Many of the Olympian deities appear to have been simply personifications of natural phenomena. Zeus, "father of gods and men," as Homer calls him, was a heaven god, who gathered the clouds in storms and hurled the lightning bolt. Apollo, a mighty god of light, who warded off darkness and evil, became the ideal of manly beauty and the patron of music, poetry, and healing. Dionysus was worshiped as the god of sprouting and budding vegetation. Poseidon, brother of Zeus, ruled the sea. Hera, the wife of Zeus, represented the female principle in nature. Hence she presided over the life of women and especially over the sacred rites of marriage. Athena, who sprang full-grown from the forehead of Zeus, embodied the idea of wisdom and all womanly virtues. Aphrodite, who arose from the foam of the sea, was the goddess of love and beauty. Demeter, the great earth- mother, watched over seed-time and harvest. Each deity thus had a kingdom and a function of its own. [Illustration: GREEK GODS AND GODDESSES ZEUS OTRICOLI, Vatican Gallery, Rome HERA, Ludovisi Villa, Rome APOLLO OF THE BELVEDERE, Vatican Gallery, Rome APHRODITE OF CNIDUS, Glyptothek, Munich] [Illustration: THE APHRODITE OF MELOS (Louvre, Paris) More commonly known as the "Venus of Milo." The statue was discovered in 1820 A.D. on the island of Melos. It consists of two principal pieces joined together across the folds of the drapery. Most art critics date this work about 100 B.C. The strong serene figure of the goddess sets forth the Greek ideal of female loveliness.] CONCEPTIONS OF THE DEITIES The Greeks made their gods and goddesses after themselves. The Olympian divinities are really magnified men and women, subject to all human passions and appetites, but possessed of more than human power and endowed with immortality. They enjoy the banquet, where they feast on nectar and ambrosia; they take part in the struggles of the battle field; they marry and are given in marriage. The gods, morally, were no better than their worshipers. They might be represented as deceitful, dissolute, and cruel, but they could also be regarded as upholders of truth and virtue. Even Homer could say, "Verily the blessed gods love not evil deeds, but they reverence justice and the righteous acts of men." [12] [Illustration: THE FRANÇOIS VASE (Archaeological Museum, Florence) Found in an Etruscan grave in 1844 A.D. A black-figured terra cotta vase of about 600 B.C. It is nearly three feet in height and two an one half feet in diameter. The figures on the vase depict scenes from Greek mythology. Calydonian boar hunt Games at the funeral of Patroclus Peleus Thetis and the gods Pursuit of Troilus by Achilles Animal scenes, sphinxes, etc.] IDEAS OF THE OTHER WORLD