Three Hundred and Thirty Million Deities

Hindu Mythology Hindus have one God. They also have 330 million gods: male gods; female gods; family gods; village gods; in geometrical patterns and in man-made objects. Then there a whole host of demons. But no Devil. The roots of mythology evolved from the times of Vedic civilization. The two great Hindu epics, The Ramayana & The Mahabharata tell the story of two specific incarnations of Vishnu. [ Rama&Krishna ]

Vishwa-Rupa or Virat-Swarup is the cosmic form of God. For Hindus, God is the container of all things. All existence is a manifestation of the divine. This understanding of the world makes no room for the notion of "Evil". Evil means that which is devoid of Godliness.When everything is God, then nothing, not even things we despise and shy away from, can be ungodly.

Good and bad are judgements based on human values. Human  values are critical though they may be to establish a civilized society and are based on a limited understanding of the world.When understanding changes, values and judgements change and with them society.

The Sanskrit word "Maya" refers to all things that can be measured. Human understanding of the world is limited, hence measurable, hence Maya. To believe that Maya is truth is delusion. Beyond Maya, beyond human values and judgements, beyond the current understanding of the world, is a limitless reality which makes room for everyone and everything.

That reality is God! 

Ratnakara

Ratmakara was a highway robber and killer. One day he attacked the sage Narada. "Why are you doing this?" asked the sage. "For my family", replied Ratnakara. "Will they pay the price of your misdeeds?" asked Narada. "Yes,They will. After all, I am doing this for them.", said Ratnkara confidently. Narada requested Ratnakara to check with his wife and son if this was really true.

Ratnakara ran to his home and asked his wife and son if they would share the burden of his karmic debts. "No", said his wife. "Why should I?, My duty is to keep your household. Your duty is to provide for it. How you choose to provide for your family is your concern, not mine."

Ratnakara realized that ultimately a Jiva is responsible for his actions. He gave up his life as a criminal and became the author of the great epic Ramayana that chronicles the life of a Prince who lets his destiny, not his desires, to shape his life. He was later on known as Valmiki. Valmiki is also quoted contemporary of Rama. Rama met Valmiki during his period of exile and interacted with him. Valmiki gave shelter to Sita in his hermitage when Rama banished her.

 Vishnudharmottara Purana says that Valmiki was born in the Treta Yuga as a form of Vishnu who composed Ramayana and that people desirious of earning knowledge should worhsip Valmiki.

An area in Chennai, Thiruvanmiyur derives it's names from Valmiki, Thiru-Valmiki-Oor. There is a temple for Valmiki located in this place, which is believed to be 1300 years old.

Radha&Krishna

Radha and Krishna are collectively known withing Hinduism as the combination of both the feminine as well as the masculine aspects of God. Krishna is often referred as Svayam Bhagavan in Vaishnavism theology and Radha is five elemental body of the feeling of love towards the almighty God Shree Krishna. Soul is a part of the God Shree Krishna and Radha is that feeling of love which connects a living being to his creator. With Krishna, Radha is acknowledged as the Supreme Goddess, for it is said that she controls Krishna. It is believed that Krishna enchants the world, but Radha enchants even him. Therefore she is the supreme goddess of all.

Radha is not Krishna's wife. Yet without her image, Krishna is never complete.She inspires him to play the flute. Without her, there is no music.

In some traditions she is considered Krishna's aunt. In others she is married to another man. In most she is older than him. Thus the love of Radha&Krishna defies all social norms.

Their meeting, when they are surrounded by a circle of dancing milkmaids, the Maha-Raas, always takes place at night, outside the village, in secret.

It represents the desires of the heart that unfortunately have to be denied or repressed or sublimated by the demands of the society. Though denied, repressed and sublimated, they exist. And Krishna acknowledges their existence.

While there are much earlier references to the worship of this form of God, it is since Jayadeva Goswami wrote a famous poem Gita Govinda in the twelth century of the Common Era, that the topic of the spiritual love between the divine Krishna and his devotee Radha, became a theme celebrated throughout India. The Manipuri Vaishnavas do not worship Krishna alone, but Radha-Krishna. With the spread of Vaishnavism the worship of Krishna and Radha became the dominant form in the Manipur region.

