I Not Stupid TooFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I Not Stupid Too

Directed by Jack Neo

Produced by Chan Pui Yin

Seah Saw Yam

Daniel Yun

Written by Jack Neo

Starring Jack Neo

Huang Yiliang

Xiang Yun

Ashley Leong

Shawn Lee

Joshua Ang

Studio MediaCorp Raintree Pictures

Distributed by United International Pictures

Release date(s)26 January 2006

Running time 124 minutes

Country Singapore

Language English

Mandarin

Hokkien

I Not Stupid Too (Chinese: 小孩不笨 2; pinyin: Xiǎohái Bù Bèn Èr) is a 2006 Singaporean film and the sequel

to the 2002 film, I Not Stupid. A satirical comedy, I Not Stupid Too portrays the lives, struggles and adventures

of three Singaporean youths — 15-year-old Tom, his 8-year-old brother Jerry and their 15-year-old friend

Chengcai — who have a strained relationship with their parents. The film explores the issue of poor parent-

child communication.

The director and screenwriter, Jack Neo, was inspired to make the film by a book aboutappreciation education.

The movie was produced by MediaCorp Raintree Pictures on a budget of S$1.5 million. It stars Jack

Neo, Xiang Yun, Huang Yiliang, Shawn Lee,Joshua Ang and Ashley Leong. Filming took place at several

Singaporean schools in June 2005.

I Not Stupid Too was released in cinemas on 26 January 2006, and earned over S$4 million in total. The film

became the second-highest grossing Singaporean film in history, with only Money No Enough grossing more.

At the 2006 Hong Kong Film Awards, it was nominated for Best Asian Film, but lost to Riding Alone for

Thousands of Miles. Critical reception was also generally positive, although some criticized the movie as overly

preachy. A serialised version of the film was aired later that year.

Contents

  [hide] 

1 Plot

2 Production

3 Reception

4 References

5 External links

Plot[edit source | editbeta]

The plot revolves around the lives of Tom Yeo (Shawn Lee), his younger brother Jerry (Ashley Leong) and their

friend Lim Chengcai (Joshua Ang). 15-year-old Tom is technologically inclined and a talented blogger, while 8-

year-old Jerry enjoys theperforming arts and has the lead role in his school concert. Mr. and Mrs. Yeo's (Jack

Neo and Xiang Yun) busy schedules give them little time to spend with their children, leading to a strained

relationship. With his mother absent, Chengcai was raised by his ex-convict father (Huang Yiliang), whose

fighting skills he inherited.

During a school check for mobile phones, Tom is caught with a pornographic VCD. As his teacher confiscates

it, Chengcai makes a cheeky remark that provokes the teacher into slapping him, leading to an exchange that

escalates into a massive scuffle. The principal decides to expel Chengcai, while Tom receives a public

caning for his part in the scuffle. Tom and Chengcai join a local street gang; as their initiation, they are forced to

shoplift an iPod. However, they are caught by two conmen with connections to the street gang posing as police

detectives, who demand that they pay the fine $2000 within two days or be arrested.

While tutoring his sons, Mr. Yeo tells them that people will pay $500 for an hour of his time. Jerry, who wants

his parents to come to his school concert, starts saving money, but he can't save enough and eventually

resorts to stealing. After he is caught, his furious father repeatedly canes him and shouts at him, but forgives

him when the boy explains that he wanted $500 to "buy" an hour of his father's time. This prompts Mr. and Mrs.

Yeo to read Tom's blog and realise how unappreciated and alienated their children feel.

Unable to raise $2000 themselves, Tom and Chengcai rob an old lady of her necklace, but regret their action

and try to return it to her. A struggle occurs, and Chengcai bumps into several gangsters, while Tom's mobile

phone falls out of his pocket as he is tackled by vicious vigilantes. The phone hits the ground, accidentally

calling Mr. Yeo, who is doing a presentation about 3G phones for a contract worth $3 million. He rushes off to

the scene and pleads the old lady to give Tom a second chance. When the police arrive, she tells them she

made a prank call. Two days later, Mr. Yeo meets the conmen and gives them thousands of dollars of hell

money; the conmen are then arrested by real police officers who have been waiting in ambush close by.

