Family tree of the Greek gods

A mythological solid family tree of the Greek gods and heroes does not exist and never existed.

The oldest surviving work, which is dedicated to the creation of the gods and the world is Hesiod's Theogony, it includes the development of gods each other and describes the change in power of the gods generations of Uranus over the Titans until the reign of Zeus. It ends with a list of connections of the Olympian gods with mortals. Many of Hesiod's tales were handed down in ancient literature and also had counterparts in pictorial representations and in the cult, but they were never canonically. Received fragments later theogonic seals as of Alcman or Musaios contain some strongly differing explanations for the origin of the gods, the most tangible differences are found in the writings of the Orphic. The various Orphic theogonies in common is that the first generation of gods Hesiod more generations are fitted. Before Uranus already ruled the Hesiod unknown Phanes and Nyx about the world and Zeus is succeeded by his son Dionysus.

Genealogical information on heroes can already be found in Homer. In its simplest form, they include three generations, the complex has six generations of Aeneas, in which the Trojan royal family is traced back to Zeus. Already in the family tree of Aeneas, there are elements that are found in most of the Greek Hero pedigrees: The hero comes from a deity from, separate myths, such as that of Ganymede, are linked genealogically with the hero and eponymous namesake as Dardanus or Ilos are ancestors of the hero. In the traditional local mythologies there is usually a pedigree that these attributes the founding of the city to an eponymous hero and a deity. It is made a chronological sorting of the famous myths and a link to each other, at least implicitly, in addition to the legitimacy of the ruling dynasty and of drawing attention to the importance of the city.

In Hesiod attributed to the women catalog linking and systematizing by the author as proposed activity is clear. The catalog closes at the end of the Theogony and extends to the heroes of the Trojan War. The heroes go here all Deucalion and Pyrrha and to her son Hellen, the eponymous name to the Hellenes, back. Hellens sons Aiolos, Doros and Xuthus, the ancestors of the three Greek tribes Aeolians, Dorians and Ionians. Hellens daughter Protogeneia testifies with Zeus the Makedon and Magnes, eponymous namesake of the Macedonians and Magnesians.

During the ancient times, the attempt has been made by various mythographers to arrange the various family trees and synchronize. Get these, only the Libraries of Apollodorus and Hyginus Fabulae of except fragments. The mythographic processing of myths was mostly achieved by combining the present literature and not in the retelling of the popular mythology, for example, let Callimachus incorporated partially remote local myths in his Aitia, from whom he received knowledge in the library of Alexandria.

Even in modern times, repeated attempts have been made since the popularization of Greek mythology in the Renaissance, to bring order into the origins of the gods and heroes.