Matsya

After finishing his duties as a King. Satyavrata lived a quiet life with his wife on the banks of a river. Once while bathing in the river he came upon a little fish who could speak. "Save me from the big fish, O mighty king, and i will save the world", he said. Feeling sorry for the small fish who talked big, Satyavrata took it out of the river and gave it shelter in his pot. So the Fish had to be moved to a large urn.

As the days passed, the fish kept growing in size. Satyavrata had to move it from the large urn to a pond, from the pond to a river and from the river to the sea. As the fish went across the ocean, beyond the horizon, it told Satyavrata," Soon the heavens will burst and torrential rains will flood the earth. The sea will rise and submerge the land. When this happens collect the seed of every plant and a pair of every animal and wait for me on a boat with your wife."

Realizing, this was no ordinary fish, but Vishnu himself, Satyavrata did as he was told. The great fish appeared before him, bigger than before, with a horn on its headd. Satyavrata tied his boat to the horn with Adi Sesha as the rope. The fish then towed the boat through great deluge to the only piece of dry land, the peak of Mount Mandara. There Satyavrata and his wife waited for the waters to recede.

While the seed of every plant and a pair of all animals would establish the new world.

Matsya is the avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu in the form of a fish. Often listed as the first avatar of in the lists of the ten primary avatars of Vishnu. Matsya is described to have rescued the first man. Matsya is depicted in two forms: as a zoomorphic fish or in an anthropomorphic form. In the latter form, the upper half is that of the four-armed man and the lower half is a fish. The upper half resembles Vishnu and wears traditional oranaments and the kirita-makuta as worn by Vishnu.  

Enlightenment Through Dance

According to Skanda Purana a group of Rishis was performing Yagna in forest when Shiva passed by. Shiva was naked and the wives of the Rishis were aroused by Shiva.

Losing all interest in the Yagna, they pursued Shiva. This angered the Rishis. They used the power of Yagna to create a tiger, a venomous snake and a demon.

Shiva flayed the tiger alive, and wrapped the skin around him. He caught the snake and wound it around his neck like a necklace. Then, leaping on the demon's back, he began to dance.

As he danced, the sages realized Shiva was God and his dance was a visual discourse on the true purpose of existence - not to indulge the ego and change the world but to discover the divine within with the help of the divine without.

The Curse of Kaikeyi

Kaikeyi in the Indian epic Ramayana, was one of King Dasharatha's three wives and Queen of Ayodhya. In Ayodhya Kand Rama says that Kaikeyi is their younger mother. But in Aranya Kand Rana says "In any way,dear Lakshmana, you are not supposed to deplore another mother of ours, but you go on telling the topics of Bharata, the King of Ikshvakus."

As we all know that Lord Ram went to Varnas for 14 years, it is a myth that Lord Ram was cursed by Kaikeyi. This myth is based on the curse given to Lord Ram by Kaikeyi.

Kaikeyi cursed Lord Ram saying that if the kingdom was ruled by a king like him for the next 14 years, the earth will destroy.

Since Lord Ram did not want the earth to destroy, he went to Varnas for 14 years.

He left his Paduka for his kingdom, so that the people of his kingdom could take decisions by taking his blessings.

Rama is the seventh avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. He is the central figure of the Hindu epic Ramayana, which is the principal narration of the events connected to his incarnation on Earth, his ideals and his greatness. Along with Krishna, Rama is considered to be one of the most important avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric sects, he is considered the Supreme Being, rather than an avatar. Born as the eldest son of Kaushalya and Dasharatha, ruler of Kosala kingdom, Rama is referred to as the the Perfect Man and his wife Sita is considered to be an avatar of Lakshmi and the embodiment of a great woman. Rama's life and journey is one of adherence to Dharma despite harsh tests and obstacles and many pains of life and time.

The legend of Rama is deeply influential and popular in the societies of the Indian subcontinent. Rama is revered for his unending compassion, courage and devotion to religious values and duty. The deity Hanuman declared Rama to be a Supreme being, and said that, by chanting the name of Lord Rama, all earthly problems may be resolved. By chanting the name of Lord Rama 10 million times, Moksha can be achieved.

Brahma's fifth head!