Having finally understood their children, the Yeo parents watch Jerry's concert, much to his delight.

Later, the gangsters whom Chengcai bumped into earlier beat him up. Mr. Lim, who happens to be nearby,

tries to protect his son, but suffers head trauma after being pushed down the stairs. He is taken to a hospital,

critically injured. On his deathbed, Mr. Lim tells Chengcai that he loves him and that he should pursue his talent

for fighting. Witnessing this scene, the principal is touched and allows Chengcai to return to school. The boy

eventually becomes an internationally recognised martial artist.

Context

→Nearly three thousand years after they were composed, the Iliadand the Odyssey remain two of the

most celebrated and widely read stories ever told, yet next to nothing is known about their author.

He was certainly an accomplished Greek bard, and he probably lived in the late eighth and early

seventh centuriesB.C .E .  Authorship is traditionally ascribed to a blind poet named Homer, and it is

under this name that the works are still published. Greeks of the third and second centuries B.C .E . ,

however, already questioned whether Homer existed and whether the two epics were even written

by a single individual.

Most modern scholars believe that even if a single person wrote the epics, his work owed a

tremendous debt to a long tradition of unwritten, oral poetry. Stories of a glorious expedition to the

East and of its leaders’ fateful journeys home had been circulating in Greece for hundreds of years

before the Iliad and Odyssey were composed. Casual storytellers and semiprofessional minstrels

passed these stories down through generations, with each artist developing and polishing the story

as he told it. According to this theory, one poet, multiple poets working in collaboration, or perhaps

even a series of poets handing down their work in succession finally turned these stories into written

works, again with each adding his own touch and expanding or contracting certain episodes in the

overall narrative to fit his taste.

Although historical, archaeological, and linguistic evidence suggests that the epics were composed

between 750 and 650B.C .E . , they are set in Mycenaean Greece in about the twelfth

century B.C .E . , during the Bronze Age. This earlier period, the Greeks believed, was a more

glorious and sublime age, when gods still frequented the earth and heroic, godlike mortals with

superhuman attributes populated Greece. Because the two epics strive to evoke this pristine age,

they are written in a high style and generally depict life as it was believed to have been led in the

great kingdoms of the Bronze Age. The Greeks are often referred to as “Achaeans,” the name of a

large tribe occupying Greece during the Bronze Age.

But Homer’s reconstruction often yields to the realities of eighth- and seventh-

century B.C .E .  Greece. The feudal social structure apparent in the background of

the Odyssey seems more akin to Homer’s Greece than to Odysseus’s, and Homer substitutes the

pantheon of deities of his own day for the related but different gods whom Mycenaean Greeks

worshipped. Many other minor but obvious anachronisms—such as references to iron tools and to

tribes that had not yet migrated to Greece by the Bronze Age—betray the poem’s later, Iron Age

origins.

Of the two epics, the Odyssey is the later both in setting and, probably, date of composition.

The Iliad tells the story of the Greek struggle to rescue Helen, a Greek queen, from her Trojan

captors. The Odyssey takes the fall of the city of Troy as its starting point and crafts a new epic

around the struggle of one of those Greek warriors, the hero Odysseus. It tells the story of

hisnostos, or journey home, to northwest Greece during the ten-year period after the Greek victory

over the Trojans. A tale of wandering, it takes place not on a field of battle but on fantastic islands

and foreign lands. After the unrelenting tragedy and carnage of the Iliad, the Odyssey often strikes

readers as comic or surreal at times. This quality has led some scholars to conclude that Homer

wrote the Odyssey at a later time of his life, when he showed less interest in struggles at arms and

was more receptive to a storyline that focused on the fortunes and misadventures of a single man.

Others argue that someone else must have composed the Odyssey, one who wished to provide a

companion work to the Iliad but had different interests from those of the earlier epic’s author.

