Typically, when one refers to the Olympian Gods, they refer to 12 gods and goddesses who resided on the mythical Mt. Olympus in Greece. In addition to these 12, there are a handful of other names you should be familiar with.
The 12 Olympian Gods are:
Zeus (Roman name Jupiter): The king of the Gods and the god of thunder, lightning and the heavens. More powerful than all of the other Olympians put together. Known for a temperamental and fittingly stormy personality, and also known for taking hundreds of mortal wives in order to fill Greece with powerful sons and daughters. Often represented by the color sky blue and the eagle.
Hera (Roman name Juno): The queen of the Gods, Zeus’s sister and wife. Goddess of the heavens, childbirth and marriage. A jealous wife, she loathed the fact that her husband cheated on her with countless other women, but since she had no way of stopping him, she exacted revenge on the women Zeus courted. Her symbols included the peacock,
Poseidon (Roman name Neptune): Zeus’s younger brother, god of the sea. Often portrayed as a nasty-tempered god, fitting for the ocean, which can be calm one moment and destructive the next.
Demeter (Roman name Ceres): Zeus’s older sister, goddess of the harvest and agriculture. Farmers often prayed to her for a bountiful harvest. She famously had her daughter Persephone abducted by Hades and made to be his queen in the underworld. The Greeks believed fall and winter to be the time of year when Persephone had to be away from her mother, as her depression made all the plant life die and the land barren. Her symbols include the cornucopia and sickle.
Apollo (Roman name Phoebus): Son of Zeus and Hera, twin brother of Artemis. He is a god known for many things, the sun, music, poetry, medicine and plague, and prophecy. The polar opposite to his twin sister, a more jovial and free-spirited type reflective of the sun. He is also an archer like his twin sister, possessing arrows that were sharp and painful and could also cause disease. Often sought beautiful young women and men on Earth.
Artemis (Roman name Diana): Daughter of Zeus and Hera, twin sister of Apollo. She is the goddess of the moon, the hunt, and virginity. Reserved and fierce, she asked her father Zeus to never make her marry a man, and remained a virgin. She surrounded herself with virginal young women, and once killed a man who found her bathing in a lagoon in the woods. She was an archer like her brother, possessing arrows that were painless as moonbeams. Her symbols include the moon and the doe.
Athena (Roman name Minerva): Daughter of Zeus and the goddess of prudence Metis, famously was born fully grown by bursting out of her father’s skull. Goddess of wisdom, strategic war and weaving. She was also a virginal goddess, smart and serious, and had a rivalry with her uncle Poseidon and her brother Ares. Famously won the favor of the people of Athens by providing them with the first olive tree. Her symbol includes the owl and the shield.
Hephaestus (Roman name Vulcan): Son of Zeus and Hera, although he was born deformed, with an ugly face and legs that needed braces to function. Zeus allegedly threw him off the edge of Olympus upon seeing how ugly and weak his baby son was, but he was allowed back onto Olympus anyway. God of the forge and blacksmiths, he could build just about anything, including Zeus’s throwable lightning bolts. He was married to Aphrodite, who often cheated on him with the more handsome Ares, and in turn did his best to get revenge on the two of them by exposing them cheating. His symbols are the blacksmith’s hammer and the quail.
Ares (Roman name Mars): Son of Zeus and Hera. The god of war, although he embodied more of the bloodlust and valor side of war rather than Athena’s strategic side. Though handsome, he was also cruel and a massive narcissist, riding around with a posse of negative emotions that come with war like famine, panic and pain, and jumping into battle to cause as much chaos as possible. Though when he was wounded, he screamed and ran back to Olympus to get his wounds treated, his parents scolding him for being weak and dishonorable. He and his half-sister Athena loathed each other, although the only one really fond of him was Aphrodite. His symbol is the vulture.
Aphrodite (Roman name Venus): Her origins are ambiguous, although the most popular story of her origin says she emerged from the sea on a clam shell. The goddess of love, beauty and sexuality. Though breathtakingly beautiful, she was quite vain and promiscuous, unabashedly cheating on her husband Hephaestus with the more attractive Ares and using her looks to get her way. Her son was Eros, better known as Cupid, the cherub who shoots love-arrows. Her symbols include the white dove and crocus flowers.
Hermes (Roman name Mercury): Son of Zeus and a Nymph. The messenger of the gods, also known for being the god of mischief, thieves and pranksters. A prankster at heart, he possessed winged shoes that let him fly around as he pleased, and also carried around a wand that could cause eternal slumber. Often employed by the Olympians to pull jokes on mortals and even other gods, and was also known for surrounding himself with satyrs, half-man half-goat creatures known for rude comedy and poetry. His most well-known symbol is the caduceus (the staff surrounded by two snakes), which is often used to represent healthcare today.
Dionysus (Roman name Bacchus): Son of Zeus and a mortal woman named Semele, narrowly saved from dying in the womb when Hera tricked Semele into viewing Zeus’s most divine form, which kills mortals. The god of wine, fertility, sanity, and revelry, with a friendly if a little wild personality suited for a party animal. Often portrayed as being a little drunk or tipsy, and challenged many to drinking contests which he pretty much always won.
And some other important figures…
Hades (Roman name Pluto): The oldest brother of Zeus, ordered by Zeus to be in charge of the Underworld, where dead souls go. God of the dead and the underworld, not exactly unfriendly but very cold, lonely and creepy. Infamously abducted his niece Persephone to be his queen after being alone in the underworld, and she must spend half the year with him in the land of the dead. Made people who tried to cheat death suffer in the afterlife, giving them endless punishments like pushing a boulder up a mountain or tying them to burning wheels. His symbol is the screech owl.
Hestia (Roman name Vesta): The oldest sister of Zeus. The goddess of the hearth or fireplace, she does not have a throne on Olympus, preferring a simple chair to tend the hearth in the center of the throne room. Shy, gentle and humble with a grandmotherly personality, households made their first sacrificial offerings to her for keeping their families warm throughout the year. Her symbol is the pig, a commonly sacrificed animal.