According to Shiv Purana after Brahma created his daughter, she went around him as a mark of respect. Brahma created a woman named Shatarupa to help him with his job of creation. According to the myth, Shatarupa was so beautiful that Brahma became completely infatuated with her and stared at her wherever she went. Shatarupa was embarrassed bu this attention and tried to escape his gaze, but in every direction that she moved, Brahma sprouted a new head until he had developed four. The frustrated Shatarupa became desperate and began to jump to try to escape his gaze. This prompted Brahma to sprout yet another head on top of the others to keep her in sight.

When she flew skywards, he popped a fifth head on top of the other four. This display of unbridled passion disgusted the daughter. It is said that Shiva admonished Brahma for his "unholy" behavior towards Shatarupa and chopped off the fifth head as punishment. Brahma had given the into the carvings of the flesh and abandoned the work of the soul and for this Shiva's curse was that people should not worship Brahma.

The story also goes on to say that Brahma has been continually reciting the four vedas ever since as a form of repentance, one from each of his four heads. While Brahma is often credited as the creator of the universe and various beings in it, several puranas describe him being born from the lotus emerging from the navel of god Vishnu.  Other puranas suggest that he is born from Shiva or his aspects, or he is a supreme god in diverse versions of Hindu mythology. Brahma does not enjoy popular worship in present-age Hinduism and has lesser importance than the other members of the Trimurti, Vishnu and Shiva. Brahma is the hindu creator god. He is also known as the Grandfather and as a later equivalent of Prajapati, the primeval first god. Brahma, due to his elevated status, is less involved in picturesque myths where gods take on human form and character, but it rather generally abstract or metaphysical ideal of a great god. 

Savitri!

The oldest known version of the story Savitri and Satyavan is found in Vana Parva (The Book of the Forest) of the Mahabharata. This story occurs as multiple embedded narratives in the Mahabharata. When Yudishtara asks Markandeya whether there has ever been a woman whose devotion matched Draupadi's, Markandeya replies by relating this story.

Savitri, a princess was the only child for her father. She fell in love with Satyavan, a prince whose father had been driven out of his kingdom by his enemies, and so lived in abject poverty in the forest. Her father opposed this marriage not only because Satyavan was poor but also because Satyavan was destined to die within a year of marriage. Savitri followed her heart nevertheless.

At the appointed hour, Yama hurled his nose and took Satyavan's life out of his body. Savitri followed him, "Go back and cremate his body", he advised her. She refused to do so and kept following him to the land of the dead. Exasperated, He offered her three booons so that she would go away,"Anything except  the life of your husband." Savitri first asked that her father get a son to the heir. Then she asked that her father-in-law regains his kingship. And finally she asked she be the mother of Satyavan's sons."So be it.", said Yama and continued on his journey to the land of the dead.

After sometime he noticed that Savitri was still following him. "You gave me your word that you would return to the land of living", he said. "You give me no choice". You said I would be the mother of Satyavan's children. How can a dead body make me a mother? I must therefore follow Satyavan's jiva- atma into the land of the dead. Yama realised that he had been outwitted.

As custodian of the laws of Karma, his boons had to be realised. The only way for Savitri to bear Satyavan'children was to make Satyavan alive again. And that was done. [Mahabharata] 

Kali&Gauri!

According to the Bengali Folklore, to help the Devas, the Goddess once took the form of Kali and killed all the Asuras. But then she continued drinking blood, and indulged in an orgy of voilence, scaring the Devas, who turned to Shiva for help.

To stop the Goddess, Shiva threw himself on her path. Kali stepped on him. Embarrassed that she stepped on her husband, she bit her lip.

That is why Kali has her tongue outstretched. She decided to shed her dark form. She dipped in the river Yamuna and emerged as Gauri, bright and radiant.

Kali&Gauri are the untamed and domestic forms of the Goddess. Kali is naked, Gauri is fully dressed. Kali's hair is unbound and Gauri's hair is tied with a string of flowers.

Kali is the Hindu goddess of death, time, and doomsday and is often associated with sexuality and violence but is also considered a strong mother-figure and symbolic of motherly love. Kali also embodies Shakti - feminine energy, creativity and fertility - and is an incarnation of Parvati, wife of the great Hindu god Shiva. She is often represented in art as a fearful fighting figure with a necklace of heads, skirt of arms, lolling tongue, and brandishing a knife dripping with blood. Kali's name derives from the Sanskrit word which means 'she who is black' or 'she who is death'. As an embodiment of time Kali devours all things, she is irresistibly attractive to mortals and gods, and can also represent the benevolence of a mother goddess.

