Who are Zeus's parents?

Cronus and Rhea. Hesiod lists their six children as Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus, with Zeus the youngest (Theogony 453-491). Cronus swallowed the first five at birth and Zeus later made him bring them up.

Who are the 12 Olympian gods?

Eleven names are steady: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus and Hermes. The twelfth seat goes to Hestia in some lists and to Dionysus in others. Hades rules the dead and is usually not counted among the twelve.

Was Hestia or Dionysus the twelfth Olympian?

Both appear in the twelfth seat, depending on the list. Ancient lists of the twelve vary. The story that Hestia gave her seat to Dionysus is a modern retelling (Robert Graves, The Greek Myths, 1955), not an ancient myth.

Who are Aphrodite's parents?

The sources give two answers. Hesiod has her born from the foam around the severed genitals of Uranus, so she has no mother or father in the usual sense (Theogony 188-206). Homer calls her the daughter of Zeus and Dione (Iliad 5.370-371).

Who is Hephaestus's father?

Hesiod says Hera bore Hephaestus without Zeus (Theogony 924-929). Other traditions name Zeus as his father, and the atlas records that link as disputed.

Was Hades one of the Olympians?

Hades is a son of Cronus and Rhea and a brother of Zeus, so he belongs to the same generation. He lives in the underworld and is normally left out of the twelve who sit on Olympus.

Guide · Hesiod

Greek Gods Family Tree (Simple Version)

Who comes from whom among the primordials, Titans and 12 Olympians, as plain lists you can read top to bottom.

The short version: Earth (Gaia) and Sky (Uranus) bear the Titans. The Titans Cronus and Rhea bear the first generation of Olympians. Zeus and his siblings then fill out the twelve with their own children. Every link below comes from the atlas's kinship records, which cite Hesiod's Theogony wherever Hesiod names the parents.

For a drag-and-zoom version of the same data, open the interactive family tree. This page is the plain-text version of it: no scripts needed, and every name links to its entry.

The tree, generation by generation

Read each list as parents followed by children. A name in italics is a figure the atlas has no entry for.

The first beings. Hesiod begins with Chaos, then Gaia (Earth), who bears Uranus (Sky) and marries him (Theogony 116-138). Nyx (Night) also comes early and bears Nemesis and Thanatos without a partner (Theogony 211-225).
- Gaia and Uranus's children, the Titans: Cronus, Rhea and Tethys, among others (Theogony 132-138).
- Other Titans' children: Atlas and Prometheus, sons of Iapetus (Theogony 507-511); Helios, Selene and Eos, children of Hyperion and Theia (Theogony 371-374).
Cronus and Rhea's six children. Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus (Theogony 453-458). Zeus marries his sister Hera (Theogony 921-923).
Zeus's children, by mother.
- With Hera: Ares (Theogony 921-923). Hephaestus is Hera's son in the atlas's sources, but not always Zeus's; see below.
- With Metis: Athena, born after Zeus swallowed Metis (Theogony 886-900, 924-926).
- With Leto: the twins Apollo and Artemis (Theogony 918-920).
- With Maia: Hermes (Theogony 938-939).
- With Semele, a mortal: Dionysus (Theogony 940-942).
- With Demeter: Persephone (Theogony 912-914), who marries Hades.
- Aphrodite has two different parentages; see below.

The 12 Olympians and their parents

The table is generated from the atlas's kinship records. Where Hesiod names a mother the atlas has no entry for, her name is plain text.

The Olympian gods with their domains, parents and the passage that names them
Olympian	Domain	Father	Mother	Passage
Zeus	sky, thunder, lightning	Cronus	Rhea	Theogony 453–491
Hera	marriage, women, family	Cronus	Rhea	Theogony 453–491
Poseidon	sea, earthquakes, horses	Cronus	Rhea	Theogony 453–491
Demeter	agriculture, harvest, fertility	Cronus	Rhea	Theogony 453–491
Athena	wisdom, warfare, crafts	Zeus	Metis	Theogony 886–900; 924–929
Apollo	sun, music, poetry	Zeus	Leto	Theogony 918–920
Artemis	hunt, wilderness, moon	Zeus	Leto	Theogony 918–920
Ares	war, violence, bloodshed	Zeus	Hera	Theogony 921–923
Aphrodite	love, beauty, desire	See below	See below	Theogony 188–206; Iliad 5.370–371
Hephaestus	fire, metalworking, crafts	See below	Hera	Theogony 924–929Disputed link, below
Hermes	messengers, commerce, thieves	Zeus	Maia	Theogony 938–939
HestiaTwelfth seat	hearth, home, domesticity	Cronus	Rhea	Theogony 453–491
DionysusTwelfth seat	wine, festivity, theater	Zeus	Semele	Theogony 940–942

Aphrodite has no father in the table because the two main sources disagree about who he is. Hephaestus shows only Hera for the same reason. Both are explained in Where the sources differ.

