Ancient Greece:

Gods and goddesses

White-ground cup picturing Aphrodite riding

on a goose. Greek, around 460 BC

Visit resource for teachers

Key Stage 2
Ancient Greece: Gods and goddesses

Contents

Before your visit

Background information

Resources

Gallery information

Preliminary activities

During your visit

Gallery activities introduction for teachers

Gallery activities briefings for adult helpers

Gallery activity: Spot the gods

Gallery activity: Dionysos

Gallery activity: A wedding procession

Gallery activity: Hermes

After your visit

Follow-up activities
Ancient Greece: Gods and goddesses

Before your visit

Ancient Greece: Gods and goddesses Before your visit

Background information

The ancient Greeks believed in a wide variety of gods and goddesses. Many of these may
originally have had a connection with forces of nature or natural phenomena - Zeus, for
example, was a sky god, whose main weapon, the thunderbolt, was clearly connected with
thunder and lightning. They also had characteristics to do with their role in human life -
Zeus was the god with responsibility for justice and order. Sometimes gods acquired extra
names that indicated this - Zeus Horkios, for example, identifies Zeus in his role as the
upholder of oaths. While it is easy to do a simple table of the gods and their main functions,
this disguises the complicated and subtle ways in which the gods worked - it is better to get
children familiar with lots of ancient Greek myths and legends and allow them to gain a
gradual understanding of the nature of each individual god from what they do in the stories.

The Greeks believed in a number of major gods who were thought to live on Mount
Olympus - these are often referred to as the Olympian gods - but there were also many
other lesser deities and also very minor spirits, for example the many nymphs that lived in
streams and even individual trees and mountains. Most of the Olympian gods are
recognisable in vase-paintings and sculptures from the objects they carry, the clothes they
wear or their poses and actions.

Worship of gods and goddesses took place in formal sanctuaries, which usually contained a
temple in which the god was thought to live. Worship actually took place outside the temple
- temples were not like churches in that respect. You could also worship gods in sacred
places or shrines in the countryside, at home or in the city or as needed - offerings were
often made to Dionysus in the men’s quarters of private houses before a drinking party. An
important form of worship was animal sacrifice, but this tended to be on a large, highly
organised community scale. Small offerings such as pouring out wine or milk could be
made an everyday basis.

Of course, there was a great deal of variety in the ways in which the ancient Greeks
believed in their gods. For many ordinary Greeks, the minor gods were much more
important as they were relevant to the day to day life they led. Some Greek philosophers
used existing gods to represent aspects of their philosophical beliefs.
Ancient Greece: Gods and goddesses Before your visit

Resources

British Museum websites

Explore
Explore is an online database of over 5000 objects selected from the Museum’s collection.

To access Greek objects on Explore use the explore function on the homepage of the

British Museum website at www.britishmuseum.org

Ancient Greece website www.ancientgreece.co.uk

This is an interactive learning and information website with text, images and maps relating

to a range of key themes. It includes a wide variety of online activities for pupils and an area

for teachers providing guidance and ideas for the classroom.

Books
For adults
Cartledge, Paul (ed.), Cambridge Illustrated History of Ancient Greece, Cambridge

University Press, 2002

For children
Sheehan, Sean, Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ancient Greece, British Museum Press, 2002.

Woff, Richard, The Ancient Greek Olympics, British Museum Press, 1999.

Woff, Richard, Pocket dictionary of Greek and Roman gods and goddesses, British

Museum Press, 2003.

Ancient Greece: Gods and goddesses Before your visit

Gallery information

Rooms 13 and 14 explore ancient Greek artistic developments and achievements. Room
13 covers ancient Greece from 1050BC to 520BC. Objects on display include sculpture,
painted pottery, jewellery, coins and other artefacts from Athens, Sparta, Corinth, and East
Greece. Room 14 displays Greek vases from 530BC to 500BC. Objects on display include
Athenian pottery depicting hunting, dancing and mythology.

What is it like to visit this gallery?

Room 13 is a large rectangular gallery with two exits. One exit leads into Room 14 and the
other into Room 12. The gallery consists of wall cases displaying pottery, jewellery and
coins and central cases displaying a quantity of pottery. The central cases offer the
opportunity to study pots from all angles. All the pots are behind glass, but most of them
are at a good height for children - there are a few pots a bit high up, but many of these are
reasonably visible to Years 5 and 6. A lot of people walk through these rooms and they can
get quite noisy, but there are spaces away from the main through-route where you can
gather students together to brief them and discuss what they’ve seen.