Kali is most often portrayed with blue or black skin, naked, and wearing a Bengali type of crown of clay which is painted or gilded. She is, like many Hindu deities, a multiple armed figure with the number of arms being four, eight, ten, twelve, or even eighteen. Each arm usually holds an object and these can include a sword, dagger, trident, cup, drum, chakra, lotus bud, whip, noose, bell and shield.  

Death of the Pandavas!

After thirty six years, the five Pandava brothers and their wife Draupadi, who ruled Hastinapur, decided to renounce the world. They were also accompained by a dog. They believed that since they had established a righteous kingdom on Earth they had earned enough equity to enter Swarga effortlessly with their mortal bodies.

To reach the abode of the Devas, they decided to climb the Meru. Unfortunately, on the way, they slipped and died one by one.

The first one to die was Draupadi, imperfect because she preferred Arjuna over her other husbands. Then, It was Sahadeva, imperfect because he was smug about his knowledge, followed by Nakula, imperfect because he was arrogant about his good looks. Then fell Arjuna, imperect because he was always jealous of the other archers, and then fell Bhima, imperfect because he was a glutton. Only the eldest Pandava, Yudishtira was left. He and the dog continue their journey. And suddenly Indra appears with his Chariot, suggesting he does not have to walk all the way and that he can jump in and together they can go to Heaven. At first Yudishtira refuses to go saying that he could not go to heaven without his brother and wife. Indra replies saying that they are already in Heaven. Yudishtira then asks if the dog can come along on the chariot. But Indra refused to let the dog also in. Yudishtira refuses to leave the dog behind as he is his friend and, and for him to betray his friend during his life journey would be considered a great sin. The dog watching Yudishtira's commitment for his friend transforms himself into deity Dharma. The deity then praises Yudishtira for his virtues. Yudishtira then enters heaven on he chariot.

There he found to his horror all the Kauravas and no sign of his brothers. "Why?"he asked. Yama explained, "Because the died Kauravas died as Warriors are supposed to on the battle field. This earned them so much merit that it wiped out their debt.

Yudishtira demanded to know where his brothers and his wife were. He was taken below the earth to a dark and terrible place full of misery and torture. It was Naraka. Yama explained."They are experiencing the reactions  their actions."

Yudishtira refused to leave Naraka as he was abondoning his brothers and his wife in the hour of pain. Yama smiled and said," This is Temporary, Once the debt has been repaid, they will join the Kauravas in Swarga. You too had to experience Naraka for the one and only white lie you spoke in your lifetime." [Mahabharata]

Pillar of Fire!

One day Brahma and Vishnu were walking down the path. They came to a place where they met, and Brahma was walking from one direction and Vishnu from the other direction. And Brahma said, "Would you please step aside, I'm trying to pass." And Vishnu said,"Well, you know, I'm the protector of the entire universe, and I think it would be appropriate for you to step aside for me."

And Brahma said,"Well, you know, I'm the creator of the universe, so you step aside for me." And Vishnu said,"You were born in a lotus that emerged for my navel. This makes me your creator."

And as Maya would have it, they began to argue as to who would step aside for whom, who is the greatest, and they decided on a competition. There was a Shiva Lingam that came out of the ground right between the two of them. And it went up,up,up through the clouds all the way to the highest reaches of the atmosphere, they couldn't see the end of it.

 Brahma got on his swan and flew upwards. Vishnu took the form of a boar and dug into the earth to find its base. Neither was successful. From the pillar emerged Shiva. Both Brahma and Vishnu realized Shiva, embodiment of the Pillar of Fire was Mahadeva, greater than any deva. He was even greater than both of them because his origin and were not known. 

Revata's Daughter

Revata was an ancient king of Dwarka, who took his daughter, Revati, to Brahma and asked him to suggest a worthy groom for her.

He spent one day with Brahma, not realising that one day with Brahma is equal to a thousand years on Earth.