Like the Iliad, the Odyssey was composed primarily in the Ionic dialect of Ancient Greek, which was

spoken on the Aegean islands and in the coastal settlements of Asia Minor, now modern Turkey.

Some scholars thus conclude that the poet hailed from somewhere in the eastern Greek world. More

likely, however, the poet chose the Ionic dialect because he felt it to be more appropriate for the high

style and grand scope of his work. Slightly later Greek literature suggests that poets varied the

dialects of their poems according to the themes that they were treating and might write in dialects

that they didn’t actually speak. Homer’s epics, moreover, are Panhellenic (encompassing all of

Greece) in spirit and, in fact, use forms from several other dialects, suggesting that Homer didn’t

simply fall back on his native tongue but rather suited his poems to the dialect that would best

complement his ideas.

Plot Overview

→Ten years have passed since the fall of Troy, and the Greek hero Odysseus still has not returned to

his kingdom in Ithaca. A large and rowdy mob of suitors who have overrun Odysseus’s palace and

pillaged his land continue to court his wife, Penelope. She has remained faithful to Odysseus. Prince

Telemachus, Odysseus’s son, wants desperately to throw them out but does not have the

confidence or experience to fight them. One of the suitors, Antinous, plans to assassinate the young

prince, eliminating the only opposition to their dominion over the palace.

Unknown to the suitors, Odysseus is still alive. The beautiful nymph Calypso, possessed by love for

him, has imprisoned him on her island, Ogygia. He longs to return to his wife and son, but he has no

ship or crew to help him escape. While the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus debate

Odysseus’s future, Athena, Odysseus’s strongest supporter among the gods, resolves to help

Telemachus. Disguised as a friend of the prince’s grandfather, Laertes, she convinces the prince to

call a meeting of the assembly at which he reproaches the suitors. Athena also prepares him for a

great journey to Pylos and Sparta, where the kings Nestor and Menelaus, Odysseus’s companions

during the war, inform him that Odysseus is alive and trapped on Calypso’s island. Telemachus

makes plans to return home, while, back in Ithaca, Antinous and the other suitors prepare an

ambush to kill him when he reaches port.

On Mount Olympus, Zeus sends Hermes to rescue Odysseus from Calypso. Hermes persuades

Calypso to let Odysseus build a ship and leave. The homesick hero sets sail, but when Poseidon,

god of the sea, finds him sailing home, he sends a storm to wreck Odysseus’s ship. Poseidon has

harbored a bitter grudge against Odysseus since the hero blinded his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus,

earlier in his travels. Athena intervenes to save Odysseus from Poseidon’s wrath, and the

beleaguered king lands at Scheria, home of the Phaeacians. Nausicaa, the Phaeacian princess,

shows him to the royal palace, and Odysseus receives a warm welcome from the king and queen.

When he identifies himself as Odysseus, his hosts, who have heard of his exploits at Troy, are

stunned. They promise to give him safe passage to Ithaca, but first they beg to hear the story of his

adventures.

Odysseus spends the night describing the fantastic chain of events leading up to his arrival on

Calypso’s island. He recounts his trip to the Land of the Lotus Eaters, his battle with Polyphemus the

Cyclops, his love affair with the witch-goddess Circe, his temptation by the deadly Sirens, his journey

into Hades to consult the prophet Tiresias, and his fight with the sea monster Scylla. When he

finishes his story, the Phaeacians return Odysseus to Ithaca, where he seeks out the hut of his

faithful swineherd, Eumaeus. Though Athena has disguised Odysseus as a beggar, Eumaeus

warmly receives and nourishes him in the hut. He soon encounters Telemachus, who has returned

from Pylos and Sparta despite the suitors’ ambush, and reveals to him his true identity. Odysseus

and Telemachus devise a plan to massacre the suitors and regain control of Ithaca.

