The king of the gods was Zeus whose wife was called Hera. According to the Greeks he was the one who sent down lightning bolts which were made by Hephaestus, the god of fire. The goddess of Athens was Athena who was the daughter of Zeus.

Athena’s symbol is the owl.

Athena can sometimes be confused with Ares who is also known as the god of war. His proper title should be the god of savage warfare, though.

The gods also helped many heroes to survive either by giving them advice or by giving them an object. For example, when Perseus went to kill the Medusa Athena, Hermes and Hades gave him an object. A shield, winged sandals and a sack to put the head in. Athena’s shield was used as a mirror so Perseus would not be turned to stone when looking at the Medusa.

Hera was Zeus’s wife and was the goddess who sent the serpents to Hercules to try to kill him when he was a baby. He strangled the snakes and survived before earning Twelve Labours. He was set the twelve tasks by his cousin, King Eurystheus. Sometimes Eurystheus was so scared of Hercules that he hid in a giant amphora. These tasks only occurred because Hercules drank too much wine and got drunk. Hera didn’t help because she made him believe that his wife and family were threatening him so he killed them. Afterwards he was terribly sorry about what he had done and went to the oracle at Delphi who told him he had to work for his cousin for twelve years.

Sometimes the myths would lead on to other myths. For example one of Hercules’ tasks was to capture the bull from Crete. He took it back to Eurystheus and on his way to his next labour he set it free outside Athens. This bull rampaged around the fields, ruining all of the crops. The Athenians sent a messenger to Crete and asked king Midas whether he could send someone to come and control the animal. Midas sent his son who was killed by the bull. The king was devastated and ordered the Athenians to send seven boys and seven girls to be slaughtered to the Minotaur in the maze, designed by Daedalus. Theseus ended up killing the Minotaur.