Characters / Classical Mythology Second-Generation Olympians

Classical Mythology Main Character Index
Protogenoi | Titans | Olympians (First Generation | Second Generation) | Minor Deities | Monsters | Mortals and Demigods

The second generation of Classical Mythology's Olympian gods, usually said (with some variations) to be Zeus' children.

Athena / Minerva / Menrva

Ἀθηνᾶ | Minerva | 𐌀𐌅𐌓𐌍𐌄𐌌 | Athena^note Etymology uncertain. Possibly derived from a Pre-Greek language / Minerva^note Derived from Proto-Italic *meneswo ("intelligent, understanding"), itself ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *menos ("thought"), from the root *men- ("to think") / Menrva^note Derived from Proto-Italic *meneswo ("intelligent, understanding"), itself ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *menos ("thought"), from the root *men- ("to think")

Goddess of wisdom, which is a blanket term for things like strategy, defensive war, crafts, and justice. The Romans identified her with their goddess Minerva, while the Etruscans equated her with Menrva.

---

• Accidental Murder: According to Pseudo-Apollodorus, Athena was raised by Lake Triton, alongside a nymph named Pallas. Athena and Pallas were friends and sparring partners, but one time, they got into an argument and fought. Zeus intervened to keep Pallas from harming Athena, but Athena accidentally stabbed Pallas, resulting in her death. Athena was so distraught over this that she made a wooden statue of Pallas and adopted "Pallas" as an epithet.
• The Ace: Athena is responsible for inventing so many different kinds of technology — agricultural implements, musical instruments, textiles, pottery, bridles and chariots, ships, weapons, mathematics, and the legal system — and sources often go out of their way to emphasize how skilled she is at all these different things. That's on top of being a powerful war goddess and The Smart Guy.
• Adaptational Heroism: Nowadays, Athena often gets depicted as one of the nicer gods. Which she was, compared to some of the other ones, as long as people followed the rules. If they didn't, she would show no mercy—although of course, you can always say that Good Is Not Nice. She could be exceptionally vindictive to those who slighted her, though. See Not So Stoic below.
• Adaptational Villainy: In the Roman poet Ovid's works, which were likely anti-authority propaganda.
  • Turned her priestess Medusa into a Gorgon for losing her virginity to Poseidon. Regardless of whether it was rape or consensual, Medusa's vow had been broken, and there had to be a punishment. Other sources state that it was less an act of punishment and more a tantrum, since the act occurred in Athena's temple, and she couldn't do anything to Poseidon, a fellow Olympian, so she lashed out at Medusa instead. Other sources even say that Athena and Poseidon have nothing to do with Medusa's origin at all, and that she was always a monstrous creature all along.
  • Destroyed the tapestry a bragging Arachne made and turned her into a spider, either because she displayed father and uncle in lecheous acts in her tapestry or out of jealousy for losing the weaving contest.
• Angel Unaware: Like her father Zeus and her younger brother Dionysus, Athena likes to assume human disguises during her interactions with mortals, though unlike them, she does it mostly to guide them or to give them secret tests of character.
  • When she first met Arachne, Athena disguised herself as an elderly woman.
  • In the Odyssey, she disguised herself as an old man.
• Animal Motifs: Often associated with owls, especially the little owl (Athene noctua).
• Badass Bookworm: The epitome of brawny brainy beauty in Ancient Greece.
• Berserk Button: In some versions of the myths surrounding her, she really didn't take kindly to being disrespected. It's a case of Depending on the Writer.
• Big Sister Instinct: At times, she has been shown to be quite protective of her younger siblings, especially those who aren't related to Hera (because Hera being Hera, she would often try to kill her husband's illegitimate children). Sometimes, Athena would even go behind the backs of Zeus and Hera to discreetly protect them from Hera's wrath (Heracles and Dionysus's stories both have Athena intervening to save them from Hera at one point or another). Curiously, Athena didn't stop Hades from kidnapping Persephone despite being present for it, though Persephone's account of it implies that Athena didn't see it.
• Blood Knight: One hymn describes her as such.
• Born as an Adult: From her father's skull, no less!
• Brother–Sister Team: Often teamed up with Hermes due to them being among Zeus's favorite children.
• By-the-Book Cop: As a goddess who supports justice, she will help people as long as they are following the rules and/or striving to right injustice. But breaking them means she will allow no mercy. When she was tired of mortals and their cycles of revenge, she helped to invent the jury system.
• Chest Burster: More like skull burster, as she was born out of Zeus's head.
• City Mouse: While Artemis was a goddess of the wilderness, Athena was a goddess of civilization and of the crafts associated with it. And of course the patroness of Athens which naturally considered itself the epitome of civilization.
• Cool Big Sis: She was the oldest child of Zeus and loved her younger siblings well (except Ares and depending on your interpretation of her parentage, Aphrodite). In turn, for the most part, they also respected her for helping them when they needed it. In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, she and Artemis are both listed as Persephone's playmates, implying that she was close with her half-sisters.
• Cool Helmet: Artistic depictions of her naturally varied with the times, but Athena being portrayed wearing a Corinthian-style helmet that's tipped upward over her face, as can be seen above, is no doubt the choice of helmet that's most distinctive to her.
• Daddy's Girl: Depending on the Writer. She was intensely loyal to Zeus. Some versions of the Typhon vs. Zeus story say that she and Hermes were the only Olympians who didn't flee when Typhon arrived. There was one story where she sided with Hera, Poseidon, and Apollo to overthrow Zeus, however.
• Demoted to Extra: Athena is the most highly-prominent War Goddess of the Greeks. This was not the case for the Romans — despite being equated to a new name, Minerva didn't keep her popularity among the Romans, and Bellona had Athena's title of their pantheon's most vital War Goddess.
• Egopolis: Athens. And in Greek it just means "Athena the city" as opposed to "Athena the goddess." Are you going to tell her she can't have one of the greatest cities in the history of civilization named after her if she wants? Interestingly enough, the prevalent view among scholars nowadays is that she is named after the city, not the city after her.
• Female Misogynist: Athena can occasionally act as one of these, where she'll work to preserve the patriarchal order of Ancient Greek society. This is most evident in her depiction in The Eumenides from the Oresteia, where she argues that because she was born from Zeus' forehead and had no mother, only a father, she will always rule in favor of men over women. That being said, Athena's characterization is inextricably tied to the city that bears her name: Athens, which was extremely repressive towards women, even among the other Greek city-states.
• Foil: To Ares. Both are war deities, but they embody opposing aspects of it. Ares is the god of the bloodshed part of war and is therefore dumb and violent while Athena is the goddess of the tactical part and is therefore smart and calculating.
• Friend to All Children: She is just a bit less strict with children. She raised the child (named Erechtheus or Erichthonius) produced by Hephaestus and Gaia after a failed rape attempt, gave Tiresias the ability to prophesy as compensation for being blinded, and mentored Telemachus while his father Odysseus is away.
• God of Knowledge: Athena was a war goddess, but she was also reveled as a goddess of wisdom and civilization. Her association with owls is part of the reason why owls are associated with wisdom today.
• Good with Numbers: She invented numbers and mathematics.
• Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Older Than Feudalism it seems — Athena is commonly portrayed in art as having a face-concealing Corinthian helmet, but rarely is she ever actually wearing the helmet down — instead, she always has the helmet tipped upward off of her face. This tendency is actually consistent with the ancient Greeks, since soldiers wearing the helmet when out of combat would do this since it was more comfortable.
• Hot Librarian: Intelligent and depicted as very beautiful, though she is often portrayed as having a rather strong build instead of slender.
• Iconic Item: The Aegis, a vague sort of powerful protective device/shield/armor usually made from the skin of a slain monster (sometimes a slain giant, other times either Medusa or some other Gorgon, sometimes a goat, etc.) and tough enough to serve as the only defense against Zeus' thunderbolts. It was a gift from her father, who was the original owner.
• Icy Gray Eyes: She is often nicknamed the "Grey-Eyed Goddess," perfectly suiting aloof and matter-of-factly demeanor.
• I Have Many Names: Athena's most famous epithet is Pallas, which means "to brandish." There's multiple stories about how she got it. Other epithets of Athena include Glaukopis ("grey-eyed/owl-eyed"), Koryphagenes ("born of the head"), Ageleia ("protectress of the people"), Areia ("of war"), Atrytone ("the unwearying"), Parthenos ("virgin"), Ergane ("craftswoman"), Polias ("of the city"), Nikephoros ("bringer of victory"), Sophia ("of wisdom"), and Tritogeneia (which has various meanings, but usually references her birth or birthplace in some way).
• Immortal Genius: Has a vast list of inventions attributed to her, including everything from chariots to flutes.
• Karma Houdini: She once collaborated with Poseidon, Hera, and Apollo to overthrow Zeus. It proved to be unsuccessful, and Hera was hung from the heavens with heavy anvils chained to her feet as punishment, while Poseidon and Apollo were forced to serve the Trojan king Laomedon, who made them build walls around Troy and then refused to pay them like he promised. There's no mention of Athena being punished.
• Lady of War: A graceful goddess who rivaled Aphrodite and Hera in beauty, as well as a fierce and powerful war deity.
• Legacy Character: If the myths saying that she is the daughter of Zeus and his first wife Metis are to be believed, then she is this to her mother, since Metis was the original goddess/titaness of wisdom.
• Master of Threads: As the goddess of industry, she invented weaving.
• The Mentor: Trope Namer from The Odyssey, in which she played this role to Telemachus in the form of Mentor, an elderly man.
• Multiple-Choice Past: She can be the daughter of Kronus, Zeus, Poseidon or Pallas, depending on who you ask, which has implications on all of her following stories. Is she Zeus's sister, daughter, niece or a distant relative? Worse there are two different Pallas (a giant enemy, a nymph friend) for her to interact with and which does what is not always consistent. One story has Athena or Zeus kill Pallas and then Athena takes his/her name, hence Pallas-Athena. And then, there's also a few version that say she's the daughter of Zeus and his first wife Metis, the original Greek goddess (or rather titaness) of wisdom.
• Naked First Impression: In one of the myths of the prophet Tiresias, he was a son of her attendants who accidentally stumbled on her bathing and was blinded when Athena covered his eyes. As she could not restore his sight, she gave him a long life, the ability to understand the language of birds, and his gift of prophecy. Contrast this with Artemis and Actaeon below. Same initial transgression, horrifyingly different consequences.
• Near-Rape Experience: Hephaestus tried to rape her. He didn't get too far.
• Not So Stoic: She also had a bloodthirsty side to her, as seen in The Iliad, where she was determined to see Troy burn at all costs, and in The Odyssey in which she is practically giddy at the prospect of Odysseus mercilessly slaughtering the suitors who abused his wife's hospitality.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Athena is one of the calmer and more rational goddesses and not one to wreak Disproportionate Retribution on the slightest offense. However, when Ajax the Lesser raped Cassandra in her temple's protection, Athena was absolutely livid, sent a storm to wreck the Achaeans' boats when they failed to kill Ajax, then destroyed his ship near the Whirling Rocks and left him to die, or lifted him in the sky during a storm and impaled him with her father's thunderbolt.
• The Owl-Knowing One: She's associated with owls to symbolize her wisdom. Or perhaps owls are associated with wisdom because they were associated with her. Or maybe both she and owls were associated with wisdom because they were associated with Athens (which had a reputation for learning on one hand and had an unusually large population of Little Owls on the other). It's Ancient Greece; a lot got lost.
• Pals with Jesus: She was known for taking a shine to various mortal heroes who displayed both courage and smarts, especially Diomedes and Odysseus, and repeatedly helped them in their adventures.
• Parental Favoritism: By most accounts she's Zeus's favorite child, one of the many things that lead to her and Ares's Sibling Rivalry listed above.
• Pimped-Out Cape: Her Aegis is an armored cloak fashioned from the skin of a giant, edged in serpents and often decorated with the likeness of Medusa's head.
• The Power of the Sun: Appears to have originally been a sun goddess of some sort.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: With Ares, her fellow war god. Athena is the blue, being the (usually) calm and logical goddess of wisdom, while Ares is the fiery and bloodthirsty red.
• The Rival: With Poseidon, over which of them would be patron god of Athens. She offered an olive tree, while Poseidon offered a saltwater spring, and the Athens people chose her because her gift was more useful (this was the "Just So" Story to explain why Athens had both olive trees and a saltwater spring).
• Secret Test of Character: Sometimes, she can give these to measure the worth of a person before directly interacting with them. For example, when she heard of Arachne's boastful claims of having better weaving skills than the gods, Athena decided to meet her and test her character to see if she was really as arrogant as she seemed (because being the goddess of wisdom, Athena didn't want to be rash in judging mortals). And if Arachne failed the test, then Athena would instead try to subtly give Arachne advice about toning down her hubris before she gets into trouble. Of course, in order for her test of character to work, Athena took on the form of an elderly woman and visited Arachne directly, without Arachne knowing it was Athena...at first. Due to her ego, Arachne failed the test and wouldn't listen to the advice. Naturally, Arachne was surprised when Athena got exasperated with her antics and then decided to reveal her true form. Afterwards, they started their legendary tapestry weaving contest.
• Sibling Rivalry: In The Iliad, Homer writes about how she and Ares are constantly at each-other's throats but she still acknowledges him as someone Diomedes should avoid pissing off... without help at least. She does however tell Diomedes to go nuts on Aphrodite since not only is she just as much a jerk as Ares is, but unlike Ares, she is a sissy who would run crying from battle if someone so much as miffed her hair.
• Spell My Name With An S: Some translations call her Athene.
• The Stoic: While truly passionate about justice deep down inside, she never lets them cloud her judgment.
• The Strategist: If the Athenian Ares is the god of war and the Roman Mars is the god of soldiers, Athena/Minerva was the goddess of generals in both cities. She won the patronage of a city against a more powerful deity, Poseidon, by offering the versatile olive tree and helped inspire Odysseus with the idea of the Trojan Horse.
• Virgin Power: One of three virgin goddesses. However, whether that specifically means "never had sex" or "never married" isn't made entirely clear (Pseudo-Apollodorus states that she had an unspecified close relationship with Tiresias's mother Chariclo).
• War Goddess: One of the first and prime examples. Possibly the first mythical Lady of War.
• War Is Glorious: Athena represents the elements of war coming together both strategically and beautifully.
• Western Zodiac: Manilius associates her with Aries, a sheep, because wool's used for weaving.

Hephaestus / Vulcan / Sethlans

Ἥφαιστος | Vulcānus | 𐌔𐌍𐌀𐌋𐌈𐌄𐌔 | Hephaestus^note Etymology uncertain. Possibly derived from a Pre-Greek language / Vulcan^note Etymology uncertain. Traditionally connected to Latin fulgur ("lightning"). Alternatively, might instead be derived from proposed Proto-Indo-European smith and fire god *wl̩kānos or *volca / Sethlans^note Translated "hitter, afflicter", derived from Etruscan sethre or sethrni ("to hit, to afflict")

The blacksmith god. He was rather hideously crippled: Authors differ whether he had been defenestrated during an argument between Mummy and Daddy, or just born with lame legs. His Roman equivalent was the destructive volcano god Vulcan, while the Etruscans identified him with Sethlans.

---

• Abusive Parents: Hera was hopeful her new baby would be impressive enough to show up Zeus after he'd given solo-birth to Athena (see Continuity Snarl below) but was disgusted by how ugly Hephaestus was. Ashamed of him, she chucked him off the side of Olympus to die. In another incident, when Zeus was angry at Hera, Hephaestus tried to stand up for her. Zeus threw him off Olympus.
• Affair? Blame the Bastard: Him giving Harmonia, the product of Aphrodite's adultery with Ares, a cursed necklace as revenge counts as this.
• Almighty Janitor: He forged the gods' weapons, chained Prometheus (a Physical God older than Hestia) to a rock, and was put in charge of Mount Etna by Zeus to guard Typhon, and yet, he was still not respected by the gods.
  • After beating Zeus the first time, Typhon goes out of his way to mention forging special chains for Hephaestus, as if to imply that he could 'easily' break out of the standard Physical God restraining chains.
  • Hephaestus is the only god sent to keep watch over Typhon, when supposedly better gods like Athena and Apollo are there, and he sets up a workshop there.
  • He regularly forges the weapons of the gods, so he presumably knows of their weaknesses or can put them there.
• Attempted Rape: According to the Bibliotheca, Hephaestus tried to rape Athena when she approached him looking to get some new weapons forged. This ended poorly for him, but ended up giving rise to the ophidian Erichthonius, one of the legendary kings of Athens.
• Beauty Equals Goodness: The inverse assumption, Ugly Is Evil, is played viciously straight by the other gods.
• The Blacksmith: As well as redsmith and goldsmith. Hephaestus' main role is to forge weapons, armor, jewelry, and tools for the other Olympians and for whomever the Olympians favor.
• Chained to a Bed: Upon realizing that Aphrodite was cheating on him with Ares, he crafted a golden net so thin that it couldn't be seen and laid it on their bed. The two adulterers got tangled up in it, allowing Hephaestus to catch them in flagrante delicto.
• Continuity Snarl: In some versions of Hephaestus's birth-myth, he was conceived by Hera without any help from Zeus; supposedly she was jealous over his apparent single-handed bearing of Athena. In some versions of Athena's birth-myth, Hephaestus helps dig her out of Zeus's head. Some authors got around this by having Prometheus fill the latter role instead.
• Disabled Deity: He has disabled legs. Some attribute this to being thrown from Olympus (either by Hera, Zeus, or both of them), though some say he was lame from birth.
• The Dog Bites Back: Was treated like crap by the other Gods, but when pushed too far he got even. After his mother threw him off Olympus (for being born ugly), he gave her a golden throne that she couldn't get out of once she sat down. When he found out Ares was sleeping with his wife, he booby-trapped their bedchambers with an elaborate net so he could drag them in front of the other Gods to be mocked.
• Double Standard: Had multiple lovers himself, but did not take his wife's infidelity well.
• Fire Is Masculine: God of fire and is male.
• Forged by the Gods: Everything he made; he endowed most of the Olympians with their Iconic Items. He also made Achilles's armor as a favor to Thetis.
• Genius Cripple: He was a brilliant forger.
• God Couple: Zeus put him together with Aphrodite in an Arranged Marriage. It was pretty much a disaster, and according to some versions he ended up divorcing her and marrying Aglaea of the three graces, which seemed to work out a lot better.
• God of Fire: Hephaestus is the god of fire, craftsmen, and metalwork and is said to have had a forge beneath Mount Etna where he toiled away to build weapons for the other gods. The word "volcano" is derived from the name of his Roman counterpart Vulcan.
• God of Knowledge: He was the god of metalworking, artisans, and the forge, and presided over invention and innovation that comes with craftwork. He was credited with having created a number of divine artifacts, such as the thrones of the other gods and a number of complex automata.
• The Grotesque: Considered "ugly" in comparison to the rest of the Olympians.
• I Have Many Names:
  • Epithets of Hephaestus include Klytometis ("famed for skill"), Aithaloïs ("sooty"), Amphigyeis ("lame"), Megasthenes ("of great strength"), Polymetes ("resourceful"), Polytechnes ("of many crafts"), Karterokeir ("strong-handed"), Polyphron ("inventive"), Khalkeus ("bronze-working"), and Pyrotis ("smith").
  • The Romans knew him as both Vulcan (after vulcanus, meaning "fire" or "volcano") and Mulciber (which means "Softener" or "Smelter").
• Informed Flaw: By Greek standards, being crippled was enough to make a person ugly. Art says otherwise. However, given the ancient Greeks knew better than to offend their gods, this might be justified.
• Kavorka Man: Despite being considered lame, still managed to fulfill the Double Standard above which would require him to get laid with different ladies regardless.
• Like Parent, Like Child: Like his mother Hera, he gets cheated on and then takes revenge on the child born from the affair.
• Magma Man: He was the god of volcanoes, and his workshop was said to be located under Mount Etna.
• Momma's Boy:
  • Despite having a very rocky start, Hephaestus eventually grows to have a close relationship with Hera. An alternate story says that, rather than being lame from birth, Zeus threw him off for taking Hera's side in a fight.
  • He also seems to have this relationship with Thetis, one of his foster mothers.
• Physical God: Like the rest of the Olympians, he's a god who appears as a human man.
• Playing with Fire: Well, he was the God of the Forge.
• Revenge by Proxy: He took revenge on Aphrodite and Ares, by giving their daughter, Harmonia, a cursed necklace on her wedding day.
• Rules Lawyer: Some time after Hephaestus trapped Hera in a golden throne, Dionysus gets him drunk and tells him that Aphrodite's hand in marriage has been offered as a prize for whoever can get Hephaestus to return to Mount Olympus. He then points out that Hephaestus himself might be able to claim Aphrodite's hand if he returns of his own volition. Hephaestus takes his advice and succeeds, though he later seems to regret marrying Aphrodite.
• Shock and Awe: He could have had this power as he forged thunderbolts.
• Trophy Wife: Essentially the reason he married Aphrodite in one version; he trapped Hera in a throne and agreed to release her only if he got the hand of Aphrodite, the most beautiful goddess, in marriage. In some accounts, however, he asked for Athena's hand in marriage first and only settled for Aphrodite because Athena was not an option due to being one of the three virgin goddesses.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Again, with Aphrodite. By some accounts, also with his second wife after divorcing Aphrodite, Aglaea of the three Charites/Graces.
• Ultimate Blacksmith: It was his place in the pantheon.
• Western Zodiac: Manilius associates him with Libra, which represents a set of metal scales. The only symbol that is a construct rather than a living thing.
• You're Not My Father: When he was first asked to return to Mount Olympus to free his mother Hera from the throne he had trapped her in, he refused, saying he had no mother. Thankfully, they later developed a close relationship after reconciling.

