Olympus

Latin transcription of the Greek, Mount Olympos, home of the Twelve Gods that ruled Heaven and Earth. The Twelve were led by Zeus, who was the Supreme ruler. The other 11 members were:

• Hades and Poseidon, two brothers of Zeus;
• Hestia, Demeter and Hera, Zeus' three sisters, of which Hera became his wife,
• Athena, Zeus' firstborn, daughter of Metis,
• Artemis and Apollo, (twins,) children of Leto; Apollo was Zeus' first son;
• Hermes, son of Zeus and Maia;
• Ares, son of Zeus and Hera,
• Hephaistos, son of Zeus and Hera, though Zeus suspected Hephaistos was not his son.

These were the original twelve. Soon they were to be joined by:

• Aphrodite, wife of Hephaistos, who claimed to be daughter of Uranos, making her Zeus' aunt (!). In order to maintain the number of twelve, Hades left and "retired" in his underworld.
• Later on theTwelve were joined by Dionysos, son of Zeus and Semele (his own daughter). Hestia (Zeus' oldest sister) dropped out of the twelve. She was too old, and preferred to lead a secluded life.