Greek Mythology: Greek Gods and Goddesses on Tarot Cards

Categories: Tarot Articles

Aeolus: Aeolus was sent by Hera to the island Aeolia to be the guardian of the wind and air. He was assigned this task after Zeus defeated the Titans and the winds needed controlling to prevent them from destroying the earth.
Alcyone: Alcyone was one of the Pleides, who were daughters of Pleione, a sea nymph, and Atlas the Titan. She was later seduced by Poseidon and had several children with him.
Aphrodite: Aphrodite was the daughter of Zeus; however, some Greeks believed that she was born from the foam caused by the severed genitals of Uranus when they fell into the sea. She was known as the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility. Although she was married to the Greek god Hephaestus, she also loved Ares, who was the god of war.
Apollo: Apollo was the son of Zeus and the goddess Artemis’ twin. He was the god of music, but he was also frequently referred to as the god of healing and the sun.
Ares: Known as a master strategist, this son of Zeus and the goddess Hera was worshiped as the god of war. He was not always depicted in a favorable way in Greek mythology and was often portrayed as quick to anger, a braggart, or a coward.

Artemis (PDF): Artemis was best known as the goddess of the hunt; however, she was also worshiped as the goddess of nursing and protecting children and of the moon. She was also the twin sister of Apollo and the daughter of Zeus. A tarot card reading that uses cards featuring Greek goddesses may depict her with a bow and a deer or stag.
Athena: Athena was the virgin warrior goddess and the primary goddess worshiped by the city of Athens. She was depicted as having more virtue and strategy than Ares, the god of war. Tarot cards depicting Athena may show her with an owl, which was her symbolic bird.
Atlas: Atlas was a Titan who led the war against Zeus and the Olympians. After the war, he was charged with holding up the heavens on his shoulders as punishment.
Atropos: Atropos was a demigoddess, daughter of Zeus, and one of the three Fates. She was given the duty of cutting the threads that represent human life spans.
Calypso: Calypso was a sea nymph and the daughter of the Titan Atlas. She appears prominently in Homer’s Odyssey, in which she keeps Odysseus captive.
Charon: Charon was the ferryman of the underworld. He takes the dead down the river Styx and to the underworld, provided that they have a coin beneath their tongue for payment.
Circe: Circe was a Greek goddess who appears in Homer’s Odyssey as an enchantress who transforms men into beasts.
Chronos (PDF): Chronos was the primordial Greek deity of time and wields the wheel of the zodiac.

Cronus: Cronus, the son of Gaia and Uranus, was the youngest of the Greek Titans. It was Cronus who overthrew his father for Gaia and became the leader of the Titans. He was also the father of Zeus.
Demeter (PDF): Demeter was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea and was the Greek goddess of the harvest. Her daughter was Persephone.
Dionysus (PDF): Dionysus was the god of ritualized madness, the harvest of grapes, and wine. He was also the god of tragedies.
Eros: Eros was the son of Aphrodite and was the Greek god of love. In other texts, he was a primordial god.
Gaia: Gaia came out of Chaos and was the first of the goddesses, representing the Earth. She was the wife of Uranus and mother of the Titans.
Hades: Hades was the first son of Cronus and Rhea and was the Greek god of the underworld. He is the husband of Persephone, whom he abducted.
Hephaestus (PDF): Hephaestus, the son of Hera, was the crippled and deformed Greek god of blacksmiths and fire. He forged much of the armor worn by the other gods.
Hestia: Hestia was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea and was the virgin goddess of families, home, and the hearth.
Hera: Hera was a wife of Zeus as well as one of his sisters. She was the Greek goddess of women, childbirth, and marriage.
Heracles: Heracles was a demigod, a half-human son of Zeus and Alcmene, who represented strength, athleticism, heroism, and fertility. He was also seen as a defender of humanity.
Hermes (PDF): In Greek mythology, Hermes, the son of Zeus and Maia, was the god of thieves, sports, and trade. His role was the messenger of the gods.

Lacheses (PDF): Lacheses was one of the three Fates and had the power to determine the lifespan of a person.
Metis: Metis was a Greek Titan and Zeus’s cousin and first wife. She was the embodiment of cunning and wisdom.
Morpheus: Morpheus was the son of Hypnos and represents dreaming. He is one of the Oneiroi and also their leader.
Nike: Nike was the daughter of the Titan Pallas and the goddess Styx. She had wings and was known for her speed and strength. Nike was a goddess who represented victory in battle.
Oceanus: Oceanus was the Greek Titan representing all of the Earth’s waters.
Poseidon (PDF): Poseidon was the son of Rhea and Cronus and also the brother of Zeus. He was one of the most powerful gods, second to Zeus. His powers made him the god of earthquakes, storms, the seas, and horses.
Persephone: Persephone is the goddess of vegetation as well as the underworld. She was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter and the wife of Hades.
Priapus: Priapus was the son of Aphrodite and Dionysus and the lesser god of sex, beekeeping, masculinity, gardens, and livestock.

Pan: Pan was said to be the son of many different parents, including Aphrodite, Dryope, Hermes, Hecate, or Penelope. Depicted as half man and half goat, Pan was the god of the wilderness, shepherds, and sexuality.
Rhea (PDF): Rhea, a Titan, was the daughter of Uranus and Gaia. She was considered the mother of the first Olympian gods, of whom Cronus was the father.
Selene: Born to Hyperion and Theia, Selene was the Greek moon goddess.
Thalia: Thalia was one of the nine Muses, her jurisdiction being idyllic poetry and comedies.
Thanatos: Thanatos was the Greek god of death and the son of Nyx and Erebus.
Thetis: Thetis is one of the 50 daughters of Nereus, also known as the Nereids. She is a minor water goddess, or sea nymph, who married Peleus, a mythical Greek hero of mortal birth. Their son was Achilles.
Triton: Triton is the son of Poseidon and Amphitrite and was depicted as a trident-wielding merman. He was a god of the sea and used a conch shell as a trumpet to roil or calm the waters.
Uranus (PDF): Uranus was the Greek god of the skies and both the son and husband of Gaia. Their children were the first Titans, and he was overthrown by Cronus.
Zeus: Zeus was the ruling deity in Greek mythology and led the Olympians in their rebellion against the Titans. He fathered many of the gods and demigods and is considered the god of the sky, including thunder and lightning.