Greek gods

The Olympian pantheon and pre-Hellenic deities. Focus on gods with a line of syncretism reaching Mesopotamia: Aphrodite (Paphos/Astarte), Adonis (Tammuz), Hermes.

Adonis

Beautiful mortal beloved by Aphrodite and contested with Persephone. Slain by a boar, reborn seasonally. Greek form of Dumuzi/Tammuz — the same shepherd-lover-dead-renewed archetype, imported via Cyprus and Phoenicia.

Greek godsgreekAdonisshepherd

Persephone

Greek goddess who reigns over the underworld alongside Hades. Daughter of Demeter, abducted to the Underworld, partially freed — the myth explains the seasons. Greek parallel of Inanna's Descent and Ereshkigal's fate.

Greek godsgreekunderworldPersephone

Hades

Greek god of the underworld and husband of Persephone. Brother of Zeus and Poseidon. Name also designates the place — the realm of the dead. Greek parallel of the Sumerian Kur and of the sovereign function exercised in the game by Ereshkigal.

Greek godsgreekunderworldHades

Aphrodite

Greek goddess of love, beauty, and desire. Eastern origins via Paphos/Astarte, but with her own myths — birth from sea-foam, Judgment of Paris, love for Adonis. NOT Inanna, though descended from her.

Greek godsgreekPaphosCyprus