Ares / Mars / Laran

Ἄρης | Mārs | 𐌍𐌀𐌓𐌀𐌋 | ♂ | Ares^note Traditionally derived from Greek arḗ ("bane, ruin, harm"), the Ionic form of the Doric ará̄ ("bane, ruin, curse, imprecation"), itself possibly derived from proposed Proto-Hellenic *arwā ("curse") / Mars^note Derived from Old Latin Māvors, itself derived from either Proto-Italic *Māwortis or *Māmart-, of uncertain etymology / Laran^note Translated "cutter, smasher", derived from Etruscan laru ("to cut, to smash")

The most prominent god of war. While Athena ruled over strategy and wisdom, Ares ruled brute force and courage. His nearest Roman equivalent was Mars, who however was also a god of agriculture (because wars were mostly farmers fighting over land in early Rome). The Etruscans, in turn, identified him with Laran. The more martial Romans put Mars in a much higher place in their religion than the Greeks (or at least the Athenians and Thebans, from whom we derive most of our knowledge about Greek myth)^note the Spartans, in particular, seem to have had a higher opinion of Ares, just as the Argives had a higher opinion of Hera, although his overall importance in Sparta is questionable. put Ares, and in fact the Romans believed themselves to be Mars's descendants.

---

• Adaptational Badass: Mars won far more battles and was much more powerful and well-respected than Ares, who was generally looked down upon by the Greeks as a petty thug.
• Adaptation Expansion: Hugely, when you compare the Roman Mars to the Greek Ares. Mars, being the god of citizen-soldiers, farmers, homesteaders, and one of three top gods of the Roman state, took on a patriotic role that Ares lacked.
• Adaptational Heroism: Mars is a much kinder and nobler deity than the bloodthirsty bully Ares. However, while Ares had no reputation for being a rapist, the founding myth of Rome had Mars raping the vestal virgin Rhea Silvia to father Romulus and Remus.
• Adaptational Intelligence: On top of the above, Mars was fooled more than once but he was far less simple-minded than Ares.
• Amazon Brigade: He was the father of the Amazons.
• Animal Motifs: Not as well known in modern media as other Olympians, but he is classically associated with dogs, vultures, serpents, at least two species of owls and woodpeckers.
• Ax-Crazy: Being the god of slaughter, bloodshed, and violence.
• Because You Were Nice to Me:
  • Ares is very protective of Spartans and Amazons because they were some of the only mortal societies that worshipped him instead of fearing or degrading him.
  • He also platonically adores both Eris and Hestia. In Eris's case, she is a Nightmare Fetishist who liked him for the same reasons most didn't; Hestia, on the other-hand, loves everybody, so this naturally includes Ares.
• Blood Knight: He represented the brutality of war, even more than Athena.
• Brother–Sister Incest:
  • Aphrodite is his half-sister in some accounts.
  • Also with Enyo, a full sister.
  • And Terpsichore, one of the Muses.
• The Brute: He's a war god and relies more on brute force than strategy.
• Desperately Craves Affection: Ares's open aggression was mostly nurtured (accidentally) by Hera's passive aggression, meaning most of his inherent character flaws come from his admiration for his mother and most of the wars he started were to get Zeus's attention to prove he was a good son worthy of admiration. Needless to say, both methodologies back-fired phenomenally.
• Determined Homesteader: In his Roman incarnation, he is pictured as the god of farming as well as war, the connection being that war was, in the mind of early Romans (and early Greeks), turf fighting between farmers. Thus, in the Roman interpretation, Mars was a god of citizen-soldiers defending their crops, while the Greek Ares was a god of the horrors of war. More than one historian has noted that the respective treatments of Ares and Mars says everything that you need to know about the differences between the Greeks and the Romans.
• Equal-Opportunity Evil: Blood-thirsty brute? Absolutely. But he had a soft spot for feminists and was very pro-homosexuality. His treatment of the Amazons and Sparta's policy on homosexuality will attest to this.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: He's not the most pleasant god on Mount Olympus, but he really does love Hera.
• Even Evil Has Standards: In stark contrast to his father, Ares never had relations with any of his descendants.
• Evil Cripple: Some descriptions of Ares give him a crippled or uneven leg, signifying his lack of sturdiness or battle finesse.
• Feather Boa Constrictor: As serpents were considered his sacred animal by the Greeks, he was depicted wearing them in sculpture.
• The Fighting Narcissist: Described as being quite handsome among even the gods, and he was very proud of it. Whether this was because he was just so good-looking that no one ever damaged his perfect looks or a Dirty Coward is a matter of interpretation.
• Good Parents: Ares always supported his children and tried to protect them (namely the Amazons).
• Green Thumb: Mars pulled double duty as an agricultural god.
• Happy Dance: In Nonnus' Dionysiaca, he does one at the wedding of his daughter Harmonia.
• Hidden Depths: Although he's best known as bloodthirsty dumb muscle, Ares is surprisingly gentle off the battlefield. He loves Aphrodite dearly, is kinder to women than most gods, and dances at his daughter's wedding.
• Hot Consort: He was the attractive god consort to Amazon Queen Otrera, with whom he had four daughters. Most of them went on to become Amazon queens themselves.
• If It's You, It's Okay: Possibly. He had one known male lover in Alectryon, who was his companion in lovemaking. Unfortunately, or perhaps, per usual, their relationship ended tragically when Alectryon fell asleep while guarding the door as Ares engaged in his affair with Aphrodite. This led to the affair being discovered by Helios, who informed Hephaestus, who later humiliated Ares and Aphrodite by catching them in the act. As punishment, Ares cursed the boy to become a rooster so that he would never forget to crow in the morning, and the two were never able to make amends.
• I Have Many Names: Outside of his Greek name of Ares and Roman name of Mars, he had over 15 cult titles and poetic epithets. His most common epithet is Enyalios, which roughly means "warlike," and is used interchangeably with his name. Other epithets include Andreiphontes ("slayer of men"), Deinos ("fearsome"), Alkimos ("valiant"), Gynaikothoinas ("feasted by women"), Miaephonos ("bloodstained"), Khalkeus ("brazen"), Khrysopelex ("of the golden helm"), Teikhesipletes ("stormer of cities"), Phriktos ("terrifying"), and Thourous ("violent").
• Jerk Jock: Likely the Ur-Example.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Yes, he goes on bloodthirsty killing sprees during wartime, but he is quite devoted to his mother and various children—unlike a lot of the gods.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Crossed with Pragmatic Villainy. Sometimes, he dips into this instead of Jerk with a Heart of Gold, as seen in the Sisyphus incident. Ares personally saved Thanatos from imprisonment, but not because he's concerned with Thanatos or enraged with Sisyphus doing that to a fellow god, but more because without Thanatos around, war just felt meaningless when no one died from it.
• Like Father, Like Son: A mother and son example. While giving him a "The Reason You Suck" Speech, Zeus derisively observes that Ares takes after Hera in temperament. It's not that hard to see the resemblance, honestly...
• Light 'em Up: Hesiod and Homer described Ares more or less as this. He's perhaps the best embodiment of Light Is Not Good in the whole mythology.
• Loser Deity: Despite his status as a Blood Knight War God, many Greek tales have him be utterly humiliated, defeated, and insulted by his own kin.
• Miles Gloriosus: Played with. Often boasted about how powerful he was as the god of war, being an expert in military matters, loving to fight, etc. However, he seems virtually completely useless against anything beyond a mere mortal, although those mortals were under the protection of another god, namely his sister Athena and his mother Hera in the case of Diomedes.
• Momma's Boy: He loved Hera, as he saved her from getting raped by two giants at the cost of being imprisoned in a jar.
• Murder the Hypotenuse: In Nonnus's epic Dinoysiaca, he killed Adonis for being Aphrodite's lover.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: His titles and epithets include Enyalius ("warlike"), Miaephonus ("blood-stained"), Brotoloegus ("man-slaughtering"), Thurus ("violent" or "furious"), Aatus polemoeo ("insatiate of fighting and war"), and Andreïphontes ("destroyer of men").
• Nightmare Fetishist: Some poems describe him as getting off (in excruciating detail) at the sight of mass bloodshed.
• Ominous Owl: While Athena is more well known for her association with the little owl, Ares had the barn owl and the eagle owl, both highly ominous birds associated with death and violence.
• Papa Wolf:
  • Athenians explained the name of the Areopagus by saying the first trial there was when Poseidon prosecuted Ares for murder over the death of the former's son Alirrothios. Ares was acquitted on the defense that he was protecting his daughter Alkippe from being raped by Alirrothios.
  • This bit his daughter Harmonia hard. When Cadmus, the founder of Thebes, killed the Ismenian water-dragon that was a son of Ares, the god forced Cadmus to serve him for eight years as penance, after which Cadmus married Harmonia. Nevertheless, misfortune continued to haunt Cadmus's family as a result of him killing the dragon, which led to him one day yelling that if the gods have punished him so much due to being enamored of a life of a serpent, he might as well wish such a life for himself; he was them immediately transformed into a snake. When Harmonia saw this, she decided she would rather share her husband's fate than live without him, so the gods granted her wish and turned her into a serpent, too.
• Paper Tiger: Often depicted as physically fit, armed to the teeth, and the embodiment of the physical power and violence of war. However, he loses any fight against nearly any non-mortal enemy—Heracles, Athena, Apollo, the Alodae, a mortal Diomedes aided by Athena, etc. He has his moments in the Gigantomachy and killing the demi-god Halirrhothios, though.
• Pet the Dog: Amazingly, Ares seems to be one of the only gods that actually has some reverence with women, contrary to popular belief where he's depicted as a Jerk Jock. Sure, there are many gods like Zeus, Apollo, or Dionysus who recognize the skills women can have, but they aren't the best lovers around (at least at first, in the latters' cases) and Hades was already ruling The Underworld alongside Persephone equally and threatens anybody who tries to mess with her. Ares was known to be a Papa Wolf towards his children, but especially his daughters when he murdered Alirrothios over the rape (or Attempted Rape depending on the myth) of Alkippe. He was devoted towards his mother Hera (see Momma's Boy above) and he is the father of the Amazons whom he liked very such. On top of all, there's barely any myths that involve Ares raping or seducing women, unlike most of the other Greek gods out there (and we mean really mean most...), excluding the Roman myth where Ares, as Mars, rape/seduce a Vestal Virgin.
• Politically Correct Villain: He's a violent brute, that's for sure, but he was one of the few male Olympians who actually respected women and was accepting of homosexuals.
• Pragmatic Villainy: When Thanatos had been chained by Sisyphus in an attempt cheat death, Ares is the one who eventually frees him. He could have cared less about Thanatos; he only did it because he felt his wars had lost their fun without anyone dying.
• Pretty Boy: Contrasting with his brutal warlike demeanor, he was described more often as "beautiful" than simply handsome.
• Psychopathic Manchild: Homer's portrayal of Ares in his epic had this element; he'd charge into battle roaring and killing all who got in his way when on a mission, but when seriously injured he would run back to Zeus and complain about it.
• Really Gets Around: Famous for being handsome and loved by many women, including Aphrodite.
• Sibling Rivalry: With Athena in a few epic poems.
• Team Rocket Wins: He lost a lot of battles for a Blood Knight, but he had his share of victories in the Gigantomachy and going Papa Wolf on Alirrothios.
• Trope Namer: For anything "martial".
• The Un-Favourite: His father Zeus made it clear that he detests Ares the most out of all the Olympians, due to his barbaric violence and lust for quarrelling, war, battles, and especially his habit of whining to daddy whenever he gets a beating on the battlefield; in fact, the only reason that he hadn't throttled him from the peak of Mount Olympus is because he is Zeus and Hera's son. Hera herself doesn't seem to be fond of him neither since she asked Athena to beat him in The Iliad.
  Zeus, book V, The Iliad: Zeus looked angrily at him and said, "Do not come whining here, Sir Facing-bothways. I hate you worst of all the gods in Olympus, for you are ever fighting and making mischief. You have the intolerable and stubborn spirit of your mother Hera: it is all I can do to manage her, and it is her doing that you are now in this plight: still, I cannot let you remain longer in such great pain; you are my own off-spring, and it was by me that your mother conceived you; if, however, you had been the son of any other god, you are so destructive that by this time you should have been lying lower than the Titans."
  • The low view the Athenians had of him in general among the theoi may come from him originally being a Thrakian deity, not Attic et al. Athenians saw the Thrakians as stupid, violent barbarians, and thus painted Ares to fit.
• War God: One of the Trope Codifiers.
• War Is Hell: Ares personifies war as bloodshed, violence and destruction.
• Western Zodiac: Manilius associates him with Scorpio, for being "quarrelsome." Traditional astrology associates him with Aries, the sign ruled by Mars.
• The Worf Effect: Despite being the god of war, the Greeks handed the victory aspect to Athena, and in the myths, he doesn't win as many battles as one would expect.
• Yandere: For Aphrodite in some myths, such as one where Ares got jealous at Aphrodite courting Adonis and plotted his death. Others say that it was Artemis or Apollo.

Aphrodite / Venus / Turan

Ἀφροδίτη | Venus | 𐌍𐌀𐌓𐌖𐌕 | ♀ | Aphrodite^note Etymology uncertain, generally accepted to be of non-Greek (probably Semitic) origin. Traditionally interpretated as a compound of Greek aphrós ("sea foam, froth") and déato ("to shine, to appear, seem"), thus translating as "risen/shining up from the foam", but has since been rejected by modern scholars / Venus^note Translated "love, charm", derived from Proto-Italic *wenos- ("desire"), itself derived from Proto-Indo-European *wénh₁-os ("desire"), from the root *wenh₁- ("to wish, love") / Turan^note Possibly translated "given", from Etruscan tur- ("to give, dedicate"). Alternatively, may instead be derived from Etruscan turon ("lady, mistress")

The goddess of love, beauty, and sexuality, who was also associated with looking after children (and, in the Athenian tradition, with marriage). As Aphrodite Ourania, this was extended to include what literally translates to "heavenly" or "divine love." In Rome, she was called Venus, while the Etruscans equated her with Turan.

