In Greek mythology, twelve gods and goddesses ruled the universe from atop Greece's Mount Olympus. These Olympians had come to power after their leader, Zeus, overthrew his father, Kronos, leader of the Titans. All the Olympians are related to one another. The Romans adopted most of these Greek gods and goddesses, but with new names.
Zeus (Roman name: Jupiter)
The most powerful of all, Zeus was god of the sky and the king of Olympus. His temper affected the weather, and he threw thunderbolts when he was unhappy. He was married to Hera but had many other lovers. His symbols include the oak and the thunderbolt.
Hera (Roman name: Juno)
Hera was goddess of marriage and the queen of Olympus. She was Zeus's wife and sister; many myths tell of how she sought revenge when Zeus betrayed her with his lovers. Her symbols include the peacock and the cow.
Poseidon was god of the sea. He was the most powerful god except for his brother, Zeus. He lived in a beautiful palace under the sea and caused earthquakes when he was in a temper. His symbols include the horse and the trident (a three-pronged pitchfork).
Hades (Roman name: Pluto)
Hades was king of the dead. He lived in the underworld, the heavily guarded land where he ruled over the dead. He was the brother of Zeus and the husband of Persephone, Demeter's daughter, whom he kidnapped.
Aphrodite (Roman name: Venus)
Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty, and the protector of sailors. She may have been the daughter of Zeus and the Titan Dione, or she may have risen from the sea on a shell. Her symbols include the myrtle tree and the dove.
Apollo
Apollo was the god of music and healing. He was also an archer, and hunted with a silver bow. Apollo was the son of Zeus and the Titan Leto, and the twin of Artemis. His symbols include the laurel tree, the crow, and the dolphin.
Ares (Roman name: Mars)
Ares was the god of war. He was both cruel and a coward. Ares was the son of Zeus and Hera, but neither of his parents liked him. His symbols include the vulture and the dog, and he often carried a bloody spear.
Artemis (Roman name: Diana)
Artemis was the goddess of the hunt and the protector of women in childbirth. She hunted with silver arrows and loved all wild animals. Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin of Apollo. Her symbols include the cypress tree and the deer.
Athena (Roman name: Minerva)
Athena was the goddess of wisdom. She was also skilled in the art of war, and helped heroes such as Odysseus and Hercules. Athena sprang full-grown from the forehead of Zeus, and became his favorite child. Her symbols include the owl and the olive tree.
Hephaestus (Roman name: Vulcan)
Hephaestus was the god of fire and the forge (a furnace in which metal is heated). Although he made armor and weapons for the gods, he loved peace. He was the son of Zeus and Hera and married Aphrodite. His symbols include the anvil and the forge.
Hestia (Roman name: Vesta)
Hestia was the goddess of the hearth (a fireplace at the center of the home). She was the most gentle of the gods, and does not play a role in many myths. Hestia was the sister of Zeus and the oldest of the Olympians. Fire is among her symbols.
Hermes (Roman name: Mercury)
Hermes was the messenger god, a trickster, and a friend to thieves. He was said to have invented boxing and gymnastics. He was the son of Zeus and the constellation Maia. The speediest of all, he wore winged sandals and a winged hat and carried a magic wand.
…also sometimes included:
Demeter (Roman name: Ceres)
Demeter was the goddess of the harvest. The word “cereal” comes from her Roman name. She was the sister of Zeus. Her daughter, Persephone, was forced to live with Hades each winter; at this time Demeter let no crops grow. Her symbols include wheat.
Dionysus (Roman name: Bacchus)
Dionysus was the god of wine, which he invented. In ancient Greece Dionysus was honored with springtime festivals that centered on theater. Dionysus was the son of Zeus and Semele, a mortal. His symbols include ivy, the snake, and grapes.
(http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0881990.html)
The Romance of Cupid & Psyche
Once upon a time there was a king with three daughters, all were lovely, but the youngest named Psyche, excelled her sisters in beauty so much that she seemed like a goddess. The fame of her beauty spread far and wide and soon many people came to worship her. Meanwhile the real goddess of love, Venus (Aphrodite) became neglected as fewer people came to her temples to make offerings and pay her homage.
