Greek mythology, from the blood of the gods up
In Greek myth, ichor is the fluid that runs in the veins of the gods in place of blood. This site uses it as a doorway into the stories: who the gods were, what the heroes did and where to see the evidence in Britain.
Why start with ichor?
When the hero Diomedes wounds the goddess Aphrodite on the battlefield of Troy in Homer's Iliad, what flows from her hand is not blood but ichor. The poet explains that the gods do not eat bread or drink wine, so they have no blood and are immortal. It is a small detail, but it tells you how the Greeks pictured their gods: powerful, beautiful, hurt by mortals, and made of different stuff.
Our page What is ichor? goes into the word, its sources and how later writers used it.
How Greek myth is organised
There was never one Greek Bible. The myths come from poems, plays, hymns, histories and vase paintings across more than a thousand years. Versions often disagree. Two sources matter most for the early story: Homer's epics and Hesiod's Theogony, which tells how the world and the gods came to be. Later Greek playwrights and Roman poets such as Ovid reshaped these tales again.
A simple way to find your feet:
- The first gods. Chaos, Gaia (Earth), Uranus (Sky) and then the Titans.
- The Olympians. Zeus and his siblings overthrow the Titans and rule from Mount Olympus. See the Olympians.
- The age of heroes. Mortals, often children of gods, take on monsters and wars: Heracles, Perseus, Theseus, Odysseus and others.
- The monsters. Hydra, Minotaur, Medusa and the rest live at the edges of the world. See monsters.
The famous stories, briefly
Many people know pieces of the stories without realising their source: Pandora's jar, the Trojan Horse, Icarus flying too near the sun, Persephone and the pomegranate seeds. Our page on famous myths retold briefly gives each in a few paragraphs, along with where they come from.
Greek myth in Britain
You do not have to travel to Athens to see Greek myth. The British Museum in London holds the Parthenon sculptures, which show gods and mythic battles, and a huge collection of painted vases. Other UK museums also hold Greek and Roman art. See where to see Greek myth in UK museums for ideas, and remember to check opening times and any special exhibition charges before you go.
A note on names
Greek gods have Roman equivalents: Zeus is Jupiter, Hera is Juno, Poseidon is Neptune, Aphrodite is Venus, Ares is Mars. This site mostly uses the Greek names. Spellings also vary: Herakles or Heracles, Odysseus or Ulysses (Roman). When in doubt, we choose the most common English spelling.
How to use this site
Read in order if you are new, or jump straight to a topic. Every page names its sources so you can read the original texts. Good places to look online are the Theoi Greek Mythology website, which collects ancient quotations about each figure, and Britannica for overview articles. Myths were told differently in different places, so where versions differ we try to say so. The stories are old but they are still being retold in novels, games and films, which is part of why they remain popular.
If you want to ask a question or point out a mistake, contact us.
Questions people ask first
Many visitors arrive wanting a quick answer: who is the king of the gods (Zeus), who is the goddess of wisdom (Athena), who killed Medusa (Perseus). The pages here answer those, but also explain why the answers are not always simple. The myths grew over centuries, and the same figure may be described differently by Homer, by Athenian playwrights and by Roman poets. Treat any single summary as a doorway, and follow the sources to see how the ancient writers told it.
Pages on this site
Begin with what ichor is, then meet the Olympians and the Titans who came before them. After that, read about the heroes, the monsters they fought and some famous myths. Finally, find Greek art near you. We cite ancient authors and respected modern references throughout, and we try to note when versions differ.
Frequently asked questions
What is ichor?
In Greek mythology, ichor is the golden fluid that flows in the veins of the gods instead of blood.
Where should a beginner start with Greek myth?
With the Olympian gods and a few famous stories such as Persephone, Pandora and the Trojan War, then the hero myths of Heracles, Perseus and Odysseus.
Are Greek and Roman gods the same?
They are closely linked. Romans identified their own gods with Greek ones, so Zeus corresponds to Jupiter, but the stories and characters are not identical.