WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.980 If I were to ask you right now to name the 12 00:00:04.980 --> 00:00:07.459 Olympians of Greek mythology. Makes right on 00:00:07.459 --> 00:00:09.480 the spot. Yeah, right on the spot. Who makes 00:00:09.480 --> 00:00:11.800 the cut? Take a second. It sounds like a really 00:00:11.800 --> 00:00:14.220 simple trivia question. It does. You probably 00:00:14.220 --> 00:00:19.059 immediately think of Zeus, maybe Athena, definitely 00:00:19.059 --> 00:00:21.600 Apollo. Right. But the deeper you look into the 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:24.140 historical and mythological reality, the more 00:00:24.140 --> 00:00:26.570 you realize that this Seemingly straightforward 00:00:26.570 --> 00:00:29.410 list is actually this incredibly tangled web. 00:00:29.410 --> 00:00:32.450 Oh, totally It is a massive complicated intersection 00:00:32.450 --> 00:00:35.850 of ancient politics Varying local cults and just 00:00:35.850 --> 00:00:37.890 shifting family trees and we're thrilled you're 00:00:37.890 --> 00:00:40.250 joining us for this deep dive because we were 00:00:40.250 --> 00:00:42.890 taking a stack of Incredibly detailed source 00:00:42.890 --> 00:00:45.710 material today. Yes, we are. We've got this comprehensive 00:00:45.710 --> 00:00:48.450 meticulously detailed encyclopedic breakdown 00:00:48.450 --> 00:00:51.329 of the 12 Olympians It covers their genealogy 00:00:51.329 --> 00:00:53.929 their historical worship and really the staggering 00:00:53.929 --> 00:00:56.869 broader unit of Greek mythology. And we are extracting 00:00:56.869 --> 00:00:59.130 the absolute best insights to help you understand 00:00:59.130 --> 00:01:01.329 what was really going on in the ancient world. 00:01:01.609 --> 00:01:04.069 Because the mission for this deep dive is to 00:01:04.069 --> 00:01:09.409 look past the modern, sanitized pop culture versions 00:01:09.409 --> 00:01:11.769 of these gods. Right, the versions we see in 00:01:11.769 --> 00:01:14.969 cartoons. Exactly. We are so used to seeing them 00:01:14.969 --> 00:01:18.209 as statues in a museum, but we want to discover 00:01:18.209 --> 00:01:20.590 how ancient Greeks actually categorize them. 00:01:20.670 --> 00:01:23.530 why the number 12 was so mystical and important. 00:01:23.829 --> 00:01:26.930 And the surprising, sometimes honestly bizarre 00:01:26.930 --> 00:01:29.870 technicalities of who actually gets to live on 00:01:29.870 --> 00:01:32.189 Mount Olympus. Because the rules of this ancient 00:01:32.189 --> 00:01:34.709 religion were a lot more fluid and frankly a 00:01:34.709 --> 00:01:36.769 lot more chaotic than we tend to think today. 00:01:36.909 --> 00:01:39.030 They really were. Okay, so let's unpack this. 00:01:39.409 --> 00:01:41.769 Because to really understand the 12 Olympians, 00:01:42.030 --> 00:01:43.909 we have to start with how they actually got their 00:01:43.909 --> 00:01:46.189 power. And it was absolutely not handed to them. 00:01:46.329 --> 00:01:49.109 Not at all. The Olympians are not the first gods, 00:01:49.329 --> 00:01:52.230 not even close. Right. They are primarily a third 00:01:52.230 --> 00:01:54.689 and fourth generation of immortal beings. They 00:01:54.689 --> 00:01:58.209 gain their supremacy through a brutal 10 -year 00:01:58.209 --> 00:02:01.129 long cosmic war against the previous generation 00:02:01.129 --> 00:02:04.290 of ruling immortals, the Titans. Which completely 00:02:04.290 --> 00:02:06.170 reframes how you view their authority, I think. 00:02:06.250 --> 00:02:09.509 How so? Well, the universe in ancient Greek eyes 00:02:09.509 --> 00:02:11.930 wasn't created in a state of peaceful harmony 00:02:11.930 --> 00:02:16.639 by a loving creator. It was conquered. The Olympians, 00:02:16.680 --> 00:02:19.780 led by Zeus, violently overthrew their own parents, 00:02:20.159 --> 00:02:23.039 the Titans, Cronus and Rhea. And Cronus and Rhea 00:02:23.039 --> 00:02:25.500 had previously overthrown their own parents, 00:02:25.780 --> 00:02:28.680 the primordial deities Gaia and Uranus. Exactly. 00:02:28.860 --> 00:02:30.860 It's an endless cycle of violent succession. 00:02:31.020 --> 00:02:33.620 So when we talk about Mount Olympus, we shouldn't 00:02:33.620 --> 00:02:36.939 picture a lovely, peaceful home in the clouds. 00:02:37.039 --> 00:02:39.680 No, it was the ultimate high ground, one in a 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:42.300 brutal war. It was a fortress for the victors. 00:02:42.460 --> 00:02:45.080 Ten years of cosmic warfare. You can only imagine 00:02:45.080 --> 00:02:47.879 the kind of destruction that implies in a mythological 00:02:47.879 --> 00:02:50.080 setting. God's hurling mountains at each other. 00:02:50.180 --> 00:02:53.099 The earth cracking open. And because the younger 00:02:53.099 --> 00:02:56.199 generation won, they get to reside atop Mount 00:02:56.199 --> 00:02:58.379 Olympus, which is how they get the name Olympians. 00:02:58.740 --> 00:03:01.800 But this brings us to a massive glaring exception. 00:03:02.120 --> 00:03:04.259 The absolute elephant in the room. Yep. And it's 00:03:04.259 --> 00:03:06.099 an elephant that trips up almost everyone who 00:03:06.099 --> 00:03:07.860 takes that trivia quiz I mentioned at the start, 00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:11.319 Hades. Hades is a major foundational deity in 00:03:11.319 --> 00:03:13.939 the Greek pantheon. He's the brother of Zeus, 00:03:14.219 --> 00:03:17.599 Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia. He's a first 00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:20.020 generation offspring of the Titans. Right. And 00:03:20.020 --> 00:03:22.840 he fought in that exact same 10 year war against 00:03:22.840 --> 00:03:26.120 Cronus. By all rights of blood and participation 00:03:26.120 --> 00:03:29.240 in that cosmic shift of power, you would assume 00:03:29.240 --> 00:03:32.819 he is an Olympian. but he is almost never considered 00:03:32.819 --> 00:03:35.039 to be one. Which feels like a massive slight. 00:03:35.460 --> 00:03:37.919 It does, but it actually comes down to literal 00:03:37.919 --> 00:03:40.659 real estate. His realm is the underworld. He 00:03:40.659 --> 00:03:43.860 is physically located far, far away from Olympus. 00:03:43.979 --> 00:03:46.080 So he doesn't get the title. He's not a resident 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:47.639 of the mountain, so he doesn't get the Olympian 00:03:47.639 --> 00:03:51.379 badge. That geographic reality reveals a fundamental 00:03:51.379 --> 00:03:54.259 divide in how the ancient Greeks actually practiced 00:03:54.259 --> 00:03:56.180 their religion, doesn't it? It really does. It's 00:03:56.180 --> 00:03:59.000 called the Chthonic divide. Chthonic. Yes. Chthonic 00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:01.460 essentially refers to things concerning the earth 00:04:01.460 --> 00:04:04.539 and the underworld. The Olympic gods, the ones 00:04:04.539 --> 00:04:07.259 up in the sky on the mountain, were worshipped 00:04:07.259 --> 00:04:09.300 in a completely different manner than the Chthonic 00:04:09.300 --> 00:04:12.830 gods, like Hades and his wife Persephone. I love 00:04:12.830 --> 00:04:14.870 the architectural difference in how they were 00:04:14.870 --> 00:04:17.649 worshipped here. It's so literal. It is. If you 00:04:17.649 --> 00:04:20.569 are sacrificing to an Olympic god, you used a 00:04:20.569 --> 00:04:22.889 standard altar. You raised it up off the ground. 