Room 14 is a very small room that contains two cases. It is generally used as a way of

moving between Room 13 and Room 15 so is not a good place for large groups to work.

Case Numbers

Please note that case numbers are usually small, white and high up on the glass.
Ancient Greece: Gods and goddesses Before your visit

Preliminary Activities

General introductory activities

• Locate the area covered by ancient Greece in an atlas and look at the modern countries

in which the ancient Greeks used to live.

• Talk about religion in general. Explain that religion has changed and developed over time

and in geographical areas.

• Look at objects from ancient Greece using the Explore function from the front page of the

British Museum website.

Activities to support gallery activities

• Work through the following section of the Ancient Greece website:

http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/gods/explore/exp_set.html. This will familiarise the
students with the gods, their roles and their symbols.
Ancient Greece: Gods and goddesses

During your visit

Ancient Greece: Gods and goddesses During your visit

Gallery activities: introduction for teachers

The gallery activities are a set of activity sheets which can be used by students working in

room 13 and 14. The sheets can be used as stand-alone activities or you may wish to

develop work around particular sheets as suggested in the before and after sections of this

resource.

• Where case numbers are indicated on a sheet, these are usually to be found marked in

white numbers high up on the glass of that particular case.

• You are welcome to select the activities which are most appropriate for the focus of your

visit and adapt sheets to meet the needs of your students.

• Each activity is designed to support the students in looking at, and thinking about, objects

on display in the gallery.

• Individual activity sheets may be undertaken by single students, in pairs or as a small

group.

• Where space is provided for recording this may be undertaken by the student or an adult

helper as is most appropriate for the students involved.

• Familiarise the students and accompanying adults with the chosen activity sheets at

school before the day of the visit. Make sure students and adults know what they are to

do and are familiar with the vocabulary used on the sheets or which they may encounter

in the gallery.
Ancient Greece: Gods and goddesses During your visit

Gallery activities: briefings for adult helpers

Gallery activity: spot the Gods

• Ancient Greek gods and goddesses were associated with different symbols, animals and
objects. These often relate to what aspect of the world they were believed to be
responsible for.
• This activity requires the students to translate written details into visual clues.

Gallery activity: Dionysos

• Dionysos was the god of wine and happy emotions. He is associated with the drama and
the theatre.

This activity requires students to use previous knowledge and visual observation

Gallery activity: A wedding procession

• The Sophilos Dinos is a wine bowl. It is decorated with a procession celebrating the
marriage of Peleus and Thetis.
• This activity encourages detailed visual observation skills.

Gallery activity: Hermes

• Hermes is the god of travellers and was the messenger for the gods.
• This activity encourages the students to use visual observation.
Gallery activity Room 13

Spot the gods

• Look at the pots in Case 8 - this is the biggest glass case in the middle of

the room.
• Use the clues in the table below look to find some of the ancient Greek gods

and goddesses on the pots.

• Each time you see one put a tick in the box next to their name. (You may

not be able to spot every one.)

Tick when you

God / Goddess Clues find them!

Apollo During times of peace he carried a

God of music musical instrument.
Athena The only female who wears armour and
Goddess of war a helmet and carries a spear.
and wisdom
Dionysos He carries a wine cup; sometimes
God of wine and painted with grape vines near him.
theatre
Hermes He wears a traveller’s hat, carries a
Messenger god traveller’s staff and has winged sandals.
Poseidon He carries a trident (three pronged
God of the sea spear). Sometimes has a sea creature
near him.
Zeus He carries thunderbolts to throw down
King of the gods to earth from his throne.

• Discuss with your group which god or goddess you found most often. Was

there one nobody could find?

Gallery activity Room 14

Dionysos

• Find the object shown in the picture below. It is a plate with a picture of

Dionysos on it.

• Look at this plate in the case and use it to

answer the questions below. Circle the

answer that you think is right for each
question.

• What does Dionysos hold in his hand? wine cup sword

• Was Dionysos the god of wine or the sea? wine sea

• Is Dionysos a young man or an older man? young man older man

• What is Dionysos sitting on? chair stool

• Does Dionysos have a beard? yes no

• Think about what this plate might have been used for
Gallery activity Room 14

A wedding procession

• Find case 9. This contains a large bowl for mixing wine and water. The bowl

has pictures which show a wedding procession.

• Many of the gods and goddesses have been invited to the wedding. Use the

information below and tick when you have found them.

• Dionysos is near the front of the procession. His name is

Dionysos
written beside him. He is holding the branch of a tree.

• Zeus and Hera ride in the first chariot. Zeus drives the
Zeus and Hera
chariot and holds a staff.

