Do you like Greek Mythology? Do you like goddesses? This is the list for you!
Whether you are a first-time learner of Greek Mythology or a veteran on the topic, Greek Mythology has a cult following that is reproduced and the subject of inspiration the whole world round.
From characters in manga and anime-inspired by the Greek gods and goddesses to books and movies such as the Percy Jackson series, Greek Mythology is deeply intertwined with modern-day culture.
In this list, we’ve chosen 15 Greek Mythology Goddesses and what they’re famous for. In no particular order, let’s get started with the goddess at number 15.
15. Hestia
Art by Genzoman here: https://www.deviantart.com/genzoman/art/Hestia-856299739
Daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, Hestia is the oldest of the Olympians. While Hestia doesn’t appear in many stories, what is known of Hestia is interesting. Unlike the rest of her siblings, Hestia is presented as a kind and loving goddess. She is the goddess of the hearth, home, and family.
When Apollo and Poseidon fought for her hand in marriage, Hestia refused and chose to remain an eternal virgin.
Hestia looked after the hearth on Mount Olympus and in the homes of the Greek followers. As the goddess of the sacrificial flame, Hestia is honoured in every household as they award her with the first offering in any sacrifice.
Hestia is best known for:
- Being one of the twelve Olympians
- Relinquishing her seat as an Olympian for Dionysus.
- Keeping peace in Olympus and in the homes of the Greeks.
- Her Roman equivalent is Vesta.
Symbols: Hearth and Fire
14. Demeter
Art by Midoriharada here: https://www.deviantart.com/midoriharada/art/Demeter-Goddess-115357321
Like Hestia, Demeter is another daughter of Cronus and Rhea. She is a goddess of agriculture and is often depicted as a mother. While Demeter refused to marry Poseidon and Zeus, she had affairs with both, the latter resulting in Persephone.
Demeter’s stories mainly focus on her relationship with Persephone. When Persephone is missing, Demeter grew so worried and distracted, she forgot about the harvest, resulting in famine for the humans.
When Persephone is with Demeter, the earth flourishes (spring and summer), yet when Persephone is away, the earth grows cold and hard, (autumn and winter), thus making Demeter a goddess of the seasons.
Demeter is best known for:
- Agriculture, crops, and the harvest.
- The changing of seasons.
- Searching for Persephone and being a goddess of motherhood.
- Her Roman equivalent is Ceres.
Symbols: Wheat, Poppies, Snake, Pig and Cornucopia.
13. Selene
Art by Moisés Rodríguez here: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/XA25l
Born from the Titans Hyperion and Theia, Selene is a Titanian goddess of the moon, who drives her chariot across the skies during the night.
While other goddesses such as Artemis or Hecate are referred to as lunar or moon goddesses, only Selene is seen as the personification of the moon itself. Her moon chariot is powered by white horses.
Selene is often said to have loved Endymion. Together, they parented fifty daughters. Zeus, Endymion’s father, granted Selene a wish that allowed Endymion to be immortal and eternally youthful. Selene would visit him every night in his sleeping state.
Selene is best known for:
- Being a goddess of the moon.
- Her love for Endymion.
- Her relationship with her brother, Helios, the Titanian god of the sun.
- Her Roman equivalent is Luna.
Symbols: Crescent, Chariot, Torch and Bull.
12. Mania
Art by YunaXD here: https://www.deviantart.com/yunaxd/art/Trela-790950922
Mania, the goddess of insanity, the mentally ill and the dead, is the child of Erebus, Titan god of darkness, and Nyx, Titan goddess of night. While there are few stories about Mania, she is known to have suffered from the negative emotions of her parents.
According to Etruscian stories, for a period before the Olympians came to power, Mania was said to have ruled over the underworld with her husband, Mantus.
Alternatively, Mania is known in a plural form, Maniae, a group of spirits that caused insanity in both men and animals.
Mania is best known for:
- The English word “Mania” which means madness or obsession.
- Invoking insanity in men, women, and animals, especially dogs (rabies).
- Links to spirits and the dead.
- Her Roman equivalent is the same, sometimes spelt Manea.
Symbols: Not applicable for Mania, as she wasn’t worshipped in the same way as other goddesses.
