12
votes
Accepted
Has Poseidon ever won a dispute with another Olympian?
Argolis, E. Peloponnesos
TROIZENOS
Poseidon vs Athena > 1 - 1
In the scramble for patronage over city territories, there's an occasion on which Zeus declared a draw between Poseidon and Athena when ...
- 9,855
10
votes
Is Zeus ever referred to as Earthshaker?
In later (hellenistic) times Zeus tended to monopolize all powers and earthquakes came to be his deed. There is a classic book by AB Cook Zeus: a study in ancient religion, part3 has some 30 pages on "...
- 836
10
votes
Who are the twelve Olympian gods?
The shift has to do with Hestia originally being one of the twelve; then when Dionysus became a god, she gave up her throne for Dionysus. Interestingly enough, this unbalanced the council; there were ...
- 587
10
votes
Accepted
Why was Hephaestus ugly?
Hephaestus’ ugly appearance and lameness is taken by some to represent peripheral neuropathy and skin cancer resulting from arsenicosis caused by arsenic exposure from metalworking.
Bronze age smiths ...
- 4,067
7
votes
Is Zeus ever referred to as Earthshaker?
In the same chapter "Zeus and the Earthquakes" of Zeus: a study in ancient religion, Vol. III, by Arthur Bernard Cook, quoted by @sand1 in his answer, the author says:
In point of fact, the ...
- 2,317
6
votes
Do all gods and goddesses live on Mount Οlympus?
No.
Both Hades and Poseidon, Zeus's brothers, prefer their own domains to Olympus. Hades lives in the underworld and Poseidon in the sea, near Euboea.
Hephaestus, another one of the dodekatheon, ...
- 17.1k
5
votes
Was Artemis a lesbian?
The thing is, the ancient Greeks and Romans simply didn't have categories for "gay" or "lesbian". In modern times, their idea of sexuality is described as "polymorphic perversity", which translates ...
- 87
5
votes
Accepted
Is Chiron older or younger than the Olympians?
Younger, but not by much.
Chiron was conceived when Zeus was still a baby, and while Cronus was hunting his youngest son by Rhea. Cronus and Rhea were still living together as husband and wife ...
- 9,855
5
votes
Accepted
Who makes ambrosia?
Amalthea, the divine goat who fostered Zeus until he grew up and could take revenge on his father Cronos, fed the god on her milk. In some stories this is called ambrosia; in other myths, she made ...
5
votes
Accepted
What do we know of the rebellion against Zeus by Poseidon, Hera and Athena?
The quoted passage informs us that Thetis did not directly intervene against Poseidon, Hera and Athena, who, indeed, yes, should have been more powerful than she. A scholion on Apollonius Rhodius' ...
- 9,855
5
votes
Accepted
Why was Poseidon an Olympian but not Hades?
Poseidon does actually live underwater. From the Iliad:
Forthwith then he went down from the rugged mount, striding forth with swift footsteps, and the high mountains trembled and the woodland ...
- 7,867
4
votes
Who are the twelve Olympian gods?
There are many lists of the Twelve Olympians, and one can make an argument that any of the gods should or shouldn't be included. One of the most common lists is Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, ...
- 314
4
votes
Who makes ambrosia?
I can't answer the part on who makes it, but what it could be, might help with the question. But I'll take a guess it's connected with Dionysus.
Salt
There is some who believe nectar and ambrosia ...
- 373
3
votes
Accepted
Source for claim that white animals were sacrificed to Olympian gods?
Those two sentences are based on the differences that scholars have observed in the ritual practices associated to Olympian and Chthonic gods, i.e. respectively the sky and earth deities. Indeed, ...
- 2,033
3
votes
Why is Plato singling out Hestia, Zeus and Athena in Laws?
Both Zeus and Athena were deities who were associated with Athens, and important philisophic concepts, while a city needed Hestia's flame at its sacred centre to be complete.
Hestia, goddess of the ...
- 5,920
3
votes
Did the ancient Greeks believe the Olympians residence on Mt. Olympus to be a metaphor?
the answer is both and depends on time and you can see evidence of that fashion in various other religions (eg. judaism in it's early form described god as a king who sits on his chair while it ...
- 131
2
votes
Accepted
Do any myths specify whether Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia were sextuplets or simply siblings?
As far as I have been able to find, no myth specifies anything tantamount to these siblings being sextuplets. There is, however, one ancient story which claims that four of them were twins, that is to ...
- 9,855
2
votes
Symbolism of Titans and Gods
A simple way to look at it is Titan are often associate with natural forces and phenomena, such as Eos, "Dawn".
The wiki for Eos may be confusing—there she is listed both as titan and god, ...
- 14.2k
1
vote
Source for claim that white animals were sacrificed to Olympian gods?
The "white" probably comes from Hesiod's Theogony 557 about Prometheus tricking Zeus:
So said Zeus whose wisdom is everlasting, rebuking him. But wily
Prometheus answered him, smiling ...
- 5,378
1
vote
Was it Apollo or Helios?
From sources I've read from (I don't remember exactly) it said that Helios first was the sun god but later faded away and then Apollo took the job. I think one reason was because one of his sons didn'...
- 367
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