Greek mythology often reads like a soap opera for deities. One moment Zeus condemns a traitor to have his liver pecked apart by vultures for eternity, the next he disguises himself as a swan so he can seduce women without drawing his wife’s attention.
It takes a special cast of characters to drive such a narrative, and the Olympian gods were the perfect fit. Many modern Americans met them in Disney form through 1997’s Hercules. But for sheer darkness and palace intrigue, the 2024 series Kaos comes closer to capturing their essence — immensely powerful, immensely flawed, humanity at its worst, but free of human limitations.
“The gods are in fact the most powerful work of art created by the Greeks,” wrote Ken Dowden, professor emeritus of classics at the University of Birmingham. And what makes them so compelling, even today, is how much of ourselves we can still see in them. Compared to most historical religions, Dowden wrote, the Greek gods were “exceptionally anthropomorphic – they were ‘shaped like people.’”
Are There 12 or 13 Olympian Greek Gods and Goddesses?
The canonical number of Olympians was 12, but sources disagree about who should be included. Over the centuries, some gods rose in popularity while others fell. Nevertheless, this list is close to a definitive pantheon.