By the time he returned, his kingdom had disappeared, overrun by forests, and the men on earth had shrunk in size, making him and his daughter look like Giants.

Taking pity on Revati, Krishna asked his brother Balarama to swing his plough and touch her shoulder with it.

When Balarama followed his brother's advice, Revati shrank in size. Balarama fell in love with her and made her his wife. 

Rahu&Ketu!

According to the writings in Mahabharata, once the Adaitya's&Daitya's, sons of Aditi and Diti by the sage of Kashyapa, were fighting over a pot of Amrita, the nectar of immortality.

Vishnu, who is the God, took the enchanting female form of Mohini and offered to distribute it between them. Smitten by her beauty, both sets of half-brothers accepted the offer.

Distracting the Daitya's with her alluring smile, Mohini poured Amrita down the throats of the Adaitya's. One Daitya got suspicious. He went and sat among Adaitya's. As the Amrita fell into his mouth, the sun and the moon recognized the intruder. They alerted Vishnu, who immediately hurled his discus and severed the Daitya's neck.

The head had become the demon Rahu, who swore to eclipse the sun and moon from time to time. Te body became the demon Ketu, a directionless comet.

Since the Daitya's did not get a drop of Amrita, they became Asuras, which means those who did not drink the divine nectar. The Adaitya's  were known as Suras, those who drank the divine nectar. The Suras were Devas, or Gods of light, illuminated by Amrita. 

The Disrobing of Draupadi!

The disrobing of Draupadi is also considered a great indian myth.

As mentioned in Mahabharata, the Kauravas invite the five Pandava brothers to a game of dice. During the game, the Pandavas gamble away everything they possess, even their kingdom, Indraprastha. Even their wife, Draupadi is dragged to the Gambling hall and is then disrobed in public.

In this evocation of a momentous scene from the Mahabharata epic, the imperious expression and outstretched arm of the Kaurava prince Duryodhana's direct attention to miracle unfolding below. Duryodhana's brother Dushasana forcibly attempts to disrobe Draupadi in he center of the assembly hall.

As the Kauravas disrob her, Draupadi raises, her arm in helplessness. Krishna hears her cry and every yard of cloth that has been removed by the Kauravas is magically replaced by another cloth. Despite witnessing this scene, no one comes foward to help Draupadi, not even one of the five Pandavas.

As Dushasana repeatedly tried to strip Draupadi, Krishna's divine grace provides her with an uneding length of material as a sari, thus sparing he further humiliation. The episode of the dice game and the disrobing of Draupadi is the most important enacted scene in an eighteen-night festival held in many towns and cities. This inauspicious events, which tarnishes Draupadi's honor, marks her metamorphosis from contented wife into vengeful goddess. 

Birth of Ganesha!

Parvati wanted Shiva to father a child. But he refused. An exasperated Parvati created child on her own, using the turmeric paste with which she had anointed herself. The child was called Vinayaka because he was born without the intervention of man.

Parvati asked her son to guard the entrance to her bath and not let anyone in. Vinayaka obeyed, blocking even Shiva's entry, not knowing he was his mother's consort. An otherwise detached Shiva lost his cool, raised his trident and beheaded the stubborn lad.

Parvati was inconsolable in her grief and threatened to transfer from Gauri, the Life-giving goddesss, to Kali, the Life-taking goddess, if her son was not resurrected. Shiva therefore ordered his followers, the ganas, to fetch him the head of the first living being the encountered.

They brought back the head of an elephant, which Shiva placed on the severed neck of Parvati's son and restored him to life. By giving him life, Shiva became the Father. He acknowledged his fatherhood by naming the lad Ganapathi, Lord of the Ganas. 

In Greek Mythology, The Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Greek after Paris of Troy who took Helen from her husband Meneleaus, King of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek Mythology and has been narrated best through Homer's Iliad.

The war originated from a quarrel between the goddesses  Hera, Athena&Aphrodite, after Eris, the goddess of strife and discord, gave them a golden apple, sometimes known as the Apple of Discord, marked "For the Fairest". Zeus sent the goddesses to Paris of Troy who judged that Aphrodite , as the fairest should receive the apple. In exchange, Aphrodite made Helen, the most beautiful woman fall in love with Paris who took her Troy.