---

• Abusive Parents: Aphrodite had her moments such as leaving Eros with the Maniae and punishing him for "daring" to have a beautiful wife.
• Adaptational Curves: Inverted, she's often portrayed as less curvy than she originally was (in keeping with modern, rather than ancient, beauty standards).
• Adaptational Wimp: She was originally a fearsome war goddess because her cult of worship was related to that of the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar, who was associated with both love and warfare. Later myths downplayed this aspect of her.
• All Girls Want Bad Boys:
  • Had an affair with Ares, the bloodthirsty god of war, despite being married to the humble Hephaestus. According to the prevalent myths, Aphrodite gave birth to Ares' children Eros (love), Harmonia (harmony), Phobos (fear), and Deimos (terror).
  • She also had two sons by crafty Hermes, god of thieves: Priapos and Hermaphroditos, although according to another version Priapos was fathered by Dionysus.
• All Women Are Lustful: What the Greek society believed.
• Alpha Bitch: Aphrodite is frequently portrayed as one of the prettiest and most beloved of goddesses, but she was also catty, shallow, and vindictive.
• Attention Whore: Whether starting wars to be declared the prettiest, cursing mortals for comparison to her, or demanding eye-catching jewelry from her husband, Aphrodite is ravenous for attention.
• Arranged Marriage: In many stories, this is why she's hitched with Hephaestus; she doesn't really want it, but Zeus married her off to him. Reasons vary from Hephaestus trapping Hera in a golden throne or simply to keep all the other Olympians from fighting over her.
• Beware the Silly Ones: To call her a "bimbo" would be an insult to bimbos. But her ability to emotionally influence about 90% of her relatives — even those stronger than her, means she can get pretty indirectly scary.
• Big Bad: Essentially the antagonist of Eros and Psyche's story.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She's the lovely goddess of love yet she's as much of a jerkass as the others.
• Born as an Adult: Was born from Ouranos's genitals. Even worse, in some versions, Aphrodite is born pregnant, by Ouranos, and gives birth to Eros almost immediately after she herself was born.
• The Burlesque of Venus: The subject of the famous painting The Birth of Venus, which depicts, well, her birth, rising from seafoam, which has resulted in many parodies.
• Canon Immigrant: It's generally thought that she was an import goddess from the area that's now Palestine, having been brought to the island of Cyprus by Phoenician traders and spread from there to the rest of Greece. She's usually identified with the Phoenician goddess Astarte (who herself is identified with Inanna/Ishtar) and the Egyptian goddess Isis. She's notably one of the few Olympians who aren't identified in known Mycenean inscriptions, alongside Hades, Hestia, and possibly Apollo.
• Casual Kink: Aphrodite's group of attractive male attendants the Erotes are usually depicted as nude save for a harness of leather straps across their chests when they accompany her, the better to pull her chariot with. Yes, it sounds a lot like something modern subs would be wearing and doing.
• Chariot Pulled by Cats: Aphrodite's chariot is drawn by swans or geese when not being pulled by the Erotes.
• Composite Character: Aphrodite was syncretized with various similar goddesses from around the Ancient Mediterranean, most notably Isis and Astarte.
• Dating What Daddy Hates: Eros fell in love with Psyche, a mortal woman whom Aphrodite happend to loathe. She did everything to separate the two but failed.
• Didn't Think This Through:
  • In one account, she agreed to marry whoever could convince Hephaestus to return to Mount Olympus and free Hera from the throne he had trapped Hera in, thinking that Ares would succeed. It didn't seem to occur to her that someone whom she wouldn't want to marry might instead.
  • Her curse upon Eos/Aurora would probably seem a bit more of a problem for the men Eos took a fancy to rather than Eos herself. It wouldn't seem likely Aphrodite was trying to embarrass her by making her sexually promiscuous, because well, look at Aphrodite's portfolio. Then again, Eos's infatuations have humiliated her in other ways, such as with Tithonus.
• Die for Our Ship: In-Universe. If you stand in the way of her favored romances and/or are the half of a romance she doesn't like, prepare to face her wrath.
• Differing Priorities Breakup: In one version, she and Nerites, a minor sea god, were lovers until she became an Olympian. She wanted him to join her on Mount Olympus, but he refused to leave his parents and sisters in the ocean, even after Aphrodite gave him a pair of wings. This being Aphrodite, she responded by turning him into a shellfish, taking back the wings, and giving them to Eros.
• Disaster Dominoes: She promised Paris the love of Helen. Helen was already married. It got worse from there — Helen left her husband Menelaus with Paris, all of Greece/Achaea fulfilled their oath to protect Menelaus' marriage, Troy was destroyed, very few of conquering Greeks would get to return back home alive, and according to The Aeneid, Aeneas escaped Troy to found Rome that would one day conquer the Greeks. This being said though, apparently the Trojan War was all part of Zeus' plan to reduce the population of humanity so it can't be all blamed on Aphrodite.
• Double Standard: Rape, Divine on Mortal: She straight up carried mortal men off to have her way with them, but they would accept their roles as her boy toys with no problem.
• The Dreaded: Her power over romantic and sexual love means almost all gods are putty in her hand (only Athena, Artemis, and Hestia, who are asexual, are immune), and they all know better than enrage her.
• Even the Girls Want Her: In The Iliad, Helen recognizes her by her "desirable breasts."
• Everyone Has Standards: While she was the patroness of prostitutes, adultery, Polyamory and all things sexual, she doesn't play around with consent.(..except for Helen's consent to go with Paris, we're really not sure about that one) Just ask her son Priapus how she reacted when he tried to take Hestia's virginity during her sleep.
• A Family Affair: While she'd go for anyone, Aphrodite's favorite lover was Ares, her husband Hephaestus' full-blooded brother.
• Femme Fatale: She is the goddess of love, and her girdle makes her even more desirable.
• Girls with Moustaches: Being the goddess of beauty was by no means incompatible with being portrayed as bearded in some of her cults on Cyprus. She was also sometimes depicted with a phallus.
• Happily Adopted: With Hesiod's version of her birth:
  • Zeus took her in as an Olympian despite not actually siring her. Hilariously, they are technically already related—as the daughter of Ouranos, Aphrodite is Zeus' aunt.
  • Zig-Zagged with Hera (like the contest of beauty prior to The Trojan War), in that while Hera tended to be mighty temperamental with Aphrodite, she is no more or less temperamental with her than her birth children.
• Head-Turning Beauty: Being the goddess of sexual love and beauty this is a given.
• Heart Is an Awesome Power: Power over love and desire may not be the most offense-heavy power, but when she gets angry, you do not want to be on the one who angered her. She knows how to use romantic drama to ruin someone's life. Her Homeric Hymn states that her domain over love meant that she also had power over Zeus himself; he may have been the most straightforwardly powerful of the pantheon, but he very much lacked any self-control in the romance and lust department, so Aphrodite had him by the proverbial genitals.
• Hot God: While most of the pantheon was considered inhumanly attractive, it was one of her main attributes seeing as she was the goddess of beauty.
• I Broke a Nail: Menelaus manages to shoot her in the Trojan War while she is carrying off wounded soldiers. As a mere mortal his shot is utterly trivial to her, but it scuffs her looks, so she immediately complains to Zeus.
• I Have Many Names: Aphrodite was often called Kythereia or Kypris, referencing the islands of Cythera and Cyprus, both thought to be her birthplace. These were used interchangeably with her name. Other epithets of Aphrodite include Pandemos ("of the people," referring to her capacity as the goddess of sexual love), Ourania ("celestial" referring to her capacity as the goddess of divine love), Areia ("of war", only in Sparta), Aligena ("sea-born"), Kallisti ("most beautiful"), Machanitis ("contriver"), Apatouros ("deceptive"), Philommedes ("genital-loving"), Eustephanos ("richly-girded"), and "the Paphian" (also referencing her birthplace).
• Living Aphrodisiac: She's the Trope Namer. As the goddess of love she could inspire lust in nearly anyone who laid eyes on her.
• Lovable Alpha Bitch: As mentioned above, she can be catty and vindictive, but underneath it all, she still does have a sweet side and will grant you great rewards so long as you're good to her.
• Lovable Sex Maniac: Generally speaking, all her sleeping around wasn't painted in a bad light.
• Love Goddess: Her dominions in the pantheon were love and beauty. In fact, she was worshipped under two distinct epithets that reflected different aspects of love. Aphrodite Urania was a version who represented pure, divine love in an abstract capacity. Aphrodite Pandemos, however, was the more well-known version who represented the physical aspects of love and beauty and sex, and was the version seen in most myths. There's also Aphrodite Areia, who combined aspects of love, sex, and war and was worshipped mostly by the Spartans and Kytherans, who had no issues with love and war being intertwined.
• Mama Bear: While she had a lot of children from her various adultery, some of them she really cared for, like Aeneas. She got wounded by Diomedes for protecting him. There's also the darker side of this: She's such a Doting Parent to Eros that she flipped when Eros fell in love with Psyche, furthering her role as the Big Bad of her tale.
• Manipulative Bastard: She is one in one version of the tale of Demeter and Persephone. Hades falling in love with Persephone was her idea (with Eros' help, of course), as doing so would a.) allow her power (love) to spread to the Underworld, thereby claiming it along with Earth and Sky as under her domain, and b.) doing so would prevent Persephone from remaining a virgin, thus allowing her to defy Aphrodite, as Athena and Artemis had done.
• Misplaced Retribution: More well-known stories usually have Aphrodite dole out retribution not to the exact violator (who usually made a Blasphemous Boast about beauty) but someone else who could have been innocent. Myrrha's mother boasting that Myrrha's more beautiful than Aphrodite? She curses Myrrha, not her mom, with incestual desires. A lot of people worshipping Psyche instead of her and saying Psyche is more beautiful? Rather than subjecting her wrath to the false-worshippers, she instead directed it at Psyche.
• Ms. Fanservice: One of the originals. She was often depicted topless, or fully nude, and well, just read her descriptions.
• Multiple-Choice Past: She was either born from Ouranos' cut-off genitalia (making her one of the oldest goddesses), or from Zeus and either Dione or Thalassa. Later philosophers would differentiate between the older, heavenly Aphrodite (Ourania) and the younger, common Aphrodite (Pandemos, "of all the people").
  • George O'Connor's The Olympians resolves this elegantly: the cut-off "seat of Eros within Ouranos" floats in the sea for hundreds of years before giving rise to Aphrodite, who is then promptly adopted by Zeus as her foster-father (it's implied that this is both to head off the probable squabbling for her hand in marriage, and also to reassure Hera that he himself has no designs on her).
• My Beloved Smother: To Eros. Sure she loves him a lot, but she did everything she could to separate him from Psyche, whom she hated and considered unworthy to be her son's bride, despite Eros' loving her and preferring to be with her.
• My Girl Is a Slut: Her sexual nature was depicted as generally positive.
• No-Sell: The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite states that Aphrodite's power over romantic and sexual love cannot affect Athena, Artemis or Hestia and that they are the only beings immune to it. This was some Required Secondary Powers for them to remain virgin goddesses lest Aphrodite decide to mess around with them.
• Obnoxious In-Laws: Put Psyche through the wringer when Eros presented Psyche as his wife-to-be, mostly because Psyche's beauty rivalled hers and because she (accidentally) wounded Eros. For that, Psyche underwent extremely hard tests monitored by Aphrodite so as to have her authorization to wed Eros.
• Pet the Dog:
  • Her relationship with Adonis, who was born from a woman who was boasted to be more beautiful than Aphrodite so she cursed her. But in later Roman fabrications, Aphrodite took pity on baby Adonis, entrusting his care to Persephone (and then ended up bickering with Persephone, who refused to return him). When Adonis was killed (possibly by Ares), Aphrodite grieved for him greatly and caused his blood to grow into flower called "Anemone" in his honor.
  • In Echo and Narcissus' myth, when Echo is wasting away for love of the beautiful but conceited (and often cruel) Narcissus, Aphrodite can't bear to see Echo in needless pain and she curses Narcissus to fall in love with his own reflection in a pool of water. He then either drowns in the pool or starves to death vainly trying to reach his "beloved." We get narcissus flowers AND the condition of narcissism from this. This is only in the Metamorphoses epic, though, other stories say that Narcissus pissed Nemesis off instead of Aphrodite.
• Physical God: She is a goddess and takes part in several battles and confrontations with other gods.
• The Power of Love: It was one of her dominions.
• Proud Beauty: Every incarnation of Aphrodite has this trait. Justified since she is the goddess of love and beauty. But it is also her Berserk Button.
• Really Gets Around: Aphrodite is more than happy to sleep with everyone except her husband.
• Sexy Surfacing Shot: Depictions of her birth from Ouranos' severed genitalia involves her emerging from the sea in this manner.
• Shameless Fanservice Girl: While the Ancient Greeks were never shy about nudity, Aphrodite was particularly notable for this trope, as she is depicted fully nude in a sexual context more often than any of the other gods.
• Shipper on Deck: And not necessarily in a good way. Many of the couples she arranged usually end up with something incredibly bad happening. One of the biggest examples being The Trojan War.
• Sleeps with Everyone but You: Her relationship with her husband, who she is disgusted by.
• Sibling Rivalry: Some myths posit that she was at odds with her sister Athena, though it never got to Cain and Abel levels.
• Spear Counterpart: Her son Priapus, the extremely well-endowed god of male sexuality and fertility, equally revered and feared but not as important since, as back in those times, men weren't supposed to be interested in sexuality that much.
• Spontaneous Generation: In Hesiod's Theogony, she was born when Kronos cut off Ouranos' genitals and threw them into the ocean. This lends to one of her other names, Philommedes (Φιλομμηδης), which translates as "lover of members". Because she was born from them, and not any other reason, of course.
• Swans A-Swimming: The swan is her sacred animal, as it’s a very beautiful bird, and she’s often seen riding in a chariot pulled by swans.
• Swan Boats: Often depicted as riding a swan or a chariot pulled by swans.
• Too Important to Walk: Aphrodite's chariot was oft depicted as being drawn by a pair or more of the Erotes, her group of young winged attendants that includes Eros.
• The Trickster: She can be underhanded, as seen in the tale of Eros and Psyche.
• Trophy Wife: To Hephaestus, as there was no love in their marriage.
• The Vamp: Charisma and beauty are as deadly in her hands as a sword and shield are in Ares'.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Her husband was Hephaestus, who was said to be hideously ugly. In many stories their marriage wasn't really her choice; Zeus arranged for it either to appease Hephaestus after he trapped Hera or just to keep all the other gods from fighting over Aphrodite's hand in marriage. Either way, in nearly all stories she sleeps around shamelessly.
• Unkempt Beauty: Often said to be one of her characteristics.
• Unwanted Spouse: Hephaestus is this for her, since in no story it is her choice to marry him.
• War God: Her very earliest inscriptions refer to her as being a war goddess on Kythera and in Sparta. Aphrodite herself was an imported goddess brought to Kythera by the cult of Astarte, a Phoenician war goddess, who herself was brought to the Mediterranean from Mesopotamia and was originally the war goddess Ishtar. The Spartans, being Spartans, saw no issues with having a goddess of love, sex, beauty, and war, and worshipped her under the title of Aphrodite Areia. This wasn't quite so popular with the other Greek city-states, who toned down the war aspects and left those for Ares and Athena, and in The Iliad Diomedes easily injures her by chucking his spear at her hand, and Zeus even chastises her for being on the battlefield. They even tried to rationalize the Spartan statue of her wearing armor by either claiming that those crazy Spartans simply depicted all gods in armor anyway, or by trying to pretend that the statue was of Athena. Later on, as Venus, the Romans would again bring back her associations with war, venerating her as a goddess of victory in battle and as the mother of Aeneas, the mythical founder of Rome.
• Water Is Womanly: The goddess of love and beauty, she is heavily associated with the sea, having been born from the sea foam formed when Uranus's genitals were thrown into the ocean.
• Western Zodiac: Manilius associates her with Taurus, as a sensual sign. In traditional astrology, Taurus is ruled by Venus. She is also associated with Pisces, which represent her and her son Eros, having turned into fish to escape Typhon.
• Wicked Stepmother: Though she's not literally Psyche's stepmother, she otherwise plays this role in a very stereotypical fairy-tale sense, complete with demanding that Psyche sort lentils out of ashes!
• The Worf Effect: She was the most beautiful goddess, yet often a human heroine or demigoddess with exceptional beauty would be compared to her and said to be her equal or even surpassing her. Aphrodite would inevitably hear about this and was often displeased.

Apollon / Apollo / Apulu

Ἀπόλλων | Apollō | 𐌖𐌋𐌖𐌐𐌀 | Apollo^note Etymology uncertain. Possibly derived from a Pre-Greek language, or from an older, obsolete verb meaning "to drive away (evil)". Alternatively, may instead have been derived from proposed Proto-Hellenic *Apeljōn, which is cognate with the Hittite god Apaliunas, which is possibly translated in Luwian as "the one of entrapment", perhaps in the sense of "hunter"

God of "beardless youth", light, archery, music, reason, poetry, prophecy, etc. Later, he also became a solar deity, with the partial assimilation of Helios into Apollon. Romans also associated Phoebus with Helios and the sun itself. However, instead of changing his name or syncretizing him with a local god, the Romans instead simply used the Latinized variant of his Greek name, Apollo. The Etruscans, in turn, adopted the god from the Romans via a Latin center, probably Palestrina, under the name Apulu.

