Something that I found to be rather interesting is that Xenos means stranger or foreigner in greek. Perhaps Xena's name hints at the subtext...
Yet another rather interesting thing to note, Jason's ship was called that Argo, which must be why his sidekicks where called Argonauts
The Beginings
The Creation of Man
The Division of Power
The Underworld and Tartarus
Who's Who:
The Titans
The Major Gods and Goddess
Demi-Gods:
The Muses | The Fates | The Furies | The Graces | The Sirens
The Amazons
The Beginings
It all began when the universe was simply Chaos, then Gaea and Uranus came forth from Chaos (I don't know why, it just happened). Gaea was Earth and Uranus was the heavens. Together they created the 12 titans, and the cyclops. But Uranus angered Gaea by imprisioning the cyclopses. With the help of her son, Cronus, they defeated Uranus wounding him. From his blood came the furies. Cronus then became ruler of the titans. Cronus took one of his sisters, Rhea, as his wife and had 6 children. Soon after each one was born he ate them so they couldn't defeat him like he had defeated his father. But his wife hid the last child and gave him a rock to eat so he wouldn't take him. The child was Zues. When he was grown he defeated his father and the other titans and set his sisters and brothers free. They then went to live on Mount Olmpus happily ever after (Yeah right).
Man's Creation
Zues had the titans Prometheus (forethought) and Epimethues (afterthought) create mortals to live on Earth. They made them look like the gods and they gave them the gift of fire. Zues was angry at this and sent the first woman to Epimethues. Her name was Pandora and with her she had a box that she was told never to open. Of course, she did and it released evil, hate, war, mischief, and all manner of bad things, but she managed to save the last one, hope. (There's an episode that has somthing to do with this, but I'm to lazy to find it's name). Prometheus aslo tricked Zues into letting man keep the better part of animals sacrificed to the gods. Zues, being a petty god, had Prometheues chained to a rock and forced to have his liver eaten by an eagle everyday. He was later rescued by Hercules (See episode "Prometheues").
The Division of Power
After the Olympians overthrew the titans the brothers Hades, Poisiedon, and Zues did the equivilant of drawing straws to determine who got control of the ocean, the skies, and the underworld. Obviously, Zues got power over the skies, Hades over the underworld, and Poisiedon over the oceans. New gods came into being when gods had kids. As far as I can tell, Ambrosia made people immortal, it didn't give them "powers."
The Underworld and Tartarus
The underworld is hidden in the earth. It is the kingdom of the dead and ruled over by Hades. Hades is a greedy god who is greatly concerned with increasing his subjects. Those whose calling increase the number of dead are seen favorably (He must have loved Xena) and he is exceedingly disinclined to allow any of his subjects leave. For most, life in the underworld is not particularly unpleasent. It is rather like a miserable dream, full of shadows, without sunlight or hope. A joyless place where the dead slowly fade into nothingness. Geographically, the underworld is surrounded by a series of rivers: The Acheron (river of woe), The Cocytus (river of lamentation), The Phlegethon (river of fire), The Styx (river of unbreakable oath by which the gods swear), and The Lethe (river of forgetfulness). Once across the rivers a gate, guarded by Cerberus, forms the entrance to the kingdom. Deep within the kingdom is Hades vast palace. Upon death a soul is lead by Hermes to the entrance of the underworld and then they ferry across the Acheron where they receive their sentence. The good go to the Elysian Fields, the bad go to Tartarus, and everyone else goes to the underworld. Tartarus lies deeper then the underworld. It is used as the ultimate of prisons.
Who's Who:
Gaea-
Mother Earth
Mother of the Titans and the Cyclops
Wife of Cronus
Uranus-
The Titans:
God of the Sky
Father of the Titans and the Cyclops
Husband of Gaea
Roman name: Saturn
Mnemosyne-
Titan of Memory
Mother of the Muses
Phoebe-
Titan of the Moon
Mother of Leto
Coeus-
Titan of Intelligence
Father of Leto
Thia- No info
Themis-
Titan of justice and order
Mother of the Fates and the Seasons
Cronus-
Ruler of the Titans
Father of Zues, Hestia, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, and Demeter
Husband of Rhea
Rhea-
Mother of Zues, Hestia, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, and Demeter
Wife of Cronus
Crios- no info
Oceanus-
He is the unending stream of water encircling the world. Together with his wife Tethys he produced the rivers and the ocean nymphs.
Father of Metis
Tethys-
Mother of Metis
Wife of Oceanus
Hyperion-
Titan of light, the father of the sun, the moon, and the dawn.
