Like Zeus’ thunder clouds, let’s get ready to rumble!
Today, we're taking a look at the most powerful Greek
Gods you might not have heard of - the ones only true connoisseurs will know!
Number 20: Iris
Most people tend to picture Hermes when you think of the Messenger of the Gods.
And that's fair! The master of speed and looking cool in winged shoes is practically the Amazon
Prime of Olympus. But there's actually another messenger god, or rather, goddess. Iris, who also
served as the goddess of the rainbow, acts as a messenger in several texts, including the Iliad.
In the work of Hesiod, she also had the solemn responsibility of carrying water
from the River Styx to deliver whenever a god wanted to take an oath. Still,
in spite of her responsibilities and how cool rainbows are,
she mostly acts as a helper of the other gods, so she comes in at the bottom of this ranking.
But Iris is just a solo act. How about a divine tag team?
Number 19: The Horai
The Horai are the goddesses of the seasons and the portions of time,
or the hours. That may not sound especially powerful, but their responsibilities in the myths
include guarding the gates to Olympus. You know, the home of all of those "more powerful" gods?
They are also responsible for watching over the constellations and the conditions required for
good farming on Earth. The three sisters are Eunomia (good order and good pasture),
Eirene (Peace and Spring), and Dike (Justice).
Three may beat the power of one, but can they beat the power of the sun?
Number 18: Helios
Helios is the god of the sun, who drives a chariot from east to west around the sky. Hey,
wait a minute, that sounds like Apollo's whole deal!
Yeah? Well, Helios did it first.
Apollo was originally associated more with purity and radiance than with the sun itself,
but over time, he became associated with the sun as well. But Helios did it first,
and he earned his spot on this list! He's the original Greek Sun God!
Speaking of which, you can't have the sun without the moon, which brings us to...
Number 17: Selene
Selene is the goddess of the moon and sister to Helios. Like her brother,
she also drives a chariot across the sky, pulled by winged horses. The light of the moon is,
depending on the story, a crown on her head or the folds of her shiny cloak.
Other Greek goddesses are associated with the moon, including Artemis, Hera,
and an upcoming entry on this ranking, but Selene isn't just a moon goddess. She was
represented by ancient Greek poets as the moon itself incarnate. She's not
just the goddess of the moon; she's the whole damn moon all by herself.
But can she beat death?
Number 16: Charon
Some viewers might not consider this next entry to be a God; to that,
we say he was the son of Erebus and Nyx, the primordial God and Goddess of darkness and night,
respectively. You look at Charon in his shadowy face and tell him he doesn't count.
Charon has one of the most important and morbid jobs in all of Greek mythology. He is tasked
with rowing the souls of the dead across the Rivers Styx and Acheron, carrying them into
the afterlife. Every person who dies winds up sitting in Charon's boat, and they can't
get where they're going without him. If that's not a kind of incredible power, then what is?
But what’s a rowboat to a battleship?
Number 15: Eris
Maybe you associate power with a more active position or with the ability
to pack a real punch, harm-wise. How about Eris,
the goddess of strife, discord, and rivalry? More specifically, of the strife of war?
Eris is frequently depicted lurking around battlefields, enjoying the sight of human
bloodshed and loss. Eris is so widely disliked by the other gods and goddesses that she is
the only goddess not invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. She turned up anyway,
and when the other gods refused to let her in, she decided to cause some trouble among them.
She took a golden apple, inscribed "to the fairest," and threw it amongst the goddesses,
specifically Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena. The "gift" inflamed their rivalry and grew into a
conflict that would end up causing the Trojan War. Eris proves that sometimes you can bring
the most powerful people to their knees simply by sowing the seeds of discord.
But how could hatred and strife ever stand up to the raw power of love?
Number 14: Eros
Not to be confused with our previous entry on this list, Eros is the god of love,
passion, and fertility. If you're not sure what's so powerful about Eros,
maybe hearing the name of his later Roman counterpart will clarify it: Cupid.
That's right, using a bow and arrows or a flaming torch, Eros is the one responsible for igniting
love and desire in the hearts of both men and gods. When Eros fell in love with a mortal woman,
Psyche, their love was so strong that they overcame Aphrodite's attempts to keep them
apart. He literally beat the Goddess of Love, his mother, at her own game.
But while Eros controls what you love, our next terrifying tag team controls what you fear!
Number 13: Phobos and Deimos
You may consider including two gods as one entry cheating,
but Phobos and Deimos come as a set. Sorry, they just do.
They both serve as the personifications of fear, with Phobos serving as the god of panic
and flight and Deimos representing terror and dread. Yes, by the way,
Phobos is indeed where we get the word "Phobia" from. The twins also sometimes represent fear
of loss and are the children of Ares and Aphrodite. Their sister is Eris, and all
three of them were told in the Iliad to accompany their father, Ares, when he sent soldiers to war.