When Odysseus arrives at the palace the next day, still disguised as a beggar, he endures abuse

and insults from the suitors. The only person who recognizes him is his old nurse, Eurycleia, but she

swears not to disclose his secret. Penelope takes an interest in this strange beggar, suspecting that

he might be her long-lost husband. Quite crafty herself, Penelope organizes an archery contest the

following day and promises to marry any man who can string Odysseus’s great bow and fire an

arrow through a row of twelve axes—a feat that only Odysseus has ever been able to accomplish. At

the contest, each suitor tries to string the bow and fails. Odysseus steps up to the bow and, with little

effort, fires an arrow through all twelve axes. He then turns the bow on the suitors. He and

Telemachus, assisted by a few faithful servants, kill every last suitor.

Odysseus reveals himself to the entire palace and reunites with his loving Penelope. He travels to

the outskirts of Ithaca to see his aging father, Laertes. They come under attack from the vengeful

family members of the dead suitors, but Laertes, reinvigorated by his son’s return, successfully kills

Antinous’s father and puts a stop to the attack. Zeus dispatches Athena to restore peace. With his

power secure and his family reunited, Odysseus’s long ordeal comes to an end.

Troy is a 2004 American epic war film directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starring Brad Pitt as Achilles,

with Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, and Diane Kruger. Written by David Benioff, and loosely based

on Homer's Iliad, the film is about a feud within the Greek camp during the siege of the city of Troy and

how the feud must be resolved before the Greeks can triumph. The conflict centers on the

hero Achilles and how his decision on whether to assist the Greeks will ultimately decide the outcome of

the war. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Costume Design.

Contents

  [hide] 

1 Plot

2 Cast

3 Production

4 Music

5 Director's cut

6 Reception

o 6.1 Box office totals

7 Accolades

8 See also

9 References

10 Further reading

11 External links

Plot[edit source | editbeta]

This article's plot summary may be too

long orexcessively detailed. Please help improve it by

removing unnecessary details and making it more

concise. (February 2013)

During a peace negotiation between Troy and Sparta, the Trojan Paris elopes withHelen, the wife of

Spartan King Menelaus. As a result, Menelaus recruits his brother King Agamemnon of Mycenae—and

through him, many of the great heroes of Greece—for an assault on Troy. Agamemnon welcomes this

pretext, as he has long contemplated a war against the Trojans. Achilles, hoping for personal fame and

glory, is among the heroes to accompany Agamemnon.

Upon arrival, Achilles and the Myrmidons kill many Trojans and desecrate the temple ofApollo. Briseis, a

member of the Trojan royal family, is captured. Though Achilles claims Briseis as his prize, Agamemnon

takes her for himself. Angered by the injustice, Achilles refuses to fight the next day. In the ensuing battle,

the Greeks suffer serious losses, including the death of Menelaus, and they are unable to make progress

against the Trojans and their hero Hector.

At the Greek camp, Achilles saves Briseis from Agamemnon's men when they try to rape her. She tries to

kill Achilles, but realizes that she has feelings for him and they fall in love. Achilles prepares his men to

leave, angering Patroclus. That night, the Trojans launch a surprise attack on the Greek encampment that

lasts until morning. The attack goes favorably for the Trojans until Achilles appears leading his army of

Myrmidons. Hector finally faces off against Achilles and slits his throat, but upon removing his helmet

Hector discovers a mortally wounded Patroclus, disguised as Achilles. Both armies agree to end fighting

for the day.

Eudorus tells Achilles of his cousin's death. Furious, Achilles attacks him and harms Briseis when she

tries to stop him. Hector realizes that Achilles will seek revenge, and begins making preparations to save

his loved ones. He shows Andromache a secret path out of the city, asking her to use it if the city falls.

The next day, Achilles approaches the gates of Troy alone and challenges Hector. The duel appears

evenly matched, but Hector is ultimately slain and dragged from the back of Achilles' chariot, shocking the

Trojans. That night King Priam (Peter O'Toole) sneaks into the Greek camp and asks Achilles to return

Hector's body. Achilles grants his request and swears a truce for them to mourn, and lets Briseis return

with Priam. He apologizes to Eudorus for striking him and tells him to take the Myrmidons home.

Maquette Trojan Horse, used in Troy, a gift from Brad Pitt to the Turkish townCanakkale.