---

• Abhorrent Admirer:
  • Invoked in the myth between him and Daphne, where Eros struck Apollo with a love arrow to make him fall into frenzied lust for Daphne, while striking Daphne with a leaden-tipped arrow to make her utterly repulsed by him—resulting in Daphne desperately trying to flee from Apollo as he chases after and tries to rape her. She only manages to escape when her dad permanently turns her into a tree, but according to Ovid not even that stopped Apollo.
• The Ace: Apollo has a very wide divine portfolio and was considered the ideal Greek as a blend of physical superiority and moral virtue, and is also the only god to have beaten Hermes in a race.
• Amazon Chaser: fell in love with the Thessalian princess Cyrene after witnessing her killing a lion with her bare hands.
• Artists Are Attractive: The god of song, music, poetry, dance and the most beautiful Olympian.
• Beautiful Singing Voice: Naturally, as the god of music.
• Canon Foreigner: Despite being considered "the most Greek of all the gods," Apollo's name does not appear in Linear B (a few of his epithets do, but there's nothing explicitly connecting them to Apollo), making it likely that he wasn't part of the original Mycenaen Greek pantheon; the prevailing theory is that he originated in Anatolia.
• Cartwright Curse: Averted, despite what Common Knowledge will tell you. While some of Apollo's most famous romances end in the death/cursing of the mortal, far many more were successful, with the mortal becoming rulers of cities or kingdoms, or receiving long lives or other gifts.
• The Casanova: This is kind of a thing that Greek Gods do.
• Chariot Pulled by Cats: Apollo's sacred swans pulled his chariot.
• Composite Character:
  • He was eventually syncretized with Helios. It's especially common to find him driving the solar chariot in Renaissance art.
  • Interpretatio graeca resulted in Apollo being conflated with a lot of other deities throughout the Roman world, including Lugh, Maponos, Horus, and Mithras.
• Dances and Balls: The god of music, song and dance.
• Disproportionate Retribution:
  • He skins the satyr Marsyas alive for daring to challenge him in music, an act that even he thought was too horrible.
  • He also cursed King Midas with donkey ears for having bad taste in music when the latter said Pan blew his pipes better than Apollo played his lyre.
  • He cursed Cassandra into having everyone believe whatever she said to be a lie either because she didn't want to sleep with him or because she ran away from her duty as a priestess of his cult.
  • How he dealt with that Orion, who tried to hook up with Artemis.
  • Niobe once boasted to Apollo's mother Leto about how much better her kids were than Apollo and Artemis. In retaliation, Apollo killed all of Niobe's sons, and her husband as well, depending on the myth.
• Distracted by the Sexy: He fudges his initial attempt at seducing Branchus because he was so distracted by Branchus' good looks that he didn't realize he had begun "milking" a billygoat.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: At least one version of the Apollo and Hyacinthus myth recorded by Pausanias has Apollo successfully revive and immortalize Hyacinthus, after which he is spirited away to Heaven by Aphrodite, Athena, and Artemis.
• Effeminate Misogynistic Guy: In the Oresteia, he saves Orestes from being convicted for murdering his mother by arguing that mothers aren't really that helpful in child-rearing beyond giving birth and that all the good stuff comes from the father. Given that the writer of the play was Athenian, there might have been a bit (read: a lot) of authorial bias there.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: At his worst, Apollo can get up to some real divine dickery. He's still consistently portrayed as loving Leto. He and Artemis massacred the children of Niobe for insulting her and he killed Python as revenge for tormenting her whilst she was pregnant.
• Friend to All Children: In his role as a protector of boys and young men.
• Girls Like Musicians: The logical takeaway from his long list of lovers and profession as a musician.
• God of Light: Though he's usually not literally the Sun, Apollo is frequently associated with light. One of his most common epithets is Phoebus, "shining."
• Good Parents: One of the most attentive parents of the Greek pantheon, if not the most. He adopted and raised an exposed Chiron, he raised Orpheus even in the version he is not his biological father, and he was ever close to some of his other children like Anius, Carnus and Iamus. He was also absolutely distraught over the death of his son Asclepius, and convinced Zeus to grant Asclepius apotheosis.
• Guile Hero: He was initially the god of rhetoric and ritualistic speech.
• Half Identical Twin: His sister Artemis.
• Happiness in Slavery: In the myths where he and Admetus are lovers, he's so helplessly in love with Admetus that he serves him by choice rather than by force, casting away his pride as a God. Artemis isn't amused.
• Healing Hands: He's the god of healing, and was often prayed to for relief from illnesses.
• Hopeless Suitor:
  • To Hestia, who was asexual and thus completely uninterested in him. She ended up swearing to never marry.
  • Invoked by Eros, who shot Apollo with a golden arrow to make him fall in love with Daphne, then shot Daphne with a lead arrow to make her repulsed by Apollo (though even before that, she already begged her father to be a virgin forever). He ended up chasing after her, and when she realized she couldn't outrun him anymore, she begged her father to transform her to protect her from Apollo and was turned into a laurel tree.
• Hot God: Considered the most attractive of the male Olympians and the divine standard of male beauty for Ancient Greeks.
• I Have Many Names: Among Apollo's most common epithets are Phoibos ("shining"), Hekatos ("worker from afar," i.e. "sniper"), Paean ("healer"), and Argyrotoxos ("of the silver bow"). Other epithets include Alexikakos ("averter of evil"), Aigletes ("radiant"), Mantikos ("prophetic"), Loimios ("deliverer from plague"), Daphnaeus ("of the laurel"), and Loxias (referring to speech, representing his capacity as Zeus's spokesman).
• Insufferable Genius: He's the god of reason.
• Jack of All Trades: Let's count. Apollo has been variously recognized as the god of music, poetry, song, arts, prophecy, healing and medicine, light/sun, city-building, plague, sudden death of men, child-nursing, flocks and herds, male beauty, truth, dancing, and knowledge.
• Light 'em Up: Is the god of the sun and daylight.
• Light Is Not Good: Like most of the other Olympians, he had a bad side. For example, he's also the god of plague.
• The Lost Lenore: He was fiercely in love with the mortal youth Hyacinth, who chose him over all of his other potential suitors. After accidentally killing him with a discus (with a jealous Zephyrus' assistance, depending on the myth), Apollo tried everything in his power to revive Hyacinth, but to no avail. As Hyacinth died, Apollo wept and said he would become mortal and join his lover in death, but is unable due to his nature as a god.
• Love at First Sight: According to Callimachus' interpretation of how he first met Branchus, he saw Branchus tending to his flock and was immediately attracted to him. Apollo then proceeded to make an ass out of himself while attempting to seduce him in disguise as a goatherd and accidentally "milks" a billygoat while he was Distracted by the Sexy. Embarrassed by his mistake, he drops his disguise and reveals his divine nature to Branchus.
• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Apollo and Artemis could be considered this, but only by modern standards. The arts weren’t considered feminine in Ancient Greece and despite being a hunteress another major function of Artemis was to preside over the lives of young girls and pregnant women. Besides, love for music was something they had in common. Artemis was described as the most graceful dancer of all the goddesses!
• Master Archer: Alongside his sister Artemis and the god of love, Eros, Apollo is one of the most skilled archers in Greek mythology.
• Mayfly–December Romance: Marpessa chooses the mortal Idas over him to defy this trope, as she reasons that Apollo would get bored with her and move on once she started aging.
• The Medic: Not just Apollo, but some of his children and grandchildren, specifically Asklepios and Hygeia^note as in "hygiene". She taught humans about bathing. Even today, physicians swear by them.
• Misplaced Retribution:
  • Niobe boasted that because Apollo and Artemis's mother Leto only had one son and one daughter whereas Niobe had seven of each, she was better than Leto. To punish her, Apollo murdered all of Niobe's sons and Artemis Niobe's daughters, though this may have been more Revenge by Proxy, since Apollo seemed to realize they were innocent.
  • When Zeus used his thunderbolt to strike down Asclepius for bringing the dead to life and thus robbing Hades of a subject, Apollo retaliated by killing the Cyclopes who made Zeus his thunderbolt.
• Momma's Boy: Was really protective of his mother Leto. He killed Python when Hera sent the giant snake to kill Leto and later killed the giant Tityos for trying to rape his mother. When Niobe boasted of her superiority to Leto because she had fourteen children, he killed all her male 7 children while Artemis did the same to her daughters, though some versions of the myth have them leave one of each alive.
• Mouth of Sauron: As the god of prophecy, Apollo plays this role for Zeus. Zeus knows the destinies of mankind, and Apollo communicates this information to humans through his oracles.
• Moving The Goal Posts: When Marsyas challenged Apollo to a music contest, the Muses, who were asked to judge, initially couldn't make up their minds, as Marsyas played his flute just as beautifully as Apollo did his lyre. Apollo then challenged Marsyas to turn his instrument upside down and then sing while playing it. Apollo was able to do both with his lyre, but Marsyas could do neither with his flute. The Muses thus declared Apollo the winner due to his versatility.
• Mr. Fanservice: Often represented as a beautiful young man, the Distaff Counterpart to Aphrodite/Venus in this regard.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • Was filled with remorse after flaying Marsyas, to the point of breaking his lyre and going Walking the Earth to atone.
  • By Ovid, this was his reaction to learning Coronis was pregnant with his child, after he killed her/had Artemis kill her for cheating. While he couldn't bring her back to life, he was able to rescue the baby (Asclepius) and give him to Chiron to raise.
• My Sister Is Off-Limits: Apollo disapproved of Orion's relationship with Artemis, and tricked Artemis into killing him by daring her to shoot at a far-off object in the water, which turned out to be Orion swimming.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: His name derives from the Greek word of destruction, referring to his ability to strike mortals with disease and plague through his arrows.
• The One That Got Away: A lot of these ones. Dude has a bit of a romance problem.
  • Daphne is this for him, a nymph who turned into a tree avoid him.
  • Bolina, who jumped off a cliff while fleeing from him.
  • Marpessa, who chose the mortal Idas over him because Idas would age with her, whereas the immortal Apollo would leave Marpessa once she grew old and ugly.
  • Hestia, who rejected both him and Poseidon to become a virgin goddess.
• Papa Wolf: Less notable than Ares, but he still has his moments. Apollo guided Paris in the killing of Achilles by guiding the arrow of his bow into Achilles' heel, as revenge for Achilles' sacrilege in murdering Troilus. After Zeus killed Asclepius with a lightning bolt for resurrecting Hippolytus from the dead, a berserk Apollo took revenge on the Cyclops who had fashioned the bolt for Zeus.
• Pet the Dog:
  • His relationship with Admetus. When punished to serve as a slave for a year for killing the Python (or, in some versions, several Cyclops), Apollo became Admetus' herdsman and made all his cows (or ewes) birth twins, which was quite a boon for a king at the time. Apollo also helped Admetus win the hand of his wife, Alcestis, by completing the near-impossible task put forth by her father, Pelias (yoking a lion and a boar to a chariot). When Admetus forgot to sacrifice to Artemis during the wedding, Apollo soothed his sister's anger. Apollo also got the Fates drunk and made them promise that should another die willingly in his place, Admetus would avoid the day of his death. Unfortunately, Alcestis died for Admetus. Fortunately, Heracles was in the area and wrestled Thanatos for Alcestis's soul.
  • When Orestes fulfilled Apollo's command to kill his murderous mother Clytemnestra, Apollo tried to protect him from the vengeful Furies. Orestes ended up being prosecuted in Athens, and Apollo's speaking up for him helped him get acquitted.
  • He gave his lover Cyparissus a tame deer as a pet, and when Cyparissus accidentally killed it, he asked Apollo to let his tears fall forever out of sorrow. Apollo granted the request by turning him into the first Cypress tree.
• Plague Master: Inflicting disease was one of his favorite punishments. He spreads them by shooting infected arrows into towns.
• The Power of the Sun: Somewhat complicated. Helios, a second-generation Titan, is most often considered to be the Hellenics' chief sun deity. However, due to most Titans having counterparts in the gods' roster, Apollo became conflated with Helios somewhat. This has caused the lines to blur so much that some people simply see Apollo as the Sun God. Because he clearly hasn't been assigned enough powers or domains.
• Pretty Boy: Is generally depicted as one of the most handsome of the male gods, with youthful features and long hair.
• Princely Young Man: Apollo's perpetual youth made him the embodiment of the ephebe, a young man full of promise.
• Really Gets Around: Like a true son of Zeus, Apollo has innumerable lovers, both male and female.
• Retcon: Apollo was the last God to appear in myth and was retconned to be Artemis's twin.
• Sadly Mythtaken: Despite various claims, there was never any myth where Apollo replaced Helios as the god of the sun. Rather, Apollo and Helios came to be seen as the same god... but only in certain regions of Greece, and relatively late in time to what we would consider Ancient Greece (Rhodes kept Helios in their local pantheon until the end of Paganism).
• Seers: He's the god of prophecy, and most seers are devoted to him, including the Pythia of Delphi, who was the most prestigious oracle of the ancient world. Many myths begin with a mortal asking the oracle about the future and hearing the prophecy that drives the plot. This also happened in Real Life, and Apollo's worshippers would pray to him to receive prophetic visions.
• The Smart Guy: As reason was in his domain, he was the one who figured out the weakness of Otos and Ephiantes: They could be killed by each other.
• Smitten Teenage Girl: He acts like one in the versions of the myths where he and Admetus are lovers rather than just good friends. He casts aside his pride as a god and becomes a servant of love for Admetus. Humorously, Artemis is embarrassed by her brothers shameless display.
• Soul Power: Associated with cemeteries and decay, he was the purifier of the souls of the dead before Thanatos or Hermes took them to Hades.
• Spell My Name With An S: Actually referred to as Apollon, with an N at the end, in classical and homeric Greek sources. Later when the Romans adopted him into their pantheon they referred to him as Apollo, without the N. Due to the extensive use of the Roman God names in the Western World from the Renaissance on, and the similarities between his Roman and Greek names, the final N is almost always lost in the English Speaking world, even when discussing his Greek incarnation. Another modern variation that is less commonly used cuts even more letters from his name and shortens it to "Apoll".
• Superpower Lottery: Apollo had a lot of domains to his name, including music, archery, prophecy, knowledge, healing, poetry, disease, male beauty, and light (often combined with the sun in modern takes, though in actual Ancient Greek times, this wasn't the case).
• Swan Boats: Sometimes depicted as riding a large swan or a chariot being pulled by swans.
• Western Zodiac: Manilius associates him with with Gemini for being "shapely," perhaps identifying him with the Dioskouri (whom the constellation represents). It helps that he has a twin sister.

Artemis / Diana / Artume

Ἄρτεμις | Diāna | 𐌄𐌌𐌖𐌕𐌓𐌀 | Artemis^note Etymology uncertain. Possibly derived from a Pre-Greek or Anatolian language. Alternatively, may have been derived from Greek árktos ("bear"), itself derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ŕ̥tḱos ("bear"). Other possibilities include a link to Greek ártamos ("butcher"), artemḗs ("safe, unharmed, uninjured, pure, the stainless maiden"), or atremḗs ("unmoved, calm; stable, firm") / Diana^note Derived from Latin dea / dīva ("goddess"), in turn derived from Old Latin deiva ("goddess"), itself derived from Proto-Italic *deiwā ("goddess"), ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *deywós ("god, deity"), from the root *dyew- ("heaven, day sky, to shine") / Artume^note Etruscan borrowing of Greek goddess Artemis, itself of uncertain etymology

Artemis was the Greek goddess of hunting, wild nature, and chastity. She also helped women in childbirth and protected children, which is ironic considering she was a virgin goddess. She was sometimes identified with Selene, the goddess of the moon, and Hecate, the goddess of magic. The Romans called her Diana and considered her a triple goddess with three aspects: Diana the huntress, Luna the moon goddess, and Hecate the underworld goddess. The Etruscans identified her as Artume.

