Greek gods family tree

The Greek gods were one big, quarrelsome family. Zeus married his sister, swallowed his first wife, and had children with goddesses, nymphs and mortal women all over Greece. His father had swallowed him, or tried to, and his grandfather had pushed his own children back into the earth. Here is the whole family on one page, from Mother Earth to the Olympians. Zeus, the king of the gods, is the star, with his brothers Poseidon and Hades, Demeter and her daughter Persephone, Aphrodite and Dionysus beside him.

The Greeks told these stories in many different ways. This tree follows the poet Hesiod, whose Theogony, written around 700 BC, is the oldest full account of where the gods came from. Where Homer tells it differently, we say so.

Gaia and Uranus

In the beginning there was Chaos. Out of it came Gaia, the earth, and Gaia gave birth to Uranus, the sky, who covered her on every side. Together they had twelve children, the Titans, along with the one-eyed Cyclopes and three monsters with a hundred hands each. Uranus hated his children and pushed them back inside the earth. Gaia, in pain and furious, made a great sickle and asked her sons to stop him. Only the youngest, Cronus, dared. He ambushed his father and overthrew him.

From the sea where that happened rose Aphrodite, the goddess of love, fully grown in the foam off Cyprus. That's why she sits in the Titans' row on this tree, a generation above the other Olympians. Homer tells it differently and makes her a daughter of Zeus.

The Titans

The tree shows seven of the twelve Titans, the ones whose children matter most to the story:

• Cronus and Rhea, who became king and queen, and were the parents of the first Olympians.
• Oceanus and Tethys, the great river that ran round the world and his sister-wife. Their daughter Metis was Zeus's first wife.
• Hyperion and Theia, the parents of Helios the sun, Selene the moon and Eos the dawn.
• Iapetus, the father of Atlas, who was made to hold up the sky, and Prometheus, who stole fire for people.

Cronus swallows his children

Cronus was warned that one of his own children would overthrow him, just as he had overthrown his father. So each time his wife Rhea gave birth, he swallowed the baby whole: first Hestia, then Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon. When her sixth child was born, Rhea hid him in a cave on Crete and gave Cronus a stone wrapped in a blanket instead. He swallowed that without noticing.

The baby was Zeus. When he was grown, he made Cronus bring up his brothers and sisters, and the stone too. Together they fought the Titans for ten years and won. The three brothers drew lots for the world: Zeus got the sky, Poseidon the sea and Hades the underworld.

Zeus and his many partners

Zeus has more lines on this tree than anyone. Hesiod lists his wives one after another, and other stories add more partners:

Hera was jealous of every one of them, and many of the best-known myths are about her revenge. Hesiod also says she had Hephaestus on her own, to get even with Zeus for Athena. Homer makes him Zeus's son, which is how the tree shows it.

The twelve Olympians

The gods who ruled from Mount Olympus are usually counted as twelve. All of them are on the tree:

• Zeus, king of the gods, the sky and thunder
• Hera, queen of the gods and goddess of marriage
• Poseidon, the sea and earthquakes
• Demeter, the harvest
• Athena, wisdom and war, and the goddess of Athens
• Apollo, music, poetry and the sun
• Artemis, hunting and the moon
• Ares, war
• Aphrodite, love
• Hephaestus, fire and the forge
• Hermes, the messenger of the gods
• Hestia, the hearth, or Dionysus, wine. Some lists have one, some the other. A later retelling says Hestia gave up her seat to Dionysus to keep the peace.

Hades was as great as his brothers, but he lived in the underworld, not on Olympus, so he isn't usually counted. He carried off Persephone, his niece, to be his queen. Because she ate six pomegranate seeds there, she has to spend part of every year with him. While she's gone her mother Demeter mourns and nothing grows, which is how the Greeks explained winter.

Heroes

Zeus's children with mortal women were heroes, not gods. The greatest was Heracles (Hercules to the Romans), famous for his twelve labours. When he died, Zeus took him up to Olympus and made him a god, and he married Hera's daughter Hebe, the goddess of youth. Dionysus, the son of the mortal Semele, became a full Olympian.

