In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. From the Olympian goddesses right down to the many minor goddesses. Greek goddesses are good archetypal figures because of their exaggerated personalities.

Understanding the Context

This is a list of goddesses and deities regarded as female or mostly feminine in gender. Anjea (?) Cahill, Suzanne E. (2013). "Sublimation in Medieval China: The Case of the Mysterious Woman of the Nine Heavens".

Key Insights

Journal of Chinese Religions. 20 (1): 91–102. doi: 10.1179/073776992805307692. From the majestic Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war, to the enchanting Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, each deity had her own unique gifts. Here, we look at 10 of the best-known Greek goddesses and the roles they played in the Greek myths.

Final Thoughts

More than 3,000 ancient Greek gods and goddesses are mentioned in the ancient sources. Some were local or household deities, while others held more universal significance. The most powerful were the 12 Olympian deities, who controlled the forces of nature and oversaw human affairs. Aphrodite was the goddess of love, sex, and beauty. Unsurprisingly for a love goddess, she was said to have emerged from the foam generated when the severed testicles of her father, Uranus, were thrown into the sea by his son, the Titan Cronus. (Or is that surprising?) Athena, in Greek religion, the city protector, the goddess of war, handicraft, and practical reason, and one of the 12 Olympians.

She was identified by the Romans with Minerva. Athena was essentially urban and civilized, the antithesis in many respects of Artemis, goddess of the outdoors.