00:04:22.990 --> 00:04:25.389 You're essentially sending your sacrifice upward 00:04:25.389 --> 00:04:27.569 toward the sky, toward the mountain. But if you're 00:04:27.569 --> 00:04:30.209 sacrificing to Hades or Persephone, you do the 00:04:30.209 --> 00:04:33.050 exact opposite. You send it down. Right. You 00:04:33.050 --> 00:04:36.930 would use what the Greeks called a bothros, which 00:04:36.930 --> 00:04:40.329 translates to a pit, or a megaron, which is a 00:04:40.329 --> 00:04:42.300 sunken chamber. Think about it like the difference 00:04:42.300 --> 00:04:45.480 between sending a letter up to a penthouse suite 00:04:45.480 --> 00:04:48.319 versus dropping a package down a basement chute. 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:50.779 That's a great way to put it. You are physically 00:04:50.779 --> 00:04:53.379 directing your worship, pouring the libations 00:04:53.379 --> 00:04:56.160 or the blood of the sacrifice directly into the 00:04:56.160 --> 00:04:59.100 earth. It is a completely different, much darker, 00:04:59.259 --> 00:05:01.839 more visceral mode of sacrifice. It perfectly 00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:05.180 illustrates how geography and domain dictated 00:05:05.180 --> 00:05:08.079 religious practice. Hades isn't on the mountain. 00:05:08.319 --> 00:05:10.339 So you don't look up to worship him. You look 00:05:10.339 --> 00:05:12.360 down. Here's where it gets really interesting, 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:15.379 though. We have this idea of the 12 Olympians 00:05:15.379 --> 00:05:18.879 as a strict, canonical, universally agreed upon 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:21.980 list. Like a Supreme Court of Gods. Exactly. 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:25.500 But when you look at how actual humans in ancient 00:05:25.500 --> 00:05:28.139 Greece worshipped them as a specific group of 00:05:28.139 --> 00:05:31.360 12, that strictness completely falls apart. It 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:33.660 does. The magic number was always 12, but the 00:05:33.660 --> 00:05:35.920 roster changed depending on where you were standing. 00:05:36.189 --> 00:05:39.110 The Greeks actually had a specific word for this 00:05:39.110 --> 00:05:42.629 concept, dodecaetheion. It comes from dodeca 00:05:42.629 --> 00:05:46.490 meaning 12 and theoi meaning gods. And the earliest 00:05:46.490 --> 00:05:48.610 archaeological and literary evidence we have 00:05:48.610 --> 00:05:51.430 of this specific 12 gods cult practice comes 00:05:51.430 --> 00:05:54.029 from the late 6th century BC. But as you mentioned, 00:05:54.410 --> 00:05:57.290 what that meant in practice varied wildly from 00:05:57.290 --> 00:05:59.290 city -state to city -state. Let's talk about 00:05:59.290 --> 00:06:02.009 the altar in Athens because this perfectly illustrates 00:06:02.009 --> 00:06:03.990 why this mattered to the everyday person living 00:06:03.990 --> 00:06:06.430 back then. According to the ancient historian 00:06:06.430 --> 00:06:09.949 Thucydides, an altar of the 12 gods was established 00:06:09.949 --> 00:06:12.829 in the Agora, the central public gathering space 00:06:12.829 --> 00:06:15.329 and marketplace of Athens. This happened around 00:06:15.329 --> 00:06:18.730 522 BC, established by the Archon Pisistratus. 00:06:19.089 --> 00:06:21.149 But this wasn't just a quiet place to pray on 00:06:21.149 --> 00:06:24.470 a Sunday. Not at all. It functioned as the civic 00:06:24.470 --> 00:06:27.149 and geographic anchor of the entire Athenian 00:06:27.149 --> 00:06:31.000 Empire. That altar became the central point from 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:33.180 which all distances from Athens were measured. 00:06:33.459 --> 00:06:36.790 It was literally point zero. Yes. If you saw 00:06:36.790 --> 00:06:40.290 a milestone on a road 50 miles away, that distance 00:06:40.290 --> 00:06:42.850 was measured exactly to the altar of the 12 gods. 00:06:43.110 --> 00:06:45.269 On top of that, it was a recognized place of 00:06:45.269 --> 00:06:47.949 absolute supplication and sanctuary. If you were 00:06:47.949 --> 00:06:50.209 fleeing persecution or violence and you managed 00:06:50.209 --> 00:06:52.949 to touch that altar, you were under the protection 00:06:52.949 --> 00:06:55.490 of the highest cosmic authority. So for anyone 00:06:55.490 --> 00:06:58.670 living in ancient Athens, this altar is the absolute 00:06:58.670 --> 00:07:01.910 physical, spiritual, and administrative epicenter 00:07:01.910 --> 00:07:04.529 of their world. But the membership of those 12 00:07:04.529 --> 00:07:06.990 gods was isn't a universal standard. There are 00:07:06.990 --> 00:07:09.230 these amazing anomalies that pop up, especially 00:07:09.230 --> 00:07:11.389 when we look at the sanctuary of Olympia. Oh, 00:07:11.470 --> 00:07:13.709 the story of Hermes is fantastic for this. It 00:07:13.709 --> 00:07:16.209 really is. There is this story from the Homeric 00:07:16.209 --> 00:07:18.250 hymn to Hermes, which was written around 500 00:07:18.250 --> 00:07:21.410 BC. It features the god Hermes when he is literally 00:07:21.410 --> 00:07:24.709 just a newborn baby. And what does he do? He 00:07:24.709 --> 00:07:27.610 sneaks out of his cradle and steals 50 prized 00:07:27.610 --> 00:07:30.199 cows from his half -brother, Apollo. He even 00:07:30.199 --> 00:07:32.480 makes the cows walk backwards so their tracks 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:34.980 look like they're going the wrong way. The audacity 00:07:34.980 --> 00:07:37.980 of the myth is brilliant, but the crucial theological 00:07:37.980 --> 00:07:40.199 detail in the text is what he does after the 00:07:40.199 --> 00:07:42.980 heist. Right. He slaughters two of the cows, 00:07:43.579 --> 00:07:46.839 drags these rich meats to a smooth, flat stone 00:07:46.839 --> 00:07:49.759 on the banks of the river Alpheus, and he meticulously 00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:53.240 divides the meat into 12 equal portions. He distributes 00:07:53.240 --> 00:07:56.180 them by lot, quote, making each portion wholly 00:07:56.180 --> 00:07:59.259 honorable. He is a brand new god, but he's specifically 00:07:59.449 --> 00:08:02.110 honoring a pre -existing concept of a group of 00:08:02.110 --> 00:08:04.310 12. And it gets even more complicated when we 00:08:04.310 --> 00:08:07.029 look at actual physical shrines built at Olympia. 00:08:07.170 --> 00:08:11.139 The poet Pindar around 480 BC, writes about the 00:08:11.139 --> 00:08:14.100 hero Heracles founding a shrine at Olympia and 00:08:14.100 --> 00:08:16.500 sacrificing to the twelve ruling gods. Pindar 00:08:16.500 --> 00:08:18.879 mentions a setup with six double altars. And 00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:21.199 then, a bit later, the historian Herodorus of 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:24.060 Heraclea gives us a specific list of who was 00:08:24.060 --> 00:08:26.459 actually worshipped on those six double altars. 00:08:26.720 --> 00:08:29.420 Six pairs of gods, each pair sharing a single 00:08:29.420 --> 00:08:32.019 altar. This list is where the idea of a neat, 00:08:32.019 --> 00:08:34.700 canonical twelve completely shatters. Because 00:08:34.700 --> 00:08:37.139 Herodorus tells us the pairs were Zeus sharing 00:08:37.139 --> 00:08:39.460 with Poseidon? Makes sense. Hera sharing with 00:08:39.460 --> 00:08:42.100 Athena, Hermes sharing with Apollo? All of those 00:08:42.100 --> 00:08:44.340 make perfect sense. They are the heavy -hitting 00:08:44.340 --> 00:08:46.980 Olympians we expect. Then we have the Graces 00:08:46.980 --> 00:08:49.899 sharing with Dionysus. The Graces are generally 00:08:49.899 --> 00:08:52.940 considered a trio of minor goddesses of charm 00:08:52.940 --> 00:08:55.580 and beauty, but here they seem to be condensed 00:08:55.580 --> 00:08:58.480 into one slot to share an altar with the god 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:01.139 of wine. And then the final two pairs just throw 00:09:01.139 --> 00:09:03.950 everything out the window. Artemis, the great 00:09:03.950 --> 00:09:06.409 goddess of the hunt, shares an altar with Alphaeus. 