GODS AND GODDESSES.
The canonical twelve Olympian deities —— Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hephaestus, Ares, Apollo, Artemis, Demeter, Aphrodite, Athena, Hermes, and Dionysus — were originally fourteen in number. Hades, whose realm was in the Underworld rather than on earth, and Hestia, whose functions were somewhat limited, were omitted from the Olympian pantheon as the myths surrounding it became more organized.
      Many works, both classical and postclassical, present Olympians and other deities in assemblies, feasts, and other scenes, not necessarily focusing on a specific narrative. In the postclassical era, apotheoses of legendary heroes and contemporary luminaries, elevated to the cloud-capped heights of Olympus, have been a favorite subject of ceiling decorations and other paintings on a grand scale. The weddings of Thetis and Peleus and of Eros and Psyche were occasions for feasts of the gods and are also popular subjects for painters.
      In the postclassical tradition, the Olympians are often represented by their Roman counterparts: Zeus (Jove, Jupiter), Hera (Juno), Poseidon (Neptune), Hephaestus (Vulcan), Ares (Mars), Artemis (Diana), Demeter (Ceres), Aphrodite (Venus), Athena (Minerva), Hermes (Mercury), Dionysus (Bacchus), Hades (Pluto), and Hestia (Vesta). In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, laments for the passing of the pagan divinities were popular among neoclassical poets.
      

Listings are arranged under the following headings:

      Gods as Seasons
      Gods as Elements
      Conflict between Vice and Virtue
      Loves of the Gods
      See also: Aeneas; Cronus, Birth of Olympians; Heracles, Apotheosis; Psyche; Thetis, and Peleus; Titans and Giants; Trojan War