Troy mourns Hector's death while King Agamemnon fumes that he cannot attack while the Trojans are

vulnerable, even though they still can't breach their walls. Realizing the king would see them all killed

before he gives up his ambition, Odysseus devises a plan to infiltrate the city. The Trojans discover that

the Greeks have departed, leaving a wooden horse at their camp. Priam trusts his priests that the horse is

an offering to Poseidon and a gift, despite the misgivings of Paris and Glaucus. The Trojans take the

horse into the city and celebrate an apparent victory. A Trojan scout finds the Greek ships hidden in a

cove near Troy, but is killed before he can spread the news. A band of Greeks led by Achilles and

Odysseus come out of the horse at night, allowing the main army to enter by opening the city gates. The

Greeks commence the Sack of Troy. The Trojan army leads a desperate defense of the royal palace but

falls to the Greeks.

While Troy is burned, Andromache helps Helen and many others escape from Troy through the secret

passage Hector showed her. Paris gives Aeneas the Sword of Troy, asking him to find another home for

the Trojans. After helping the survivors off, he heads back into the city to join the defense but abandons

them after hearing Briseis calling him. Odysseus kills Glaucus. Agamemnon kills Priam, and, drunk on his

victory, is killed by Briseis with a concealed knife. Achilles saves Briseis but is shot in his heel and several

more times by Paris with his bow. Dying, Achilles urges Briseis to escape from the city with Paris. As he

dies, Achilles removes all but the first arrow from his body, the soldiers finding him with only a single

arrow through his heel. Funeral rituals are performed for him in the ruins of Troy the next day. The film

ends with a speech from Odysseus, "If they ever tell my story, let them say I walked with giants. Men rise

and fall like the winter wheat, but these names will never die. Let them say I lived in the time of Hector,

tamer of horses. Let them say I lived in the time of Achilles."

Troy is a 2004 American epic war film directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starring Brad Pitt as Achilles,

with Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, and Diane Kruger. Written by David Benioff, and loosely based

on Homer's Iliad, the film is about a feud within the Greek camp during the siege of the city of Troy and

how the feud must be resolved before the Greeks can triumph. The conflict centers on the

hero Achilles and how his decision on whether to assist the Greeks will ultimately decide the outcome of

the war. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Costume Design.

Contents

  [hide] 

1 Plot

2 Cast

3 Production

4 Music

5 Director's cut

6 Reception

o 6.1 Box office totals

7 Accolades

8 See also

9 References

10 Further reading

11 External links

Plot[edit source | editbeta]

This article's plot summary may be too

long orexcessively detailed. Please help improve it by

removing unnecessary details and making it more

concise. (February 2013)

During a peace negotiation between Troy and Sparta, the Trojan Paris elopes withHelen, the wife of

Spartan King Menelaus. As a result, Menelaus recruits his brother King Agamemnon of Mycenae—and

through him, many of the great heroes of Greece—for an assault on Troy. Agamemnon welcomes this

pretext, as he has long contemplated a war against the Trojans. Achilles, hoping for personal fame and

glory, is among the heroes to accompany Agamemnon.

Upon arrival, Achilles and the Myrmidons kill many Trojans and desecrate the temple ofApollo. Briseis, a

member of the Trojan royal family, is captured. Though Achilles claims Briseis as his prize, Agamemnon

takes her for himself. Angered by the injustice, Achilles refuses to fight the next day. In the ensuing battle,

the Greeks suffer serious losses, including the death of Menelaus, and they are unable to make progress

against the Trojans and their hero Hector.

At the Greek camp, Achilles saves Briseis from Agamemnon's men when they try to rape her. She tries to

kill Achilles, but realizes that she has feelings for him and they fall in love. Achilles prepares his men to

leave, angering Patroclus. That night, the Trojans launch a surprise attack on the Greek encampment that

lasts until morning. The attack goes favorably for the Trojans until Achilles appears leading his army of

Myrmidons. Hector finally faces off against Achilles and slits his throat, but upon removing his helmet

Hector discovers a mortally wounded Patroclus, disguised as Achilles. Both armies agree to end fighting

for the day.