00:09:06.789 --> 00:09:09.789 Alphaeus, a local river god. A river god is elevated 00:09:09.789 --> 00:09:12.370 to sit right alongside an Olympian in this supreme 00:09:12.370 --> 00:09:14.809 grouping of 12. It shows how profoundly local 00:09:14.809 --> 00:09:18.169 geography blended with cosmic theology. Exactly. 00:09:18.509 --> 00:09:20.669 The river Alphaeus literally flows right past 00:09:20.669 --> 00:09:22.929 the sanctuary at Olympia. To the people living 00:09:22.929 --> 00:09:25.429 and worshipping there, that water source was 00:09:25.429 --> 00:09:27.750 critical to their daily survival. It was just 00:09:27.750 --> 00:09:30.190 as important in that specific location as the 00:09:30.190 --> 00:09:32.409 goddess of the hunt. So he gets a seat at the 00:09:32.409 --> 00:09:35.529 table. And the final pair, Cronus and Rhea. The 00:09:35.529 --> 00:09:38.190 defeated Titan parents. The ones Zeus just spent 00:09:38.190 --> 00:09:41.450 10 brutal years warring against to overthrow. 00:09:42.230 --> 00:09:44.450 They get a shared altar in this grouping of 12 00:09:44.450 --> 00:09:46.889 at Olympia. It's a phenomenal contradiction. 00:09:47.090 --> 00:09:49.730 Look at the psychology of that. While this specific 00:09:49.730 --> 00:09:52.929 list of 12 at Olympia includes eight of the traditional 00:09:52.929 --> 00:09:56.230 Olympians we recognize, it contains three clear 00:09:56.230 --> 00:09:59.990 non -Olympians, Cronus, Rhea and Alphaeus. It 00:09:59.990 --> 00:10:02.549 proves that the 12 was a rigid, mystical number, 00:10:02.669 --> 00:10:05.330 but a highly flexible concept. Why worship the 00:10:05.330 --> 00:10:08.059 defeated enemy? Because in ancient polytheism, 00:10:08.220 --> 00:10:10.860 just because a god lost a cosmic war doesn't 00:10:10.860 --> 00:10:13.039 mean they cease to exist or cease to hold power 00:10:13.039 --> 00:10:14.960 over the earth. You still appease them? You do. 00:10:15.320 --> 00:10:17.419 Cities and sanctuaries could mix and match the 00:10:17.419 --> 00:10:19.419 membership of their top 12 based on their own 00:10:19.419 --> 00:10:21.559 local traditions, their environment, and their 00:10:21.559 --> 00:10:23.799 specific fears. Other places had their own unique 00:10:23.799 --> 00:10:27.080 cults of 12, too. Delos, Chalcedon, Magnesia, 00:10:27.179 --> 00:10:29.879 Leontinoe, and Sicily. One scholar actually tracked 00:10:29.879 --> 00:10:32.399 this and listed 54 different Greek and Roman 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:35.500 gods who have been explicitly identified as members 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:38.220 of various 12 gods' cults at different times 00:10:38.220 --> 00:10:41.700 and places. 54 gods rotating through 12 folding 00:10:41.700 --> 00:10:44.259 chairs. It's a crowded mountain. So if the list 00:10:44.259 --> 00:10:46.600 was always changing, who actually makes up the 00:10:46.600 --> 00:10:49.460 canonical list we most recognize today? The ones 00:10:49.460 --> 00:10:51.639 that ended up sticking in the broader cultural 00:10:51.639 --> 00:10:53.919 memory. Let's meet them, starting with the elders, 00:10:54.340 --> 00:10:56.840 the first generation of Olympians. These are 00:10:56.840 --> 00:10:59.259 the direct offspring of the Titans, Cronus, and 00:10:59.259 --> 00:11:02.129 Rhea. The siblings who survived being swallowed 00:11:02.129 --> 00:11:04.549 by their father, fought the Great War, and built 00:11:04.549 --> 00:11:07.370 the New World Order. Let's start at the absolute 00:11:07.370 --> 00:11:11.210 top, Zeus. In Roman mythology, he is Jupiter. 00:11:11.509 --> 00:11:14.429 King of the gods, ruler of Mount Olympus, god 00:11:14.429 --> 00:11:17.730 of the sky, lightning, thunder, law, order, and 00:11:17.730 --> 00:11:20.350 justice. And there is a fascinating family dynamic 00:11:20.350 --> 00:11:23.039 here. He is actually the youngest child of the 00:11:23.039 --> 00:11:26.039 Titans, yet he is the undisputed king. He led 00:11:26.039 --> 00:11:28.419 the rebellion, so he gets the crown. Exactly. 00:11:28.840 --> 00:11:33.080 Now, he is famous, or rather infamous, for his 00:11:33.080 --> 00:11:35.840 many affairs. He is constantly shape -shifting 00:11:35.840 --> 00:11:38.860 to seduce or assault goddesses and mortals alike. 00:11:39.320 --> 00:11:41.299 He fathered children with his sister Demeter, 00:11:41.500 --> 00:11:44.340 the Titaness Leto, the mortals Leta and Al Khomeini, 00:11:44.620 --> 00:11:46.909 and dozens more. When you look at the ancient 00:11:46.909 --> 00:11:49.669 texts and artifacts, his symbols are quite revealing 00:11:49.669 --> 00:11:52.230 about how the Greeks viewed absolute power. We 00:11:52.230 --> 00:11:54.370 all know the thunderbolt and the eagle. Right, 00:11:54.470 --> 00:11:57.580 the thunderbolt is raw. destructive, sudden power 00:11:57.580 --> 00:12:00.799 from above. The eagle is the undisputed king 00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:03.399 of the sky. But he is also associated with the 00:12:03.399 --> 00:12:06.019 oak tree, specifically the sacred oak at his 00:12:06.019 --> 00:12:09.519 oracle in Dodona, which represents deep, ancient, 00:12:09.899 --> 00:12:12.440 unshakable roots. He's also associated with the 00:12:12.440 --> 00:12:15.639 bull, a symbol of immense virility and agricultural 00:12:15.639 --> 00:12:18.350 strength. But perhaps most importantly, his symbol 00:12:18.350 --> 00:12:21.750 is the scales. Yes. He isn't just a tyrant throwing 00:12:21.750 --> 00:12:24.230 lightning bolts whenever he gets mad. He's weighing 00:12:24.230 --> 00:12:27.169 the fates of men and gods on his scales. He is 00:12:27.169 --> 00:12:29.710 the ultimate arbiter of justice. Even the other 00:12:29.710 --> 00:12:32.669 gods have to submit to his rulings. Next up is 00:12:32.669 --> 00:12:35.370 his wife, who is also his sister, Hera. The Roman 00:12:35.370 --> 00:12:38.230 Juno, queen of the gods. Her domains are marriage, 00:12:38.490 --> 00:12:41.070 women, childbirth, and family. She is the youngest 00:12:41.070 --> 00:12:43.419 daughter of Cronus and Rhea. And the mythology 00:12:43.419 --> 00:12:46.240 is full of stories where she is fiercely vengeful 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:48.840 towards Zeus' lovers and their illegitimate children. 00:12:49.059 --> 00:12:51.679 Which, given her domain over the strict sanctity 00:12:51.679 --> 00:12:54.360 of marriage, makes perfect sense from her perspective. 