11. Circe
Art by Lemog Leo here: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/A9aoKW
Known to turn men into wild animals such as wolves, pigs and lions, Circe is a goddess of magic and enchantments. An expert in potions and spells, Circe is known for meddling in Homer’s Odyssey.
When Odysseus and his men land in Aeaea, Circe drugs Odysseus’ crew and turns them into pigs. When Odysseus overpowers her with the help of Hermes (who gives him a plant called moly for protection), they turn into lovers, and in some accounts, they have a child/children together.
Circe is best known for:
- Turning men into pigs
- Magic, spells and incantations.
- Her relationship with Odysseus.
- Her Roman equivalent is Kirke, and she is the titular character in Madeline Miller's Circe.
Symbols: Cup and Ladle
10. Hera
Art by David Roterburg here: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/L3bNyP
Queen of the gods, Hera is the final daughter of Cronus and Rhea. She is the wife of Zeus, and the goddess of women, marriage, the sky and heaven.
Most of her myths revolve around the infidelity of her husband, Zeus and the persecution of his lovers and the children produced by them.
Hera could be seen as quite cruel at times. While she had reasoning for some aspects of her wrath (mainly Zeus being the worst husband in Olympus), other times she was merciless.
When she bore Hephaestus through parthenogenesis (without a father), she threw him from Mount Olympus because he was a “cripple”. Harsh.
Hera is best known for:
- Persecution of her husband’s cheating.
- Birthing Hephaestus, god of blacksmiths, forges, fire and volcanoes.
- Favouring Jason by helping him and the Argonauts with the Golden Fleece.
- Her Roman equivalent is Juno.
Symbol: Royal sceptre
9. Nyx
Art by Ashri-Lohne here https://www.deviantart.com/astri-lohne/art/Nyx-862242039
The mother of the aforementioned Mania, Nyx is the primordial goddess of night. Nyx is one of the oldest goddesses on the list as she emerged at the dawn of creation. Nyx was birthed from Chaos and was coupled with Erebus, who represented darkness.
Together, they created Aither (Light) and Hemera (Day) as well as a multitude of dark entities such as Mania. Nyx is the mother of the personification of death, Thanatos.
Nyx is best known for:
- Being a primordial goddess
- Being the personification of night
- Mothering the three fates, and other gods such as Thanatos (Death) and Hypnus (Sleep).
- Her Roman equivalent is Nox.
Symbols: the crescent moon, an owl.
8. Aphrodite
Art by Nyankola here: https://www.deviantart.com/nyankola/art/Aphrodite-744664225
Possibly one of the most well-known goddesses on the list, Aphrodite needs no introduction. A goddess of beauty, love and pleasure, Aphrodite is depicted as a beautiful woman with soft and feminine features.
While her birth has several claims, the most outrageous claim is that Aphrodite was born in the seafoam from the blood that dripped from Ouranos’ castrated genitals. This is Greek Mythology at its most.
Aphrodite is best known for:
- Inspiring Sandro Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus.
- Cheating on her husband, Hephaestus.
- Fighting and getting injured in the Trojan War.
- Her Roman equivalent is Venus.
Symbols: a dove, an apple, a scallop shell, and a mirror.
7. Nike
Art by Genzoman here: https://www.deviantart.com/genzoman/art/Nike-goddess-of-victory-120719773
Many consumers in today’s world don’t know that the shoe company is based on a Greek goddess of victory, Nike. Nike presided over victory in war but also in competitions. Nike is always portrayed as a winged goddess as she would watch over battlefields from above.
Nike is best known for:
- Being the namesake of the shoe company.
- Siding with Zeus in the Titanomachy, resulting in victory.
- Being a charioteer for Zeus.
- Her Roman equivalent is Victoria.
Symbols: Palm Branch and Wings.
6. Hecate
Art by Irenhorrors here: https://www.deviantart.com/irenhorrors/art/Hecate-646679005
Often portrayed as holding twin torches or as the embodiment of three women (the maiden, the mother, and the crone), Hecate is the goddess of magic, witchcraft, the moon, the night, ghosts, necromancy, and crossroads.
The first portrayal of Hecate is due to her aiding Demeter in her search for Persephone, who she later becomes friends with when she spends her time in Hades. The other is depicting the three separate stages of life.
Hecate is often seen as a symbol of feminism in modern culture.
