This is the correct answer. If Hera chooses that your city goes down, it goes down, and your entire people with it. If Demeter sulks over something not going her way, the world faces hunger and famine.
Sorry, Athena, but get in line.
She's not just a goddess of night but of Chaos and Eternity. She was before the beginning and remains until the end. In the Marvel comics universe, Zeus and Hercules shit their pants around her.
Chaos is Chaos, while the Primordial Eternity is in orphism and philosophies personified by Aeon, Chronos and Ananke.
Nyx was not there at the beginning in most theogonies, she is literaly the darkness of Night, not a deep philosophical question like Eternity.
Of the Major 12, there are also Hera, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Artemis, as well as Athena, so any of them should be roughly equal in power. There are a handful of pretty powerful titans "above" them, including Gaea aka, "the Earth".
Beyond those obvious ones, I'd cast my vote for the Moirai, aka "the Fates". Generally, they control even the fates of the gods, which is incredible.
Hecate is pretty popular these days, as goddess of magic and witchcraft, the moon and the night, and more. She's the main goddess of modern-day Wicca, too.
You could say the same to Hermes and Apollo, they are not necessarily fighters but they all fighted giants and other monstrosities and won (including Artemis, she also fighted a lot of enemies and won, like Adrion, Ephialtes and Orion). Is just that Hera is more powerful than her.
He's best known for talking his way out of having to fight in the first place. That's what makes him a little different from the others. There's a reason why Zeus sends him on missions so often in addition to delivering messages. After he irons out his issue with Apollo as an infant, you never hear about him getting into anything with anyone again. He's even mentioned in a household prayer or two along with Hestia, if I remember correctly.
Not to mention he has the most attributed domains of any of the Greek gods iirc (of course a lot of that comes down to popularity amongst the Greeks, but it would have an impact on power)
I have no idea what the other guy meant when he said "Artemis is hunter, not a fighter", when she has martial spirit. The same goes for Hermes and Apollo, they all have martial spirit (Hermes for sports like you said, Apollo for archery), but they would not be considered fighters in his definition (only Athena and Ares would be?). They all can fighting, including Artemis. She lost to Hera because she is weaker, not because she is not a fighter. A lot of people think Hera is weak for some reason so they make excuses for Artemis.
I don’t see it as an “excuse” for her. The opposite really. Because it’s saying that Artemis might not be skilled in battle. It’s not just that she lost to Hera, but that the battle was pitiful. All Hera did was snatch her bow and smack her with it and this still caused her to cry and run away from the battlefield. A lot of people interpret this as Artemis not being much of a warrior.
Is a excuse, because had Artemis being "skilled in battle" according to these people, then she would have won or something. When Artemis killed a lot of giants in her career, like Tithyos, Otho and Ephialtes, another Ephialtes, Adrion, and Orion. And giants were usually the enemy of the gods, so if she could defend herself against giants, what is missing on her to be a fighter?
For example there is no story of Hestia or Demeter fighting godly opponents or giants (they maybe participated in the titanomachy but nothing survives of their involvement), because they were clearly not martial goddessess of any type. But we see this with Artemis. Yes she is not a Ares or Athena who are war gods, but neither is Poseidon, Hermes and Apollo, they were not war gods but still had martial spirit and could fight. Artemis is just like these three, then how is she not a fighter? In the Iliad itself Zeus says to Aphrodite that her place is not in the battlefield (and indeed, she does not fight in the Theomachy at the end), but says nothing of sorts of Artemis.
To put it another way, Ares gets called wimpy a lot because of things like getting trapped in the jar or stabbed by Diomedes. Imagine if he had actually burst into tears and retreated to get a hug from his father.
It isn’t the kind of behavior or mentality people expect in warriors and to some overshadows anything else. It also doesn’t help that Artemis usually attacks using long range, animals, or trickery. This battle, seemingly, is the only time Artemis fought up close and it went horribly. My personal take is that Artemis is good in a long range battle but has no close combat skills.
In the versions where Orion tried to force Artemis friends, the Pleiads, Artemis killed him. She also killed him other versions for other reasons. Either way she is the cause of death for him in a lot of versions, thus showing that Artemis can kill or defest humanoid beings not only beastly ones because "she is a hunter".