00:12:54.580 --> 00:12:56.759 Her husband is constantly violating the very 00:12:56.759 --> 00:12:59.360 institution she represents. Her vengeance was 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:02.460 a reflection of very real societal fears and 00:13:02.460 --> 00:13:05.320 power dynamics in ancient Greek marriages, where 00:13:05.320 --> 00:13:07.460 women had very little legal recourse against 00:13:07.460 --> 00:13:10.639 unfaithful husbands. Hera acts out the rage that 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:13.580 mortal women could not. Her symbols are the peacock, 00:13:13.700 --> 00:13:16.080 the cow, and the cuckoo. The peacock is often 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:19.320 associated with pride, royalty, and all -seeing 00:13:19.320 --> 00:13:22.059 eyes fitting for a queen who has to constantly 00:13:22.059 --> 00:13:24.720 watch her husband. The cow, much like the bull 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:28.070 for Zeus, implies a foundational, nurturing, 00:13:28.409 --> 00:13:31.049 and highly valuable aspect of ancient agricultural 00:13:31.049 --> 00:13:34.029 life. She is sometimes called Oxide Hera, which 00:13:34.029 --> 00:13:36.029 was actually a great compliment in antiquity, 00:13:36.190 --> 00:13:38.389 meaning she had large, beautiful, dark eyes. 00:13:38.610 --> 00:13:40.970 And the cuckoo is there because Zeus actually 00:13:40.970 --> 00:13:44.509 shapeshifted into a distressed cuckoo bird to 00:13:44.509 --> 00:13:47.070 trick Hera into holding him to her chest to warm 00:13:47.070 --> 00:13:49.529 him. Which is how he initially seduced her. It's 00:13:49.529 --> 00:13:51.710 a deeply weird origin story for their marriage. 00:13:51.809 --> 00:13:54.269 It really is. Then we have Poseidon, the Roman 00:13:54.269 --> 00:13:57.629 Neptune, the middle son. Brother of Zeus in Hades. 00:13:57.889 --> 00:14:00.110 He's the god of the seas, water, storms, and 00:14:00.110 --> 00:14:02.669 hurricanes. He is married to the sea -nymphed 00:14:02.669 --> 00:14:06.029 Amphitrite. But like his brother Zeus, he had 00:14:06.029 --> 00:14:08.889 many lovers and fathered countless monsters and 00:14:08.889 --> 00:14:11.230 heroes. But his domains also include earthquakes 00:14:11.230 --> 00:14:13.450 and horses. This is always the one that stumps 00:14:13.450 --> 00:14:16.090 people. How do you go from the ocean to horses? 00:14:16.490 --> 00:14:18.590 It requires a bit of imaginative synthesis to 00:14:18.590 --> 00:14:21.110 see the world through ancient eyes. Think about 00:14:21.110 --> 00:14:24.389 the raw, untamed, chaotic power of the sea. It 00:14:24.389 --> 00:14:27.470 crashes, it roars, it physically reshapes the 00:14:27.470 --> 00:14:30.350 land. That raw power translates directly to the 00:14:30.350 --> 00:14:33.669 sudden, violent shaking of the earthquake. He 00:14:33.669 --> 00:14:35.899 was known as the Earthshaker. And when ancient 00:14:35.899 --> 00:14:38.159 people stood on the beach and looked at the cresting, 00:14:38.279 --> 00:14:40.620 frothing white caps of massive waves crashing 00:14:40.620 --> 00:14:43.360 toward the shore, they saw the mains of wild, 00:14:43.580 --> 00:14:45.940 thundering horses charging at them. The horse 00:14:45.940 --> 00:14:48.879 embodies the wild, unpredictable, powerful energy 00:14:48.879 --> 00:14:51.179 of Poseidon's realm. I love that visual, a wave 00:14:51.179 --> 00:14:53.500 cresting and turning into a stampeding horse. 00:14:53.860 --> 00:14:56.779 His symbols are the trident, the horse, the bull 00:14:56.779 --> 00:14:59.220 again, showing a connection with Zeus there, 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:01.899 and the dolphin. which represents the slightly 00:15:01.899 --> 00:15:04.320 more playful, navigable side of the sea. Moving 00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:07.379 on to Demeter, Ceres in Roman mythology, the 00:15:07.379 --> 00:15:09.799 middle daughter. She is the goddess of the harvest, 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:12.440 fertility, agriculture, nature, and the seasons. 00:15:12.779 --> 00:15:16.019 She presided over grains and the literal life 00:15:16.019 --> 00:15:18.120 -giving fertility of the earth. She's the mother 00:15:18.120 --> 00:15:20.879 of Persephone, who was abducted by Hades to become 00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:23.490 Queen of the Underworld. An event which caused 00:15:23.490 --> 00:15:26.210 Demeter to plunge the world into a devastating 00:15:26.210 --> 00:15:29.289 winter out of grief. Demeter's symbols are deeply, 00:15:29.289 --> 00:15:31.950 practically tied to her function. Wheat and the 00:15:31.950 --> 00:15:34.409 cornucopia are straightforward representations 00:15:34.409 --> 00:15:37.389 of agricultural bounty. The torch relates to 00:15:37.389 --> 00:15:39.710 her desperate, frantic search for Persephone 00:15:39.710 --> 00:15:42.129 in the dark of the underworld. But she's also 00:15:42.129 --> 00:15:44.769 associated with the poppy and the pig. The pig! 00:15:44.889 --> 00:15:47.429 It seems so unglamorous for a major Olympian 00:15:47.429 --> 00:15:51.259 goddess. It does to us, but in ancient agricultural 00:15:51.259 --> 00:15:54.440 societies, pigs were incredibly vital. They were 00:15:54.440 --> 00:15:56.820 deeply associated with the earth, constantly 00:15:56.820 --> 00:15:59.259 rooting around in the dirt, turning the soil. 00:15:59.480 --> 00:16:01.940 And they were incredibly prolific breeders, which 00:16:01.940 --> 00:16:05.460 symbolized fertility. Sacrificing a pig to demeanor, 00:16:05.899 --> 00:16:08.480 sometimes by throwing them into those cathonic 00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:10.980 pits we mentioned earlier and later, using the 00:16:10.980 --> 00:16:14.320 decayed remains as fertilizer, was a sacred way 00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:16.740 of ensuring the fertility of the soil for the 00:16:16.740 --> 00:16:18.990 next planting season. That leaves one more of 00:16:18.990 --> 00:16:22.789 the first generation, Hestia, Vesta for the Romans. 00:16:23.049 --> 00:16:25.210 She is the goddess of the hearth, the architecture 00:16:25.210 --> 00:16:28.049 of the home, fire, and the right ordering of 00:16:28.049 --> 00:16:30.690 domesticity and the family. She is the very first 00:16:30.690 --> 00:16:34.269 child born to Cronus and Rhea, the absolute eldest 00:16:34.269 --> 00:16:37.399 sister. Now let's clear up a massive modern misconception. 00:16:38.039 --> 00:16:39.500 I'm going to read this directly from our notes 00:16:39.500 --> 00:16:41.200 because it's something you see repeated on the 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:43.940 internet constantly. Quote, some lists of the 00:16:43.940 --> 00:16:47.059 12 Olympians omit her in favor of Dionysus, but 00:16:47.059 --> 00:16:49.279 the speculation that she gave her throne to him 00:16:49.279 --> 00:16:51.820 in order to keep the peace seems to be a modern 00:16:51.820 --> 00:16:54.279 invention. This raises an important point about 00:16:54.279 --> 00:16:57.399 how we consume mythology today. We love a narrative 00:16:57.399 --> 00:17:00.860 with a clean, satisfying emotional arc. The idea 00:17:00.860 --> 00:17:03.820 that Hestia The peaceful domestic goddess of 00:17:03.820 --> 00:17:07.059 the home gently and willingly stepped down from 00:17:07.059 --> 00:17:10.140 the Supreme Council of Twelve to let the wild 00:17:10.140 --> 00:17:13.140 partier Dionysus take her seat, just so there 00:17:13.140 --> 00:17:15.180 wouldn't be a dramatic fight over the chairs. 00:17:15.460 --> 00:17:17.819 It sounds lovely. It fits her personality perfectly. 00:17:18.299 --> 00:17:20.880 but it's a modern fabrication. In antiquity, 00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:23.220 the list just varied. Sometimes she was on it, 00:17:23.220 --> 00:17:25.559 sometimes he was, depending on the city. Nobody 00:17:25.559 --> 00:17:27.740 stepped down or gave up their divine authority. 