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Twelve Olympians

  • ZeusThe name Zeus appears in the earliest Greek records as di-we and di-wo, written in Linear B script on tablets from Mycenae.
  • HeraThe name Hera appears on clay tablets from Pylos and Thebes written in the Linear B script, dating to the Mycenaean period.
  • AphroditeThe name Aphrodite appears in the Cypriot syllabary as a-po-ro-ta-o-i, read right to left, during the eleventh century BC.
  • ArtemisScholars have debated the linguistic origin of the name Artemis for centuries. R.S.P. Beekes suggested that the interchange between e and i in her name…
  • DemeterDemeter once let everything on earth die. Not through carelessness or neglect, but through a grief so total that crops withered, harvests failed, and mortals…
  • ApolloThe name Apollo appears in Linear B tablets as the fragment ]pe-rjo-[, yet scholars debate whether this represents the god himself or a different figure…
  • PoseidonThe earliest written record of the name Poseidon appears on Linear B clay tablets from Mycenaean Greece, inscribed as Po-se-da-o or Po-se-da-wo-ne.
  • AthenaThe name Athena likely comes from the city of Athens, which in ancient Greek is called Athenai. This plural toponym designates the place where she presided…
  • DionysusClay tablets unearthed at Pylos in the twelfth or thirteenth century BC bear the inscription di-wo-nu-so. This Mycenaean Greek form appears twice on…
  • HephaestusA clay tablet from Knossos bears the inscription A-pa-i-ti-jo. This Linear B script dates to the Mycenaean period and offers the earliest written evidence of…
  • HermesThe earliest written record of Hermes appears in Linear B inscriptions from Pylos, Thebes, and Knossos dating to the Bronze Age Mycenaean period.
  • AresThe name Ares appears in Mycenaean Linear B tablets as the syllabic form a-re. This earliest attested version dates to the Bronze Age, long before classical…
  • HestiaThe name Hestia means hearth, fireplace, and altar. This word stems from the Proto-Indo-European root meaning to burn. That root ultimately connects to words…