Eudorus tells Achilles of his cousin's death. Furious, Achilles attacks him and harms Briseis when she

tries to stop him. Hector realizes that Achilles will seek revenge, and begins making preparations to save

his loved ones. He shows Andromache a secret path out of the city, asking her to use it if the city falls.

The next day, Achilles approaches the gates of Troy alone and challenges Hector. The duel appears

evenly matched, but Hector is ultimately slain and dragged from the back of Achilles' chariot, shocking the

Trojans. That night King Priam (Peter O'Toole) sneaks into the Greek camp and asks Achilles to return

Hector's body. Achilles grants his request and swears a truce for them to mourn, and lets Briseis return

with Priam. He apologizes to Eudorus for striking him and tells him to take the Myrmidons home.

Maquette Trojan Horse, used in Troy, a gift from Brad Pitt to the Turkish townCanakkale.

Troy mourns Hector's death while King Agamemnon fumes that he cannot attack while the Trojans are

vulnerable, even though they still can't breach their walls. Realizing the king would see them all killed

before he gives up his ambition, Odysseus devises a plan to infiltrate the city. The Trojans discover that

the Greeks have departed, leaving a wooden horse at their camp. Priam trusts his priests that the horse is

an offering to Poseidon and a gift, despite the misgivings of Paris and Glaucus. The Trojans take the

horse into the city and celebrate an apparent victory. A Trojan scout finds the Greek ships hidden in a

cove near Troy, but is killed before he can spread the news. A band of Greeks led by Achilles and

Odysseus come out of the horse at night, allowing the main army to enter by opening the city gates. The

Greeks commence the Sack of Troy. The Trojan army leads a desperate defense of the royal palace but

falls to the Greeks.

While Troy is burned, Andromache helps Helen and many others escape from Troy through the secret

passage Hector showed her. Paris gives Aeneas the Sword of Troy, asking him to find another home for

the Trojans. After helping the survivors off, he heads back into the city to join the defense but abandons

them after hearing Briseis calling him. Odysseus kills Glaucus. Agamemnon kills Priam, and, drunk on his

victory, is killed by Briseis with a concealed knife. Achilles saves Briseis but is shot in his heel and several

more times by Paris with his bow. Dying, Achilles urges Briseis to escape from the city with Paris. As he

dies, Achilles removes all but the first arrow from his body, the soldiers finding him with only a single

arrow through his heel. Funeral rituals are performed for him in the ruins of Troy the next day. The film

ends with a speech from Odysseus, "If they ever tell my story, let them say I walked with giants. Men rise

and fall like the winter wheat, but these names will never die. Let them say I lived in the time of Hector,

tamer of horses. Let them say I lived in the time of Achilles."

Immortals

The Greeks created images of their deities for many purposes. A temple would house the statue of a god

or goddess, or multiple deities, and might be decorated with relief scenes depicting myths. Divine images

were common on coins. Drinking cups and othervessels were painted with scenes from Greek myths.

Deity Description

Aphrodite (Ἀφροδίτη, Aphroditē)

Goddess of love, beauty, desire, and pleasure. Although married

to Hephaestus she had many lovers, most notably Ares, Adonis,

and Anchises. She was depicted as a beautiful woman and of all the

goddesses most likely to appear nude or seminude. Poets praise the

radiance of her smile and her laughter. Her symbols include roses and

other flowers, the scallop shell, and myrtlewreath. Her sacred animals

are doves and sparrows. Her Roman counterpart was Venus.

Cnidian Aphrodite, a Roman work modeled after an original by Praxiteles

Apollo (Ἀπόλλων, Apóllōn)

God of light, music, arts, knowledge, healing, plague and darkness,

prophecy, poetry, purity, athletism, manly beauty, and enlightenment. He

is the son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin brother of Artemis. As brother

and sister, they were identified with the sun and moon; both use a bow

and arrow. In the earliest myths, Apollo contends with his half-

brother Hermes. In sculpture, Apollo was depicted as a very handsome,

beardless young man with long hair and an ideal physique. As the

embodiment of perfectionism, he could be cruel and destructive, and his

love affairs were rarely happy. His attributes include the laurel

wreath and lyre. He often appears in the company of the Muses. Animals

sacred to Apollo include roe deer, swans, cicadas, hawks, ravens,

crows, foxes, mice, and snakes.

