Greek Gods Family Tree — Divine Genealogy

Branches the Simple Tree Leaves Out

Most charts stop at the Titans and Olympians, but Hesiod's Theogony spends just as much effort on lines that run sideways. Nyx, without any partner, gives birth to a whole brood of grim forces: Moros (Doom), the Keres, Thanatos (Death), Hypnos (Sleep), the tribe of Dreams, Momus (Blame), Oizys (Misery), the Hesperides, the Moirai, Nemesis, Apate (Deceit), Philotes (Affection), Geras (Old Age) and Eris (Strife). Eris in turn produces another generation of abstractions, including Toil, Forgetfulness, Famine, Pains, Battles, Murders, Lies and Oath.

A second major branch descends from Gaia's union with Pontus, the Sea. Their children are Nereus, the truthful Old Man of the Sea; Thaumas; Phorcys; Ceto; and Eurybia. Nereus and the Oceanid Doris produce the fifty Nereids, among them Thetis and Amphitrite. Thaumas and the Oceanid Electra become parents of Iris and the Harpies. Phorcys and Ceto are the ancestors of a monstrous family: the Graeae, the Gorgons and the serpent that guards the golden apples. Hesiod's wording about Echidna's mother is ambiguous, and scholars still argue whether Ceto or the Oceanid Callirhoe is meant.

The Iapetus branch matters most for humans. Hesiod names his wife as the Oceanid Clymene; Apollodorus calls her Asia. Their son Prometheus fathers Deucalion, and Epimetheus with Pandora fathers Pyrrha. After the flood, Deucalion and Pyrrha's son Hellen becomes the ancestor of the Hellenes, and his sons Dorus, Aeolus and Xuthus (through Xuthus's sons Ion and Achaeus) give their names to the main Greek tribes. In this sense the Greeks traced their own peoples back to a Titan.

Where the Ancient Genealogies Disagree

There was never one official family tree. A few of the bigger conflicts:

• Who came first. Hesiod begins with Chaos, but in the Iliad Hera calls Oceanus "origin of the gods" and Tethys their mother. Orphic poems put Night, or a shining first-born god named Phanes hatched from a cosmic egg, at the start.
• The birth order of Cronus's children. In Hesiod, Zeus is the youngest. Hestia was swallowed first and, once Cronus was forced to vomit them back up, came out last, so she could be called both eldest and youngest. In the Iliad, though, Zeus describes himself as the elder brother of Poseidon.
• Aphrodite. Hesiod has her rise from the foam around Uranus's severed genitals, which makes her older than Zeus. Homer makes her the daughter of Zeus and Dione.
• Hephaestus and Athena. Hesiod says Hera bore Hephaestus without a father, in anger at Zeus producing Athena by himself. Homer calls Hephaestus a son of Zeus and Hera.
• Eros. For Hesiod, Eros is one of the very first beings. Later poets make him a child of Aphrodite, sometimes with Ares as father. Both versions survived side by side.

Zeus's Marriages in Order

Near the end of the Theogony, Hesiod gives Zeus a sequence of wives, and each union fills a slot in the new order. First comes Metis, whom he swallows to stop her bearing a son stronger than himself. Next is Themis, mother of the Horae (Eunomia, Dike, Eirene) and, in this passage, of the Moirai, contradicting the earlier claim that the Fates were daughters of Night. Then come Eurynome, mother of the three Graces; Demeter, mother of Persephone; Mnemosyne, mother of the nine Muses; Leto, mother of Apollo and Artemis; and finally Hera, mother of Hebe, Ares and Eileithyia. Read in order, the list works as a political allegory: Zeus absorbs cunning, then takes in law, grace, fertility, memory and the arts before settling into a lasting marriage. For the full roster, see the wives of Zeus.

Common Mistakes When Reading the Tree

Many people assume that "Olympian" is a fixed biological generation. In fact it is a status. Hades was Zeus's brother, but because he lived below the earth he usually was not counted among the Twelve. Ancient lists of the Twelve also varied from city to city. The widely repeated story that Hestia gave up her throne to Dionysus does not appear in any ancient text and seems to be a modern invention. Another mistake is to treat the Cyclopes as a single family. Hesiod's three Cyclopes are sons of Uranus and smiths of the thunderbolt, while Homer's Polyphemus is a son of Poseidon and belongs to a separate race of shepherds. Finally, a Titan was not automatically an enemy of Zeus. Themis, Mnemosyne and Leto all bore him children, and Styx brought her children to fight on his side. A more detailed chart is on the complete family tree page.

Ancient sources

• Hesiod, Theogony: the main surviving genealogy. It covers Chaos and the first beings (lines 116 onward), the children of Night and of Pontus, the Titans' offspring, and Zeus's successive marriages near the end of the poem (roughly 886–929).
• Homer, Iliad 14 and 15: Oceanus and Tethys as origin of the gods (14.201), and Poseidon's account of the three brothers dividing sky, sea and underworld by lot (15.187–193).
• Apollodorus, Library, Book 1: a systematic prose version of the divine generations, including variant parentages Hesiod does not give, such as Asia as wife of Iapetus, and the descent of Deucalion and Hellen.
• Hesiodic Catalogue of Women (fragments): traces the heroic families back to the gods and to Hellen's sons, the basis for many later hero genealogies.
• Orphic theogonies (via the Derveni Papyrus and later Neoplatonist quotations): an alternative order of succession beginning with Night or Phanes.

Frequently asked questions

Who is at the top of the Greek gods' family tree?

In Hesiod, Chaos comes first, followed by Gaia, Tartarus and Eros. Gaia is the true ancestor of most later gods, because she bears Uranus and then the Titans with him. Homer and the Orphic poets name different first beings.

Are Zeus and Hera brother and sister?

Yes. Both are children of Cronus and Rhea. Hera was swallowed by Cronus along with Hestia, Demeter, Hades and Poseidon, and released when Zeus forced their father to disgorge them.

How are the Titans related to the Olympians?

The Titans are the parents and grandparents of the Olympians. Cronus and Rhea are the parents of Zeus's generation. Other Titans, including Leto, Themis and Mnemosyne, became mothers of later gods through Zeus.

Why do different family trees show different parents for the same god?

Greek myth was passed down by many poets and local traditions, and none of them was authoritative. Aphrodite, Eros, Hephaestus and the Fates each have more than one ancient parentage, and modern charts usually just follow Hesiod.