Phobos and Deimos are also described as appearing on Athena's shield, along with the face of Medusa,
intended to strike terror into the hearts of Athena's enemies. If you've ever tried
to reason with someone in the grip of a terrible panic or tried to be rational in
the face of irrational fear (like walking down the hall from the bathroom to your
bedroom in the dark), you know just how powerful these twin forces can be.
But irrational fears are one thing - What about a Goddess that it’s extremely rational to fear?
Number 12: Enyo
Speaking of war, did you know that there is a Greek goddess of war? That's right,
it's not all Ares in the warzones. He is also joined by Enyo, referred to as the "sister of
War" by Greek poet Quintus Smyrnaeus. She accompanied Ares into many of his most
iconic battles and was involved in the War of the Seven against Thebes as well as the Trojan War.
Myths vary in terms of whether she is Ares' sister, wife, or daughter,
but one thing is certain: if there's blood being shed, Enyo has a hand in it.
Number 11… Guess who's next. Go ahead,
guess. Try your luck. If you got it wrong, then this next entry is not on your side.
It's Tyche, the goddess of chance or luck. Just like fortune itself, Tyche can go a
variety of ways and is depicted differently depending on that direction. Holding a rudder,
she helps to guide fate itself. With a ball, she represents the unsteadiness of fortune,
which can go any way at any time. With a cornucopia, she symbolizes the gifts of fortune,
abundance, and plentiful rewards that come to those blessed with good luck.
As Pindar put it in his Olympian Ode 12, "For your hand steers the ships of the ocean on their flying
course, and rules on land the march of savage wars, and the assemblies of wise counselors."
But if your luck is even worse, it may not be Tyche’s doing,
but someone a whole hell of a lot more formidable…
Number 10: Nemesis
Maybe you don't believe that fortune is random. Maybe you believe that a person
reaps what they sow, and what goes around comes around. Let us introduce you to Nemesis,
the goddess who specializes in Just Desserts.
Nemesis doles out divine punishment, particularly when it comes to hubris,
extreme, dangerous pride, or arrogance. In the myth of Echo and Narcissus, she is the one who
punishes Narcissus for his vanity, luring him to a pool where he becomes so entranced by his own
reflection that he eventually dies on the spot. The poet Mesomedes once wrote a hymn to Nemesis,
calling her, "Nemesis, winged balancer of life, dark-faced goddess, daughter of Justice."
But being able to kill is one thing - what about the divine power to save?
Number 9: Asclepius
As the son of Apollo and a mortal princess,
Asclepius may not be considered a god by some Greek mythology enthusiasts,
but he was good enough to be the patron god of the Asklepiades, an ancient order of doctors.
As that might imply, Asklepios was the god of medicine and doctors. He was so mighty,
even as a mere demigod, that he gained the ability to bring the dead back to life. His skills were so
great that they violated the natural order, and Zeus struck him down with a thunderbolt.
Yes, he was killed by Zeus and then placed into the stars as the constellation Ophiuchus,
but his ability to revive the dead and accomplish something that scared the
hell out of the king of the gods earns him his spot on this list.
But death and rebirth are only two fates of many. What about the beings who can see them all?
Number 8: The Fates
When it comes to every mortal's destiny, the length of their life,
and the exact moment of their death, there are three famous sisters who
hold all the cards. Actually, they hold a golden thread and a pair of scissors.
The Fates, the daughters of Nyx and either Zeus or Themis, are a package deal. Clothi,
the Spinner, who spins the thread of life; Lachesis, the Measurer,
who determines how long each thread, or lifespan, will be; and Atropos,
the Unbending/Inflexible, who cuts the thread when it is time for someone to die.
The rule of the Fates is so iron-clad that the
other gods do not dare to interfere when they decide someone's time is
up. That applies to their pet mortals and their own mortal sons and daughters, too.
In a few myths, some of the gods test this, such as Apollo,
who got around their verdict on a mortal by getting them drunk enough to change their
minds. But aside from plying them with booze, the gods know not to cross these
three sisters. You can try all you want, but you just can't fight fate.
But would you be any more capable of fighting our next godly contestant?
Number 7: Pan
Pan is one of the less intimidating Gods when it comes to appearances. He's just a
friendly little goat man with a flute, after all!
And it's true that while a lot of the other Gods spend their time starting wars and cheating on
Hera over and over (looking at you, Zeus), Pan tends to stick to his domain in the fields,
forests, and pastures, frolicking with nymphs and playing music.
But don't underestimate him!