00:17:28.059 --> 00:17:29.819 And we really shouldn't diminish her importance 00:17:29.819 --> 00:17:32.480 just because she doesn't have flashy battle myths. 00:17:32.900 --> 00:17:35.940 The Roman equivalent, Vesta, played a paramount 00:17:35.940 --> 00:17:38.619 role in Roman state religion. She was maintained 00:17:38.619 --> 00:17:41.559 by the Vestal Virgins, and her sacred eternal 00:17:41.559 --> 00:17:44.880 fire was quite literally the spiritual heart 00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:47.299 and security system of the entire Roman Empire. 00:17:47.420 --> 00:17:50.259 If her fire went out, Rome was in existential 00:17:50.259 --> 00:17:52.839 danger. So that's the Old Guard, the first generation, 00:17:53.339 --> 00:17:55.240 the siblings who fought the war. Now let's look 00:17:55.240 --> 00:17:57.980 at the kids, the next generation. These are mostly 00:17:57.980 --> 00:18:00.279 the offspring of Zeus, and their origin stories 00:18:00.279 --> 00:18:02.779 are filled with absolutely bizarre biology and 00:18:02.779 --> 00:18:05.480 conflicting ancient texts. It's fascinating how 00:18:05.480 --> 00:18:08.599 the two foundational ancient writers, Homer and 00:18:08.599 --> 00:18:11.500 Hesiod, totally disagreed on where some of these 00:18:11.500 --> 00:18:14.400 gods came from. Let's unpack the second generation, 00:18:14.660 --> 00:18:17.900 starting with Athena, the Roman Minerva. goddess 00:18:17.900 --> 00:18:21.099 of wisdom, handicraft, and warfare. Her birth 00:18:21.099 --> 00:18:23.400 story is one of the most famous and psychologically 00:18:23.400 --> 00:18:26.440 strange in all of mythology. According to Hesiod's 00:18:26.440 --> 00:18:30.259 theogony, Zeus impregnated an oceanid named Metis. 00:18:30.759 --> 00:18:33.230 Right, pause for a second. For anyone rusty on 00:18:33.230 --> 00:18:36.589 their aquatic Greek family trees, what exactly 00:18:36.589 --> 00:18:39.309 is an oceanid? Great question. An oceanid is 00:18:39.309 --> 00:18:42.490 a water nymph, specifically one of the 3 ,000 00:18:42.490 --> 00:18:44.910 daughters of the Titans, Oceanus and Tethys. 00:18:45.349 --> 00:18:47.369 They represented the fresh waters, the springs 00:18:47.369 --> 00:18:49.950 and the rivers. And Metis specifically represented 00:18:49.950 --> 00:18:53.119 magical cunning and deep wisdom. Right. But Zeus 00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:55.599 receives a prophecy that any son born to Metis 00:18:55.599 --> 00:18:57.900 will be more powerful than his father and will 00:18:57.900 --> 00:18:59.940 overthrow him, continuing that violent cycle 00:18:59.940 --> 00:19:01.859 of succession we talked about. So to prevent 00:19:01.859 --> 00:19:04.660 this, Zeus tricks Metis and swallows her whole. 00:19:04.839 --> 00:19:06.960 He just eats his pregnant wife. Problem solved, 00:19:07.099 --> 00:19:09.240 right? Not quite. The pregnancy continued inside 00:19:09.240 --> 00:19:11.779 him, and eventually Zeus is hit with an agonizing 00:19:11.779 --> 00:19:15.400 headache. Hephaestus, the blacksmith god, takes 00:19:15.400 --> 00:19:18.779 an axe and splits Zeus's skull open to relieve 00:19:18.779 --> 00:19:22.109 the pressure. And out springs Athena. She rises 00:19:22.109 --> 00:19:24.609 directly from her father's head, fully grown 00:19:24.609 --> 00:19:27.569 and wearing full battle armor, shouting a war 00:19:27.569 --> 00:19:31.599 cry. is a striking, visceral metaphor. Wisdom 00:19:31.599 --> 00:19:33.920 and strategic warfare don't come from the belly, 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:36.140 they spring directly from the mind of the chief 00:19:36.140 --> 00:19:39.039 god. Her symbols are the owl, long associated 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:41.519 with vigilance and ability to see in the dark, 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:44.700 and the olive tree. She famously gifted the first 00:19:44.700 --> 00:19:47.380 olive tree to the city of Athens to win their 00:19:47.380 --> 00:19:50.240 patronage in a contest against Poseidon, proving 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:52.660 that agricultural wealth and sustenance are a 00:19:52.660 --> 00:19:55.000 better foundation for a city than a saltwater 00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:58.039 spring. Then we have the twins, Apollo and Artemis, 00:19:58.140 --> 00:20:00.700 Children of Zeus and the Titaness Leto. Leto 00:20:00.700 --> 00:20:02.920 had a horrible time giving birth to them because 00:20:02.920 --> 00:20:06.200 Hera, in her usual vengeful fashion, banished 00:20:06.200 --> 00:20:08.700 Leto from giving birth on any solid land. Let's 00:20:08.700 --> 00:20:10.359 look at Apollo first. He doesn't actually have 00:20:10.359 --> 00:20:12.819 a separate Roman name. The Romans just imported 00:20:12.819 --> 00:20:15.759 him as Apollo. His domain is unbelievably massive. 00:20:16.279 --> 00:20:18.740 God of the sun, light, prophecy, philosophy, 00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:22.380 archery, truth, inspiration, poetry, music, arts, 00:20:22.759 --> 00:20:25.410 manly beauty, medicine, healing and plague. That 00:20:25.410 --> 00:20:27.730 last pairing, healing and plague, is a fascinating 00:20:27.730 --> 00:20:30.829 paradox. How can you be the god of both curing 00:20:30.829 --> 00:20:33.630 disease and causing it? In the ancient mindset, 00:20:34.069 --> 00:20:36.650 disease wasn't just a germ. It was a divine weapon. 00:20:37.569 --> 00:20:40.130 The deity who holds the power to cure a disease 00:20:40.130 --> 00:20:43.089 is inherently the exact same deity who has the 00:20:43.089 --> 00:20:45.789 power to inflict it. If you offend Apollo, he 00:20:45.789 --> 00:20:47.990 strikes your army with a plague of arrows, exactly 00:20:47.990 --> 00:20:50.029 as he does in the opening scenes of the Iliad 00:20:50.029 --> 00:20:52.349 when the griefs disrespect his priest. If you 00:20:52.349 --> 00:20:54.960 appease him, He puts his bow away and lifts the 00:20:54.960 --> 00:20:57.359 plague. His symbols reflect this wildly diverse 00:20:57.359 --> 00:20:59.700 portfolio, the bow and arrow for both hunting 00:20:59.700 --> 00:21:02.559 and disease, the lyre for music and art, the 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:04.980 raven, the swan, and the wolf. His twin sister 00:21:04.980 --> 00:21:07.519 is Artemis, the Roman Diana. She is the goddess 00:21:07.519 --> 00:21:09.440 of the hunt, the wilderness, virginity, the moon, 00:21:09.660 --> 00:21:12.039 archery, childbirth, protection, and just like 00:21:12.039 --> 00:21:14.480 her brother, plague and sudden death. It's a 00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:16.880 wonderful duality. He is the sun, she is the 00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:19.960 moon. Both are archers. Both deal with disease, 00:21:20.259 --> 00:21:22.519 Apollo usually striking down men, and Artemis 00:21:22.519 --> 00:21:24.799 striking down women. Her symbols include the 00:21:24.799 --> 00:21:27.299 moon, the horse, the deer, the hound, the she 00:21:27.299 --> 00:21:29.960 -bear, the snake, the cypress tree, and the bow 00:21:29.960 --> 00:21:32.599 and arrow. You really get the sense of the deep, 00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:35.440 dark, untamed forest when you look at her symbols. 00:21:35.599 --> 00:21:38.099 She is the protector of young girls, but she's 00:21:38.099 --> 00:21:40.880 also deeply dangerous if crossed. Now we come 00:21:40.880 --> 00:21:43.960 to Ares, Mars to the Romans. He is the god of 00:21:43.960 --> 00:21:46.819 war, violence, bloodshed, and manly virtues. 