                                           


Agamemnon, King of Mycenae and brother of Helen's husband Menelaus, led an expedition of Achaean troop to Troy and besieged the city for ten years because of Paris's insult. After the deaths of many heroes, including the Achaeans Achilles and Ajax and the Trojans Hector and Paris, the city fell to the ruse of the Trojan Horse.

The Achaeans slaughtered the Trojans and desecrated the temples, thus earning the gods wrath. Although victorious, most heroes and Greek soldiers either never returned home or returned after many adventures, as the gods were infuriated.

The Trojan War marked the end of the Heroic Age of Man, according Hesiodus, and the transition of the World to the Iron Age. 

Apollo was son of Zeus and Leto twin brother  of Artemis. He was the god of Music, and he is often depicted playing a Golden Iyre. He was also known as the Archer, far shooting with a silver bow; the god of healing, giving the science of medicine to man; the  god of Light; and the god of Truth. One of Apollo's most important daily tasks was to harness his four-horse chariot, in order to move the Sun across the sky.

Apollo was an Oracular god, as he was the prophetic deity in the Oracle in Delphi. People from all over known world traveled there to learn what the future held for them, through his priestess Pythia. The god was also worshiped in the Island of Delos, which was initially dedicated to his twin sister Artemis. In relation to the rituals and practices that took place in Delos&Delphi, it could be said that there were probably two completely distinct cults in honor of Apollo.

As already mentioned, Apollo was also considered as the god of Healing and medicine, either through himself or through his son Ascelpus. At the same time, he could also bring forth disease and plague with his arrows; it was considered that a god who can cause disease is also capable of preventing it.                

                                                   

He was born on Delos, where his mother Leto sought refuge; Hera having realised that Leto was impregnated by her husband Zeus, banned Leto from giving birth on Land. So, Leto managed to go to Delos, which had been recently formed and was not considered a real island yet. Artemis who had been born a day earlier helped Leto give birth to Apollo. Leto then promised the Delians that Apollo would always favor them for having helped her. 

Ares was the god of War, and son of Zeus and Hera. He represented the raw violence and untamed acts that occured in wartime, in contrast to Athena, who was a symbol of tactical strategy and military planning.

He was disliked by both his parents. Whenever Ares appeared in a myth, he was depicted as a person with a violent personality, who faced humiliation through his defeats more than once. In the Iliad, it is mentioned that Zeus hated him more than anyone else; Ares was also on the losing side of Trojan War, favoring the Trojans. He was the lover of his sister, Aphrodite, who was married to Hephaestus. When the latter found out about the affair, he devised a plan and managed to humiliate both of them. The union of Ares&Aphrodite resulted in the birth of eight children, including Eros, god of Love.


                                                


There were few temples attributed to Ares in Ancient Greece. Sacrifices would usually be made to him when an army would march to war. When Ares went to war, he was followed by his companions, Deimos and Phobos who were products of his union with Aphrodite. 

Hermes was the Greek god of Commerce, son of Zeus and Maia. Quick acting and cunning, he was able to move swiftly between the world of man and the world of gods, acting as a messenger of the gods and the link between mortals and Olympians.

He was protector of travelers, thieves and athletes. He occasionally tricked the other gods for his own amusement or in an effort to protect humans. With the ability to move freely between the worlds, he also served as the guide of the souls of the dead to the Underworld and the afterlife.


                                               


When Hermes was born, he jumped out of his crib, stole Apollo's cattle and went back to his crib playing innocent. However, Apollo figured it out, grabbed Hermes and went to Zeus to complain. The father of gods simply laughed and didn't punish Hermes. To apologize, Hermes gave Apollo the lyre which he had just invented. 

Demeter was the Goddess of corn, grain& the harvest. She was the daughter of Kronos&Rhea. It was believed that Demeter made the crops grow each year; thus the first loaf of bread made from the annual harvest was offered to her. She was the goddess of the earth, of agriculture, and of fertility in general. Sacred to her are livestock and agricultural products, poppy, narcissus and the crane. 

