Ancient Greek Gods for Kids

The magical world of the ancient Greek gods was a world full of bickering and challenges and jealousies and fights and punishment and love. Many Greek myths were based on the fact that gods, like mortal men, could be punished or rewarded for their actions. They could fall in love. They could get angry. And they could get even!

The ancient Greek gods loved to get involved in the lives of mortals, sometimes to help, and sometimes to hinder, and sometimes quite accidentally, causing all kinds of trouble. The ancient Greek gods were not always the most thoughtful of magical beings. For more about that, see: Case Files from The Hercules Detective Agency, Founded to Help the Greek People (GreekMyths4Kids)

The ancient Greeks believed in a great many gods and goddesses and other magical creatures. Here are some of the major ones. Click on their name to learn more about them:   Zeus   /  Hera  /  Poseidon  /  Hades  /  Ares  /  Hermes  /  Apollo  /  Artemis  /  Athena  /  Hestia  /  Demeter  /  Aphrodite  /  Hephaestus  /  Heracles  /  Eros  /  Dionysus  /  Orpheus  /  Echo  /  Pan  /  Pandora  /  Pegasus  /  Kerberos  /  Prometheus

The ancient Greek storytellers traveled from village to village, telling stories about the ancient Greek gods. These stories are called myths (short for mythology, or stories about gods.)  Each storyteller changed the myths a bit to fit their audience and their own imagination, but whatever power and personality a god had was consistent no matter who was telling the story. For example, Zeus was always king of the gods, and only Zeus could throw lightning bolts.

Here are some ancient Greek myths for kids, retold by the storyteller, Lin Donn

• Zeus, Hera, and Little Io

• The Competition, Athena and Poseidon

• Theseus, the Minotaur, and the Maze

• Hades, Zeus, and the King of Corinth

• Icarus and Daedalus, Wings

• Baby Hercules &
  The 12 Labors of Hercules

• Demeter and Persephone, Reason for the Seasons

• Apollo's Oracle at Delphi

• Apollo and Cassandra

• Dionysus and Ariadne

• Perseus, Andromeda, and the sea god, Poseidon

• Orpheus and Eurydice

• Eros & Psyche

• The Magic Rocks - a myth about Ares, the god of war, and a battle he did not win

• Aphrodite and the Trojan War

• Zeus and Prometheus and the Gift of Fire

• Zeus, Pandora, and Pandora's Box

• Zeus and the Great Flood (Deucalion & Pyrrhic)

• Zeus, Helios & Phaethon

• Three Tales of Echo - Hera, Narcissus, and Pan

• King Midas and the Golden Touch

• King Midas and the Donkey Ears

• Story of the Just Plain Rotten King Tantalus

• Artemis and the Deer Hunter

• Hermes & Apollo (cartoon PowerPoint, how Apollo got his lyre)

• Perseus and Medusa

• The Cyclops Cave & The Sirens

• The Trouble with Oracles

New:  Hosted by Greek Myths 4 Kids

See Also:

The Truth About Myths

Hades and the River Styx

Greek Monster Myths

Greek God Family Tree

The 12 Olympians

Mount Olympus

The Greek Storytellers

FREE QUIZ: TEST YOURSELF Ancient Greek Gods and Goddesses (Interactive with answers)

Greek Myth Games (interactive)

A series of Greek Myths - animated, by Geethanjali Studios, based on our Greek Myths, used with our permission

Free Lesson Plans for Teachers about the ancient Greek deities