00:21:47.160 --> 00:21:50.180 He is the legitimate son of Zeus and Hera. And 00:21:50.180 --> 00:21:53.019 the historical texts state, quite bluntly, all 00:21:53.019 --> 00:21:55.359 the other gods absolutely despised him, with 00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:57.960 the sole exception of Aphrodite. Imagine being 00:21:57.960 --> 00:22:00.640 universally hated by your entire extended family 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:03.200 of immortals. Even your own father tells you 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:05.160 in the Iliad that you are his least favorite 00:22:05.160 --> 00:22:07.339 child. But it makes sense when you compare him 00:22:07.339 --> 00:22:10.670 to Athena. Athena represents the strategic, noble, 00:22:10.869 --> 00:22:13.329 city -defending side of warfare. The generals 00:22:13.329 --> 00:22:15.450 praying for a tactical victory pray to Athena. 00:22:15.950 --> 00:22:18.589 Ares represents the chaotic, brutal, blood -soaked, 00:22:18.849 --> 00:22:20.910 terrifying reality of the actual battlefield, 00:22:21.069 --> 00:22:23.390 the mindless slaughter. It's not something the 00:22:23.390 --> 00:22:25.910 other gods wanted to be around. Etymology time, 00:22:25.990 --> 00:22:28.990 though his Latin name, Mars, directly gives us 00:22:28.990 --> 00:22:31.470 the English word martial, as in martial arts, 00:22:31.690 --> 00:22:34.009 court martial, or martial law. His symbols are 00:22:34.009 --> 00:22:37.069 very aggressive. the wild boar, the serpent, 00:22:37.210 --> 00:22:39.809 the dog, the vulture which feeds on the dead 00:22:39.809 --> 00:22:42.769 left behind on his battlefields, the spear, and 00:22:42.769 --> 00:22:45.210 the shield. Contrast that destructive force with 00:22:45.210 --> 00:22:47.990 the next god Hephaestus, the Roman Vulcan. He 00:22:47.990 --> 00:22:50.190 is the master blacksmith and craftsman of the 00:22:50.190 --> 00:22:52.970 gods, god of the forge, craftsmanship, invention, 00:22:53.230 --> 00:22:55.789 fire, and volcanoes. He makes all their weapons. 00:22:55.930 --> 00:22:58.730 He builds their palaces. His origin story is 00:22:58.730 --> 00:23:00.849 where we see a major contradiction in the ancient 00:23:00.849 --> 00:23:03.970 texts. According to Homer, he is the normal son 00:23:03.970 --> 00:23:07.049 of Zeus and Hera. But according to Hesiod, Hera 00:23:07.049 --> 00:23:10.589 produced him alone through parthenogenesis. For 00:23:10.589 --> 00:23:12.930 the uninitiated, parthenogenesis essentially 00:23:12.930 --> 00:23:16.250 means reproducing without fertilization. Virgin 00:23:16.250 --> 00:23:18.650 birth. The story goes that Hera did this purely 00:23:18.650 --> 00:23:21.049 out of spite, like, oh, Zeus, you think you can 00:23:21.049 --> 00:23:22.769 produce the glorious Athena out of your own head 00:23:22.769 --> 00:23:24.630 without a mother? Fine, I'll make my own kid 00:23:24.630 --> 00:23:27.029 without a father. It's incredible cosmic family 00:23:27.029 --> 00:23:29.650 drama. But he was born with a physical disability, 00:23:30.089 --> 00:23:32.710 a lame leg, and depending on the myth, Either 00:23:32.710 --> 00:23:35.950 Hera or Zeus threw him off Mount Olympus in disgust. 00:23:36.029 --> 00:23:38.369 He survived, obviously, and he is actually married 00:23:38.369 --> 00:23:40.450 to Aphrodite, which is quite the pairing. Yeah. 00:23:40.609 --> 00:23:43.170 The sweaty soot covered god of the hot forge 00:23:43.170 --> 00:23:46.109 married to the pristine goddess of beauty. And 00:23:46.109 --> 00:23:49.069 another great etymology fact, his Latin name 00:23:49.069 --> 00:23:52.670 Vulcan. gives us the word volcano because the 00:23:52.670 --> 00:23:54.410 ancients believed the smoking mountains were 00:23:54.410 --> 00:23:57.170 the chimneys of his underground forges. His symbols 00:23:57.170 --> 00:24:00.390 include fire, the anvil, the axe, the donkey, 00:24:00.609 --> 00:24:03.670 the hammer, tongs, and the quail. The quail is 00:24:03.670 --> 00:24:06.450 such an interesting, specific inclusion. While 00:24:06.450 --> 00:24:08.630 the ancient texts don't always spell out exactly 00:24:08.630 --> 00:24:11.809 why, we can deduce a few things. Quails are known 00:24:11.809 --> 00:24:14.269 for their distinctive, almost mechanical -sounding 00:24:14.269 --> 00:24:16.829 calls, which might evoke the rhythmic striking 00:24:16.829 --> 00:24:18.930 of a hammer. More importantly, they are ground 00:24:18.930 --> 00:24:20.930 -dwelling birds. They scurry along the earth. 00:24:21.089 --> 00:24:23.789 This ties perfectly into Hephaestus' terrestrial, 00:24:23.930 --> 00:24:27.089 earth -bound forge, creating a stark contrast 00:24:27.089 --> 00:24:29.710 to the high -flying eagles of Zeus. Speaking 00:24:29.710 --> 00:24:32.069 of his wife, let's talk about Aphrodite. Roman 00:24:32.069 --> 00:24:35.430 name Venus, goddess of love, pleasure, passion, 00:24:35.809 --> 00:24:38.730 procreation, fertility, beauty and desire. She 00:24:38.730 --> 00:24:40.589 has the ultimate contradiction in her origin 00:24:40.589 --> 00:24:43.210 story. Homer says she is the daughter of Zeus 00:24:43.210 --> 00:24:46.029 and a relatively obscure tightness named Dion, 00:24:46.470 --> 00:24:49.750 just a normal albeit divine parentage. Fahesian 00:24:49.750 --> 00:24:52.509 tells a very different, much more graphic and 00:24:52.509 --> 00:24:55.670 frankly terrifying story. In his theogeny, Aphrodite 00:24:55.670 --> 00:24:58.500 is born from the sea foam. But that foam wasn't 00:24:58.500 --> 00:25:00.759 just ocean water. It was created when the Titan 00:25:00.759 --> 00:25:03.579 Cronus ambushed his father Uranus, castrated 00:25:03.579 --> 00:25:05.759 him with a flint sickle, and threw the severed 00:25:05.759 --> 00:25:08.200 genitals into the sea. From that violent, bloody, 00:25:08.259 --> 00:25:10.380 cosmic mutilation churning in the ocean, the 00:25:10.380 --> 00:25:12.880 goddess of beauty and desire emerges. It's a 00:25:12.880 --> 00:25:15.349 stark contrast to... Homer's sanitized version. 00:25:15.750 --> 00:25:18.250 It totally changes how you view the concept of 00:25:18.250 --> 00:25:20.529 love in the ancient world. We think of love as 00:25:20.529 --> 00:25:23.349 this gentle, romantic thing. Hesiod is telling 00:25:23.349 --> 00:25:25.690 us that love and desire are born from primal 00:25:25.690 --> 00:25:28.029 violence, chaos, and the severing of generations. 00:25:28.150 --> 00:25:31.190 It's a disruptive force. She is married to Hephaestus 00:25:31.190 --> 00:25:33.849 but had many affairs, most notably with Ares, 00:25:34.049 --> 00:25:37.970 the god of war. Love and war, constantly entangled, 00:25:38.250 --> 00:25:40.670 constantly drawn to each other. Her Greek name, 00:25:40.869 --> 00:25:43.950 Aphrodite, gave us the word aphrodisiac. and 00:25:43.950 --> 00:25:47.069 her Latin name Venus gives us the word venereal. 00:25:47.710 --> 00:25:49.829 Her symbols are the dove, the bird, the apple, 00:25:50.009 --> 00:25:52.549 the bee, the swan, the myrtle, and the rose. 00:25:53.710 --> 00:25:56.009 Beautiful things that often have a sting or a 00:25:56.009 --> 00:25:59.829 thorn. Next is Hermes, the Roman Mercury. He 00:25:59.829 --> 00:26:02.569 is the messenger of the gods, but his domain 00:26:02.569 --> 00:26:05.269 is so much wider and more complex than just delivering 00:26:05.269 --> 00:26:08.380 mail. He is the god of travel, commerce, communication, 00:26:08.599 --> 00:26:11.000 borders, eloquence, diplomacy, thieves, and games. 