Demeter was intimately associated with the seasons. Her daughter Persephone was abducted by Hades to be his wife in the Underworld. Demeter laid a curse on the world that made the plants to wither ans die, and the land to become desolate.  Zeus, alarmed for the barren earth, sought for Persephone's return. However, because she has eaten while in the underworld, Hades had a claim on her. Therefore, it was decreed that Persephone would spend four months each year in the Underworld and the other eight months in the living world. 

Demeter was also known for founding the Eleusinian Mysteries. They were initiations held every year for the cult  of Demeter&Persephone based at Eleusis in Ancient Greece. They are the "most famous of the secret religious rites of ancient Greece". These were huge festivals and held every five years and very important events for many centuries, Yet, little is known about them as those attending were sworn to secrecy. It is thought that that central tenet around which the mysteries revolved was that just like grain returns every spring after its harvest and the winter lull, so does the human soul after the death of the body, reincarnated in a next life. 

Hades was the brother of Zeus and Poseidon. He became the Lord of the Underworld and the ruler of the dead. Nevertheless, He was not considered to be death itself, as this was a different god, called Thanatos. Greedy like his brother Poseidon, he was mainly interested in increasing  his subjects, and anyone whose deeds resulted in people dying was favored by him. The Erinnyes also knows as Furies were welcomed guests in his kingdom.

 The Greeks were not keen on uttering his name, afraid of causing some kind of reaction that would end up with them dead sooner. Instead, They decided to give him another name, Pluton, derived from the greek word for wealth, due to the precious metal mined from the earth. Thus, Hades also became the God of Wealth.

Although an Olympian, Hades preferred the Underworld and rarely left his kingdom, His weapon was a Pitchfork, which he used to earthquakes, similar to the way Poseidon used his trident. He also had a Helmet of Invisibility, which he had received as a gift from the Cyclopes, in order to use it during the Clash of the Titans. He was married to Persephone, daughter of Demeter, whom Hades had abducted and carried down to the Underworld.

Persephone was the daughter of Demeter, and the Queen of the Underworld. She was abducted by Hades, the God of the Underworld, infuriating her mother who made the crops wither and earth barren. Zeus intervened and tried to bring Persephone back to the world of living. However, Persephone ate the seeds of a Pomegranate that Hades had given to her, binding her to him for one third of the year. Thus, It was decided that Persephone would spend four months in the underworld and eight months on Earth.

 Pomegranate is considered the Fruit of the Dead but it is actually not. If you have eaten any food in the underworld you would have to stay there is what the rule says. Since, Persephone had consumed one third of a Pomegranate she had been asked to split her time in proportion in  with Hades in the Underworld and her mother in the living world, The period in the Underworld  corresponded to the winter season, during which Demeter would make the soils barren due to her grief, while her return marked the start of the spring. 

The Age of Olympians was here!

Zeus, the King of Gods and Humans was the child of Kronos&Rhea as you may know. He had managed to dethrone his father and become the ruler of the world. His symbol and weapon was The Thunderbolt. He sat on a golden throne in his palace on Mount Olympus. He ruled the world from there. He was fair but a tough leader. Next to him was his wife Hera. Zeus loved and respected his wide but was also famous for his affairs with other women.

Zeus, presiding the deity of the universe, ruler of the skies and the earth, was regarded by the Greeks as the god of all natural phenomena on the sky; the personification of the laws of nature; the ruler of the state; and finally,  the father of gods and men. As the personification of the operations of nature, he represented the grand laws of unchanging and harmonious order, by which the both the natural and the spiritual world were governed.
Zeus is also called Jupiter, Dias.

Poseidon is the god of the sea and protector of all aquatic features. Brother of Zeus&Hades. He was widely worshipped by seamen. He married Amphitrite, one of the granddaughters of the Titan Oceanus. At one point he desired Demeter. To deter him, Demeter asked him to make the most beautiful animal that the world had ever seen. So in an effort to impress her, Poseidon created the first Horse. In some accounts, his first attempts were unsuccessful and created a variety of other animals in his quest. Thus, by the time the horse was created, his passion for Demeter had diminished. 

His weapon was a trident, with which he could cause earthquakes, and shatter any object. He was second to Zeus in power amongst gods. He was considered by the Greeks to have a difficult quarrelsome personality. Combined with his greed, he had a series of disputes with other gods during his various attempts to take over the cities they were patrons of. 

Poseidon is also called Neptune.