Venus grew jealous of Psyche and turned to her son Cupid (Eros) for help. She told Cupid to go and shoot Psyche with an arrow as to make her fall in love with the most vile and horrible creature on the earth. Cupid took up his bow and arrow, flew earthward, had one look at Psyche and was lost. No victim of his gold arrows was more deeply in love than he.
While everyone worshipped and admired Psyche, her beauty was so awesome that men were fearful to express their longing and desire for her or make plain their sentiments. Both her sisters though less lovely than Psyche had gotten married. So Psyche sat sad and solitary, only to be admired but not loved.
Psyche's father began to suspect some curse had fallen on his youngest daughter, and went to the nearby town of Miletus to consult the oracle of Apollo. The oracle said that Psyche was to be dressed in clothes of mourning and placed on the summit of a mountain. There she would be taken away by a fierce winged serpent as his wife. So the sad parents prepared this funereal marriage for their unfortunate daughter. All the people of the town mourned and wept, and Psyche was escorted to the appointed mountain top and left to her fate.
As she sat atop the mountain Psyche wept and trembled not knowing what was to come. Suddenly a warm breath of wind caressed her neck and the invisible wind god Zephyrus lifted her up and away until she came down upon a soft fragrant valley far below. Psyche had forgotten all her fears here and fell asleep. When she woke, she saw a magnificient palace in the distance and hastened towards it. At the threshold of this unguarded and uninhabited mansion, she heard a voice telling her: “All this is yours. Come bathe and refresh your tired limbs and prepare for dinner. We are here near you, but invisible and will satisfy your every wish and desire.”
The food was delicious and the bath so refreshing. While Psyche dined, she heard sweet melodious music, but could not see who was playing. As the day passed she began to feel reassured that she would soon meet her husband. As night came she heard the sweet whispers of her husband's voice in her ears and realized that he was no monster of terror, but someone she had so desperately longed for. However with each dawn, her husband was gone, leaving Psyche alone in the giant palace.
As time passed, Psyche had become accustomed to a life of luxury. Because the time with her husband was only at night and so brief, she became bored and restless. One night she begged her husband to permit her sisters to visit her. Reluctantly he consented but warned her not to discuss him or the nature of their life together. Her sisters greeted her with warm embraces. But they became jealous when they realized their wealth was nothing in comparison with hers. So they began plotting a way to ruin her.
Psyche's sisters began to arouse suspicion and fear that her husband of the dark was not some handsome god, but really the serpent monster prophesied by the oracle of Apollo. “Be careful or one night he would devour you,” they warned her “arm yourself with a sharp knife, and check out his face with a lamp when he's asleep.”
Psyche's heart began to fill with terror instead of love. That very night she did as her sisters suggested and when her husband was asleep, she took a sharp dagger to bed and lit her oil lamp. When the light came on, she realized it was not a monster but the most beautiful man she had ever seen. In fact, her husband was none other than Cupid himself in all his glory. Shocked by her finding, she trembled and a drop of hot oil from the lamp fell on Cupid's shoulder and the pain awakened him. At the sight of this mistrust, Cupid fled without a word.
Psyche roamed all night in search of her husband but there was no sight of him. Meanwhile Cupid had gone to his mother's chamber to have his wound cared for, but as soon as Venus heard the story she left Cupid in his pain. She became even more jealous and angry. She vowed to show Psyche what it felt like to bring down the wrath of a goddess.
Psyche's search for Cupid was to no avail. Finally she went to Venus herself and begged forgiveness and offered to do penance so she could see Cupid again. Venus was angry at seeing Psyche, but would grant her wish if she completed a series of formidable tasks. She led Psyche to her temple storehouse where there was one huge heap of wheat, barley, millet, beans, lentils and poppy seeds— and said “Sort these grains, putting all of the same kind in a pile by themselves, and get it done before twilight.” Then Venus departed, leaving Psyche to her dilemma.