How we made this tree

We made it on PeoplePlotr by writing the family down as a story, in plain sentences like these:

Everyone in the family had olive skin.
Cronus married Rhea. They had six children, Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus.
Zeus is a man. Zeus was a god of the sky and thunder. Zeus has long white hair and a white beard and wears a crown.
Zeus and Leto had twins, Apollo and Artemis.
Apollo has short curly blonde hair and wears a laurel wreath.
Make Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, Persephone, Aphrodite and Dionysus the stars.

The last sentence makes them the stars of the tree, so they're drawn full length, a size bigger than everyone else, in the Greek design's long chitons, each standing on a step with the key pattern. We picked the three brothers who divided up the world, Demeter and Persephone for the story of the seasons, and two with unusual births: Aphrodite, who rose from the sea, and Dionysus, the son of a mortal woman who became an Olympian. Laurel wreaths, flower crowns and crowns come from the story too. The whole story is below, if you'd like to borrow it for a school project.

Quick answers

Who were Zeus's parents?

The Titans Cronus and Rhea. His grandparents were Gaia, the earth, and Uranus, the sky.

Was Hera Zeus's sister?

Yes. Hera, Demeter, Hestia, Hades and Poseidon were all his brothers and sisters, the children of Cronus and Rhea. Zeus married Hera, and also had a daughter, Persephone, with Demeter.

Who was Athena's mother?

Metis, Zeus's first wife. Zeus swallowed her while she was pregnant, and Athena was later born from his head, fully grown and in armour.

Are Apollo and Artemis twins?

Yes. They're the children of Zeus and the Titan Leto, born on the island of Delos.

Is Aphrodite Zeus's daughter?

In Homer, yes, with a goddess called Dione. In Hesiod, which this tree follows, she was born from the sea and is the daughter of Uranus, so she's actually Zeus's aunt.

Why are the Greek gods related to each other so often?

In the oldest stories there was nobody else to marry. The first gods were born of Earth and Sky, so their children married each other, and the pattern carried on. The Greeks didn't expect their gods to behave like people.

Title: Greek gods family tree
Everyone in the family had olive skin.

Gaia married Uranus. Gaia is a woman. Uranus is a man. Gaia was a goddess of the earth. Uranus was a god of the sky.
About Gaia: Mother Earth. In Hesiod's story of how the world began, she came out of Chaos and gave birth to the sky, the mountains and the sea.
About Uranus: The sky, who lay over the earth. He hated his children and pushed them back inside Gaia, until his son Cronus overthrew him.
Gaia has brown skin and long green hair. Uranus has long white hair, a white beard and dark brown skin.
They had seven children, Cronus, Rhea, Oceanus, Tethys, Hyperion, Theia and Iapetus.
Cronus is a man. Cronus was a Titan king. Cronus has long grey hair and a grey beard.
About Cronus: The youngest Titan, who overthrew his father. Warned that a child of his would do the same to him, he swallowed each of his children as soon as they were born.
Rhea is a woman. Rhea was a Titan.
About Rhea: She saved her youngest son, Zeus, by hiding him in a cave on Crete and giving Cronus a stone wrapped in a blanket to swallow instead.
Oceanus is a man. Oceanus was a god of the ocean. Tethys is a woman. Tethys was a sea goddess.
Hyperion is a man. Hyperion was a god of light. Theia is a woman. Theia was a goddess of sight.
Iapetus is a man. Iapetus was a Titan.
Uranus is the father of Aphrodite. Aphrodite is a woman. Aphrodite was a goddess of love. Aphrodite has long wavy golden hair and wears a flower crown.
About Aphrodite: In Hesiod she rose fully grown from the sea foam off Cyprus, so she belongs to an older generation than the Olympians. Homer calls her a daughter of Zeus instead.