Hecate is best known for:
- Helping Demeter find her daughter Persephone.
- Attending and becoming friends with Persephone in the underworld.
- Transforming women and witches into her familiars to save them.
- Her Roman equivalent is Hekate.
Symbols: Two torches, a black dog.
5. Persephone
Art by Jaggudada for the game SMITE here: https://www.deviantart.com/jaggudada/art/Persephone-Mastery-skin-SMITE-812178492
Abducted by Hades and forced to be the Queen of the underworld, Persephone is the daughter of Demeter that caused a famine. As the daughter of the goddess of agriculture, Persephone was picking flowers when the ground erupted and Hades appeared, dragging her off to the underworld.
When Demeter found her, Persephone had already eaten some pomegranate seeds from the underworld and therefore had to spend half of the year in the underworld, and the other half with her mother. She returned to her mother in the spring and returned to the underworld in autumn.
Persephone is best known for:
- Her abduction by Hades.
- Originally she was called Core, a goddess of spring´s bounty.
- She was Queen of the underworld and Hades’ wife.
- Her Roman equivalent is Proserpina.
Symbols: Pomegranate and the torch.
4. Gaia
Art by Anako-Art here: https://www.deviantart.com/anako-art/art/GAIA-192669582
Gaia, or Gaea, is known as the goddess of the Earth. Like Nyx, Gaia was a primordial goddess that was born at the dawn of creation. While Nyx represents the night, Gaia represents the Earth and land.
Gaia was an antagonist against many of the other gods and goddesses. She incited the attacks against Ouranos, and then later against Cronus too.
Gaia is best known for:
- Inciting wars against the gods.
- Being the personification of Mother Earth.
- Having the Titans imprisoned in her womb (the Earth).
- The Roman equivalent is Terra.
Symbols: Fruit and grain.
3. The Fates (Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos)
Art by Giovana Marion here: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/qA1282
Also known as the Moirai, the three Fates personified the destiny of mortal men.
Clotho, was the spinner, the goddess who spun the thread of life. Lachesis, the second goddess, measured the thread which measured the destiny of each individual man, while Atropos cut the thread of life.
These three goddesses fall outside the realm of Zeus’ power and for that, they deserve a spot on our list.
The Fates are best known for:
- Being both goddesses of birth and goddesses of death.
- Operating outside the normal hierarchy of power in Greek Mythology.
- They often did not get involved in human affairs.
- Their Roman equivalents are the Fatae.
Symbols: Spindle, thread and shears.
2. Artemis
Art by Littlepaperforest here: https://www.deviantart.com/littlepaperforest/art/Artemis-550446412
Goddess of the hunt, wilderness, and wild animals, Artemis was usually depicted with a bow and arrow, surrounded by wild animals.
An eternal virgin, Artemis was the protector of girls until the age of marriage while her twin brother, the god Apollo, protected boys. They are the twin children of Zeus and the Titan Leto.
Leto was continuously attacked by Hera for sleeping with Zeus. Artemis was the firstborn and helped Leto give birth to Apollo on the floating island of Delos.
Artemis is best known for:
- Transforming her pregnant handmaiden into a bear and exiling her into the woods.
- Accidentally killing Orion when she was tricked by her jealous twin brother, Apollo.
- Saving Iphigeneia from a sacrifice by replacing her with a doe.
- Her Roman equivalent is Diana.
Symbols: Bow and arrow, deer, and bears.
1. Athena
Art by YamaOrce here: https://www.deviantart.com/yamaorce/art/Athena-647596562
Last on our list is the goddess, Athena. As the goddess of wisdom, good counsel, war, the defending of towns, heroic endeavour, weaving and many other skills, Athena is a goddess with many talents.
Athena was birthed by Zeus alone after she split open his head and emerged fully grown and armoured. She is known to have helped and hindered many champions and demigods in Greek Mythology making her one of the most important goddesses to mankind.
Athena is best known for:
- Helping Perseus kill the Gorgons.
- Blinding Tiresias because he saw her bathing naked.
- Helping Hercules with his twelve labours.
- Her Roman equivalent is Minerva.
Symbols: The Aegis, the owl and the olive tree.
That finishes our list of 15 Greek goddesses and what they’re famous for. Who is your favourite Greek goddess? Did they make the list? Let us know in the comments below.
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