---

• A Boy and His X: In Artemis's case, it's a goddess and her 14 magical hunting dogs and pack of bull sized deer.
• Accidental Murder: In one version of the story, she fell in love with Orion and was going to marry him, no matter how much Apollo tried to change her mind. So he pointed at a small "dot" in the sea (Orion who was swimming) and betted that she couldn't hit it with her arrows. Of course, she could, and ended up killing Orion.
• Action Girl: A talented archer and hunter.
• Adaptational Badass: Despite her reputation as an Action Girl and myths that displayed her hunting skills and trickery, she wasn't shown as a full-blown warrior like Athena. Though she often is in modern adaptations. As she found out in her battle against Hera, hunting and fighting are two very different things. (see The Worf Effect below).
• Adaptational Heroism: In many modern adaptations, Artemis will often be portrayed as one of the kinder and more reasonable gods amid the antics of the other Jerkass Gods. But in the original myths Artemis was just as capricious and volatile as the rest of them. In fact, Artemis was particularly fickle even by Greek goddess standards.
• Adaptational Sexuality:
  • Despite being said to be one of the 3 beings Aphrodite holds no power against, according to Pseudo-Hyginus the poet Istrus says that she was in love with Orion, though it was never consummated.
  • Pre-identification with Artemis, Diana may have been the wife or mother of Janus. However post-identification with Selene the love story of Endymion is sometimes attached to her.[1]
• Adorably Precocious Child: Artemis popped out of her mother painlessly and then, as an infant, immediately helped her mom give birth to her twin brother. She then went to Olympus to ask her dad Zeus for wishes, with no hesitation. Zeus was taken with her instantly and remarked upon how precious she was.
• All Amazons Want Hercules: The only man she may have been interested in, depending on your myth, is the great hunter Orion. Unfortunately, Apollo disapproved of their relationship and tricked Artemis into killing him.
• All Wishes Granted: In Artemis's childhood stories, she asks her father for ten wishes. And guess what? He grants every single one of them! Zeus must have been feeling extra generous that day, he promised her everything she asked and even some things she didn't!
• All Your Powers Combined: As a multifaceted goddess, Diana wielded an impressive combo of domains from her three key aspects — Luna, Diana, and Hecate. Said to be a goddess with power over Heaven, Earth, and the Underworld.
  • Luna (Heaven) governed the moon itself — its phases, cycles, and all the occult associations of the night sky.
  • As Diana (Earth), she ruled hunting, animals, nature, virginity, transitions, childbirth, crossroads, girls and women, slaves and plebeians.
  • As witchy Hecate (Underworld), she commanded magic, ghosts, darkness and the Underworld.
• Amazon Brigade: Had a train of nymphs assisting her in her hunts. They were sworn to virginity and, in some stories, punished if they broke their oath.
• Animal Assassin: Artemis often utilized animals to carry out her wrath, like turning Actaeon into a stag and letting his own hunting dogs tear him apart.
• Animal Lover: As goddess of the wilderness and wildlife, it's no surprise Artemis is the protector of animals. She loved not just human infants, but baby animals too. Hunters spared the weak and young in her honor, as she nurtured all creatures with dew and eased their births under the full moon's glow.
• Animal Motifs: She's heavily associated with deer. Bears and dogs were also sacred to her.
• Animorphism: Transformed into a cat to escape Typhon, and into a doe to trick the Aloadae into killing each other.
• Arcadia: Ah, the picturesque countryside — Artemis's playground, particularly in her Roman form as Diana. She is closely tied to the idyllic beauty of rural life, where rolling hills blend with verdant fields and shepherds tend their flocks.
• At the Crossroads: In Roman mythology Diana, was goddess of crossroads. At any place where roads diverged, Diana provided guidance to travelers at a metaphorical or literal crossroads. Later, Diana absorbed aspects of the Greek goddess of crossroads Hecate. But Diana had ruled over liminal spaces long before that. People made offerings to Diana at crossroad shrines and temples, seeking her blessing on their chosen path forward. Lost souls, hunters, or any uncertain of direction looked to Diana when they came to a fork in the road.
• Attempted Rape: Bouphagous (An Arcadian man), Otis (A giant) and Actaeon (in some versions) all tried to rape her. It didn’t end well for them. In another story Artemis managed to escape Alpheus (a river god in Elis) by disguising herself with mud. One interpretation of her story with Orion has him try to do this to her as well.
• The Beastmaster: One of Artemis’s most widely recognized epithets is "Potinia Theron," meaning Queen of Beasts. Artemis reigned supreme over the animal kingdom. Her control was so absolute that she could tame any beast or whip them into a frenzy at a glance.
• Beautiful Singing Voice: Artemis's artistic side extends beyond her hunting skills. She was associated with music and dance, much like her brother Apollo. Her voice, characterized as strong and melodious, earned her titles such as the "Strong-Voiced Lady of Clamors", "Celadeine" or "Hymnia."
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Despite dwelling in the wild and roughing it out in the wilderness, Artemis is described as a beauty.
• Big Sister Instinct: Toward Apollo. When one of his lovers, Coronis, cheated on him, Artemis was quick to slay her with her arrows. Artemis does the same for Dionysus in some versions of Ariadne’s story.
• Birds of a Feather: All of Artemis’s closest relationships were with people very similar to her. Apollo was her twin and shared many of her domains. Orion and Britomartis were great hunters, like her. Hippolytos shared her devotion to chastity. And the nymphs were fellow nature spirits.
• Blaming the Victim:
  • Even in the versions where Callisto is raped by Zeus, Artemis still punished her for losing her virginity by turning her into a bear or straight up killing her.
  • One account of the Aura myth has Artemis victim-blaming Aura for being raped by Dionysus without orchestrating for it to happen, and she threatens to kick her out of her company.
• Brother–Sister Team: With Apollo. Both are archers, both are protectors of children, and both are associated with celestial bodies.
• Buxom Beauty Standard: Inverted Trope. The reason she arranged to have Aura raped? Because Aura said that her small, mannish breasts are better than Artemis' voluptuous, womanly breasts and that she can't possibly be a virgin with a body like that. In fact, Aura compares Artemis's boobs to those of a pregnant woman.
• Canine Companion:
  • Artemis had an affinity for hounds, after all, they were one of her sacred animals. According to Xenophon, it was she who first invented the practice of hunting with dogs. When Artemis was a child, the god Pan gifted her a pack of magical hounds that could take down lions. These were the first hunting dogs, and they've been her constant companions ever since.
  • A darker version for Diana's dark side Trivia. Trivia was said to wander in the night with a horde of ghostly black dogs that howled in the darkness, announcing her presence.
• Caretaking is Feminine: Artemis is the goddess of childbirth, pregnant women, and the care of children. Her brother Apollo is more concerned with the health and education of youth rather than the nurturing aspects.
• Celibate Heroine: Artemis was very protective of her chastity and actively avoided suitors. A man so much as glimpsing her naked body was unacceptable to her. Sorry, Actaeon!
  • As the goddess of virginity, Artemis had a retinue consisting of a sacred band of nymphs (and now and then mortal hunters) who were also sworn to chastity. Artemis wasn't treated as inherently "asexual" initially, but over time, the idea that Aphrodite had no power over the virgin goddesses — or in other words, that the virgin goddesses could not be made to feel sexual urges — grew.
• Characterization Marches On: Starting out as the unpredictable and violent goddess of wild nature, she went on a journey to become... well, less violent. Diana, her Roman equivalent, was a much tamer goddess. Associated not only with the untamed wilderness but also the civilized countryside. (And not coincidentally, much more popular.) It bears mentioning that she also gained all sorts of associations and domains along the way.
• Chariot Pulled by Cats: Artemis's chariot was pulled by a pair of her sacred golden-antlered deer.
• Cherubic Choir: Young Artemis gathered a choir of sixty young maidens to sing and dance with her. Many myths allude to the "choir of Artemis". In real life, choruses of youths and maidens would often perform celebratory dances for her during festivals and rituals.
• Classical Hunter: To a tee! The hunt was her bread and butter. Artemis was the archetypal Hunter God, the patroness of hunters and woodsmen. With her golden bow and quiver of arrows always close at hand, she roamed the forests and mountains, thrilled by the chase and the skills required to track down swift and elusive prey. Deer, boars, bears, lions — no beast could evade her keen sight for long.
• Composite Character:
  • Artemis absorbed the cults of various minor goddesses or local goddesses from around Ancient Greece, such as Eileithyia (goddess of childbirth), Bendis (a Thracian moon goddess), and Britomartis/Diktynna (a Cretan hunting goddess).
  • Over time, Artemis was syncretised with Selene and Hecate, until they were treated as being basically interchangeble. As Diana Triformis her aspects were combined, but she could also be invoked separately depending on need. Wishing for protection during childbirth? Call on Diana the huntress. Hoping to conduct rituals by moonlight? Luna has you covered. Need to summon spirits? That's a job for Hecate. Between her three aspects, Diana could do it all. Diana Triformis was often depicted fittingly as a triple-faced woman holding torch, key and dagger, or three women back-to-back.
• Cool Big Sis:
  • In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, she and Athena are both listed as Persephone's playmates, implying that they were close with their half-sister.
  • Also to Dionysus on a few occasions. Like supporting him in the Indian war and going up against Hera for him. Rescuing his infant son Iaccus and delivering him to Dionysus. Dionysus called on the Artemis-Hecate-Selene triad to cure him of his madness. Technically, it was Selene that responded, but in that instance, they were treated as three forms of the same goddess.
• Cool Crown: Diana was often depicted wearing a crescent moon crown. This two-horned crown evoked the curved shape of the moon waxing or waning.
• Dances and Balls: Something that doesn't come up a lot in modern pop culture, but Artemis was heavily associated with dancing. In myth, she is often seen dancing with the Muses or nymphs, and the ancient Greeks saw her as a patroness of dancing and festivals.
• Daddy's Girl: She had a close and loving relationship with her father Zeus, who granted her wish to never be married. Zeus sat baby Artemis on his lap and declared that children like her were worth facing Hera's wrath for.
• Darker and Edgier: Enter Trivia, more or less the underworld aspect of Diana (Roman Artemis). This side of her divinity is associated with all the ominous and perhaps even sinister parts of her nature. Diana Trivia merged with Hecate due to their many similarities and took on her domains. Witchcraft, ghosts, darkness, and mysteries, oh my!
• Death by Childbirth: As the goddess of childbirth and children, Artemis/Diana had the important responsibility of determining whether a mortal would have a smooth delivery or get the big "game over" screen. She also controlled how painful a women's pregnancy and labor would be. On the flip side, healthy babies and successful births were granted by her benevolence. It was a heavy job, but someone had to do it.
• Deity of Human Origin: Artemis had a knack for turning her followers into minor spirits and deities of their own. Britomartis and Hippolytus/Virbius are two notable examples. In some stories, Hecate is Iphigenia made immortal by Artemis. A few others became her companions or minor spirits who guarded her shrines.
• Disproportionate Retribution:
  • Actaeon was turned into a deer and mauled to death by his own hunting dogs for the crime of accidentally seeing Artemis naked. She also turns Siproites into a girl for the same reason. Though in some versions of the Actaeon myth, his intent was a lot more reprehensible.
  • Her virgin follower Callisto was seduced by Zeus in the form of Artemis. Artemis then punished Callisto by turning her into a bear.
  • Aura was a follower of Artemis who told Artemis, to her face, that Artemis couldn't possibly be a virgin with a voluptuous body like that and that her own mannish body was better. Offended, Artemis complained to Nemesis, the goddess of divine retribution, who had Eros strike Dionysus with an arrow, driving him to insanity and leading him to the drug, kidnap, and rape of Aura. Upon waking and finding that her virginity was no longer intact and because she lacked the knowledge of who had committed this crime against her, Aura went mad and rampaged the hills, killing mountain-ranging herdsmen and would later cannibalize her children after birthing them, and then kill herself. To make matters worse, in some versions of the myth, Artemis mocked Aura rather than feeling remorse for what she'd done, though another has Artemis spirit one of the children away to safety before Aura can kill him.
  • Niobe once boasted to Artemis' mother Leto about how much better her kids were than Apollo and Artemis. In retaliation Artemis killed all of Niobe's daughters.
  • In response to Chione boasting about being more beautiful than her, she either killed her with an arrow or shot off her tongue, rendering the woman mute.
• Distaff Counterpart: Diana, as goddess of transitions, was sometimes considered a female counterpart to Janus, god of beginnings and endings. Diana also had an aspect named Jana or Iana , who represented doorways and arches.
• Divine Right of Kings:
  • Brutus of Troy, the legendary first king of Britain, fell asleep inside the temple of Diana (Roman Artemis). In his dreams the goddess appeared and told him to sail to a land beyond Gaul, and settle the island of Albion. Brutus conquered the promised land and renamed it after himself “Britain”. There he reigned as the first king of Britain. Blessed by the gods. Well …one in particular.
  • Some scholars theorize that one of Diana’s functions was to preserve humanity through childbirth and royal succession.
• Does Not Like Men: A fairly common interpretation of her character due to how often men were the victims of her wrath and how a majority of her hunting companions were women. This interpretation tends to ignore the fact that, despite being the protector of women, her mercilessness wasn't exclusive to men. Just ask Aura and Callisto. There is a list of men she was quite fond of as well:
  • She had a close and loving relationship with her father Zeus. In fact, to Callimachus' account of her childhood, she sat on his knee and carefreely gave him a list of demands, one of which was for her to remain a virgin forever.
  • She was also very close with her brother, Apollo, and in some stories, he was able to soothe her wrath.
  • Then there's Orion, mostly known as her one and an only love interest or a close hunting companion of hers. Either way, he dies and she mourns him, asking him to be placed among the stars.
  • Daphnis, a young boy and the son of Hermes became a follower of Artemis and accompanied her in her hunting. He would entertain her by singing pastoral songs and playing the panpipes.
  • Scamandrius, who she taught how to be a great archer.
  • Hippolytus, a hunter and sportsman who pledged a vow of celibacy to Artemis due to his disgust toward sex and marriage. As he dies, Artemis comforted him by promising to make him the subject of religious practices. In one version of the myth involving him, adonis is the cause of his death and Artemis strikes down Adonis to avenge him.
  • In one version of the Aura-Artemis myth, Artemis rescues one of the twin boys that Aura birthed in order to save him from being cannibalized by his mother.
  • While not often discussed, most of the men Artemis punishes aren't targeted without reason, as they attempted to rape her. The only exceptions are Siproites, who she turned female after he accidentally stumbled into her bathing place, and Adonis, who she slayed in order to avenge Hippolytus.
• Dude, Not Funny!: She takes her status as a virgin Goddess very seriously and won't stand for jokes to be made about her breaking her vow. Case in point, she has her virgin companion Aura raped for teasing her about potentially not being a virgin and then mocks her when Aura has a breakdown over her pregnancy.
• Ethnic God: Diana was a goddess who united the Latins, the people who lived near Rome. She had a temple on the Aventine Hill where they kept the foundation charter of the Latin League. Diana was invoked as a witness to oaths and treaties between the cities. Her festivals were a time of truce among the Latins.
• Extremely Protective Child: Artemis was extremely protective of her mom, Leto. Anyone who threatened or insulted her beloved mother had hell to pay.
• Fair-Weather Friend: Artemis could be quite fickle with her loyalty. She turned on her favorite nymph, Callisto, and her cousin Aura, showing that she's not always the best friend. Plus, when it comes to nymphs who get seduced, she isn't always there for support, oftentimes turning them into plants and calling it a day.
• Fairest of Them All:
  • In Homer's The Odyssey, Artemis is described as being lovelier than all of her lovely nymph attendants. They are all beautiful, but there's never any doubt who among them is the goddess.
  • Whatever you do, don't claim to be more beautiful than her or you might end up like Khoine.
• Feminine Mother, Tomboyish Daughter: Artemis is the goddess of hunting and wild animals, whereas her mother Leto is seen as a proper lady and the perfect model of demure wife/girlfriend. Downplayed as Artemis does still inherit significant traits from her mother. Leto is the goddess of demurity and motherhood; Artemis is the goddess of chastity and pregnant women/children.
• Forced Transformation: Artemis's go-to form of retribution. Curiously, this is also her go-to method of rescue. Don't dwell on the implications of that one.
• Forest Ranger: Artemis held guardianship over the forests and hills, she lived in the wilds away from civilization, and she carried a bow and arrow. This trope is made for her.
• Friend to All Children: In her role as protector of the young, especially girls.
• Friend to All Living Things: Artemis is best known as a fierce hunter, but she also happens to be the protector of the wilderness and wildlife. Think of her like a cross between Snow White and Rambo.
• Girl on Girl Is Hot: Renaissance artists really liked painting her and Callisto being intimate — of course, in reality, this is only Zeus disguised as Artemis.
• God of the Moon: While originally strictly a deity of the hunt, she became tied to the Moon and the lunar goddesses Selene and Hecate in late in classical Greek era, and retained this role in her Roman incarnation as Diana. It was Diana, not Artemis that was properly recognized as a moon goddess. Diana Lucifera eventually replaced Luna as the primary moon goddess.
  Orpheus: Queen of the stars, all-wife Diana hail! Deck’d with a graceful robe and shining veil; Come, blessed Goddess, prudent, starry, bright, come moony-lamp with chaste and splendid light, Shine on these sacred rites with prosp’rous rays, and pleas’d accept thy suppliant’s mystic praise.
• Gold and White Are Divine: Artemis wore a golden cloak, carried a golden bow, with a golden quiver holding golden arrows, and rode a golden chariot driven by golden horned deer.
• The Grand Hunt: Slighted because King Oineus failed to properly sacrifice to her, Artemis retaliated by unleashing the monstrous Caledonian Boar upon the land. Massive in size with vicious tusks, this frothing behemoth destroyed farmland, ripping up trees, killing people and ravaging flocks with its lightning-like fiery breath. The boar's size and ferocity were so legendary that dozens of Greece's greatest heroes and demigods assembled to hunt it down, including Meleager, Atalanta, Jason, Castor and Pollux, and Asclepius. Meleager declared that whoever landed the killing blow would win the prized boar skin as trophy. Then began a hunt of epic proportions led by the champions of Greece.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Artemis has a temper that's shorter than her hunting bowstring. From transforming poor Actaeon into a stag to unleashing a monstrous boar upon a kingdom, the smallest slight against her could have drastic consequences.
• Half Identical Twin: Artemis and Apollo, the dynamic duo of Greek mythology. They share a remarkable overlap of domains, including being gods of light, archery, music/dance. As protectors of youth and bringers of plague, healing and sudden death (Apollo for boys and men, Artemis for girls and women), they complete each other's godly resumes.
• Healing Spring:
  • Springs near her shrines and within her sacred groves were believed to possess healing properties. In fact, Artemis's association with freshwater is so strong that one of her sacred animals is the freshwater fish.
  • Lake Nemi, Also known as the Speculum Diane (Mirror of Diana) was a sacred site for the ancient romans, thought to have supernatural qualities. It was a center of healing and medicine.
• The Hecate Sisters: In some parts of Greece she came to became part of a trinity like this, "Selene in Heaven, Artemis on Earth and Hecate in the Underworld". This idea didn’t really take off until the Roman era. When the Roman goddess Diana came to be identified with Artemis she absorbed this Triad which would become an important aspect of her identity.
• Homosexual Reproduction: One of her attendants, Callisto, fell pregnant to Zeus who took Artemis' own form in order to deceive Callisto. When Artemis questions Callisto about her baby bump, Callisto (who hasn't realized a thing) says to her face that it was Artemis herself who got her pregnant. Needless to say, Artemis is not amused.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Allowed Orion in her entourage, who at that point had already violated (or tried to) a woman. Then he proceeded to attempt to rape her or one of her attendants. In some versions.
• Humanoid Abomination: The Ephesian Artemis, who is mostly figured to have been an independent Asiatic nature goddess identified with Artemis after the Greeks arrived in the area, appears as a mummy-like figure growing a surplus of female breasts. So alien is she that some Cthulhu Mythos writers identify this representation as an image of Shub-Niggurath.
• Human Sacrifice: It's rare in Greek mythology, but when it shows up, it's often associated with Artemis.
  • She demanded that Agamemnon sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia to her. Subverted in the versions where she spared Iphigenia, spirited her away and left a deer in her place.
  • In Real Life, the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia at Sparta was associated with a legend in which two men find an idol of Artemis Orthia and go insane. An oracle determines that the goddess demands human blood, and to avoid having to sacrifice humans, Spartan boys would be whipped on the altar. They treated it as a test of manliness to hold out for as long as possible without screaming.
• An Ice Person: As weird as it may seem now, in Ancient Greece people believed that the moon had control over morning dew, cold, and frost. In turn this phenomena was attributed to Artemis (and Selene).
• I Have Many Names: Epithets of Artemis include Agreia ("of the wild"), Cynthia ("of Mt. Cynthus"), Basilies ("princess"), Hagne ("chaste"/"pure"), Lokhia ("protector of childbirth"), Philomeirax ("friend of young girls"), Theroskopos ("hunter of wild beasts"), Agrotera ("huntress"), Parthenos ("virgin"), Eurynome ("of broad pastures/wide-ruling"), and Orsilochia ("helper in childbirth").
• Immortality Begins at 20: Artemis is depicted as a youthful maiden, reflecting her role as goddess of purity and youth.
• Implied Love Interest: Orion. In one account, Apollo tricks her into killing Orion because Artemis considered marrying him. In others, he's a hunting companion of Artemis, who, after he's killed by a scorpion (often from Gaia), grieves him and requests that Orion be put among the stars.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: Was tricked into sniping Orion from an island while he was in the middle of the ocean.
• Innocent Flower Girl: Picture this: a lovely day with Artemis and her sisters Persephone and Athena, hand in hand, frolicking through the meadows and picking flowers. Surely nothing could go wrong…Needless to say this is short lived.
• Intimate Hair Brushing: There's an enchanting excerpt where Artemis's nymph attendants gently undo her braids, undress, and bathe her. Very intimate indeed.
• Irony:
  • The goddess of childbirth and little children is a virgin and has no children herself.
  • The goddess-protector of children demanded that a child (Iphigenia) be sacrificed to her.
• Javelin Thrower:
  • Artemis, known for her archery skills, is often seen wielding a javelin as well. It's her second most associated weapon. Javelins were important long-range hunting tools, so it's to be expected.
  • In one story, Artemis endowed a woman called Prokris with a javelin that would never miss its target.
• The Lad-ette: Commonly portrayed as such in modern media, but in the original myths, she still had notable feminine traits. Do not joke about her womanly traits being ironic to her virgin portfolio.
• Lady-In-Waiting: Artemis had a whole entourage of female attendants at her beck and call. She had hunting attendants as well as her very own choir who would sing and dance in her honor.
• Liminal Being: Artemis's Roman counterpart, Diana, was the goddess of crossroads and boundaries, a liminal goddess who stood betwixt the boundaries and could guide and usher between them. She could help people cross from life to death, from darkness to light, from wilderness to civilization, from maidenhood to motherhood. She was also the goddess of the moon, which was another liminal symbol, as it changed its shape and brightness throughout the month. She was basically the ultimate gatekeeper, who could open or close any door for anyone. That's why keys were one of her sacred symbols.
• Lunacy: The moon had a lot of things to answer for, according to the ancients. They thought dew, tides, cold, fertility, and madness were all under the moon's control. Epilepsy and mental illness? Moon beams strike again! Farmers followed moon cycles like astrology-obsessed teenagers follow their horoscopes. "Better not plant the crops today, Mercury's in retrograde!" All the while moon goddesses like Artemis saw everything from the sky.
  The moon was a powerful and busy entity in their eyes — it watered plants, messed with minds, influenced reproduction, froze water, and more!
• Make a Wish: Artemis received 10 wishes from her almighty father.
  • She wished for perpetual maidenhood, many distinctive names, and a bow with quiver of arrows forged by the cyclopes. To be a bringer of light. To rule over mountains and forests. She requested tunics for ease of hunting, a choir of Oceanids, and nymph attendants for her hounds. Artemis wanted to watch over mothers and children without being confined to cities. Finally, she asked to alleviate labor pains, granting her domain over childbirth. Though numerous, all her wishes alluded to her key realms — the moon, the hunt, maidens, and the wilderness.
• Male Sun, Female Moon: Artemis and Apollo. Oddly enough, Artemis and her brother Apollo are the second male-female sun and moon pair in Greek mythology.
• The Marvelous Deer: One day while roaming the wilds, Artemis and her hounds happened upon a magnificent sight — a herd of enormous deer with bronze hooves and glistening golden antlers shining along the riverbank. Artemis was immediately captivated by these one-of-a-kind golden hinds. She succeeded in capturing four of the glorious creatures to drive her divine chariot. To the fifth hind, the swiftest and most majestic, Artemis granted her blessing, declaring it her sacred animal and releasing it back into the wild. That swiftest golden deer became known as the legendary Cerynitan Hind.
• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: By modern standards, Artemis and Apollo could be considered this trope. Artemis would be the rough-and-tumble Masculine Girl to her brother's artsy Feminine Boy. But back in Ancient Greece, Apollo wasn't seen as girly for being into music and poetry. And Artemis could throw down in the arts herself, especially dance — just as well as she could shoot a bow and arrow.
• Master Archer: Alongside Apollo and Eros, as you might expect from a goddess of the hunt. She emulates Zeus by standing on the peak of a mountain and shooting down arrows on whatever she feels like.
• Misplaced Retribution: When Niobe claimed to be a better mother than Leto for having more children, she (and Apollo) got mad at and killed... Niobe's children.
• My God, What Have I Done?: As bad as Artemis' arrangement to have Aura raped and mock her for the pregnancy that was forced upon her, she seemed to have realized that she had caused a bit too much wrongness in her pursuit of revenge after Artemis saw Aura hurl one of her newborn sons into the air to kill him from the fall and cannibalized his corpse, and so Artemis spirited away the other son and saved him.
• Mysterious Woman: Artemis and particularly her Roman equivalent Diana, was the go-to goddess for all things hidden, secretive, and knowledge that was forbidden. Diana was the one who presided over the night's mysteries and things that mere mortals weren't meant to know.
• Naked First Impression:
  • This happened with Actaeon, when he accidentaly saw her bathing. It didn't end well.
  • It also happened to Siproites. He got to live and stay human, instead "merely" being turned into a girl.
• Naked Freak-Out: Artemis was known for her virginity and purity, and was proud of having never been seen naked by a man before. So when the hunter Actaeon happened upon her bathing, she was extremely humiliated by him seeing her naked, since he "defiled" her body with his lustful gaze. So she punished him by turning him into a stag and he got ripped apart by his own hunting dogs.
• Nature Is Not Nice: Artemis, the capricious goddess of untamed nature. She reigns over the wild and perilous lands, where beauty and danger coexist. Artemis represented the inherent risks and challenges of venturing into nature. Beware of her domain!
• Nature Lover: Forget urban jungles, Artemis was all about the real deal. When it came to nature versus civilization, this goddess picked the untamed wilds every time. In the lush forests and mountains, Artemis could roam freely with her nymph squad, away from the drama and temptations of the manmade world. She delighted in the simple pleasures of the wilderness — the thrill of the hunt, moonlit glades, wild creatures roaming free. The only things that could lure Artemis out of the woods were pregnant women and kids in need.
• Nature Spirit: Artemis was the goddess of wilderness and wild animals. She embodied all the wild splendor the natural world had to offer — forests, mountains, lakes, fields — you name it, she reigned over it. From misty woods to rolling meadows, the goddess's presence awed every furry and feathered creature. The forests bowed before her, fields bloomed at her gaze, lakes rippled gently as she passed.
• Numerological Motif: Three is a special number to Diana— She's got three ways to her crossroads, three goddess personas — Luna, Diana, and Hecate. Being three-in-one allowed Diana to traverse cosmic realms at will. As Luna she ruled the night skies, as Diana she hunted earthly forests, and as Hecate she communed with spirits below. This triplicity made Diana thrice as potent — a goddess with the combined power of three. Even her epithets Triva and Triformis reference the power of three!
  • Three is the magic number — literally! Diana/Hecate's association with the number may have contributed to its significance in numerology and witchcraft.
• Only the Pure of Heart: Artemis was all about purity, and legends abound about things that only the pure or young maidens were able to see. Sacred groves and springs had exclusive entry rights for the pure souls. In a bid to prove himself as Artemis's reverent devotee, Hippolytus entered a sacred grove and picked flowers that only the virtuous could touch to adorn her shrine.
• Our Nymphs Are Different: Artemis shared a bond with the nymphs, the spirits of nature. She was considered their protector and queen, presiding over their dances in the forests and meadows. The nymphs were said to flank Artemis as part of her entourage, attending to her as she hunted. Artemis was sometimes worshipped as the goddess of the nymphs. This synergy between the goddess and the nymphs was captured in the archetypal fairy queen Tatiana, named after an epithet of Diana. Like Artemis, Tatiana rules over the fairy maidens and roams the woodlands they inhabit. Artemis' relationship with the nymphs lives on through fictional queens of fairies and sprites.
• Pals with Jesus: For an aloof goddess, Artemis liked to pal around with mortals a surprising amount. She'd invite skilled human hunters to join her divine retinue on adventures. These lucky humans got sweet gifts from the goddess — dogs that never missed their prey, javelins that hit the target every time, the blessing of steady aim.
  • When her companion Hippolytus was killed, she asked Asclepius, god of medicine, to resurrect him. She even commanded a band of maidens to perform annual tributes to Hippolytus to keep his legend alive forever.
  • Upon the death of her dear friend (or love?) Orion, she memorialized him in the stars as an eternal constellation.
• Plague Master: She was also the goddess of disease, plague, and sudden death. However, unlike her brother, she only targets other women with these banes.
• Platonic Life-Partners: In the versions of the myth where she and Orion are simply close friends and not lovers, they're this trope.
• Power Trio: Diana knows the power of good company. In Rome she had a minor trio going on with Virbius (aka the revived Hippolytus) and Egeria, goddess of laws, fountains, and birth. The three of them were worshiped together in the sacred forest at the grove of Diana Nemorensis, where they resided. But that's not all — Artemis had a trio within herself as well. She's like the goddess version of a Russian nesting doll, with Hecate, Diana, and Luna all rolled into one.
• Psychopomp: When souls needed an escort to the underworld, Diana was their goddess. She reigned over entrances to the land of the dead like lakes, caves and springs — shady spots perfect for a portal down under. Diana also ruled where three roads crossed, which held occult meaning for Romans. These liminal crossroads were seen as signs literally pointing the way to the underworld. In her guise as Hecate, Diana revealed her spooky side as queen of ghosts and magic. With her supernatural hounds, Hecate guided spirits along the perilous roads to the afterlife. She made sure they didn't get lost in the darkness. So if you hoped to sneak a peek beyond the veil, chat with a departed loved one, or take a day-trip to the underworld, Diana/Hecate had your back.
• Quest for a Wish: After making her wishes to Zeus, little Artemis had to embark on a series of epic quests to collect them. Zigzagged as the quest came after the wishes had been granted.
• Real Women Have Curves: According to Aura, Artemis has a very voluptuous and curvaceous body. Inversely to the usual use of this trope, Aura used this to tease Artemis that this was unfitting for her Virgin Power portfolio. Artemis did not take this implication well.
• The Rival: Given Artemis's vow of virginity, and the fact that many of her followers pursued the same practice, this put her in direct conflict with Aphrodite, who pretty much stood for the exact opposite. Needless to say, there have been more than a few stories of the two coming into conflict with one another. Hippolytus is a notable example.
• Sacred Bow and Arrows: Artemis was armed and dangerous with a heavenly bow and arrows forged by the Cyclopes themselves. Depending on the story, her weapons were either gold or silver, but either way, they packed a punch. Those arrows could rain down frost, plague, and instant death on women and children. But don't worry, they also had a softer side, ensuring health and safety when needed.
• Sadly Mythtaken:
  • Just like with her brother, there is no myth were Artemis takes over Selene's role as goddess of the moon, the two merely came to be seen as the same goddess in some parts of Greece.
  • Her involvement with Medieval witch hunts is one extremely common on the internet, to the point of showing up on This Very Wiki. To make a very long story short, the Christian Canon Law, the Canon Episcopi was not a hit-piece on surviving Diana worshippers. It was signed centuries after worship of her had all but died out. Nor was it insinuating a widespread belief of demonic Diana worshippers levitating out of beds, engaging in wild hunts, or merely practicing folk magic. Witch hunts were largely rare in the Medieval era across much of Europe because laws like the Canon Episcopi outlined that witchcraft flat out did not exist, professed practitioners were either herbalists and misguided at best, con-artists at worst. Worship of Diana was cited a point of reference for what the Catholic Church saw as such misguided beliefs, not a widespread practice witch hunters snuffed out.
• Scary Scorpions: Orion, the mighty hunter and companion of Artemis, was not one for humility. He boasted that no beast could best him, provoking the anger of Gaia. The Earth goddess unleashed a nightmare — a colossal scorpion, fangs dripping venom, hooked stingers poised to impale and kill. This shrieking horror scuttled after Orion and Artemis (And usually Leto), seeking bloody retribution. Orion faced the behemoth head-on as it charged the goddess, claws snapping, barbed tail lashing like a whip. Its massive claws and lethal sting posed a dire threat to Artemis and Leto. The Scorpion's ghastly stinger was poised to pierce Artemis, but Orion shielded the goddess, taking the fatal blow himself. Orion triumphed over the scorpion but died from its venom soon after. But his courage is etched eternally in the stars where their battle lives on.
• Sibling Rivalry: Despite their close relationship as twins, Artemis displayed hints of rivalry with Apollo from the start. The ambitious young goddess wasted no time in asserting herself, as one of her first requests to Zeus was to have more epithets and names than her beloved brother! Then when Artemis arrived at the forge of the mighty cyclopes, she went directly to Brontes. With bold conviction, she declared that as another child of Leto, she deserved bow and arrows forged by the cyclopes as well.
  Artemis: Give me to be of many names, that Apollon may not vie with me.
• Single-Target Sexuality: The only person Artemis might have been romantically involved with was Orion the Hunter. Some stories claim that Artemis loved Orion so much, she actually considered losing her virginity to him. Unfortunately, Apollo didn't approve.
• Sins of the Father: Niobe's children may not have been the ones to make a Blasphemous Boast against Artemis' mother Leto, but Artemis killed them just the same.
• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: As one of Zeus's many illegitimate kids, Artemis was always at odds with her stepmom Hera. But their clashes were more like a comedy than a Greek tragedy. Artemis would eagerly pick a fight with Hera, only to end up in tears — her bow snatched, her ear slapped, her arrows scattered. Hera treated Artemis as a nuisance rather than a threat. She barely had to lift a finger to put her in her place every time. Artemis would run crying to daddy Zeus and tattle on Hera, but that never stopped her from trying again.
  Hera: Better for you to hunt down the ravening beasts in the mountains and deer of the wilds, than try to fight in strength with your betters. But if you would learn what fighting is, come on. You will find out how much stronger I am when you try to match strength against me.
  Narration: She spoke, and caught both of her arms at the wrists in her left hand then with her own bow, smiling, boxed her ears as Artemis tried to twist away, and the flying arrows were scattered. She got under and free and fled in tears.
• Skinny Dipping: Artemis was not big on bathing suits; according to ancient myths and copious amounts of art, she loved nothing more than a naked dip in the water, surrounded by her nymph entourage in secluded pools and springs. In one tale, the hunter Actaeon stumbled upon Artemis bathing au naturel and was turned into a stag as punishment for seeing the chaste goddess exposed. And according to Antoninus Liberalis, the ancient hero Sipriotes was transformed into a girl for gazing upon Artemis and her nude companions at play.
• Split Personality: Meet Diana, the goddess with not one, not two, but three distinct aspects, each with their own unique identity. It's like having three goddesses folded into one. Within the realm of Diana, these aspects exist, coming together to form a larger, multifaceted goddess. Hecate (the underworld), Diana (the hunt), and Luna (the moon). Ultimately they are all forms of Diana.
• Stellification: Tended to happen to people and animals connected to Artemis.
  • Take Orion — he was Artemis' hunting buddy until he bragged about being able to kill any beast. A scorpion sent by Gaia took exception and attacked Orion and Artemis. Orion fought bravely but died defeating Scorpio. To honor him, Artemis made Orion and his scorpion foe into rival constellations so their epic battle could play out across the heavens. But in other tellings, Artemis and Orion were more than just friends — they had a bit of Forbidden Romance going on. Artemis' brother Apollo disapproved. So he tricked Artemis into accidentally killing Orion, that sly dog. The grieving Artemis immortalized her fallen love Orion among the constellations. Whether as platonic pals or mythic star-crossed lovers, Orion and Artemis got their Hollywood ending in the sky.
  • The Pleiades, nymphs and Artemis' friends, form a star cluster, placed in the sky by Zeus at the request of Artemis. Accounts differ on whether they escaped Orion (who was more villainous in earlier myths) or grieved their father Atlas.
  • Artemis' favored nymph Callisto became Ursa Major. In some myths Zeus elevated her, in versions where she and Artemis remain amicable Artemis does it.
  • The constellations Canis Major and Minor could represent either Artemis' famed dog Laelaps and its enemy the Teumessian fox, or Orion's pair of hunting hounds — either way, associated with the goddess.
• Super-Speed: True of Artemis as well as a couple of her hunting companions. The princess Atalanta could outpace any beast on the plains. The minor wind goddess Aura moved as swiftly as the breezes she ruled. And Artemis herself? She didn't even need her hounds to capture prey — she could simply catch them on foot, as she did when she captured the herd of golden hinds that drive her chariot. The same hinds that Hercules spent a whole year pursuing.
• Surprisingly Sudden Death: Artemis was the goddess who brought sudden, painless death — particularly to girls and women. Her arrows were like silent killers, striking with precision and putting an end to life without warning. But hey, at least she spared them the pain, right?
• Vow of Celibacy: While still a little girl, she went to Zeus, and vowed to never marry and remain a virgin for all time.
• Virginity Flag: In the tale of Rhodohis and Euthynicus, Artemis turns poor Rhodopis into a fountain on the spot for breaking her vow of chastity. This fountain becomes the ultimate purity detector, able to determine the virginity of young women.
• Virgin Power: Was one of the three virgin goddesses, along with Athena and Hestia, and fiercely protective of her reputation as such; just ask Aura.
• Western Zodiac: Manilius associates her with Sagittarius, as the archer.
• Wild Wilderness: The backdrop of the majority of Artemis's legends. Artemis spent most of her time in the rugged wilderness, her true home after dear old dad Zeus granted her dominion over the mountains — the wildest, weirdest parts of the Ancient Greek world. The woods offer food and shelter but can also be downright spooky — storms, strange noises, lurking beasts — you know, the usual haunts of an eternal virgin goddess.
• Winged Humanoid: Though not a standard depiction, Artemis was sometimes shown with wings in ancient imagery. Most often under the epithet "Potnia Theron", meaning "Mistress of Animals".
• The Worf Effect: Suffered this to a degree, noticeably when she gets totally humiliated in her fight with Hera in The Iliad: Hera essentially calls her a jumped-up brat who should stick to hunting animals and easily overpowers her by grabbing her own weapons and thrashing her with them, causing Artemis to run off in tears to Zeus. In the obscure Indian War of Dionysus (Nonnus's Dionysiaca), Artemis and Hera face off again, with Hera easily beating Artemis.
• Would Hurt a Child: Yes, despite being the goddess of children. She demanded that Iphigenia be sacrificed to her, killed Niobe's children, and in ancient Greece, sudden deaths of little girls (and women) were seen as Artemis's work.