• The second chariot is driven by Poseidon who also carries

a staff. His chariot is pulled by three black horses and one Poseidon

white horse.

• The third chariot is driven by Ares. Aphrodite is the

Ares and
passenger. Their faces are not clear as the pot has been
Aphrodite
broken. Five of the Muses are standing near the chariot.

• Hermes and Apollo ride in the fourth chariot. Hermes

Hermes and
wears a short tunic. Apollo is carrying a musical
Apollo
instrument.

• The fifth chariot carries Athena and Artemis. Athena is

Athena and
driving. Artemis is carrying her bow and wearing a dress
Artemis
decorated with mythical creatures.

• Can you can spot the sea-god Okeanos? He is a fish-

Okeanos
tailed god.
Gallery activity Room 14

Hermes

• Hermes was the god of travellers. Find the pot in the picture below. It is in

case 8.
• This pot shows Hermes watching Perseus kill Medusa. Look at the pot in the

case and use the clues below to work out which figure is Hermes.

Clue: Hermes has winged sandals.

Clue: Perseus is a human, if he looked at

Medusa he would be turned to stone.

Clue: Hermes wears a traveller’s hat and

carries a traveller’s staff.

• When you think you know which one is Hermes draw a large arrow pointing

to him on the picture above and write his name next to it

Ancient Greece: Gods and goddesses

After your visit

Ancient Greece: Gods and goddesses After your visit

Follow-up activities: introduction

These activities aim to encourage pupils to reflect on the work undertaken in the Ancient

Greek galleries during their Museum visit.

• Some of the activities draw directly on the information gathered at the Museum while

others encourage the pupils to draw on personal experience or undertake additional

research in the classroom.

• Each activity includes a suggestion for classroom work and also an outcome which may

be in the form of a written piece, drama presentation or artwork.

• You may also wish to look at some of the activities available on the Ancient Greece

website (www.ancientgreece.co.uk) which relate to your visit.

Follow up activity: Spot the Gods

Curriculum links: history, literacy

Skills: investigation, presentation, group work

• Ask the students which gods and goddesses they remember seeing during their visit.

Write a list on the board. Redistribute the worksheets and ask the students if there are

any gods or goddesses on those that they have not mentioned. Add these to the list.

• Add any extra gods to the list that you would like the students to learn about. Ask

individuals or groups to research the gods. They can record their observations as notes

or sketches. When they have finished ask students to present their findings to the class.
Ancient Greece: Gods and goddesses After your visit

Follow up activity: Dionysos

Curriculum links: history, literacy, art and design

Skills: observation, discussion, literacy, practical design

• Review the image of Dionysos seen during the visit. Discuss their answers.

• Show more pictures of gods on pottery. Discuss the use of colour, materials and style.

Ask the students to design and draw their own image of a god for a pottery vessel. When

they have finished they can write a short description of the image, which god it shows,

how it is recognisable as that specific god and what type of vessel they chose.

• Use clay to help the students recreate the shape of their vessels. If possible allow this to

dry and then use paint to transfer their drawn image onto the clay. If the use of clay is not

possible then use paint on paper to transfer the drawn design into a painted design.

Follow up activity: A wedding procession

Curriculum links: history, geography, religion

Skills: discussion, listening, analysis

• Discuss the Sophilos bowl, looking at its decoration, animals, depictions of gods and

goddesses and its function

• Discuss the range of gods in the ancient Greek world. Explore their relationship to the

world and to humans. Explain that the ancient Greeks attributed natural phenomena to

the gods and that they worshipped them for favours to be granted during their lifetime.

• Use this as an opportunity to explore world religions past and present. You may wish to

use religions that are practised by students and ask them to present their faith first-hand

or you could ask groups to research religions and present their findings.
Ancient Greece: Gods and goddesses After your visit

Follow up activity: Hermes

Curriculum links: history, literacy, drama

Skills: observation, group work, role-play

• Project an image of the pot seen during the visit on the board or redistribute the

worksheets. Ask students how they used the clues to help them identify Hermes.

• Write a list of ancient Greek gods on the board (these can be gods you wish the students

to learn about or gods that they suggest). Ask the students what symbols, objects or

other information can help to identify each god. Write these next to each god’s name.

Use Hermes and his winged sandals and traveller’s hat as an example.

• Split the class up and secretly assign each group a god. Ask them to compose a short

drama piece involving the god and other people. The purpose is for each group to end up

with something that gives clues so that other groups can guess which god they are

depicting. For example asking the ‘god’ “How fast can those sandals fly?” indicates

Hermes.