Talk:Twelve Olympians

The birth of Aphrodite?

Quoting the article: "The Olympians gained their supremacy in the world of gods after Zeus led his siblings to victory in war with the Titans; Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia, and Hades were siblings; all other Olympians are usually considered the children of Zeus by various mothers, except for Athena, who in some versions of the myth was born of Zeus alone. Additionally, some versions of the myth state that Hephaestus was born of Hera alone as Hera's revenge for Zeus' solo birth of Athena."

I think Aphrodite wasn't a child of Zeus either? She was born from the sea when Cronus cut off Uranus' genitals and threw them into the sea. --Lareine 14:30, 8 March 2006 (UTC)0

From Plato's Symposium (180 d-e): ... there are two goddesses of that name, ... One is an older deity, the motherless daughter of Uranus, the god of heaven: she is known as Urania, or Heavenly Aphrodite. The other goddess is younger, the daughter of Zeus and Dione: her name is Pandemos, or Common Aphrodite. --VonWoland 17:20, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

This is completely wrong! Aphrodite was born from bits of Uranus and sea foam! When she walked on the beach flowers sprang around her feet! Do not believ the other crap! THIS IS TRUE!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.67.135.150 (talk) 00:26, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

yes, I wanted to edit the page but I do not poses the skills, neither the patience to, but it angers me to think they don't check what people write on these articles 20.siri (talk) 19:26, 15 September 2024 (UTC)

In Greek myth we have two different sources for Aphrodite's birth: the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite(which calls her a child of Zeus), and the Theogony of Hesiod, where she is one of the first 'primeval' goddesses to be born, along with Chaos and Gaia.Dixontm (talk) 11:27, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

So which Aphrodite was one of the Twelve Olympians? The part of the article that Lareine quoted above implies that it was Zeus's daughter. But the current article seems to imply that it was the older Aphrodite. - Shaheenjim (talk) 02:05, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

I suspect it was Zeus's daughter, since all the other classical ones are siblings or children of Zeus. The edit that changed it to be the older Aphrodite was made by 189.169.100.74 on 15 February 2007, and that guy never made another edit. Seems unreliable. I'm changing it back. But if you have reason to believe that I'm wrong, feel free to change it back again. - Shaheenjim (talk) 02:14, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

Your story about multiple goddesses named "Aphrodite" is very far-fetched and quite frankly sounds like nonsense. There are all sorts of conflicting stories in Greek mythology about a whole range of personalities and it seems to be standard practice to just present them as alternative stories rather than making up explanations involving multiple people. Anyway, most people would say Aphrodite is the daughter of Uranus, simply due to Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus" if nothing else. (Huey45 (talk) 12:55, 4 March 2010 (UTC))

Aphrodite's parentage, well, none of those myths are crap and she's not the only greek deity to have multiple myths about their parentages either, here are a few examples, Hephaestus is sometimes stated as being EITHER the son of Zeus and Hera or just Hera herself, Dionysus is stated as being EITHER the son of Zeus and Semele, Zeus and Demeter or Zeus and Persephone and don't forget about Pan, Greek mythology, there are several myths about Pan's parentage and none of them are crap and also there is only one Aphrodite but her parentage is preferable and depends on which one you believe or prefer, there is no correct myth to her parentage, also what about the example, the quote gave, Athena and may I remind you that said Athena, in some versions of the myth was motherless because in other versions of the myth, she was the daughter of Zeus and Metis, you see. 82.17.221.173 (talk) 21:00, 21 May 2020 (UTC)

We are talking about myths here. Myths aren't real, so they don't follow the rules of our reality. They are stories, told by people, living in cultures. Cultures change, people change, stories change. Stories don't have to be consistent or logical. There can be multiple versions of one story, and there can't be an official one.

Wikifan153 (talk) 21:39, 2 April 2022 (UTC)

Heracles?

I've heard nothing of Hercules being an Olympian, only him becoming god of strength upon death, but never an Olympian. Therequiembellishere 23:46, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

Heracles was originally a son of Hera and Zues, so techniquilly he was an olympian but not one on the council, which is made up of the twelve older Olympians, minus Hepheastes [I don't know if I spelled that right(God of fire and forge also called vulcan)] and Hades. Then Hades tricked Heacles into drinking a potion that made him Mortal. In the end of it all Heracles actually perishes. I forget how though. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.220.158.143 (talk) 02:23, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

Ugh. Heracles is NOT an Olympian. Neither is Hades. The 12 Olympians are

Zeus, Poseidon, Demeter, Hera, Hephaestus, Hermes, Aphrodite, Dionysus, Athena, Artemis, Apollo,and Ares. Hestia was one of the originals but gave up her place for Dionysus to keep the peace. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.67.135.150 (talk) 00:31, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Upon his death is mortal half burned away and his immortal half became an Olympian who sat at Zeus' right hand 135.23.111.239 (talk) 05:28, 17 February 2022 (UTC)

I think what they mean is he was an Olympian as in the species of deity not one of the twelve major deities known as the twelve Olympians and no, that's not at all what happened, Dionysus and Hestia both COULD be the twelfth olympian, it's highly debated who was the twelfth olympian, and the article clearly states that Zeus, Hephaestus, Hera, Apollo, Ares, Hermes, Poseidon, Demeter, Artemis, and Hestia or Dionysus as the Twelve Olympians, Dionysus OR Hestia, Dionysus OR Hestia, all of the Twelve Olympians are original major deities, it's just debated who was the twelfth olympian just Hephaestus is one of the twelve Olympians, it's just debated who was the twelfth. 82.17.221.173 (talk) 01:32, 21 May 2020 (UTC)

Ares is the cowardly god of war

Exactly what this word "cowardly" talks about?Ares had ALWAYS left his soldiers to die and went to hide to save himself. - Sthenel 09:36, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

I- What?? It's not 'cowardly' to save yourself. 2601:603:4901:1E30:554D:50D8:8B93:82F1 (talk) 00:23, 25 November 2023 (UTC)

Olympian gods listing with Hades and Hestia

In the famous book by E. Hamilton, the original listing of Olympians is:

Zeus Hera Poseidon Hades Athena Apollo Artemis Aphrodite Hermes Ares Hephaestus Hestia

Furthermore, Hamilton considers Dionysus and Demeter to be the "Two Great Gods of Earth", thus clearing any confusion as to the correct status of these two deities.

Propose a section on historiography and mythical context

Currently this reads like an info sheet, under the assumption that the Olympians are known. What do historians and Hellenists believe about the origins of the mythology? 90.242.131.89 (talk) 02:39, 12 October 2022 (UTC)