A guide to the Olympians, the Titans, the primordial powers and the Muses: one page for each, with who they came from and what they did.
Open the family treeThe Greek gods,all one family
The oldest full account of the gods’ descent is Hesiod’s Theogony, from about 700 BCE. This guide follows it, and says so where other writers disagree.
Greek myth is one long family story. Everything begins with Chaos, and each generation overthrows the last: first the sky, then the Titans, then the Olympians.
Trace the family
Follow anyone back to Chaos, see everyone who descends from them, or compare two figures to find the nearest ancestor they share. It uses the same family data as the pages.
The Muses
Zeus and Memory had nine daughters, goddesses of song, dance and story. Older sets of three and four turn up in other sources.
In pictures
Try it yourself
Which god looks after it?
Type a subject, such as the sea, a wedding or a journey, and see who is responsible.
The myth quiz
Ten questions drawn from twenty, each with a short reason and a link to read on.
Compare two figures
Pick any two and find the nearest ancestor they share.
Ancient myths, modern creativity
Poets have drawn on these stories for nearly three thousand years: the Odyssey opens by asking the Muse to sing, and Frankenstein is subtitled The Modern Prometheus.
Every page here ends with how its figure has been used since: in words, in science and in art. Read how to use the myths.
Pages per generation: primordials, Titans, Olympians, Muses.
- Figures
- 83
- Earliest source
- Hesiod, about 700 BCE
- First being
- Chaos
- Muses
- Nine, and lesser sets
Not sure where to start? Begin with the first being, Chaos, and follow the family down.
Or open a story that people ask about most:
Or see the whole family tree and who is whose parent.