Father of Selene, Helios, Eos (Which mean moon, sun, and dawn)
Jadet-
Zues & Hera:
Dionysus:
Apollo:
Children: Atlas, Epimethues, Prometheus
The Main Greek Gods
Children: Dionysus, Hermes, Hephaestus, Ares, Athena, Apollo, Artemis
King and Queen of the Gods
Roman Names: Jupiter and Juno
Hera was very jealous of all of Zues' mistresses and she would often take revenge if she found out.
God of Wine and Tragedy
Roman name: Bacchus
He was God of a major cult (Mostly they drank and fought)
Hermes:
God of Thieves, Messanger of the Gods
Roman Name: Mercury
One of my favorites, Hermes was brilliant and was said to have invented many things such as the lyre, dancing, and medicine.
Hephaestus:
God of Fire
He was married to Aphrodite, but this was arranged by Hera. He's sometimes said to be soley Hera's son (Ya, I don't get it either). He was lame and mostly sat in his smith making weapons and stuff.
Ares:
God of War
Roman Name: Mars
Ares and Aphrodite were actually lovers (Ew). In greek mythology he was a disgusting, whining coward (Huh, first thing the show got right. Heh heh, Ares' fans are going to kill me now aren't they?)
Athena:
Goddess of wisdom
Roman Name: Minerva
One of the three virgin goddesses
Athena was soley the daughter of Zues and she was his favorite. She was noted for being incredibly intelligent, just and good with crafts.
God of the Sun, Truth and Light
Twin to Artemis
Every day he drove his chariot across the sky to light the world. He had many temples were you could find out the truth from opium sniffing priests (Ok, maybe not opium, but they were really sniffing some wierd drug).
Artemis:
Goddess of the Moon and Hunting
One of the three virgin goddesses (that part in To Hellicon And Back about Artemis having a son is very wrong)
Twin to Apollo
My favorite goddess, she is no man's woman and she loves to hunt. For some reason she's also the goddess of childbirth.
Hestia:
Goddess of Hearth and Home
Roman Name: Vesta
One of the three virgin goddesses
She really doesn't play much myths, mostly she just sits around the hearth.
Demi-Gods
The Muses:
Clio - Muse of history
Urania - Muse of astronomy
Melpomene - Muse of tragedy
Thalia - Muse of comedy
Terpsichore - Muse of dance
Calliope - Muse of epic poetry
Erato - Muse of songs to gods
Euterpe - Muse of lyric poetry
The Fates:
Clotho-
She spun the thread of life and appeared as a maiden. Her name meant The Spinner.
Lachesis-
She measured the thread of life and appeared as a mother. She was the Caster of lots.
Atropos-
She cut the thread of life and appeared as a crone. Her name meant Unbending.
It's unknown who was more powerful, the fates or the gods. Some tales say Zues had a voice in their decisions, others say that even they gods could be affected by the fates.
The Furies:
Tisiphone - the Avenger
Megara - the Jealous
Alecto - the Unresting
Their purpose was to torment sinners, which they did on Earth as well is in Tartarus. The sight of one could cause insanity, and they often drove offenders to suicide. Originally they punished only offenders of patricide, matricide, or breakers of oaths, but after a while they punished any sins. They lived in Erebus (Darkness) but traveled the Earth constantly in search of new victims.
The Graces:
Aglaia - Splendor
Euphrosyne - Mirth
Thalia - Good Cheer
A party without them just wasn't a party
The Sirens:
The Sirens were sisters who lured sailors to their death. The song of the Sirens was irrestable but, the island on which they resided was surrounded by reefs which destroyed the sailors boat when they tryed to reach the Sirens.
Oreads:
Nymphs of mountains
Dryads:
Nymphs of trees
The Amazons
The Amazons were a warlike tribe of women descended from the god of war, Ares and the nymph Harmony. War, hunting and agriculture were their principal pursuits. Two queens, one for defense, one for domestic affairs, ruled their kingdom. Under their military queen, the Amazons were a mighty army of mounted warriors bearing ivy-shaped shields and double-bladed battleaxes. At home, the Amazons lived peacefully supplying all their own economic needs. It's sometimes thought that Amazons surgically removed their right breasts, the better to draw the bow and throw the javelin, but this is unlikely. Once or twice a year the Amazons had intercourse with men from surrounding tribes, and/or male captives of their frequent wars, keeping their daughters and returning the sons to the tribe of origin.