Characters
- Aglaea, Euphrosyne, Thaleia — the Charites (Graces)
- Alcmene — mother of Heracles
- Amphitrite — mother of Triton by Poseidon
- Aphrodite — mother of Phobos, Deimos, Harmonia by Ares
- Apollo — son of Zeus and Leto
- Ares — son of Zeus and Hera
- Artemis — daughter of Zeus and Leto
- Athena — born from Zeus’s head; equal to him in strength and counsel
- Atlas — father of Maia
- Cadmus — father of Semele (and husband of Harmonia in related genealogy)
- Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos — the Moerae (Fates)
- Demeter — mother of Persephone by Zeus
- Dionysus — son of Zeus and Semele
- Eileithyia — daughter of Zeus and Hera
- Eunomia, Dike, Eirene — the Horae
- Eurynome — Oceanid; mother of the Charites
- Gaia and Uranus — advisers of the swallowing of Metis
- Hades — abductor/husband of Persephone
- Harmonia — daughter of Ares and Aphrodite
- Hebe — daughter of Zeus and Hera
- Hephaestus — craftsman son of Hera alone (in this account)
- Hera — last wife among those listed; mother of Hebe, Ares, Eileithyia; parthenogenetic mother of Hephaestus
- Heracles — mighty son of Zeus and Alcmene
- Hermes — herald of the gods; son of Zeus and Maia
- Leto — mother of Apollo and Artemis
- Maia — daughter of Atlas; mother of Hermes
- Metis — first wife; swallowed; mother of Athena within Zeus
- Mnemosyne — mother of the nine Muses
- Persephone — daughter of Demeter; given to Aidoneus
- Phobos — children of Ares and Aphrodite
- Poseidon — father of Triton
- Semele — daughter of Cadmus; mother of Dionysus
- The nine Muses — Cleio, Euterpe, Thaleia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polyhymnia, Urania, Calliope
- Themis — mother of Horae and Moerae by Zeus
- Triton — wide-ruling son of Poseidon and Amphitrite
- Zeus — king; husband of many; swallower of Metis; father from his head of Athena
Places
- Banks of the river Trito — associated in a variant passage with Athena’s birth
- Heaven — domain of Zeus’s kingship over the new generation
- Olympus — seat of Zeus’s reign and the Muses’ song
- Underworld — realm to which Persephone is carried
Themes
Narrative
When the blessed gods had settled their struggle and pressed Zeus to reign, Hesiod turns to the marriages by which Zeus orders the next divine generation—and guards his own throne.
Zeus made Metis his wife first, wisest among gods and mortal men. But when she was about to bring forth bright-eyed Athene, Zeus craftily deceived her and put her in his own belly, as Earth and starry Heaven advised, so that no other should hold royal sway in his place. For very wise children were destined from her: first the maiden Tritogeneia (Athena), equal to her father in strength and wise understanding; but afterwards a son of overbearing spirit, king of gods and men. Zeus swallowed Metis first so that the goddess might devise for him both good and evil. Later the poem states that Zeus himself gave birth from his own head to bright-eyed Tritogeneia, the awful, strife-stirring queen who delights in tumults and wars. Hera, angry and quarrelling with her mate, bare famous Hephaestus without union with Zeus—he who is skilled in crafts more than all the sons of Heaven.
Next Zeus married bright Themis, who bare the Horae—Eunomia (Order), Dike (Justice), and blooming Eirene (Peace)—who mind the works of mortal men, and the Moerae (Fates) Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, to whom wise Zeus gave the greatest honour.
Eurynome, daughter of Ocean, bare him three fair-cheeked Charites (Graces): Aglaea, Euphrosyne, and lovely Thaleia.
He came to the bed of all-nourishing Demeter, and she bare white-armed Persephone, whom Aidoneus (Hades) carried off; but wise Zeus gave her to him.
Again he loved Mnemosyne with the beautiful hair, and of her the nine gold-crowned Muses were born who delight in feasts and the pleasures of song (earlier named: Cleio, Euterpe, Thaleia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polyhymnia, Urania, Calliope).
Leto was joined with Zeus who holds the aegis and bare Apollo and Artemis delighting in arrows, children lovely above all the sons of Heaven.
Lastly he made Hera his blooming wife; she brought forth Hebe, Ares, and Eileithyia.
Of Amphitrite and the loud-roaring Earth-Shaker was born great Triton. Cytherea bare to Ares Panic (Phobos) and Fear (Deimos), and Harmonia. Maia, daughter of Atlas, bare to Zeus glorious Hermes. Semele, daughter of Cadmus, bare Dionysus. Alcmene bare mighty Heracles.
This overview situates the Olympian household as the fruit of Zeus’s settled rule after Titanomachy and Typhoeus. Fuller narratives of Athena’s birth, Apollo and Artemis, Hermes, Dionysus, and others belong in later Olympian-folder entries; Prometheus, Pandora, and the human condition are treated in the following cosmogonic/human-origins files of this folder.