00:26:11.480 --> 00:26:14.099 He is the patron of anyone who crosses boundaries. 00:26:14.259 --> 00:26:17.299 Because of that, he is also a psychopomp. A psychopomp 00:26:17.299 --> 00:26:19.579 being the entity responsible for guiding dead 00:26:19.579 --> 00:26:21.799 souls down into the underworld. You cross the 00:26:21.799 --> 00:26:23.920 ultimate boundary from life to death, and Hermes 00:26:23.920 --> 00:26:26.160 is the one walking you to the River Styx. He 00:26:26.160 --> 00:26:28.599 is the son of Zeus and the nymph Maya. He's the 00:26:28.599 --> 00:26:30.700 second youngest Olympian. We mentioned earlier 00:26:30.700 --> 00:26:32.660 the story of him stealing Apollo's cows when 00:26:32.660 --> 00:26:35.140 he was a baby. He's the ultimate trickster. But 00:26:35.140 --> 00:26:38.559 he's also a brilliant inventor. When Apollo finally 00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:40.920 tracked him down and demanded his cows back, 00:26:41.480 --> 00:26:43.839 Hermes played a liar he had invented by stretching 00:26:43.839 --> 00:26:46.380 animal guts across a hollowed out tortoise shell. 00:26:46.940 --> 00:26:49.519 The music was so beautiful that Apollo, the god 00:26:49.519 --> 00:26:52.440 of music, traded the remaining cows just to have 00:26:52.440 --> 00:26:55.720 the instrument. Hermes' symbols include the caduceus, 00:26:55.799 --> 00:26:58.039 that's the herald's staff, entwined with two 00:26:58.039 --> 00:27:00.400 snakes that you still see in medical imagery 00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:02.180 today, though that's technically a historical 00:27:02.180 --> 00:27:04.539 mix -up with the rod of Asclepius. His winged 00:27:04.539 --> 00:27:07.759 sandals, a winged traveler's cap, and the tortoise. 00:27:07.880 --> 00:27:11.640 And finally we have Dionysus, Roman name Lieber. 00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:14.559 He is the god of wine, the grapevine, fertility, 00:27:14.819 --> 00:27:16.960 festivity, ecstasy, madness, and resurrection. 00:27:17.180 --> 00:27:19.759 He's the patron god of the art of theater. He 00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:22.299 is the youngest Olympian. But what's truly unique 00:27:22.299 --> 00:27:24.660 about his genealogy is his mother. He is the 00:27:24.660 --> 00:27:27.519 son of Zeus and a mortal woman, the Theban Princess 00:27:27.519 --> 00:27:30.400 Samel. He's the only Olympian god with a mortal 00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:33.019 mother. And her story is tragic. Hera found out 00:27:33.019 --> 00:27:35.559 about the affair and tricked Sameli into demanding 00:27:35.559 --> 00:27:38.500 that Zeus reveal his true divine form to her. 00:27:38.900 --> 00:27:41.859 Zeus had sworn an unbreakable oath to give her 00:27:41.859 --> 00:27:45.579 whatever she wanted. So he complied. But mortals 00:27:45.579 --> 00:27:48.900 cannot look upon the raw glory of a god. Semele 00:27:48.900 --> 00:27:52.240 burst into flames and was incinerated. Zeus rescued 00:27:52.240 --> 00:27:55.039 the unborn Dionysus from the ashes and sewed 00:27:55.039 --> 00:27:57.200 the fetus into his own thigh until he was ready 00:27:57.200 --> 00:27:59.740 to be born. It's a literal resurrection story. 00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:02.180 He is married to the Cretan princess Ariadne, 00:28:02.319 --> 00:28:05.299 who he rescued after Theseus abandoned her. His 00:28:05.299 --> 00:28:07.920 symbols include the grapevine, ivy, the cup, 00:28:07.940 --> 00:28:09.880 and the goat. But then you look at his other 00:28:09.880 --> 00:28:11.599 symbols and they paint a very different picture. 00:28:11.769 --> 00:28:14.869 The tiger, the panther, the leopard, these exotic, 00:28:15.069 --> 00:28:17.809 dangerous wildcats from the east. And a pine 00:28:17.809 --> 00:28:20.269 cone on top of a staff called a thursis. When 00:28:20.269 --> 00:28:22.559 you read plays like Euripides the Bacchae. You 00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:24.880 see that his worship wasn't just a fun wine tasting. 00:28:25.359 --> 00:28:28.380 It involved wild, ecstatic, boundary breaking 00:28:28.380 --> 00:28:30.779 behavior. Women running into the woods tearing 00:28:30.779 --> 00:28:33.619 wild animals apart with their bare hands. Madness 00:28:33.619 --> 00:28:36.539 and festivity walking hand in hand. So that establishes 00:28:36.539 --> 00:28:38.680 the canonical 13 names depending on whether a 00:28:38.680 --> 00:28:41.740 particular city's list includes Hestia or Dionysus. 00:28:42.059 --> 00:28:45.079 But. The archaeological and literary reality 00:28:45.079 --> 00:28:48.200 makes it very clear. Just because you have immortality 00:28:48.200 --> 00:28:50.339 and live on Olympus does not automatically make 00:28:50.339 --> 00:28:52.779 you one of the 12 Olympians. There is a deeply 00:28:52.779 --> 00:28:55.319 complex bureaucracy of heaven. Who else is hanging 00:28:55.319 --> 00:28:57.940 around the mountain? We've got the VIP roommates, 00:28:58.500 --> 00:29:01.420 the honorable mentions. Let's start with Heracles. 00:29:01.559 --> 00:29:04.220 We know him as Hercules. After he completed his 00:29:04.220 --> 00:29:07.259 12 labors and died a mortal death, he achieved 00:29:07.259 --> 00:29:10.539 apotheosis, which means he was elevated to divine 00:29:10.539 --> 00:29:13.630 status. He moved to Olympus, where he married 00:29:13.630 --> 00:29:16.470 the goddess of youth, Hebe. But here is where 00:29:16.470 --> 00:29:19.529 ancient politics mirrors modern corporate dynamics. 00:29:20.390 --> 00:29:22.349 According to the historian Diodorus Siculus, 00:29:22.869 --> 00:29:24.750 there were rumors that Heracles has actually 00:29:24.750 --> 00:29:27.289 offered a place among the elite 12 Olympians. 00:29:27.490 --> 00:29:30.650 A promotion to the absolute top tier. But he 00:29:30.650 --> 00:29:33.390 refused. Why? Because the number 12 was fixed. 00:29:34.029 --> 00:29:36.009 Accepting the promotion would mean one of the 00:29:36.009 --> 00:29:38.190 original 12 would have to be voted off the island, 00:29:38.769 --> 00:29:41.269 cast out to make room for him. He politely declined 00:29:41.269 --> 00:29:43.710 the promotion to preserve the stability of the 00:29:43.710 --> 00:29:45.829 Cosmic Board of Directors. He didn't want to 00:29:45.829 --> 00:29:48.230 start another divine civil war. I love that image 00:29:48.230 --> 00:29:50.170 of Herakles just saying, no thanks, I'll take 00:29:50.170 --> 00:29:51.789 the coroner office, but I don't need to be on 00:29:51.789 --> 00:29:54.869 the board. Then you have Themis. She is a Titan, 00:29:55.109 --> 00:29:57.930 the personification of divine law and custom. 00:29:58.190 --> 00:30:00.349 She fought on the losing side of that 10 -year 00:30:00.349 --> 00:30:02.210 cosmic war we talked about at the beginning. 00:30:02.490 --> 00:30:05.529 Yet the Iliad explicitly lists her as dwelling 00:30:05.529 --> 00:30:08.789 on Olympus alongside the very gods who overthrew 00:30:08.789 --> 00:30:10.910 her generation. She's just casually living there 00:30:10.910 --> 00:30:14.349 advising Zeus. She is a Titan and an Olympian 00:30:14.349 --> 00:30:16.500 resident at the same time. We also have the children 00:30:16.500 --> 00:30:19.339 of the river goddess Styx. Their names are Zealus, 00:30:19.559 --> 00:30:23.140 which means envy or zeal, Nike meaning victory, 00:30:23.740 --> 00:30:27.000 Kratos meaning strength, and Beah meaning force. 