character: Zeus had to act both as a father, and as a king. He embodied the all loving ancestor and the all powerful father, but he also had to act as the embodiment of law and of justice, and those two aspects of his personality clashed a lot. We see him punish his divine children regularly, but almost always because his role as the enforcer of the law primed over his role as a father - for example when he wanted to throw Apollo into Tartarus because he had caused a Cyclop genocide out of anger. But he still had this same "over-parenting" side as the other gods. Again, Herakles was one of his favorite children and he tried to arrange everything so that he could have the greatest life ever - but his official side as the "political" and "civilization" god caught up to him when Hera tricked him into swearing away the gifts he had intended for Herakles. Despite Zeus' immense love for his son, his oath and the law he embodies took over and prevented him from sheltering Herakles from Hera's hatred. The most revealing case of this "father vs king" aspect of Zeus' personality comes from the Iliad: it is the death of Saperdon.

When Zeus looks upon the Trojan War and sees that his son will soon die, he is very heavily tempted from interfering. He explicitely wishes to save him, and to change the scales of fate to avoid his impending death (because remember in the Iliad Zeus was still the god of fate who literaly weighed humans' destinities in his scale). That's his "father" side showing up. But then Hera, who is by his side, who is his queen and thus his "political" side, reminds him of his duty as a king and of his role as ultimate judge of the world and ruler of the gods. She points out he would break the very own law he imposed of not interfering with the mortal conflict. She reminds him that, as the setter of examples, if he saved Sarpedon, he would create a precedent and other gods could also start saving their own children from the war. She reminds him that he has a role as the god of law and fate, and that he can't allow his personal feelings to interfere in the matter, else he would be unfair and unjust. And thus, Zeus resignates himself to let his son die before his eyes - but he still shows his immense love for him by both sending a shower of blood as a sign of his grief, and then ordering Apollo, Hypnos and Thanatos in person to carry Sarpedon's corpse away (predating future legends about great kings and heroes taken into the afterlife by supernatural figures, like Arthur collected by Morgan and the ladies of Avalon).

In conclusion: having the gods act as if they were all bad, abusive, absent parents not getting involved in their children's life or not caring about them is actually going against what the mythology originally said in terms of characterization. The untold rule of Greek mythology was that, if gods were bad parents, it would be because they were too loving, too protective, too smothering, too spoiling, interfering too much. Not the other way around - unless you were Hera, of course. Meanwhile, having the gods act as "assholes" and bullies towards OTHER GODS' children, now that would be accurate to Greek mythology (this is the very basis of Hera's cycle of legends as a persecuting goddess). But the gods usually stuck by the side of their own children - a bit like how in a school's football or soccer game the parents end up fighting each other because of what their children did or did not do in the game.

[xstrawberryshiftsx]

My Aphrodite altar <3

What do you guys think? <3

I have photos surrounding it of my loved ones <3

[mytholots]

Apollo: *crying* It was so hard! I couldn't take it man!

Artemis: *patting him on the back* Yeah life can be hard sometimes.

Apollo: Life?