Apollo holding a tortoise-shell lyre and pouring a libation, on a kylix from a tomb at Delphi

Ares (Ἄρης, Árēs)

God of war, bloodshed, and violence. The son of Zeus and Hera, he was

depicted as a beardless youth, either nude with a helmet and spear or

sword, or as an armed warrior. Homer portrays him as moody and

unreliable, and he generally represents the chaos of war in contrast to

Athena, a goddess of military strategy and skill. Ares' sacred animals are

the vulture, venomous snakes, dogs, and boars. His Roman

counterpart Mars by contrast was regarded as the dignified ancestor of

the Roman people.

Roman marble head of the war god modeled after a Greek bronze original

Artemis (Ἄρτεμις, Ártemis)

Virgin goddess of the hunt, wilderness, animals, young girls, childbirth

and plague. In later times she became associated with the moon. She is

the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and twin sister ofApollo. In art she was

often depicted as a young woman dressed in a short knee-

length chitonand equipped with a hunting bow and a quiver of arrows.

Her attributes include hunting spears, animal pelts, deer and other wild

animals. Her sacred animals are deer, bears, and wild boars.Diana was

her Roman counterpart.

Artemis reaching for arrow (missing) from her quiver, with hound

Athena (Ἀθηνᾶ, Athēnâ)

Goddess of intelligence and skill, warfare, battle strategy, handicrafts,

and wisdom. According to most traditions, she was born from Zeus's

head fully formed and armored. She was depicted crowned with a

crested helm, armed with shield and a spear, and wearing the aegis over

a long dress. Poets describe her as "grey-eyed" or having especially

bright, keen eyes. She was a special patron of heroes such

as Odysseus. Her symbol is the olive tree. She is commonly shown

accompanied by her sacred animal, the owl. The Romans identified her

with Minerva.

Athena on a red-figure cup dating 500–490 BC

Demeter (Δημήτηρ, Dēmētēr)

Goddess of grain, agriculture and the harvest, growth and nourishment.

Demeter is a daughter ofCronus and Rhea and sister of Zeus, by whom

she bore Persephone. She was one of the main deities of the Eleusinian

Mysteries, in which her power over the life cycle of plants symbolized the

passage of the human soul through its life course and into the afterlife.

She was depicted as a mature woman, often crowned and holding

sheafs of wheat and a torch. Her symbols are thecornucopia, wheat-

ears, the winged serpent, and the lotus staff. Her sacred animals are

pigs and snakes. Ceres was her Roman counterpart.

Demeter, typically seated, on a relief from Turkey

Dionysus (Διόνυσος, Diónysos)

God of wine, parties and festivals, madness, chaos, drunkenness, drugs,

and ecstasy. He was depicted in art as either an older bearded god or a

pretty effeminate, long-haired youth. His attributes include the thyrsus (a

pinecone-tipped staff), drinking cup, grape vine, and a crown ofivy. He is

often in the company of his thiasos, a posse of attendants

including satyrs, maenads, and his old tutor Silenus. The consort of

Dionysus was Ariadne. Animals sacred to him include dolphins,

serpents, tigers, and donkeys. A later addition to the Olympians, in some

accounts he replaced Hestia. Bacchus was another name for him in

Greek, and came into common usage among the Romans.

Dionysus reclining on a leopard

Hades (ᾍδης, Hádēs) or Pluto (Πλούτων, Ploutōn)

King of the underworld and the dead, and god of the earth's hidden

wealth, both agricultural produce and precious metals. His consort

is Persephone. His attributes are the drinking horn orcornucopia, key,

sceptre, and the three-headed dog Cerberus. The screech owl was

sacred to him. He was one of three sons of Cronus and Rhea, and thus

sovereign over one of the three realms of the universe, the underworld.