Hermes / Mercury / Turms

Ἑρμῆς | Mercurius | 𐌔𐌌𐌓𐌖𐌕 | ☿ | Hermes^note Possibly derived from Greek hérma ("heap of stones"), itself derived either from a Pre-Greek language or from Proto-Indo-European *ser- ("to bind, put together") / Mercury^note Possibly derived from Latin merx ("merchandise, commodity"), itself possibly derived from Proto-Indo-European *merkʷ- ("to take hold, to take away") or *merǵ- ("to divide") / Turms^note Translated either as "agitation, trepidation", from Etruscan turmuca ("trepidating"), or "turbulence", from Etruscan turpsi ("turbulent")

The messenger god and a Trickster God, Hermes is a good friend and a bad enemy. He is also the god of travelers, shepherds, cowherds, thieves, wit, written language, literature, commerce, cunning, and luck. The Roman god Mercury was identified with him, while the Etruscans equated him with Turms.

---

• Absurdly Sharp Blade: His sword, which he loaned to Perseus so he could slay Medusa.
• Adaptational Modesty: Expect modern works to conveniently forget that in the original myths, Hermes frequently went around wearing nothing but his helmet, winged sandals and a chlamys.
• Age Lift: Earlier versions of him depict him having a bearded look, but he got more consistently portrayed as a clean-shaven younger man later on. This also happens to his younger brother Dionysus.
• Almighty Janitor: He's just a simple messenger... who can borrow Hades' helm of darkness pretty much anytime he wants, talk Zeus out of destroying humanity, and he invented alphabets without suffering Athena's wrath.
• Angel Unaware: He disguised himself as a mortal with Zeus, to assess the state of humanity. The first people they met were... awful, but Hermes persuaded his father to judge three households to avoid killing everyone.
• The Archmage: Hermes' associations with writing and communication extends to incantations and magic spells. The Egyptians conflated him with Thoth, the god of writing and magic, and both of them were conflated into the pseudo-historical figure Hermes Trismegistus, who allegedly founded Hermeticism. Hermes later became the patron god of alchemy, representing the soul or life force, i.e. "mercurial" principal.
• Beauty Equals Goodness: One of the few gods who didn't judge people based on beauty, as his own son Pan was a half-goat.
• Beware the Nice Ones: If Hermes doesn't like someone there's a damned good reason for it. (Though he still steals from people he's on good terms with like Apollo or Hades.)
• Birds of a Feather: Had enough in common with Hecate to hook up with her. This ends her status as a virgin goddess.
• Blatant Lies: His attempts to deny stealing Apollo's cattle. In some versions, he claims he doesn't even know what a cow is.
• Brother–Sister Team: Was often teamed up with Athena due to them both being among Zeus's favorite children.
• Composite Character:
  • Hermes Trismegistus (Hermes the Thrice-Great) is the legendary founder of Hermeticism, and a syncretized form of both Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth. He doesn't really resemble Hermes or Thoth, being instead a Wizard Classic.
  • Hermes was also syncretized with the Egyptian god Anubis because of their shared Psychopomp duties, resulting in Hermanubis, an image of Hermes with a dog's head.
  • Tacitus identifies Odin with Mercury because of their shared associations with travel, trickery, and magic.
• Cool Helmet: He is often depicted with a winged helmet.
• Decomposite Character: Some theorize that he might actually be an offshoot of Pan, who's since been rewritten to be his son.
• Distaff Counterpart: Iris, the goddess of the rainbow, also shares the role of the messenger with him.
• Friend to All Children: Notably, he is entrusted with other people's children, as well as being protective of his own. In some myths, he was the one to raise Dionysus, and to take Persephone from the Underworld and back.
• From a Certain Point of View: After stealing Apollo's cows as a toddler, he promised Zeus he would never lie again. As if a god of cunning and wit needs to lie to be dishonest.
• Gag Penis: Herms are stone road markers with Hermes' head and phallus. His son with Aphrodite^note as in "hermaphrodite" has Aphrodite's body and his penis. It should speak to his nature that when depicted naked he was frequently erect, a state that was considered rude by the Greeks.
• Good Parents: Hermes, in comparison to the rest of the gods aside from Athena and Ares, was a model parent. One could argue that he was even doting. Just see his reaction to the ugly Pan.
• Guile Hero: He's known for his sly tongue, and is the god of orators, speakers and politicians.
• Healing Serpent: Hermes/Mercury's staff the Caduceus. Much like the Rod/Staff of Asclepius mentioned above, is also a symbol for medicine and health care around the world. This appears to be a case of Sadly Mythtaken, though, since Hermes/Mercury and his Caduceus had little if anything to do with healing or medicine.
• The Heart: He is not only a messenger but a mediator, which is reflected in the downright paradoxical list of things he presides over (thieves and merchants, prophesy and lies, hawks, and tortoises).
• Jack of All Trades: Hermes' payroll is huge, to say the least. He is the god of messengers, heralds, roads, journeys, boundaries, communication, trade, commerce, finance, orators, writing, eloquence, trickery, wit, cunning, thieves, flocks and herds, athletes, sports, speed, and also serves as a psychopomp. He's even credited with bringing everyone dreams each night!
• I Believe I Can Fly: His Iconic Item is his winged sandals.
• I Have Many Names: One of his most commonly-used epithets is Argeiphontes, "slayer of Argus," referencing the time he killed Hera's hundred-eyed servant Argus by boring him to death. Other epithets include Diaktoros ("guide"), Agoraios ("of the marketplace"), Enodios ("of the road"), Epimelios ("keeper of flocks"), Nomios ("pastoral"), Takhus ("swift"), Krysorrhapis ("of the golden wand"), Psychopompos ("guide of souls"), Eriounios ("luck-bringer"), and Dolios ("the devious").
• Like Father, Like Son:
  • His mother, the Pleiad Maia, was mentioned as being quite shy and avoiding Olympus, which is how she escaped Hera's wrath.
  • Like Zeus, Hermes took several lovers who were, shall we say, less than consenting.
• Loveable Rogue: He deceives, cheats, steals, and whatnot, but is generally thought to be and portrayed as one of the nicest gods. Also, see Angel Unaware.
• Magic Staff: His caduceus, a herald's staff with wings and entwined with two serpents. Legend has it that he came across two snakes fighting, and lay his wand in between them. The snakes instantly became best friends and coiled around the wand.
• Mercury's Wings: The Trope Maker and Trope Namer. He wears magical winged sandals.
• Morality Chain: To Zeus, strangely. Zeus called him when Semele died before giving birth, as he didn't want to let baby Dionysus die as well. Hermes also went with him when evaluating humanity. After the first people cooked the youngest son as dinner, he avoided all-out destruction by suggesting that they go for two out of three.
• Nice Guy: Compared to most of the Olympians, he's downright genial (of course, that doesn't mean that he'll let you get away with doing something bad to him). It's no wonder he's the guy the ancient Greeks wanted to see first when they died.
• Papa Wolf: When Pelops killed Myrtilus, Hermes damned all of Pelops's descendants, essentially being the one responsible for all the tragedies of The House Of Atreus.
• Pretty Boy: His literary appearances describe him as looking young and very beautiful. Then again, plenty of vase paintings give him a full beard, so it depends on the author.
• Psychopomp: One of his duties was guiding souls to the Underworld.
• Sarcastic Confession: In some versions of his origin story, he told his mother outright that he was going to hustle Apollo's cows, and Maia let him go because she didn't believe him.
• Staff of Authority: His winged staff, the caduceus.
• Super-Speed: One of his most notable traits.
• Tricked-Out Shoes: He is often represented with winged sandals, due to his Super-Speed attribute.
• The Trickster: Hermes is known for being devious, and got into mischief literally the day he was born. One of his most famous myths involves literally talking someone to death.
• Trickster God: The resident one for the Greek pantheon. Unlike many trickster gods, he doesn't go out of his way to screw over gods or mortals, and most of his tricks amount to harmless pranks. In fact, he's particularly likely to help mortals out.
  • One of his jobs is to give everybody their dreams each night, which was probably meant to explain why dreams could range from the good, to the terrifying, to the just plain weird. One imagines Hermes laughing to himself as he gives someone a particularly strange one.
• Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: He butchered a tortoise, used the guts and body parts to make a lyre, stole an entire herd of cattle from Apollo, sacrificed two of the cows, and then covered his tracks, all on the day he was born. Granted, he is a god, and he's shown to be well-adjusted in most of his appearances.
• Unstoppable Mailman: He's the Messenger of the Gods, too curious to resist any challenge, and too smart to be thwarted.
• Western Zodiac: Manilius associates him with Cancer, likely because of his role as Psychopomp. Traditional astrology associates him with Gemini, the sign of intellect and communication, which is ruled by Mercury.
• Wild Card: In accordance to being the God of thieves and luck, Hermes often does things on a whim, which can be either good or bad depending on the situation. That said, this was downplayed in that he was always loyal to Zeus and the Olympians.

