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Greek Mythology

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For more than a millennium the stories about gods and goddesses which became ancient Greek Mythology were passed down by word of mouth. The myths included the genealogy of the gods of Greece, most notably the Olympians such as Zeus, along with the family trees of heroes, such as Heracles or Hercules, tales of the early days of Greek cities celebrated in history, such as Athens, Sparta, and Thebes, as well as legends about non-historical kingdoms such as Atlantis. The myths also included the story of the Trojan War and the fall of Troy.

Four hundred and fifty years after Helen (as the legends say) returned home, the myths began to be written down, first by the redactors of the epic poems ascribed to Homer, then by Hesiod, then by the lyric poets, such as Pindar. Much later, the historian Herodotus, the mythographer Apollodorus, the travel writer Pausanias, and many others began the long task of organizing the Greek myths, a task that continues today.

This site tries to present the facts from these early writers without judging which lineage is the correct one. All possible relationships are linked for each entity, and the sources for each relationship are shown in the source page for that entity. The choice as to which relationships are most plausible is yours.