Greek Goddess Names
Complete List with Meanings
Every Greek goddess name from A to Z — with meanings, domains, symbols, and the myths behind each name.
The Complete Guide
Greek mythology features hundreds of named figures — each with their own stories, symbols, and significance. This comprehensive guide organizes every major figure for quick reference, whether you're studying for a class, writing a paper, or simply exploring the myths.
The Major Figures
At the top of the mythological hierarchy sit the twelve Olympian gods, who ruled from Mount Olympus after overthrowing the Titans. Below them are the minor gods, primordial deities, Titans, heroes, and the countless nymphs, spirits, and monsters that populated the ancient Greek imagination.
Origins and Genealogy
Nearly every figure in Greek mythology can trace their lineage back to the primordial beings — Chaos, Gaia, and Uranus. Understanding these family connections is essential to understanding why certain gods allied with or against each other, and why specific heroes were destined for greatness or tragedy.
Symbols and Domains
Each deity and mythological figure is associated with specific symbols, animals, plants, and domains of influence. These symbols were not merely decorative — they represented the fundamental powers and responsibilities of each figure, and were used in worship, art, and storytelling throughout the ancient world.
Cultural Significance
These figures were not merely characters in stories — they were the foundation of ancient Greek religion, philosophy, and identity. Temples were built in their honor, festivals celebrated their deeds, and their names were invoked in everything from marriage ceremonies to battle cries. Understanding these figures means understanding the civilization that gave birth to Western culture.
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The Olympian Goddesses and Their Titles
Each major goddess had a cluster of cult names, and these are often more informative than the bare name.
- Hera: queen of the gods and goddess of marriage. She was worshipped as Teleia ("the fulfilled" or "of marriage") and, at Argos and Samos, as the city's chief deity. Homer's stock epithets for her are "white-armed" and "ox-eyed".
- Athena: also called Pallas. Her cult titles included Parthenos (Maiden, hence the Parthenon), Polias (of the city), Promachos ("who fights in front") and Ergane (of crafts). Homer calls her glaukopis, "grey-eyed" or "owl-eyed".
- Aphrodite: also Kypris and Kythereia, after Cyprus and Cythera, the islands linked with her birth. Plato's Symposium contrasts Aphrodite Ourania (heavenly) with Pandemos ("of all the people"). Pandemos was in fact an Athenian civic cult title.
- Artemis: Agrotera (of the wild), Potnia Theron ("Mistress of Animals", a phrase Homer uses), Orthia at Sparta and Brauronia at Brauron in Attica, where young girls served her as "bears".
- Demeter: Thesmophoros ("bringer of law and custom"), honoured in the women-only Thesmophoria festival, and Chloe ("green shoot").
- Persephone: often simply Kore, "the Maiden". Athenians spelled her name Pherephatta, and some worshippers avoided her name altogether, calling her "the Holy Maiden" or simply "the Goddesses" together with Demeter.
- Hestia: goddess of the hearth. She has almost no myths, but she received the first portion at sacrifices.
Titanesses and Older Goddesses
Hesiod names six Titanesses: Theia ("divine"), mother of the sun, moon and dawn; Rhea, mother of the Olympians; Themis, divine law and right order, who held the Delphic oracle before Apollo in some accounts; Mnemosyne ("Memory"), mother of the Muses; Phoebe ("bright"), grandmother of Apollo and Artemis; and Tethys, wife of Oceanus. In the next generation come Leto, mother of the divine twins; Asteria ("starry"), Leto's sister and mother of Hecate; Metis ("cunning intelligence"), Zeus's first wife; and Dione, mother of Aphrodite in Homer and an important partner of Zeus at the oracle of Dodona.
Goddess Groups with Individual Names
Several goddess groups have members with their own names, and those names are where many modern given names come from.
- The Muses, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne: Clio (history), Euterpe (music and lyric), Thalia (comedy), Melpomene (tragedy), Terpsichore (dance), Erato (love poetry), Polyhymnia (sacred hymns), Urania (astronomy) and Calliope (epic). Hesiod gives the names, and the assignment of fields is later. More on the Muses page.
- The Charites (Graces), daughters of Zeus and Eurynome: Aglaea ("splendour"), Euphrosyne ("good cheer") and Thalia ("abundance").
- The Horae (Seasons), daughters of Zeus and Themis: Eunomia ("good order"), Dike ("justice") and Eirene ("peace").
- The Moirai (Fates): Clotho ("spinner"), Lachesis ("allotter") and Atropos ("unturnable").
- The Erinyes (Furies), named in later writers as Alecto ("unceasing"), Megaera ("grudging") and Tisiphone ("avenger of murder").
Other goddesses whose names are ordinary words include Nike (victory), Tyche (fortune), Hebe (youth), Iris (rainbow), Eos (dawn), Selene (moon), Hemera (day), Nyx (night), Eris (strife), Nemesis (retribution) and Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth, whose name already appears on Bronze Age tablets from Knossos.
Common Mix-Ups
Phoebe was both a Titaness and, later, an epithet of her granddaughter Artemis. Thalia was both a Muse and one of the Graces. Electra is an Oceanid, one of the Pleiades, and Agamemnon's daughter, three entirely different figures. In later poetry Selene and Artemis were sometimes merged, and Hecate was often treated as a third aspect of the same goddess, but Homer and Hesiod keep all three separate. Roman names cause further confusion: Diana, Minerva, Juno, Venus, Ceres and Vesta were Italian goddesses identified with Greek ones, not Latin translations of Greek names, and their myths only partly match. For the male gods, see Greek god names.
Ancient sources
- Hesiod, Theogony: names the Titanesses, the nine Muses (lines 77–79), the Nereids and Oceanids, and Zeus's marriages, which produced the Horae, Charites and Muses.
- Homeric Hymn to Demeter: the abduction of Persephone and the founding of the Eleusinian Mysteries, with Demeter's grief and her search across the earth.
- Homeric Hymns to Aphrodite and to Athena: early hymns preserving the goddesses' birth stories and epithets.
- Pausanias, Description of Greece: records local cult titles and sanctuaries, including Artemis Orthia at Sparta and many Athenas, Heras and Demeters with distinct epithets.
- Plato, Symposium: Pausanias's speech distinguishing Aphrodite Ourania from Aphrodite Pandemos.
Frequently asked questions
Who are the main Greek goddesses?
The Olympian goddesses are Hera, Athena, Aphrodite, Artemis, Demeter and Hestia. Persephone, Hecate, Leto, Themis and Nike are also among the most important.
What is the Greek goddess of love called?
Aphrodite, also called Kypris or Kythereia. Her Roman counterpart is Venus.
What does Athena's name mean?
No one knows for certain. The name is bound up with the city of Athens, and a Bronze Age tablet from Knossos mentions a "Mistress of Atana". Most scholars think the name is pre-Greek.
Which Greek goddess names are easiest for English speakers?
Iris, Hebe, Rhea, Thalia, Clio, Leto and Nike are short and pronounced as they look. Persephone, Calliope and Eileithyia are harder.