Pan is said to have a voice so fearsome that he frightened the Titans during their battle
with the gods. He is also said to be gifted in the art of prophecy,
so much so that he taught Apollo himself how to divine the future.
Mostly, he just prefers to party and startle lost travelers by suddenly appearing to them,
but he's a goat god with hidden depths.
Pan may be a goat, but can our next contestant claim the title of The G.O.A.T?
Number 6: Thanatos
Because Hades is the god of the Underworld, people tend to assume that makes him the god
of death. But those people are sorely mistaken! The Greek god of death is
actually Thanatos, considered to be the personification of death itself.
Naturally, this makes him pretty unpopular among both mortals and gods,
but that doesn't matter. Whether they like him or not, death is a constant, here to stay.
As Hesiod put it in Theogony: "If he should touch a man, That man is his. And even to the
gods Who are immortal, Death is an enemy." However, despite his name bearing a striking
similarity to a later powerful being, Thanatos, sadly, does not have his own Infinity Gauntlet.
Our next contestant, however, is sure to blow you away.
Number 5: Aeolus
Poseidon may be the god of the sea, but there is one thing in
nature that can cause the tides to turn at the drop of a hat: the wind.
Enter Aeolus, god of Storms and the keeper of the winds. In The Odyssey, he passed a
bag along to Odysseus that contained the storm winds, which would carry him and his men home.
But when Odysseus's crew opened the bag looking for treasure,
they were blown all the way back to the shore of Aeolus's home.
It should be mentioned that in some writings, Aeolus is not considered a god at all but instead,
a mortal who was appointed as the divine keeper of the winds. In others,
such as the work of Stesichorus, he is called the cousin of Iris and, therefore, a god.
Either way, the guy keeps the violent storm winds locked away
and can release them whenever he wants. That's power, mortal or not.
But could the power of the wind help anyone escape their doom?
Number 4: Moros
The Gods have accomplished a lot of impossible things in their various myths. They've created
storms, transformed people into animals, and even cheated death. But there's one thing
that can't be escaped by the certainty of its very nature, and that's doom.
Doom just so happens to be the purview of Moros, the son of Nyx, and the god that
personifies impending doom. He can even give mortals the ability to foresee their death,
though there is nothing they can do to change it. Even Zeus can't defy a decree from Moros.
In the Greek tragedy Prometheus Bound, Moros is described as "the all-destroying god, who,
even in the realm of Death, does not set his victim free." Bleak.
Speaking of the inevitable…
Number 3: Erebus
Erebus is the primordial God of darkness. One of the first beings to ever exist,
he was the father of Hemera, goddess of the Day. After the gods created the Earth,
Erebus finished the underworld, filling any empty space there with dark mists.
He is so deeply associated with the underworld that his name is used to
refer to the place where the spirits of the dead pass after leaving their
bodies behind. He may have faded out of relevance, but Hades would not have his
kingdom of death if it weren't for Erebus laying the (under)groundwork.
But could this feisty divine emo hold a candle to the original goddess of goths?
Number 2: Hecate
Zeus rules the skies. Poseidon rules the sea. Hades rules the underworld. But there is one
goddess whose domain is all three realms, the sky, the earth, and the underworld: Hecate.
The goddess of witchcraft, necromancy, boundaries, and gateways, Hecate is associated
with the moon and night sky, borders, city walls, crossroads on earth, and ghosts and passage into
the Underworld. She was the only Titan who maintained her power under the rule of Zeus,
and she was honored and respected by all of the gods even as they took their place on Olympus.
She assisted the gods in the war against the Giants, and she killed Clytius,
a Giant and son of Gaia, in battle. She is also known for being able to send demons and
evil spirits up to Earth from the Underworld and to dwell among the spirits of the dead,
the living, and the gods in equal measure. What can't she do?
Well, the things this next contestant can…
Number 1: Chaos
Some descriptions consider it a goddess, others a god, and most say neither.
As Aristophanes put it: "At the beginning, there was only Chaos, Night, dark Erebus,
and deep Tartarus. Earth, the air, and heaven had no existence. Firstly,
blackwinged Night laid a germless egg in the bosom of the infinite deeps of Erebus, and from this,
after the revolution of long ages, sprang the graceful Eros with his glittering golden wings,
swift as the whirlwinds of the tempest. He mated in deep Tartarus with dark Chaos,
winged like himself, and thus hatched forth our race, which was the first to see the light.“
Chaos was the void before everything, the place from which all else sprang forth.
Some early personified versions of Chaos depict a goddess of the air and the birds
that fly in it. She is the void, the parent of all of the primordial gods,
and, if creation is power, the most powerful entity in all of Greek Mythology.
After all, none of it would have happened without Chaos.
Now check out “What Greek Parties Were Actually Like.” Or watch this video instead!