Cronus married Rhea. They had six children, Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus.
Hestia is a woman. Hestia was a goddess of the hearth. Hestia has long brown hair.
About Hestia: The eldest, and the first to be swallowed. She kept the fire burning at the heart of every home, and gave up her seat on Olympus to keep the peace.
Demeter is a woman. Demeter was a goddess of the harvest. Demeter has long blonde hair.
Hera is a woman. Hera was a goddess of marriage. Hera has long dark brown hair and wears a crown.
About Hera: Queen of the gods, and Zeus's wife. Her husband's affairs made her famously jealous.
Hades is a man. Hades was a god of the underworld. Hades has short black hair and a black beard.
About Hades: When the three brothers drew lots for the world, Hades got the underworld. He seldom left it.
Poseidon is a man. Poseidon was a god of the sea. Poseidon has long grey hair and a grey beard.
About Poseidon: He drew the sea, and carried a trident that could shake the earth.
Zeus is a man. Zeus was a god of the sky and thunder. Zeus has long white hair and a white beard and wears a crown.
About Zeus: The youngest of Cronus's children, and the only one who wasn't swallowed. He grew up in secret, made his father bring up his brothers and sisters, and led them to victory over the Titans. He ruled from Mount Olympus and threw thunderbolts.

Oceanus married Tethys. They had a daughter called Metis. Metis is a woman. Metis was a goddess of wisdom.
About Metis: Zeus's first wife. Told that her son would overthrow him, Zeus swallowed her while she was pregnant, and her daughter Athena was later born from his head.
Hyperion married Theia. They had three children, Helios, Selene and Eos. Helios is a man. Helios was a god of the sun. Selene is a woman. Selene was a goddess of the moon. Eos is a woman. Eos was a goddess of the dawn.
Iapetus had two sons, Atlas and Prometheus. Atlas is a man. Atlas was a Titan. Prometheus is a man. Prometheus was a Titan.
About Atlas: He fought for the Titans, and his punishment was to hold up the sky for ever.
About Prometheus: He stole fire from the gods and gave it to people. Zeus chained him to a rock as a punishment.

Zeus married Hera. They had three children, Ares, Hephaestus and Hebe.
Ares is a man. Ares was a god of war. Ares has short black hair and a black beard.
Hephaestus is a man. Hephaestus was a god of fire and the forge. Hephaestus has short brown hair and a brown beard.
About Hephaestus: The craftsman of the gods, who made Zeus's thunderbolts and Achilles's armour in his forge. Hesiod says Hera had him on her own. He was married to Aphrodite, who was unfaithful to him with Ares.
Hebe is a woman. Hebe was a goddess of youth.

Zeus married Metis. They had a daughter called Athena. Athena is a woman. Athena was a goddess of wisdom and war. Athena has long dark brown hair.
About Athena: Born from Zeus's head, fully grown and in armour. Athens was named after her.
Zeus and Leto had twins, Apollo and Artemis. Leto is a woman. Leto was a Titan.
Apollo is a man. Apollo was a god of music and the sun. Apollo has short curly blonde hair and wears a laurel wreath.
Artemis is a woman. Artemis was a goddess of hunting and the moon. Artemis has long auburn hair.
Zeus and Maia had a son called Hermes. Maia is a woman. Maia was a nymph.
About Maia: A mountain nymph, the eldest daughter of Atlas, who lived in a cave on Mount Cyllene. Hermes is a man. Hermes was a messenger god. Hermes has short curly brown hair.
About Hermes: A trickster who stole Apollo's cattle on the day he was born.
Zeus and Demeter had a daughter called Persephone. Persephone is a woman. Persephone was a goddess of spring. Persephone has long black hair and wears a flower crown.
About Persephone: Hades carried her off to the underworld. Because she ate six pomegranate seeds there, she must spend part of every year with him, and while she is away her mother Demeter mourns and nothing grows. That is why we have winter.
Zeus and Semele had a son called Dionysus. Semele is a woman. Semele was a princess of Thebes.
About Semele: A mortal woman, the only mother of one of the Olympians who wasn't a goddess.
Dionysus is a man. Dionysus was a god of wine. Dionysus has long curly black hair and wears a laurel wreath.
Zeus and Alcmene had a son called Heracles. Alcmene is a woman. Alcmene was a queen of Thebes.
Heracles is a man. Heracles was a hero. Heracles has short curly brown hair and a brown beard.
About Heracles: The strongest of all the heroes, famous for his twelve labours. When he died, Zeus made him a god.

Hades married Persephone.
Heracles married Hebe.
Poseidon married Amphitrite. Amphitrite is a woman. Amphitrite was a sea goddess. Amphitrite has long blue-green hair.
They had a son called Triton. Triton is a man. Triton was a merman.

Make Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, Persephone, Aphrodite and Dionysus the stars.