Greek Gods Family Tree

The Greek gods do not form one tidy family tree but a web of genealogies stitched together over centuries. In the best-known account, Hesiod’s Theogony (about 700 BCE), the world begins with Chaos; from Chaos come Gaia (Earth), Tartarus and Eros, and Erebus and Nyx (Darkness and Night). Gaia bears Uranus (Sky), and together they have the twelve Titans, among them Cronus and Rhea.

Cronus swallowed his children at birth, but Rhea saved Zeus, who freed his brothers and sisters and led the Olympians to victory over the Titans. Zeus then fathered many of the younger gods, including Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes and Dionysus, and heroes such as Perseus and Heracles.

Ancient sources disagree. Homer calls Oceanus the origin of the gods, while Hesiod makes Aphrodite rise from sea foam and Homer calls her a daughter of Zeus and Dione; Hephaestus is Hera’s child alone in Hesiod but is the son of Zeus and Hera elsewhere. Where our articles record alternative versions, the link has a dashed outline and is marked “versions differ”. Every name links to its full article.

Primordial deities

The first beings: Chaos, Gaia (Earth), Tartarus, Night and their offspring, before the Titans.

The Titans

The children of Gaia and Uranus, who ruled the cosmos until their grandchildren overthrew them.

The first Olympians

The children of the Titans Cronus and Rhea: Zeus and his brothers and sisters.

The younger Olympians

Gods of the twelve who are children of Zeus, by Hera and by others.

Other children of Zeus

Gods, heroes and kings fathered by Zeus, the best documented first.

Want to ask questions about these families? Explore the family trees in ChatGPT or Claude with the free Greek Mythology Explorer.

Test yourself: take a Greek mythology quiz on the gods, heroes and monsters.