List of Greek deities in the context of "Interpretatio romana"

Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories concern the ancient Greek religion's view of the origin and nature of the world; the lives and activities of deities, heroes, and mythological creatures; and the origins and significance of the ancient Greeks' cult and ritual practices. Modern scholars study the myths to shed light on the religious and political institutions of ancient Greece, and to better understand the nature of mythmaking itself.

The Greek myths were initially propagated in an oral-poetic tradition most likely by Minoan and Mycenaean singers starting in the 18th century BC; eventually the myths of the heroes of the Trojan War and its aftermath became part of the oral tradition of Homer's epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Two poems by Homer's near contemporary Hesiod, the Theogony and the Works and Days, contain accounts of the genesis of the world, the succession of divine rulers, the succession of human ages, the origin of human woes, and the origin of sacrificial practices. Myths are also preserved in the Homeric Hymns, in fragments of epic poems of the Epic Cycle, in lyric poems, in the works of the tragedians and comedians of the fifth century BC, in writings of scholars and poets of the Hellenistic Age, and in texts from the time of the Roman Empire by writers such as Plutarch and Pausanias.

Ares (/ˈɛəriːz/; Ancient Greek: Ἄρης, Árēs [árɛːs]) is the Greek god of war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. Many Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for success in war but can also personify sheer brutality and bloodlust, in contrast to his sister Athena, whose martial functions include military strategy and generalship. An association with Ares endows places, objects, and other deities with a savage, dangerous, or militarized quality.

Although Ares's name shows his origins as Mycenaean, his reputation for savagery was thought by some to reflect his likely origins as a Thracian deity. Some cities in Greece and several in Asia Minor held annual festivals to bind and detain him as their protector. In parts of Asia Minor, he was an oracular deity. Still further away from Greece, the Scythians were said to ritually kill one in a hundred prisoners of war as an offering to their equivalent of Ares. The later belief that ancient Spartans had offered human sacrifice to Ares may owe more to mythical prehistory, misunderstandings, and reputation than to reality.

Zeus (/zjuːs/, Ancient Greek: Ζεύς) is the chief deity of the Greek pantheon. He is a sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus.

Zeus is the child of Cronus and Rhea, the youngest of his siblings to be born, though sometimes reckoned the eldest as the others required disgorging from Cronus's stomach. In most traditions, he is married to Hera, by whom he is usually said to have fathered Ares, Eileithyia, Hebe, and Hephaestus. At the oracle of Dodona, his consort was said to be Dione, by whom the Iliad states that he fathered Aphrodite. According to the Theogony, Zeus's first wife was Metis, by whom he had Athena. Zeus was also infamous for his erotic escapades. These resulted in many divine and heroic offspring, including Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Persephone, Dionysus, Perseus, Heracles, Helen of Troy, Minos, and the Muses.

In Greek mythology, ichor (/ˈaɪkər/) is the ethereal fluid making up the blood of the gods and/or immortals. The Ancient Greek word ἰχώρ (ikhṓr) is of uncertain etymology, and has been suggested to be a foreign word, possibly the pre-Greek substrate.

Mount Olympus (/oʊˈlɪmpəs, əˈlɪm-/, Greek: Όλυμπος, romanized: Ólympos, IPA: [ˈoli(m)bos]) is an extensive massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, between the regional units of Larissa and Pieria, about 80 km (50 mi) southwest from Thessaloniki. Mount Olympus has 52 peaks and deep gorges.The highest peak, Mytikas (Μύτικας Mýtikas), meaning "nose", rises to 2,917.727 metres (9,572.60 ft) and is the highest peak in Greece, and one of the highest peaks in Europe in terms of topographic prominence.

In Greek mythology, Olympus is the home of the Greek gods, on Mytikas peak. The mountain has exceptional biodiversity and rich flora. It has been a National Park, the first in Greece, since 1938. It is also a World Biosphere Reserve.

A phlyax play (Ancient Greek: φλύαξ, pl: φλύακες, phlyakes), also known as a hilarotragedy (Ἱλαροτραγῳδία lit. 'cheerful tragedy'), was a burlesque dramatic form that developed in the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia in the 4th century BC. From the surviving fragments and titles of the plays, they appear to have been a form of mythological burlesque, which mixed figures from the Greek pantheon with the stock characters and situations of Attic Comedy.

While the plays themselves survive only as titles and a few fragments, a substantial body of South Italian vases which survive today are generally thought to represent phlyax-related imagery. These vases depict lively and entertaining theatrical scenes of contemporary Athenian comedies as well as lesser known local productions. Distinct phlyax plays, blending tragic and comic elements, became well defined only in the late 4th century BC onwards by the dramatist Rhinthon. Five authors of this genre are known by name; Rhinthon and Sciras of Taranto, Blaesus of Capri, Sopater of Paphos and Heraclides.

Asebeia (Ancient Greek: ἀσέβεια) was a criminal charge in ancient Greece for the "desecration and mockery of divine objects", for "irreverence towards the state gods" and disrespect towards parents and dead ancestors. In English, the word is typically translated as 'impiety' or 'ungodliness'. Most evidence for it comes from ancient Athens.

The antonym of asebeia is eusebeia (εὐσέβεια), which can be translated as "piety". As piety was the generally desired and expected form of behaviour and mindset, being called and regarded impious (ἀσεβής) was already a form of punishment.