As a chthonic god, however, his place among the Olympians is

ambiguous. In the mystery religions and Athenian literature, Pluto

(Plouton, "the Rich") was his preferred name, with Hades more common

for the underworld as a place. The Romans translated Plouton as Dis

Pater ("the Rich Father") or Pluto.

Hades reclines, holding a giant drinking horn, offering a wine bowl to Persephone

Hephaestus (Ἥφαιστος, Hḗphaistos)

Crippled god of fire, metalworking, and crafts. The son

of Hera by parthenogenesis, he is the smith of the gods and the husband

of the adulterous Aphrodite. He was usually depicted as a bearded man

with hammer, tongs and anvil—the tools of a smith—and sometimes

riding a donkey. His sacred animals are the donkey, the guard dog and

the crane. Among his creations was the armor of Achilles. Hephaestus

used the fire of the forge as a creative force, but his Roman

counterpart Volcanus (Vulcan) was feared for his destructive potential

and associated with the volcanic power of the earth.

Thetis receives the armor made for her son Achilles by Hephaestus

Hera (Ἥρα, Hḗra)

Queen of the heavens and goddess of marriage, women, childbirth,

heirs, kings, and empires. She is the wife of Zeus and daughter of

Cronus and Rhea. She was usually depicted as a regal woman in the

prime of her life, wearing a diadem and veil and holding a lotus-tipped

staff. Although she was the goddess of marriage, Zeus's many infidelities

drive her to jealousy and vengefulness. Her sacred animals are the

heifer, the peacock, and the cuckoo. At Rome she was known as Juno.

Bust of Hera wearing a diadem

Hermes (Ἑρμῆς, Hērmēs)

God of boundaries, travel, communication, trade, thievery, trickery,

language, writing, diplomacy, athletics, and animal husbandry. The son

of Zeus and Maia, Hermes is the messenger of the gods, and

a psychopomp who leads the souls of the dead into the afterlife. He was

depicted either as a handsome and athletic beardless youth, or as an

older bearded man. His attributes include the herald's wand or caduceus,

winged sandals, and a traveler's cap. His sacred animals are the

tortoise, the ram, and the hawk. The Roman Mercury was more closely

identified with trade and commerce.

Hermes holding his caduceus and wearing a cloak (chlamys) and hat (petasus) for travel

Hestia (Ἑστία, Hestía)

Virgin goddess of the hearth, home and chastity. She is a daughter

of Rhea and Cronus and sister of Zeus. Not often identifiable in Greek

art, she appeared as a modestly veiled woman. Her symbols are the

hearth and kettle. In some accounts, she gave up her seat as one of

the Twelve Olympians in favor of Dionysus, and she plays little role in

Greek myths. Her counterpart Vesta, however, was a major deity of the

Roman state.

Hestia from a relief depicting all twelve Olympians in procession

Poseidon (Ποσειδῶν, Poseidōn)

God of the sea, rivers, floods, droughts, earthquakes, and the creator of

horses; known as the "Earth Shaker". He is a son

of Cronus and Rhea and brother to Zeus and Hades. He rules one of the

three realms of the universe as king of the sea and the waters. In

classical artwork, he was depicted as a mature man of sturdy build with

an often luxuriant beard, and holding a trident. The horse and the dolphin

are sacred to him. His wedding with Amphitrite is often presented as

atriumphal procession. His Roman counterpart was Neptune.

Poseidon, hand uplifted to wield his trident (missing), from the National Archaeological Museum

of Athens

Zeus (Ζεύς, Zeus)

King of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky,

weather, thunder, lightning, law, order, and fate. He is the youngest son

of Cronus and Rhea. He overthrew Cronus and gained the sovereignty

of heaven for himself. In artwork, he was depicted as a regal, mature

man with a sturdy figure and dark beard. His usual attributes are the

royal scepter and the lightning bolt, and his sacred animals are the eagle

and the bull. His counterpart Jupiter, also known as Jove, was the

supreme deity of the Romans.

Coin issued under Alexander the Great showing Zeus on his throne holding a scepter and eagle.