very close to Akkadian mythology, ‘‘Ocean and mother Tethys’’ are the ‘‘begetting of
the gods’’ (Iliad14.201).
This way the poets establish an agreed sense of who matters amongst the gods and
where they fit in the notional history and family tree of heaven. This can be seen from
Homer, who deals with a particular range of Olympians, as is shown in table 2.1,
giving the number of mentions of each. Some of the priorities are of course occa-
sioned by the story or other accidents, but the picture painted is not so far from a
recognizable pantheon of twelve. And when the gods come out to fight each other
(Iliad20.67–74), they are of course drawn up in pairs: Poseidon and Apollo, Enyalios
(Ares) and Athene, Hera and Artemis, Leto and Hermes, Hephaestus and the river
Xanthos. This makes a total of ten, again not so far from a regular later pantheon
(though Xanthos is inventive and Leto surprising). And sculptors for their part are
only poets in stone, when they depict Olympians in a group, as for instance on the
east frieze of the Siphnian Treasury at Delphi with its neatly ordered and subtly varied
enthroned gods (before 525 BC). This may not be twelve gods two by two, but it is
not far from it.
So, by the time we reach the classical age there is a sense of a pantheon of twelve,
even if details might vary. And some order has been brought to the chaos that is
Greek religion, at least for the purposes of drama, narrative, and the world of ideas.
The Myths and Functions of the Gods
Every locale had its stories of the gods, not in isolation but relative to the landscape
and the people of old, perhaps heroes, that had lived in it. Greece does not bother
much with creations and ends of the world, except at a sort of philosophical level. So
Zeus is not a creator god. And indeed the Olympians are in mythology a relatively
Table 2.1 Olympian gods in Homer
Olympian god Iliad Odyssey
Zeus (& Kronides & Kronion) 482 (& 37 & 49) 221 (& 7 & 24)
Athene 163 161
Ares (& Enyalios) 141 (& 8) 14
Apollo (& just Phoibos) 130 (& 6) 28
Hera 121 7
Poseidon 44 42
Hephaestus 41 19
Iris 40 –
Aphrodite (& Kypris) 30 (& 6) 12
Hermes 17 22
Artemis 12 15
Leto 12 3
Demeter 4 1
Dionysus 3 2
Dione 2 –
Eileithyia 1 1
Olympian Gods, Olympian Pantheon 45