Dionysus / Bacchus / Liber / Fufluns

Διόνυσος / Βάκχος | Līber | 𐌔𐌍𐌖𐌋𐌚𐌖𐌚 | Dionysus^note Etymology uncertain. First element traditionally connected to Greek Diós (genetive of Zeus), but could instead also have been derived from Greek verbal stem die-, in turn derived from díemai ("to chase, to impel"). The second element has been variously linked to Greek Nûsa ("Mount Nysa"), nūsa ("tree"), or néos ("young, youthful"), as well as Thracian nūsos ("son"). As such, the name could be variously translated as "son of Zeus", "young Zeus", "god of Nysa", or "impeller of the (world-)tree" / Bacchus^note Traditionally connected to Latin bacca ("pearl, beard, olive-berry, berry"), and ultimately derived from Proto-Indo European *bab- ("to be round"). Alternatively, may instead have been derived from Greek iákhō ("to cry out, shriek, scream, shout"), itself derived from Proto-Hellenic *wiwákʰō ("to cry out, shout"), in turn ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *(s)weh₂gʰ- ("to cry out, shout") / Liber^note Translated "the free one", derived from Old Latin loeber ("free"), in turn derived from Proto-Italic *louðeros ("free"), itself ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₁léwdʰeros ("free"), from the root *h₁lewdʰ- ("people") / Fufluns^note Derived from Etruscan populus ("people, nation"), derived from Old Latin poplus ("people"), in turn derived from Proto-Italic *poplos ("army"), further etymology uncertain

The god of wine, drunken debauchery, agriculture, theatre, and the freeing of self from normal behavior. He is always treated as a late arrival to Olympus, being one of the youngest of Zeus' children, born to a mortal woman. Romans called him Bacchus, from one of his many Greek titles, but also identified him with the Roman god Liber. The Etruscans equated him with Fufluns.

---

• Age Lift: Originally represented as a Pretty Boy, but some representations age him up significantly and add a beard.
• Agent Peacock: He's a hard-drinking, effeminate pretty boy... whose cultists tore goats apart for fun and feasted on raw meat. Also, his robes are women's.
• Ambiguous Situation: His rapes of Nicaea and Aura. He did force himself on both of them, but only after he had been shot by Eros. Both occasions Eros shot him multiple times until he was driven mad with lust, but it's never clarified whether the rape was a choice he himself made, or whether it was Rape by Proxy. He did at least seem remorseful for driving Nicaea to suicide.
• Angel Unaware: Like his sister Athena and his father Zeus, he tends to disguise himself when he interacts with mortals. He even seems to spend half his time going around in disguise. In Bacchae, he's disguised as a priest of himself.
• Animal Motifs: There were many animals associated with Dionysus, but bulls, snakes, and big cats in particular.
• Ascended Extra: After his name was found in ancient Linear B inscription, researchers came to the conclusion that he was always a Greek god, but wasn't as popular with Ancient Greece until way later.
• Back from the Dead: In some versions of Dionysus' origin story, he was originally the child of Zeus and Persephone, called Zagreus. Hera in her anger sent Titans to dismember and eat him. Zeus (or Rhea) managed to save his heart, feed it to Semele (or eat it himself), and then the story proceeds as normal from there until he is reborn from Zeus' thigh as Dionysus. Because of this, he was known as "the twice-born," and had associations with death and rebirth that were de-emphasized overtime.
• Bash Brothers: In some myths, after losing a drinking contest to Dionysus, Hercules joined Dionysus' attendants and they went warring together in India.
• Berserk Button: Dionysus does not anger easily, especially for a god, but what really sets him off is denial of his divinity and crimes against his worshippers. He reserves some of his most horrific punishments for these offenses.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Dionysus is the God of Wine and insanity, and is known for having a very bad temper if you push him hard enough. Invoked since he represents both the good and bad sides of alcohol. One look at his Animal Motifs should be a warning.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Do not underestimate the cheerfully drunk god of wine. King Pentheus learned the hard way what happens to you when you do. In the Dionysiaca, Dionysus also went up against a clone of Typhon and defeated him almost effortlessly.
• Bullying a Dragon: At one point some sailors who saw him sitting by the shore believed him to be a prince, and could thus be either sold into slavery or held ransom at a great profit. After repeated requests to let him go or drop him off at Naxos, he either turned into a lion (and summoned a bear) and killed them, or turned them into dolphins. Either way, the only survivor was Acoetes, who recognized him as a god and tried to stop the others. Oddly enough, he ended up as his priest.
• Canon Immigrant: Subverted. He was originally thought to be a foreign god absorbed into the main Classical pantheon, but then his name was found in a Linear B inscription, revealing that he had been worshipped in Mycenaean Greece.
• Camp: Given that he enjoys crossdressing, has No Indoor Voice, is worshipped with Gag Penis parades, is associated with social subversion, and is the literal god of theater, he could certainly be interpreted this way.
• Chariot Pulled by Cats: Dionysus is shown in artwork as being in a chariot drawn by panthers.
• Chest Burster: Born out of Zeus's thigh. Interestingly, Zeus had actually stitched him up in there after his mother had died to preserve him before birth.
• Chivalrous Pervert: Depending on the Writer. Dionysus is relatively sincere and conscientious with most of his love affairs, and his wife Ariadne doesn't really seem to mind in most sources. In the one instance that she does mind, in Ovid's Fasti, Dionysus apologizes and makes it up to her.
• Composite Character: Dionysus was syncretized with many different deities throughout the ancient Mediterranean:
  • He was syncretized with the Egyptian god Osiris, likely because of the shared theme of dismemberment in their respective myths.
  • He was also heavily syncretized with the Thracian deity Sabazius, who had similar associations and was worshipped through similar orgiastic rituals. The myth of his rape of Aura might have originally been a myth of Sabazius, which explains his out-of-character behavior.
  • He was treated interchangeably with the Roman god Liber and syncretized with the Etruscan deity Flufluns (whom evidence suggests was the Etruscan variant of the exact same deity).
  • Other gods he's been identified with include Tammuz, Serapis, and Shiva.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Dionysus is often pictured as the bumbling drunk or Mr. Party including in ancient plays, but if pushed he would inflict madness or other horrible punishments. He also had the bravery to venture into the Underworld for his mother (and/or wife), and in one story, he defeated a demigod king named Deriades to conquer India.
• Deathless and Debauched: Naturally well-known for regularly getting drunk and sleeping around.
• Decomposite Character: One theory of his origins is that he was originally an aspect of Zeus, because "Dio" (Zeus) has been part of his name since Mycenaean Greece, and the rest of its etymology is uncertain. This theory is somewhat reinforced by Dionysus canonically being Zeus's heir in Orphism, and their similar origin stories.
• Deity of Human Origin: Subverted. Despite having a human mother (in the most popular of his origin story; see Multiple-Choice Past) Dionysus was always a full deity, not a demigod.
  • He bestowed apotheosis upon his wife and mother.
• Deranged Dance: A hallmark of Dionysus' worshippers, who would dance ecstatically while possessed by the god.
• Disguised in Drag: Several sources describe Dionysus as having been raised by a girl in order to keep him hidden from Hera, which explains his penchant for Wholesome Crossdressing.
• Driven to Madness: He was driven insane by Hera, only to later be cured by his grandmother Rhea. He himself likes to inflict this as a punishment on mortals who displease him. His earlier interpretations also placed more emphasis on the madness aspect of his characterization, with the alcohol and hedonism being respectively a method and consequence of his worship as a god of madness, violence, death, and rebirth.
• Drunken Master: As you might expect. Apparently, he conquered India while drunk. According to Lucian's Dialogues of the Gods, Zeus is proud of him for doing manly things like conquering even while drunk, despite his effeminate appearance and behavior. Hera is embarrassed by him.
  Zeus: ...what a handful the fellow would be if he were sober.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: One of his most common depictions is as an effeminate young man, with an androgynous face and long curly hair. Dionysus often crossdressed, and in some versions of his origin story, he was actually raised as a girl to protect him from Hera. He's sometimes even portrayed as female; for example, one of the Orphic Hymns refers to him both as Dionysos and as Mise, a goddess.
• Extra Parent Conception: Some versions of his backstory give him all three parents — Persephone, Semele, and Zeus — each of which took a turn gestating him.
• Extreme Omnisexual: To be expected from the God of Hedonism. Humorously, there do not appear to be any myths stating that his wife had any problems with this, in stark contrast to the likes of Hera or Persephone. Although there was a Roman myth by Ovid where Dionysus (Bacchus) took a big liking to an Indian princess when he travels to India. This deeply upset Ariadne, and then make a huge rant about it at a beach and sobbed. Fortunately, unlike Zeus, Poseidon, or any other unfaithful god, Bacchus took consideration with Ariadne's feelings, embraces her, and tells her they will be together in heaven as equals and makes her crown into a constellation.
• Flanderization: He wasn't always just the hard-drinking party god, but a god associated with death and rebirth, madness and wildlife. But when he became more popular with the Greeks they almost exclusively focused on his status as a wine god.
• Fun Personified: His definition of "fun" varies from time to time. It isn't always pretty.
• Gag Penis: One of his attributes. During Dionysus' festivals, actors in comedies would wear gigantic leather prosthetic penises, invoking this trope. Some festivals of Dionysus include parades of giant dildos through the streets. One temple of Dionysus, the Stoivadeion, is flanked by pillars with gigantic stone penises (the shaft of which has since broken off). Clement of Alexandria explains this association with a myth in which Dionysus invents the dildo, using it on a man's grave to fulfill the promise he made to have sex with the man before his untimely death.
• Go Mad from the Revelation: Inverted. Being the god of madness, Dionysus uses insanity as a vehicle for mystical revelation. Dionysian mystics used altered states of consciousness (such as those induced by wine-drinking) to gain divine knowledge from the god.
• God-Eating: In one version of his origin story, he was dismembered and eaten by Titans. His followers had a habit of dismembering wild animals (and sometimes people).
• God Couple: With Ariadne after she is made immortal.
• Green Thumb: He seems to be able to conjure and control plants that are sacred to him, especially ivy and grapevines. When he is kidnapped by the Tyrrhenian Pirates, he covers their ship in ivy and grapevines.
  Homeric Hymn to Dionysus: And all at once a vine spread out both ways along the top of the sail with many clusters hanging down from it, and a dark ivy-plant twined about the mast, blossoming with flowers, and with rich berries growing on it; and all the thole-pins were covered with garlands.
• Happily Married: To Ariadne. He loved her enough to go down to the Underworld to take her back, after she was killed, and later made her immortal. Also, most of his demigod children are by her.
• Hard-Drinking Party Girl: A gender-inverted example; what else would you expect from the god of alcohol? His characterization was actually reduced to this overtime, with him having originally been a more complex deity of nature, duality, life and death.
• The Hedonist: He was the God of Hedonism.
• Hidden Depths: Despite being the god of madness and hedonism, all of Dionysus's relationships are completely consensual (except one) and he is shown to be deeply loyal and affectionate, most notably with his mother Semele, his first love Ampelos and his consort Ariadne.
• Horned Humanoid: Earlier versions of Dionysus, especially his Mycenaean and later Orphic interpretations, depicted him as having horns (usually a bull's horns), with the Mycenaean version being a god of nature as well as death and rebirth and wine.
  Pentheus: You are a bull I see leading me forward now; A pair of horns seems to have grown upon your head. Were you a beast before? You are a bull.
  — Euripides, Bacchae
• Hijacked by Jesus: Dionysian Mysteries (i.e. the underground religious movements worshipping this god in Antiquity) have long been compared to Christianity, to the point that they have been integral to the discussion of its origins. While Jesus does have some interesting similarities to Dionysus, Jesus' existence as a person is not debated by most historians, and the fact that Jesus isn't that big on drunkenness or revelry is in pretty start contrast to Dionysus.
• If I Can't Have You…: In one version of the myth, he asks Artemis to kill Ariadne, probably because they were already married/engaged and yet she still fell in love and run away with Theseus.
• I Have Many Names: Being a god of many contradictions, Dionysus has many epithets that describe his different capacities. The most common ones are Bakkhos ("frenzied"), Bromios ("the loud"), and Eleutheros ("the liberator"). Other epithets include Dimetor ("twice-born" or "of two mothers"), Androgynos ("androgynous"), Oinops ("wine-faced"), Eubouleos ("of good counsel"), Khthoinios ("of the Underworld"), Meilichios ("the mild/gracious"), Nyctipolos ("night-stalker"), Boukeros ("bull-horned"), Agronios ("wild/savage"), Melpomenos ("singer" or "of the tragedy [play]"), Mystes ("of the Mysteries"), Lysios ("loosener" or "deliverer"), Maenoles ("the mad"), Lenaios ("of the wine-press"), and Omaphagos ("eater of raw flesh"). In the Orphic Mysteries, he's known as Zagreus, which was his name before he died and was reincarnated.
• Interspecies Friendship: Sort of, as only half of Pan is a goat. They are often seen together as they both wander the earth and drink a lot. Dionysus had a lot of satyr friends, in fact, including Ampelos (who was also one of his lovers) and Marsyas.
• Interspecies Romance: He had a Childhood Friend Romance with a satyr named Ampelos, though it didn't end well, especially since Dionysus knew from the start that Ampelos was going to die young. Sure enough, the young satyr was killed by a raging bull after Ampelos boasted of his bull riding skills and offended Selene in the process.
• Illegal Religion: He is the only Olympian whose worship is persecuted in mythology, by multiple kings no less! It usually doesn't end well for them. In Real Life, Dionysus' worship was very popular once he was established as an Olympian. The only time his cult was persecuted was in Rome, when it was suspected of political conspiracy, rather than for any religious reason.
• Kick the Dog:
  • Some versions of Theseus' myth had Dionysus take Ariadne to be his wife, completely ignoring the fact that she and Theseus were already in love. Some versions also explain Theseus leaving Ariadne behind on an island while she sleeps by having Dionysus order he do so. In yet another version, Theseus accidentally leaves Ariadne behind on Naxos, while Dionysus only finds her later and makes her his consort. With the version of "Dionysus demands Ariadne as his bride" being largely seen in Athens, this is most likely Athens being invested in papering over their mythical king's mistakes.
  • He drove King Lycurgus mad so that he would murder his own family, as revenge for forbidding his (Dionysus’) worship; some tales say Zeus helped in the deed. Lycurgus forbade Dionysus’ worship because his followers were killing indiscriminately in their drunken frenzies. Based on this event, King Pentheus of Thebes tried to solve the problem early by preventing Dionysus’ worship from spreading to his city, but ended up meeting an even worse fate.
• Letting Her Hair Down: Basically the main reason he exists, and for all sexes too.
• Made a Slave: A near-miss with Dionysus as noted above; sailors once mistook him for a handsome mortal prince and tried to either sell him or hold him for ransom. With only Acoetes listening to his protests and trying to let him go, Dionysus covered the ship in ivy and turned everyone but Acoetes into dolphins.
• Mad God: He's the god of madness, and was driven mad by Hera at one point. Whether he ever regained his sanity, or learned to revel in his madness, is up to interpretation.
• Mad Oracle: Though overshadowed by his status as The Hedonist, the Dionysian mysteries are heavily implied to be ecstatic or shamanistic in nature, which may be a reason for the participants' wild behavior. A number of his modern followers partake in ritualistic drug use, and Dionysus himself has an oracular side as well.
• Magic Staff: His thyrsus, a fennel staff topped with a pinecone and entwined with ribbons and vines. He and his worshippers can use it to make water, milk, and wine well up from the earth, and it drips with honey. It's also explicitly a weapon, as effective as a spear.
• Married to the Job: Granted, his job is making and drinking wine—lots of wine. And beer, but mostly wine. In some myths, he asks for his mother's soul and is told to leave his most beloved in the Underworld. He responds by laying his staff on the ground, where a grapevine sprouts and Hades deems it adequate payment. In some versions, the grapevine is his first love Ampelos transformed after his death .
• Mayfly–December Romance: With Ariadne before she was made immortal.
• Meaningful Name: Bromius, his epithet, means "the noisy one," and Dionysus is a shortening of "The son of the god Zeus who lives on the mountain of Nysa"- as that was the mountain he grew up on. The name "Bacchus" refers to ecstatic ritual frenzy, and "Liber" means "the liberator."
• Messianic Archetype: Oddly enough, he was seen to this to his worshippers, being portrayed as a saviour and bringing divine revelation. Except his idea of morality of the hedonistic kind.
• Momma's Boy: He takes his mother's reputation very seriously to the point he will severely punish anyone who scorns her good name. In some myths, he also went down to the Underworld to bring Semele back, and made her immortal.
• Multiple-Choice Past: One of the most common and widely accepted origins was that he was a child of Zeus and Semele. Semele was a mortal woman whom Hera tricked into requesting that Zeus show himself in his true form, which incinerated her. Zeus had to save her unborn immortal son and sew him to his thigh until he could be born. Outside from that, there were many other pasts depending on the writer or the belief system of the Greek people.
  • An older legend, and one retained by the Orphics, said he was born from Zeus and Persephone (or her mother Demeter), and torn apart and eaten by the Titans at Hera's behest. He was reborn after his heart was either consumed by Semele or was sewn into Zeus' thigh.
  • Alternate mothers include Dione, Io, and the nymph Arge.
  • He was also identified with other gods and Greek figures such as Demeter's son Iacchus, making things even more convoluted.
  • Sometimes he's raised by nymphs in the valley of Nysa, sometimes he's raised by his grandmother Rhea, and sometimes he's raised as a girl to further hide him from Hera.
  • We haven't even covered alternate parents such as Ammon and Amaltheia who hid the child from Hera's wrath until he was found by Athena.
  • The philosopher Heraclitus, unifying opposites, declared that Hades and Dionysus, the very essence of indestructible life (zoë), are the same god. Among other evidence Karl Kerényi notes that the grieving goddess Demeter refused to drink wine, which is the gift of Dionysus, after Persephone's abduction, because of this association, and suggests that Hades may in fact have been a "cover name" for the underworld Dionysus. He suggests that this dual identity may have been familiar to those who came into contact with the Mysteries. Ironically one of the epithets of Dionysus was "Chthonios", meaning "the subterranean".
  • Related to that is Zagreus, an underworld god whom we know very little about, but who may have been Dionysus (as Persephone's and possibly Hades' son) before he was dismembered.
• Mushroom Samba: Getting high as a kite and blackout drunk goes hand in hand with being a god of wine and partying, but the Dionysus cults of Mycenaean Greece took it even further. Getting high and drunk was considered a way to let Dionysus possess the imbiber and inflict a bit of his divine power and insanity on his worshippers. By comparison, the later cult in Hellenistic Greece was more focused on just having a good time rather than tripping balls.
• Mystery Cult: The Orphic Mysteries were one of the most famous mystery cults in Ancient Greece (beaten out only by the Eleusinian Mysteries), and they were dedicated to Dionysus. The Bacchanalia in Rome also count. Several locales had isolated mystery traditions dedicated to Dionysus, like Delphi and Attica.
• Naked on Arrival: Loved to drop in on the mortal world like this, and clothed himself in whatever animal skins his followers could scrounge up. Of course, if you go by the portrayal of him as a Pretty Boy, this might not be a particularly bad thing.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Some of Dionysus' epithets are downright terrifying, especially Omestes or Omaphagos, "eater of raw flesh," and Anthroporraistes, "render of men", which imply Human Sacrifice.
  No single Greek god even approaches Dionysus in the horror of his epithets, which bear witness to a savagery that is absolutely without mercy. In fact, one must evoke the memory of the monstrous horror of eternal darkness to find anything at all comparable.
  — Walter Otto, Dionysus: Myth and Cult.
• Nice Guy: Despite his theme of insanity and lethal temper when pushed, it's noted that he rarely does things just to be a jackass. Despite the inconsistent interpretations with Ariadne/Theseus and the aforementioned rape of Aura (after Eros sent him into uncontrollable lust), Dionysus has a strikingly good relationship with mortals and especially women, unusual in a pantheon notorious for its mistreatment of them. Compare his track record to his dad's, for example. It's also relatively difficult to piss him off in comparison to other gods, and he's unusually forgiving (for example, turning the pirates into dolphins to save them from drowning, and being willing to take back the Golden Touch when it proves a disaster). The only crimes for which he inflicts brutal punishments upon mortals are when they deny his divinity, or when they hurt his worshippers.
• No Indoor Voice: One of Dionysus' most common epithets is Bromios, "the loud" or "the roaring." This probably refers to the ecstatic screams that he and his worshippers are known for.
• No One Could Survive That!: Somehow survived having his mother being burned to ashes after seeing Zeus's true form... while she was pregnant with him. Or, depending on the myth, having his entire body except for his heart eaten by Titans as a child. The Greeks thus gave him the epithet of dimētōr, which means "of two mothers", the second being either Semele (if Persephone was the first) or Zeus (who transferred him to his thigh until he was born [or regrown]).
• Not Enough to Bury: After Zagreus was dismembered, Apollo collected what was left of his body and buried it at Delphi. This is why Dionysus is worshipped at Delphi in his chthonic (underworld) aspect.
• Physical God: Like most of the Olympians, he appears as a beautiful man.
• Pretty Boy: Described as being rather feminine-looking, and in fact, his first artistic representations were in the kouros style of pretty young males. Much later artists (especially the Romans) liked to depict him as a middle-aged man with a full beard, and Renaissance painters loved to make him fat (perhaps all that wine caught up to him in time). Overlaps with Long-Haired Pretty Boy and Dude Looks Like a Lady.
  Pentheus: Your body is not ill-formed, stranger, for women's purposes . . . For your hair is long, not through wrestling, scattered over your cheeks, full of desire; and you have a white skin from careful preparation, hunting after Aphrodite by your beauty not exposed to strokes of the sun, but beneath the shade.
• Rag Tag Bunch Of Misfits: He leads one. His retinue includes a Cretan princess, his mother, Satyrs, Centaurs, insane women, nymphs, Pan and even Hercules for a while after he lost a drinking contest to Dionysus.
• Raised by Grandparents: In one version of his backstory Hermes hands the infant Dionysus over to be raised by their grandmother, the Titaness Rhea, to protect him from Hera's wrath.
• Resurrective Immortality: The older version of Dionysus during the earlier Greek periods included a myth that he was torn apart at Hera's order as a child and reborn by Zeus. In fact, earlier Dionysus cults — especially Orphic ones — focused as much on this aspect of rebirth as they did on wine and hedonism.
• The Rival: Friedrich Nietzsche in a few words stated that all of Greek society was the result of a rivalry between Apollo (reason) and Dionysus (see the listed tropes). One of his less inflammatory remarks. Like a lot of things Nietzche said, this one has no basis in reality. Dionysus and Apollo almost never interact in myth, and they're certainly not active rivals (though there is that one myth where Apollo killed one of his friends). In fact, Dionysus and Apollo were most likely very good friends, because Apollo entrusted his most sacred oracular site, Delphi, to Dionysus when he left for the winter.
• Symbiotic Possession: This is what Dionysus' worshippers believed was happening when they drank wine. Entering an altered state of consciousness through being drunk (or through ecstatic dance, or similar) would constitute possession by the god, which would lead one to enlightenment (or at least a good time). The word "enthusiasm" even means "to be inspired or possessed by a god."
• To Hell and Back: He went to the Underworld in order to bring back his mortal wife Ariadne and his mother Semele.
• Torn Apart by the Mob: Dionysus' previous incarnation, Zagreus, was dismembered by the Titans at Hera's behest. After being resurrected, Dionysus inflicts this as a punishment upon those who offend him.
• The Trickster: He fits the archetype, and like examples from other mythologies, can be Fun Personified or an insane sadist depending on the story. Unlike Hermes, he's less of a prankster, and more of a Troll who delights in making people uncomfortable.
• Wacky Fratboy Hijinx: Played much straighter than Ares' version.
• Walking the Earth: For a bit, after Hera curses him with insanity. He gets better eventually but keeps wandering around learning things, accumulating followers, and punishing people who piss him off.
• Wholesome Crossdresser: He loves to crossdress for the fun of it, and demands the same of his worshippers. In one version of his origin story, Rhea raised him as a girl to help hide him from Hera, which explains his propensity for girls' clothes. Some festivals of Dionysus in Real Life involved men crossdressing, and Greek theatre always did.
• Working-Class Hero: In addition to being the god of wine and ecstasy, to the Romans, Liber was also the protector of the rights and freedoms of the plebians. He was worshipped in this capacity alongside Ceres (Demeter) and Libera (either Persephone or Ariadne) in the Aventine Triad.
• Young Conqueror: Most myths say that during his wandering before he was recognized as a god, he spent a good portion of that time conquering, among other places, India.

