Reference
The Family Tree of the Gods
This tree follows the main line of Hesiod’s Theogony, from Chaos and Earth through the Titans to the Olympians, their children and a few mortals who married in. Greek poets never agreed on every parent – Aphrodite, Hephaestus and the Fates each have rival origins – so wherever the sources split, the note on that name says so. Names with an essay link straight to it.
Hover over or tap a name to light up its lines; select it to see its parents, children and the note on its sources.
Primordial powerTitanOlympianOther immortals and mortals
Primordial powers
- Chaos
- The first thing to exist in Hesiod: a yawning gap, not a mess. Night came out of it.
- Gaia
- Earth, broad and ancient. She bore Sky by herself, then the Titans with him.
- Uranus
- Sky. Hesiod has Earth bear him alone and then take him as partner; his son Cronus overthrew him.
- Nyx
- Night, born from Chaos. Hesiod lists her dark brood: Sleep, Death, Strife and, in one passage, the Fates.
Titans
- Cronus
- Youngest Titan. He maimed his father with a sickle, then swallowed his own children to keep power. Parents: Gaia, Uranus
- Rhea
- Sister and wife of Cronus. She saved the infant Zeus by handing her husband a swaddled stone. Parents: Gaia, Uranus
- Oceanus
- The river circling the world; with Tethys, father of the rivers and the Oceanid nymphs. Parents: Gaia, Uranus
- Tethys
- Titaness of fresh waters, mother by Oceanus of rivers such as the Peneus in Thessaly. Parents: Gaia, Uranus
- Coeus
- A shadowy Titan remembered mainly as the father of Leto, by his sister Phoebe. Parents: Gaia, Uranus
- Phoebe
- Titaness linked with Delphi; Aeschylus says her grandson Apollo took his name Phoebus from her. Parents: Gaia, Uranus
- Iapetus
- Titan father of Prometheus and Atlas; Hesiod names their mother as the Oceanid Clymene. Parents: Gaia, Uranus
- Themis
- Titaness of right order. In Hesiod’s second account she bears Zeus the Seasons and the Fates. Parents: Gaia, Uranus
- Mnemosyne
- Memory. Hesiod says she lay with Zeus for nine nights and bore the nine Muses. Parents: Gaia, Uranus
- The Moirai
- Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos. Hesiod makes them Night’s daughters, later of Zeus and Themis; Plato, of Necessity. Parents: Nyx Read the essay
Olympians and their siblings
- Zeus
- Last-born of Cronus and first to rule. He freed his swallowed siblings and drew the sky as his share. Parents: Cronus, Rhea
- Hera
- Queen of the gods and guardian of marriage, and Semele’s fatal enemy in the Dionysus story. Parents: Cronus, Rhea
- Demeter
- Goddess of grain. Her grief for Persephone starved the earth; Eleusis kept her Mysteries. Parents: Cronus, Rhea Read the essay
- Hades
- Lord of the dead and brother of Zeus. Not counted an Olympian, since his realm lies below. Parents: Cronus, Rhea
- Poseidon
- God of sea, earthquake and horses. In the Iliad the brothers draw lots, and he wins the waters. Parents: Cronus, Rhea
- Hestia
- Eldest child of Cronus, goddess of the hearth. Some lists of twelve Olympians swap her for Dionysus. Parents: Cronus, Rhea
- Peneus
- River god of Thessaly, listed by Hesiod among Ocean’s sons. In Ovid he is Daphne’s father. Parents: Oceanus, Tethys
- Leto
- Mother of Apollo and Artemis by Zeus; she wandered until the tiny island of Delos agreed to host the birth. Parents: Coeus, Phoebe
- Aphrodite
- Hesiod: born from the sea foam around Uranus’s severed flesh. Homer: daughter of Zeus and Dione. Parents: Uranus
- Prometheus
- Son of a Titan who stole fire for humans and was chained to a crag for it. Parents: Iapetus
Children of the gods
- Athena
- Born fully armed from the head of Zeus, after he swallowed her pregnant mother, Metis. Parents: Zeus
- Hermes
- Son of Zeus and the nymph Maia, daughter of Atlas; messenger, trickster and father of Pan. Parents: Zeus
- Dionysus
- Son of Zeus and the mortal Semele, born twice: from the lightning’s fire and from his father’s thigh. Parents: Zeus Read the essay
- Ares
- God of war, son of Zeus and Hera, and in many poets the lover of Aphrodite. Parents: Zeus, Hera
- Persephone
- Demeter’s daughter, carried off by Hades. A pomegranate seed binds her below for part of each year. Parents: Zeus, Demeter Read the essay
- Hephaestus
- Smith of the gods. Hesiod says Hera bore him without a partner; Homer names Zeus as his father. Parents: Hera
- Apollo
- Archer, healer and prophet of Delphi. His first love, Daphne, became the laurel he wears. Parents: Zeus, Leto Read the essay
- Artemis
- Apollo’s twin, huntress and guardian of the young; the virgin goddess Daphne wished to imitate. Parents: Zeus, Leto
- The Muses
- Nine daughters of Zeus and Memory, patrons of song; later tradition gave tragedy and comedy a Muse each. Parents: Zeus, Mnemosyne
- Daphne
- Nymph who refused Apollo and became the laurel. Greek versions call her daughter of the Ladon or of Amyclas. Parents: Peneus Read the essay
- Eros
- Hesiod counts Eros among the first powers; later poets make him Aphrodite’s son. Husband of Psyche. Parents: Aphrodite Read the essay
Heroes and mortals
- Heracles
- Son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmene; the greatest Greek hero, raised to Olympus after his death. Parents: Zeus
- Pan
- Goat-legged god of Arcadia. Hermes is his father in the Hymn; his mother varies, Penelope included. Parents: Hermes Read the essay
- Psyche
- Mortal princess in Apuleius. After four trials she marries Eros, drinks ambrosia and bears Pleasure. Read the essay
- Ariadne
- Daughter of King Minos of Crete. Left on Naxos by Theseus, she married Dionysus and was made immortal.