Ancient Greek Gods for Kids and Teachers Illustration

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!

People gathered around when an ancient Greek storyteller came to town. Everyone knew that the ancient Greek gods loved to get involved in the lives of mortals, sometimes to help, sometimes to hinder, and sometimes quite accidentally, and caused all kinds of trouble, and the Greeks loved to hear stories about their gods. (The ancient Greek gods were not always the most thoughtful of magical beings.) They also loved to hear stories about their heroes! In fact, they just loved stories.

Storytelling was a highly respected profession in ancient Greece. The ancient Greek storytellers traveled from village to village, telling stories about the ancient Greek gods and other magical beings. 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. Hera, the queen of the gods, was always jealous of somebody. And Ares, their son, was the god of war. (Hardly any of the other Greek gods liked him much.)

The ancient Greeks told a great many myths about the magical beings that inhabited the ancient Greek world, including some dangerous monsters!

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

Here are some original short stories by Lin and Don Donn set in ancient Greece.
Join Herc and his buddies as they fix problems and solve mysteries!
Case files from the Hercules Detective Agency:

  1. How It All Started

  2. The Misunderstood Minotaur

  3. The Enchanted Well

  4. The Missing Olive Trees

  5. Kerberos on Strike

  6. The Very Inventive Rescue

  7. The Scaredly Fish

  8. The Tricked Bully

  9. The Stone Zoo

  10. The Reluctant Oracle

  11. Olympic Team Herc

  12. The Bad Barber

  13. The Talking Tools

  14. The Mad Machine

  15. The Constant Chatterbox

  16. The Voiceless Storyteller

  17. The Monster Under the Bridge

  18. The Stinky Sandals

  19. The Awesome Actor

  20. Hercules Challenged

  21. The Golden Lyre

  22. The Mischievous Trickster

  23. The Magic Earrings

  24. The Rhyming Poet

  25. The Three Harpies

  26. The Pearl Divers

  27. The Festival Arrow

  28. The Dragon Egg

  29. The Dangerous Dragon

  30. The Golden Nugget

  31. The Moving Mountain

  32. The Monster on the Causeway

  33. The Amazing Matchmaker

  34. The Temple Worm

  35. The Charcoal Burners

  36. The Ionian Sea Pirates

  37. The Island of the Sirens

  38. The Magic Wool

  39. The Minotaur to the Rescue

  40. The Missing Trident

  41. The Terrible Tutor

  42. The Dance Teacher

  43. The Water Rights

  44. The Winged Monsters

  45. The Treasure Map

See Also:

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

The Truth About Myths

Hades and the River Styx

Greek Monster Myths

Greek God Family Tree

The 12 Olympians

Mount Olympus

The Nine Muses

The Greek Storytellers

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

Greek Games (interactive)

Free Lesson Plans for Teachers about the ancient Greek deities

All Rights Reserved
Written by Lin Donn
Have a great year.