The twelfth seat: Hestia or Dionysus

Eleven of the twelve are stable. The twelfth is Hestia in some lists and Dionysus in others, and you will see both in printed charts. Hades is the other name people ask about: he is Zeus's brother and a child of Cronus and Rhea, but he rules the underworld, so the usual lists leave him out.

The story that Hestia gave up her seat to Dionysus is not an ancient myth. No ancient source tells it; it comes from Robert Graves's The Greek Myths (1955), and the atlas's Hestia entry repeats it as a retelling. Ancient lists of twelve gods vary by place and author, and there is no single canonical list. Hesiod does not give one, and the Theogony places Hestia first among Rhea's children (Theogony 453-454). Dionysus's parents (Zeus and the mortal Semele, Theogony 940-942) are the same whether or not he is counted among the twelve.

Where the sources differ

Two Olympians have parents that depend on which ancient author you read. The page shows both rather than picking one.

Aphrodite

Hesiod: born from the foam (aphros) that gathered around the severed genitals of Uranus after Cronus threw them into the sea. She has no parents in the ordinary sense, and she is born before Zeus's generation (Theogony 188-206).
Homer: she is the daughter of Zeus and the goddess Dione (Iliad 5.370-371).
The atlas: her entry follows Hesiod, so the interactive tree shows no parent for her. It records her as the wife of Hephaestus and the lover of Ares (Theogony 933-937).

Hephaestus

Hesiod: Hera bore him alone, without a union with Zeus (Theogony 924-929).
Other traditions: Zeus is his father. The atlas keeps that link and marks it as disputed with medium confidence.

Two more disputed links

The Dioscuri (Castor and Polydeuces): The Homeric Hymns call Castor and Polydeuces sons of Zeus and Leda; Pindar makes only Polydeuces Zeus's son, and the Odyssey names Tyndareus as father of both.
Melinoë: Only source: Orphic Hymn 71, where Zeus fathers Melinoë in the guise of Plouton (Hades). The undisputed record gives her mother as Persephone.

Children of the gods

Figures the atlas records as children of an Olympian or of Hades or Demeter, outside the twelve. Heroes and demigods have their own entries.

Persephone · child of Zeus
Perseus · child of Zeus
The Dioscuri (Castor and Polydeuces) · child of Zeus
Melinoë · child of Zeus (disputed)
Plutus · child of Demeter
Asclepius · child of Apollo

Looking for heroes such as Heracles and Perseus? Start from the heroes index, or read how a modern series reuses these families in the Percy Jackson guide.

Questions readers ask

Who are Zeus's parents?: Cronus and Rhea. Hesiod lists their six children as Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus, with Zeus the youngest (Theogony 453-491). Cronus swallowed the first five at birth and Zeus later made him bring them up.
Who are the 12 Olympian gods?: Eleven names are steady: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus and Hermes. The twelfth seat goes to Hestia in some lists and to Dionysus in others. Hades rules the dead and is usually not counted among the twelve.
Was Hestia or Dionysus the twelfth Olympian?: Both appear in the twelfth seat, depending on the list. Ancient lists of the twelve vary. The story that Hestia gave her seat to Dionysus is a modern retelling (Robert Graves, The Greek Myths, 1955), not an ancient myth.
Who are Aphrodite's parents?: The sources give two answers. Hesiod has her born from the foam around the severed genitals of Uranus, so she has no mother or father in the usual sense (Theogony 188-206). Homer calls her the daughter of Zeus and Dione (Iliad 5.370-371).
Who is Hephaestus's father?: Hesiod says Hera bore Hephaestus without Zeus (Theogony 924-929). Other traditions name Zeus as his father, and the atlas records that link as disputed.
Was Hades one of the Olympians?: Hades is a son of Cronus and Rhea and a brother of Zeus, so he belongs to the same generation. He lives in the underworld and is normally left out of the twelve who sit on Olympus.