00:30:27.400 --> 00:30:30.500 According to Hesiod, these four personified concepts 00:30:30.500 --> 00:30:33.319 have no house apart from Zeus, nor any dwelling 00:30:33.319 --> 00:30:36.359 nor path, except that wherein God leads them, 00:30:36.359 --> 00:30:38.940 but they dwell always with Zeus. They are the 00:30:38.940 --> 00:30:41.359 constant, hovering, muscular entourage of the 00:30:41.359 --> 00:30:44.279 king of the gods. Where Zeus goes, victory and 00:30:44.279 --> 00:30:47.279 force follow. And the ancient texts give us these 00:30:47.279 --> 00:30:50.119 massive, exhausting lists of other divine beings. 00:30:50.720 --> 00:30:53.200 The Hoare, representing the seasons, the graces, 00:30:53.380 --> 00:30:56.039 the muses. Eilithea, the goddess of childbirth. 00:30:56.599 --> 00:30:59.380 Iris, the rainbow messenger. Ganymede, the cupbearer. 00:30:59.539 --> 00:31:01.720 And then you look at the broader categories stretching 00:31:01.720 --> 00:31:04.480 out across the world. Water deities, nymphs, 00:31:04.599 --> 00:31:07.400 satyrs, centaurs, dragons. The rivers of the 00:31:07.400 --> 00:31:12.400 underworld, Acturon, Cossitus. Lethy, Fliggetathon, 00:31:13.059 --> 00:31:16.180 Styx, the mythical creatures, the Minotaur, the 00:31:16.180 --> 00:31:18.380 Sphinx, the Chimera. When you step back and look 00:31:18.380 --> 00:31:20.240 at the bigger picture, it illustrates something 00:31:20.240 --> 00:31:22.759 vital about how the Greeks saw their world. The 00:31:22.759 --> 00:31:24.779 Twelve Olympians weren't the entirety of the 00:31:24.779 --> 00:31:27.039 religion. They were just the executive C -suite 00:31:27.039 --> 00:31:29.460 of an unbelievably vast corporate structure of 00:31:29.460 --> 00:31:32.440 mythology. Below them were middle managers, local 00:31:32.440 --> 00:31:35.359 supervisors, rogue elements and independent contractors 00:31:35.359 --> 00:31:38.160 in the form of local nymphs and river gods. The 00:31:38.160 --> 00:31:40.759 Twelve sat at the very top of a deeply complex, 00:31:41.000 --> 00:31:44.019 fully populated and intensely categorized universe 00:31:44.019 --> 00:31:47.059 where every tree, stream and mountain had resident 00:31:47.059 --> 00:31:50.680 spirit. So what does this all mean for how we 00:31:50.680 --> 00:31:53.819 organize our world? How did this ancient flexibility 00:31:53.819 --> 00:31:56.500 influence the future? Because the Romans looked 00:31:56.500 --> 00:31:59.480 at this incredibly complex, somewhat messy Greek 00:31:59.480 --> 00:32:01.799 system and decided they needed to streamline 00:32:01.799 --> 00:32:04.019 it. They did what Romans do best. They organized 00:32:04.019 --> 00:32:06.819 it. The Roman poet Enius writing in the late 00:32:06.819 --> 00:32:10.900 third century BC took this fluid, adaptable Greek 00:32:10.900 --> 00:32:13.420 concept of the Twelve and locked it down for 00:32:13.420 --> 00:32:15.460 the Romans into a formalized group called the 00:32:15.460 --> 00:32:18.180 Deaconsens. He organized them completely into 00:32:18.180 --> 00:32:21.380 six male -female complements, six neat pairs, 00:32:21.799 --> 00:32:25.019 Jupiter and Juno, Neptune and Minerva, Mars and 00:32:25.019 --> 00:32:28.579 Venus, Apollo and Diana, Vulcan and Vesta, Mercury 00:32:28.579 --> 00:32:30.720 and Ceres. They adopted the gods completely, 00:32:30.720 --> 00:32:32.619 but they structured them in a rigid way that 00:32:32.619 --> 00:32:34.759 made sense for Roman statecraft and political 00:32:34.759 --> 00:32:37.240 religion. Notably preserving the critical role 00:32:37.240 --> 00:32:39.359 of Vesca, the the hearth goddess because the 00:32:39.359 --> 00:32:41.460 Roman state relied so heavily on her continued 00:32:41.460 --> 00:32:43.779 worship. But looking back at the Greeks, the 00:32:43.779 --> 00:32:45.759 identities of their gods were incredibly fluid. 00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:48.940 They adapted to rivers, to local altars, to political 00:32:48.940 --> 00:32:51.500 shifts. A tyrant like Pisistratus could build 00:32:51.500 --> 00:32:54.559 an altar in the center of Athens to cement his 00:32:54.559 --> 00:32:57.740 family's legacy. And suddenly that altar defines 00:32:57.740 --> 00:33:00.009 the geography of the whole city. A poet could 00:33:00.009 --> 00:33:03.250 decide Heracles worshipped a river god alongside 00:33:03.250 --> 00:33:05.730 Artemis, and the local people would say, yeah, 00:33:05.890 --> 00:33:07.690 that makes sense for us here in Olympia. The 00:33:07.690 --> 00:33:10.250 river is important to us. It's a reminder that 00:33:10.250 --> 00:33:12.470 when you think about the rules of ancient mythology. 00:33:12.839 --> 00:33:15.200 you have to realize that there were no strict 00:33:15.200 --> 00:33:18.319 rules. It wasn't a dead text printed in a modern 00:33:18.319 --> 00:33:21.440 encyclopedia. It was a living, breathing religion 00:33:21.440 --> 00:33:24.039 where cities could mix and match their top 12 00:33:24.039 --> 00:33:26.960 gods based on what mattered to their daily survival, 00:33:27.339 --> 00:33:29.579 their local landscape, and their political needs. 00:33:29.880 --> 00:33:32.359 The Pantheon was a toolbox for understanding 00:33:32.359 --> 00:33:35.099 the terrifying, beautiful universe they lived 00:33:35.099 --> 00:33:37.640 in. As we wrap up this deep dive, there is one 00:33:37.640 --> 00:33:40.279 final, incredibly provocative thought from the 00:33:40.279 --> 00:33:41.920 historical text that I want to leave you with. 00:33:42.240 --> 00:33:44.500 It comes from the philosopher Plato. I mentioned 00:33:44.500 --> 00:33:47.039 earlier that the number 12 was tied to the 12 00:33:47.039 --> 00:33:49.579 months of the year, providing a neat mathematical 00:33:49.579 --> 00:33:52.579 symmetry. Plato believed that the 12 gods should 00:33:52.579 --> 00:33:55.599 correspond strictly to those 12 months, one god 00:33:55.599 --> 00:33:58.200 per month. But his proposal for how to actually 00:33:58.200 --> 00:34:01.380 implement that calendar was deeply radical. Plato 00:34:01.380 --> 00:34:03.759 suggested that the final 12th month of the year 00:34:03.759 --> 00:34:06.359 should be devoted entirely to Pluto, which is 00:34:06.359 --> 00:34:09.019 another name for Hades, the wealth giver of the 00:34:09.019 --> 00:34:11.360 earth and the spirits of the dead. He wanted 00:34:11.360 --> 00:34:13.860 to officially bring the ruler of the underworld 00:34:13.860 --> 00:34:17.340 out of the basement and into the core 12, assigning 00:34:17.340 --> 00:34:19.659 him an entire month of the year. I want you to 00:34:19.659 --> 00:34:21.880 ponder that. Think about our modern calendar. 00:34:22.280 --> 00:34:24.940 What would it actually mean for a society to 00:34:24.940 --> 00:34:27.980 dedicate one -twelfth of its entire year, a full 00:34:27.980 --> 00:34:30.940 30 -day month, strictly to honoring the underworld, 00:34:31.199 --> 00:34:33.860 the end of life, and the people we've lost? We 00:34:33.860 --> 00:34:35.940 have individual days for remembering the dead, 00:34:36.079 --> 00:34:39.019 sure. But imagine an entire month integrated 00:34:39.019 --> 00:34:41.539 into the official civic calendar alongside the 00:34:41.539 --> 00:34:44.219 Harvest, the Spring, and the Sun. Would integrating 00:34:44.219 --> 00:34:47.079 the taboo, the unseen, and the inevitable reality 00:34:47.079 --> 00:34:49.699 of death into our literal measurement of time 00:34:49.699 --> 00:34:52.639 change how we value our daily lives? Would it 00:34:52.639 --> 00:34:55.340 make us less afraid? Let that sink in the next 00:34:55.340 --> 00:34:57.340 time you look up at the stars or check the date 00:34:57.340 --> 00:34:57.940 on your phone.