Home›Greek Deities›Era Attested Start Year›By Century›7th century BCEBrowse By7th century BCEThis page groups deities by the earliest year a surviving written or inscribed source places them, sorting gods by how far back their documented worship can actually be traced. Archaeologists call this kind of earliest possible date a terminus post quem, which Wikipedia defines as "the earliest date the event may have happened or the item was in existence." Browsing by first attestation separates deities known from the oldest surviving records from ones who only appear in much later texts.FactsLearn More7th century BCESourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsOverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedThe gods of ancient Greek religion, among the best documented pantheons of the ancient world. The grouping rests on a literary record from Homer and Hesiod onward together with inscriptions, temple accounts and archaeology. The Olympian family of the poets and the gods actually worshipped in a given city are not the same list, and cult titles vary from place to place. 2AttestationEra of AttestationWell-attestedSeveral of the Olympian names are already present on Linear B tablets of about 1400 to 1200 BCE, and the cult ran continuously until the closing of the temples in the late fourth century CE. 2Veneration TodayWell-attestedThe public cult ended in late antiquity; no continuous worship survives. 2DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedDeities 1Learn MoreThe gods of ancient Greece This group holds the deities of ancient Greek religion, among the best documented pantheons of the ancient world thanks to a rich literary record from Homer and Hesiod onward. At its centre are the twelve Olympians (Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Ares, Hephaestus, Hermes, Demeter and either Hestia or Dionysus), who dwell on Mount Olympus and govern the ordered cosmos. Around them the browser will find the older generation of Titans they overthrew, primordial powers such as Gaia and Chronos, chthonic and underworld figures led by Hades and Persephone, and a wide company of lesser gods, nymphs and personifications.Myth, cult and afterlife Greek religion was practised through local cult, festival and sacrifice for well over a thousand years; the myths preserved in poetry and drama are one part of it, the civic and mystery cults another. The same god could be worshipped under many local titles and take a different character from city to city. The tradition was later absorbed and renamed by Rome, and its gods became the common vocabulary of Western art and letters long after the temples closed. The entries note both the classical Greek figure and its Roman counterpart where the two were identified.7th century BCEFilter Results47 entriesPlanetary FaceAllSaturn (1)Uranus (1)Member OfAllThe Fates (3)The Nine Muses (9)Child OfAllCoeus (2)Crius (3)Gaia (13)Hyperion (1)Iapetus (3)Mnemosyne (10)Oceanus (1)Pallas (1)Phoebe (2)Tethys (1)Theia (1)Uranos (12)Zeus (10)Interpretatio OfAllCaelus (1)Saturn (1)HistoricityAllLegendary: known from narrative tradition, not the historical record (6)Not a historical person: a divine or other-than-human being (41)TheologyAllPolytheistic: many gods (47)ArchetypeAllThe Caregiver (6)The Creator (3)The Explorer (1)The Hero (3)The Innocent (2)The Jester (1)The Lover (2)The Magician (2)The Orphan (3)The Rebel (4)The Ruler (3)The Sage (8)Veneration StatusAllHistorically attested; no continuous cult (46)No Cult Attested (1)Worshipped InAllAncient Greek Religion (43)Domain / FunctionAllAgriculture and harvest (2)Beauty (1)Chaos and adversary (1)Cosmic order and truth (1)Creation and cosmogony (1)Dance and theatre (3)Dawn (1)Death (2)Destruction and dissolution (1)Earth (2)Fate and time (5)Justice, law and oaths (2)Kingship and sovereignty (1)Moon (1)Motherhood (2)Music and poetry (8)Night and darkness (1)Primordial being (4)Prophecy and divination (4)Protection and guardianship (1)Rivalry Competition (1)Rivers, lakes and springs (2)Sea and ocean (3)Sky (3)Sleep and dreams (1)Stars and planets (5)Strife Discord (1)Sun (1)Victory (1)War and battle (1)Wind (1)Wisdom and counsel (3)GenderAllCollective / plural, not a single figure (2)Female (28)Male (17)PantheonAllGreek (43)BrowseCompareSelect all 47Amphitrite7th century BCEAristaeus7th century BCEAsteria7th century BCEAstraeus7th century BCEAtlas7th century BCEAtropos7th century BCECalliope7th century BCECastor and Pollux7th century BCEClio7th century BCEClotho7th century BCECoeus7th century BCECrius7th century BCECronus7th century BCEEos7th century BCEEpimetheus7th century BCEErato7th century BCEEris7th century BCEEuterpe7th century BCEGaia7th century BCEHelen of Troy7th century BCEHyperion7th century BCEHypnos7th century BCEIapetus7th century BCELachesis7th century BCELeto7th century BCEMelpomene7th century BCEMenoetius7th century BCEMetis7th century BCEMnemosyne7th century BCENemesis7th century BCENike7th century BCEOceanus7th century BCEPallas7th century BCEPerses7th century BCEPhoebe7th century BCEPolyhymnia7th century BCERhea7th century BCETerpsichore7th century BCETethys7th century BCEThalia7th century BCEThanatos7th century BCEThe Fates7th century BCEThe Nine Muses7th century BCETheia7th century BCEThemis7th century BCEUrania7th century BCEUranos7th century BCESources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 12. Greek Religiontier 1Walter Burkert, Harvard University Press, 1985chs. 2-4View the SourceDivinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.