As Psyche sat in despair, overwhelmed by her impossible task, Cupid stirred up a little ant to take compassion on her. The leader of the ant hill summoned an army of his six-legged creatures to help. Wave after wave of ants lined up as if for battle and before nightfall all the seeds were arranged in ordered neat piles. Then the brave ants returned whence they had come. When Venus returned from her banquet, she was surprised that Psyche had completed her chore. “Your work is by no means done” said Venus. She threw Psyche a piece of black bread for her supper and went away.
The next morning, Venus devised a more perilous task for Psyche. “Look down in the valley below,” she ordered, “there are sheep grazing near the riverbank with fleece of gold. Go and bring back to me some of the golden wool from their backs.” When Psyche reached the river, she thought of ending her sorrow by drowning herself, but a voice bade her not to: “Do not give up hope, fair Psyche— the rams are ferocious and will kill you when you get close. Wait till sunset when the flock is tired and resting. Then you may gather the golden fleece sticking to the bushes and tree trunks.” So Psyche followed the plan and brought Venus her fleece of gold.
Venus then tested Psyche's courage and demanded a jar of ice-cold water cascading out of a mountain peak. As she approached the waterfall, Psyche realized that only a winged creature could reach it. This time the eagle of Jupiter came to her aid. He seized the flask from her with his beak, filled it under the falling mountain stream, and placed it quickly in Psyche's anxious hands.
But Venus had one final task for Psyche— “Go down to the Underworld and ask Proserpina (Persephone) to fill this box with some of her beauty.” Psyche found her guide in a tower on her path. It gave her careful directions on how to get to Proserpina's palace. She was told to bring two coins in her mouth as round-trip fees for Charon, the Styx ferryman, and six honey cakes to feed the three-headed monster dog Cerberus on her way in and out of the palace gates. Psyche followed her guide's instruction precisely and Proserpina was happy to do Venus a favor, handing back to Psyche the box filled with an elixir of beauty.
The voice in the tower had warned Psyche not to remove the lid of the box, reminding her the evil spell that befell Pandora. However, Psyche was curious to see the beauty-charm in the box. With all the trials and tribulations she had gone through, she needed some beauty potion if she was to see her husband Cupid again. She opened the box but there was nothing inside. Suddenly a heavy mist arose from its chamber and caused her to fall into a deathlike sleep.
Cupid's wound was finally healed, and he could bear no longer the absence of his beloved Psyche. He slipped through the windows of his mother's chamber, and flew to the spot where Psyche had fallen. He stirred Psyche awake with a light touch of one of his arrows— “Again, you have almost perished by your curiosity.” He wiped the sleep from her eyes and placed it into the box. Cupid told her to take the box to his mother and all would be fine. To make sure, Cupid flew up to Mount Olympus and spoke with Jupiter himself. Although Cupid had been playful, making gods & goddess fall in love with his arrows at will, he agreed to end his mischief. Jupiter summoned all the gods, including Venus, and announced the marriage of Cupid and Psyche. Mercury brought Psyche to the palace of the gods, and Jupiter himself gave her the ambrosia to make her immortal. Venus was finally satisfied, for with Psyche up in Heaven, she would not command attention and admiration from the men on earth. In due time, Psyche and Cupid had a daughter who was given the name Pleasure.
(http://www.wisdomportal.com/Romance/Cupid-Psyche.html)
Plot Overview
Nine years after the start of the Trojan War, the Greek (“Achaean”) army sacks Chryse, a town allied with Troy. During the battle, the Achaeans capture a pair of beautiful maidens, Chryseis and Briseis. Agamemnon, the leader of the Achaean forces, takes Chryseis as his prize, and Achilles, the Achaeans’ greatest warrior, claims Briseis. Chryseis’s father, Chryses, who serves as a priest of the god Apollo, offers an enormous ransom in return for his daughter, but Agamemnon refuses to give Chryseis back. Chryses then prays to Apollo, who sends a plague upon the Achaean camp.