Persephone / Proserpina / Persipnei

Περσεφόνη | Prōserpina | 𐌉𐌄𐌍𐌐𐌉𐌔𐌓𐌄𐌐 | Persephone^note Etymology uncertain. Possibly a compound derived from Proto-Indo-European *pers-o- ("sheaf of corn, grain, seed"),‎ *gʷʰn̥-t- ("to strike down, slay"), and‎ *-eh₂ (a suffix of feminine agent nouns), thus translating as "female thresher of grain/corn". Alternatively, may instead have been derived from Proto-Indo-European *pers-é-bʰ(h₂)n̥t-ih₂ ("she who brings the light through") / Proserpina^note Latin borrowing by metathesis of Greek goddess Persephone, itself of uncertain etymology / Persipnei^note Etruscan borrowing of Greek goddess Persephone, itself of uncertain etymology

Goddess of spring, vegetation/flowers, and Queen of the Underworld. Daughter of Zeus and Demeter, she was abducted by Hades to be his queen. She spends half of the year with her mother and half of it with him. Though not numbered among the Twelve Olympians, she had more Greek worshippers than Ares, and she was a major goddess of the Eleusinian Mysteries alongside Demeter and Hecate. To Romans, she was known as Proserpina, while the Etruscans called her Persipnei.

---

• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other:
  • Despite common interpretations saying that Demeter's mother smothering annoyed her, the kidnapping myth emphasizes the fact that Persephone missed her terribly while in the Underworld.
  • There's also the fact that, outside of having a rough start, Hades and Persephone had a very happy marriage.
• Beware the Nice Ones: She is equally as respected among the Kingdom of the Underworld as much as Hades is, but Olympus help you if you make her angry; she is known as the Iron Queen for a reason. And many myths refer to her as, "Dread Persephone". Make her angry — and run, because she'll have you eventually... or her vengeful husband will... They can, and will, wait.
• Broken Bird: Some interpretations take her early life in Underworld as a Break the Cutie process. Though she quickly grows out of this and becomes a confident queen alongside her husband, who treats her as an equal.
• Composite Character: She was sometimes conflated with other chthonic goddesses like Hecate and the Erinyes, and was also identified with Queens of the Underworld from other pantheons, like Ereshkigal.
• Clingy Jealous Girl:
  • When the naiad Minthe tried to seduce Hades, Persephone turned her into a mint plant and stomped on her. It's good that Hades is a pretty faithful husband, especially when compared to Zeus and Poseidon.
  • Subverted in the version involving the nymph Leuce. Persephone seemed to like her enough that after Leuce died naturally, she turned her into the first white poplar tree, which became her sacred tree. Other myths (and the original one) say that Pluto (Hades) turned Leuce into a poplar tree, after her death. She was also (usually) said to have been the wife of Hades, before Persephone.
• Daddy's Girl: In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Persephone cries out for Zeus when abducted by Hades and the story puts a lot of emphasis on how Zeus is very important to her. Averted in some other stories, where Zeus rapes her, although these are considered non-canonical.
• Death and the Maiden: Much classical art depicts her swooning while being carried off by Hades, with her epithet 'Kore' even meaning maiden.
• Decomposite Character: Her original Roman counterpart was Libera, who was a part of the Aventine Triad alongside Ceres (Demeter) and Liber (Dionysus), which served as a plebian counterpart to the patrician Capitoline Triad. However, as the Greek Gods became more integrated with the Romans around the time of the Punic wars, the relationship between Liber and Libera caused a bit of Continuity Snarl. Liber and Libera were considered to be the children of Ceres and married to each other, while Dionysus and Persephone weren't. Libera was therefore divided between the imported Proserpina and Dionysus's consort Ariadne. Proserpina was also presented as an example of female patrician morality and modesty, as opposed to Libera and Liber's roles as the protectors of the rights and freedoms of the plebians, especially those of plebian women in Libera's case.
• Divergent Character Evolution: In the Mycenaean period, Persephone was so closely equated with her mother that they were called the Two Goddesses or even Two Demeters. She became more of her own person through meeting Hades and becoming Queen of the Underworld.
• The Dreaded: Like Hades. Homer specifically calls her, "Dread Persephone," in the Odyssey, and Odysseus is terrified of her. A lot of her older references also seem to be intentionally avoiding directly referencing her name, using alternate names like Kore.
• Emotionless Girl:
  • As the Queen of the Underworld, she is as cold as Hades when she was performing her duties. Although she does have a case of Not So Stoic once in a while.
  • She also was touched by Orpheus's playing and was fine with him getting his wife back.
• Fertile Feet: Literally. When she returns to earth plants and flowers will grow in her presence (thus creating springtime).
• Fertility God: She's an agricultural goddess, alongside her mother.
• Generation Xerox: In the version where her love for Adonis is maternal, she ends up having to split the time she spends with her child just like Demeter did.
• God Couple: With Hades.
• Green Thumb: She makes the flowers grow.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Sometimes, Persephone is said to have blonde hair like wheat/grain, as the goddess of plants and fertility, especially since her mother Demeter is also blonde.
• Happily Married: Abduction aside, Hades and Persephone have one of the happiest, healthiest marriages in the entire pantheon, ruling the Underworld side by side and never having an unequal partnership.
• The High Queen: Of the Underworld. A known epithet of her is the Iron Queen, who is dreaded by mortals as much as her husband Hades.
• I Have Many Names: Like Hades, she was often referred to euphemistically. One of her most common epithets is Kore, "the maiden." She is also called Despoina ("the mistress"), Brimo ("angry" or "terrifying"), Epaine ("dread"), Khthonia or Averna ("of the Underworld"), Praxidike ("she who enacts justice"), and Kyanopeplos ("dark-cloaked"). Other epithets reference her capacity as an agricultural goddess, including Melitodes ("honey-sweet"), Mysteria ("of the Mysteries"), Eleusinia ("of Eleusis"), Karpophoros ("bearer of fruit"), Potnia ("queen"), and Anesidora ("she who sends forth gifts"). Another variant of her name is "Persephassa."
• The Ingenue: Before her abduction. Her title, "Kore," meant maiden. She most likely leveled up into some kind of Perky Goth after that. Hey, being the queen of the underworld isn't all bad...
• Innocent Flower Girl: Literally before her abduction. Afterwards she became The High Queen.
• Leg Focus: Her legs are described as being "trim-ankled." In fact, because Hades lives underground, it’s said in some tellings of the myth of her abduction by Hades that he got his first look at her from below, and fell in love with her because her legs and feet were so pretty.
• Making Love in All the Wrong Places: One of the Orphic Hymns mentions she and Hades getting intimate by the banks of the river Cocytus, which would become the birthplace of their daughter Melinoe.
• Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Many have interpreted her as this for Hades, being a sweet, beautiful young woman who makes the gloomy Lord of the Dead's life a little brighter.
• A Match Made in Stockholm: One interpretation of her marriage with Hades in the versions where he did abduct her. She ended up falling in love with him as well and they had a very healthy and faithful relationship and an equal partnership in ruling the Underworld.
• The Missus and the Ex: In the Roman canon, Hades' ex-mistress Minthe started making trouble for her by trying to seduce Hades. Persephone turned the girl into a mint plant and stomped on her.
• Ms. Fanservice: The Homeric Hymn to Demeter describes Persephone as "trim-ankled" and "buxom", and Eros and Psyche's myth even claims her beauty rivaled that of Aphrodite.
• Multiple-Choice Past: As is standard for Greek myths, the amount of children she had and with whom varies. In most myths, she has no children, but in Orphism she is the mother of Zagreus and Melinoe, who are children of Zeus. But the version of Zeus that appears in these myths is explicitly chthonic, and both Zagreus and Melinoe are also described as children of Hades. This is because the Orphics conflated Zeus and Hades, understanding them as the ouranic (celestial) and chthonic (underworldly) aspects of the same Top God. The Orphic Hymns also claim that Hades and Persephone were the parents of the Furies, while one Orphic Fragment claims that she would bear "nine azure-eyed flower-producing daughters" (the father of whom isn't explicitly stated, but the Fragment strongly implies is Hades). Macaria and Plutus are also occasionally given as Hades and Persephone's children.
• Mystery Cult: The Eleusinian Mysteries, one of the largest and most famous mystery cults in the Ancient World, was dedicated to her and her mother Demeter.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The etymology of her name is not clear, it probably comes from the words meaning to kill or to destroy, referencing her function as the ruler of the Underworld. Some of her epithets are also this, like Brimo (angry/terrifying) and Epaine (dread).
• Orcus on His Throne: How most people would see her and her husband when they entered the Underworld.
• Parental Incest: In the Orphic Mysteries, her father Zeus tricked her into sleeping with him at least twice, first in the guise of a serpent (a chthonic animal) and then in the guise of Hades himself. The Orphic Hymn to Melinoe treats Melinoe as a result of Extra Parent Conception, making her a daughter of both Zeus and Hades, and Zagreus is sometimes a son of Hades in other sources.
• Perky Goth: Some interpretations portray her as this, especially modern ones.
• Perfectly Arranged Marriage: Zeus pledged her to Hades, and by chance this turned out to be one of the happiest marriages in the entire pantheon.
• Pet the Dog: While stern in her role as queen, she was moved by Psyche's quest and agreed to give her a box of beauty, warning the girl not to open it, and helped Odysseus talk with dead heroes and scholars once he made the proper sacrificial rites.
• The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Despite being considered the goddess of the spring, Persephone doesn't actually bring the spring with her when she returns from the underworld. Demeter's mood determines the seasons; with no Persephone she becomes depressed and brings cold and bitter winter. With Persephone's return, she becomes happy and joyful, thus spring.
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Is typically described as dark-haired and with fair skin.
• Silk Hiding Steel: Underestimating Persephone simply because of her Innocent Flower Girl image is a big mistake — she was feared as "The Iron Queen" for a reason.
• Trademark Favorite Food: A more symbolic example, but she was frequently associated with pomegranates, for obvious reasons.
• Trapped in Another World: Subverted. She is in the Underworld for half of the year. Though she has a very comfortable life there as Queen of the Underworld and is treated as an equal by its King, her loving husband Hades.
• Universally Beloved Leader: Persephone herself is feared and respected among the kingdom of the underworld as much as her husband is.
• Wife Husbandry: She took turns with Aphrodite in raising Adonis (symbolic of the contrast between love/life and death, as Persephone was queen of the underworld) and fought with her over his affections when he was an adult because they both fell in love with him.

Heracles / Hercules / Hercle

Most often a deified mortal famed for his physical strength, according to Hesiod, Heracles was produced by Zeus to protect gods and men. He roved the Earth slaying monsters, giants, tyrants and bandits. Upon his mortal death, Zeus burned away his mortality and raised him to Olympus, where he married the goddess of youth, Hebe. His worship was widespread in Greece, to the point that Herodotus said he was ranked among the 12 major gods. Diodorus of Sicily said that he refused a throne when Zeus offered it. A patron of soldiers and athletes, he was also considered the ancestor of many Greek kings. Most of his greatest deeds took place while he was mortal, though. For further details, see here.

---