After many Achaeans die, Agamemnon consults the prophet Calchas to determine the cause of the plague. When he learns that Chryseis is the cause, he reluctantly gives her up but then demands Briseis from Achilles as compensation. Furious at this insult, Achilles returns to his tent in the army camp and refuses to fight in the war any longer. He vengefully yearns to see the Achaeans destroyed and asks his mother, the sea-nymph Thetis, to enlist the services of Zeus, king of the gods, toward this end. The Trojan and Achaean sides have declared a cease-fire with each other, but now the Trojans breach the treaty and Zeus comes to their aid.
With Zeus supporting the Trojans and Achilles refusing to fight, the Achaeans suffer great losses. Several days of fierce conflict ensue, including duels between Paris and Menelaus and between Hector and Ajax. The Achaeans make no progress; even the heroism of the great Achaean warrior Diomedes proves fruitless. The Trojans push the Achaeans back, forcing them to take refuge behind the ramparts that protect their ships. The Achaeans begin to nurture some hope for the future when a nighttime reconnaissance mission by Diomedes and Odysseus yields information about the Trojans’ plans, but the next day brings disaster. Several Achaean commanders become wounded, and the Trojans break through the Achaean ramparts. They advance all the way up to the boundary of the Achaean camp and set fire to one of the ships. Defeat seems imminent, because without the ships, the army will be stranded at Troy and almost certainly destroyed.
Concerned for his comrades but still too proud to help them himself, Achilles agrees to a plan proposed by Nestor that will allow his beloved friend Patroclus to take his place in battle, wearing his armor. Patroclus is a fine warrior, and his presence on the battlefield helps the Achaeans push the Trojans away from the ships and back to the city walls. But the counterattack soon falters. Apollo knocks Patroclus’s armor to the ground, and Hector slays him. Fighting then breaks out as both sides try to lay claim to the body and armor. Hector ends up with the armor, but the Achaeans, thanks to a courageous effort by Menelaus and others, manage to bring the body back to their camp. When Achilles discovers that Hector has killed Patroclus, he fills with such grief and rage that he agrees to reconcile with Agamemnon and rejoin the battle. Thetis goes to Mount Olympus and persuades the god Hephaestus to forge Achilles a new suit of armor, which she presents to him the next morning. Achilles then rides out to battle at the head of the Achaean army.
Meanwhile, Hector, not expecting Achilles to rejoin the battle, has ordered his men to camp outside the walls of Troy. But when the Trojan army glimpses Achilles, it flees in terror back behind the city walls. Achilles cuts down every Trojan he sees. Strengthened by his rage, he even fights the god of the river Xanthus, who is angered that Achilles has caused so many corpses to fall into his streams. Finally, Achilles confronts Hector outside the walls of Troy. Ashamed at the poor advice that he gave his comrades, Hector refuses to flee inside the city with them. Achilles chases him around the city’s periphery three times, but the goddess Athena finally tricks Hector into turning around and fighting Achilles. In a dramatic duel, Achilles kills Hector. He then lashes the body to the back of his chariot and drags it across the battlefield to the Achaean camp. Upon Achilles’ arrival, the triumphant Achaeans celebrate Patroclus’s funeral with a long series of athletic games in his honor. Each day for the next nine days, Achilles drags Hector’s body in circles around Patroclus’s funeral bier.
At last, the gods agree that Hector deserves a proper burial. Zeus sends the god Hermes to escort King Priam, Hector’s father and the ruler of Troy, into the Achaean camp. Priam tearfully pleads with Achilles to take pity on a father bereft of his son and return Hector’s body. He invokes the memory of Achilles’ own father, Peleus. Deeply moved, Achilles finally relents and returns Hector’s corpse to the Trojans. Both sides agree to a temporary truce, and Hector receives a hero’s funeral.
(http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/iliad/summary.html)