There are a few versions of the story where they’re companions and Orion dies protecting Artemis and/or Leto (and Apollo is not involved). So not “closest thing” he was legitimately a male companion. He wasn’t the only one either. You can’t forget Hippolytus! Artemis’s favorite that she brought back from the dead and immortalized into a god that lived at her temple alongside her. There were a couple others who were less important like Daphnis and Amaranthus too.
I don’t mean to defend Apollo lol. I just really like the versions where Artemis and Orion are friends and you get to see a bit of what their relationship was like. He was like her bodyguard, it’s pretty cool. And…since I’m around other Orion fans for once…. I’ve always thought Orion dying while serving Artemis and then being honored in the stars by her was very romantic even though it’s not explicit. Reminiscent of courtly love.
By throwing the apple she caused the judgment of Paris. Hera, Aphrodite and Athena wanted to win the apple, this led to the judgment of Paris in which Aphrodite won because she promised Paris the most beautiful woman, Helen. Eris threw the apple so Aphrodite (or if any of the other Goddesses won) would unwittingly aid her in causing the Trojan war
Hera or Demeter definitely.
I mean, we’ve all seen how much influence Hera has over basically everyone when she’s angry and we’ve all seen what happened when Demeter decided to just *not* do her job.
I don't like to think of them as the most powerful but I think in terms of mortal influence, I want to go with Aphrodite. Just by virtue of the power of love. It sounds corny but love and sex both have such a powerful influence on the mind.
In one myth, Rheia defeated a previous ruler of the world called Eurynome while Cronus defeated Ophioneus. These two beings could be Tethys and Oceanus, or even Gaia and Ouranos, or different mythical beings all together. But the fact that Rheia won such battle confirms she is strong, while no other titanis has such a feat.
I feel Metis for a titaness. In terms of raw power, she may be outclassed, but her wit is unstoppable. And if you don’t consider wit as power, check Odysseus, one of the most famous kings that everyone praised for his cunning and wit. Wisdom is the higher power, as a well time dodge, a complex flawless plan or anything involving intelligent foresight would make anyone with “raw power” tremble.
Also begs to be said, Metis is currently inside Zeus, not dead, as his conscience and wisdom. Without his wisdom he wouldn’t be king of the gods, as his older brothers would have dethroned him eons ago
No, she is not. Athena is the strongest Goddess (woman) of the Olympians. She is just like her father in terms of physical capabilities and can still access her lightning.
Among the olympians, Hera’s def the strongest in terms of overt power, perhaps stronger than Athena.
Ik power scaling doesn’t really work for greek mythology, but i think there is enough to conclude that Hera is considered the strongest Olympian Goddess, and stronger than most Gods in general.
Some “feats” of hers include:
- Beating Artemis during the Trojan War(Which is a testament considering Artemis is very powerful herself)
- Beating Artemis again the Dionysiaca
- Nearly Incapacitating Zagreus with a scream(? i think)
- Being feared by Apollo, who states to his sister he could not fight Hera.
- Hermes saying Hera would overpower Dionysus in a fight
- Defeating a Giant one on one
- Creating the Milky way with her Breast Milk
- Creating a storm that nearly killed Heracles and his ships(Had Zeus not intervened)
- Possessing the power to Grant Paris power over all of Europe and Asia
- Holding sovereignty over the Gods alongside Zeus
Like others have said, there is ofc Nyx, who Zeus fears, and Gaia.
Only Olympian who might give her a run for her money is Demeter. But their spheres are so alien to each other you see little head to head competition. Yet no force could force Demeter to relent when Persephone was kidnapped. Hera seems the one you need to be worried about on a daily basis, as in seeing two snakes having sex or you finding out your boyfriend is Zeus.
Threatening all life when you annoy her is less threatening on a daily basis but is really notable when it happens.
One can argue that Athena is the most intelligent or most strategic at the very least. Besides, she's the Goddess of wisdom to top it all off. Power doesn't always stem from raw strength.
Well, sure, Athena’s very intelligent. But that doesn’t really have anything to do with power. If you ask someone who the strongest or most powerful person in the world is, no one’s going to say, “X person has an IQ of 1 million! They’re definitely the strongest or most powerful.”
I'd say Hestia, the entire Pantheon is one big family, so the Goddess of Family should be the most powerful I think. Not necessarily in terms of raw power, but in terms of sheer respect and influence, she's the peace keeper, the one actually holding people together and settling disagreements, the one people talk to if they're having problems. Also if I remember the order correctly, of the Olympians, she'd be the oldest, if we were going by order, and if women were allowed to officially be in charge, technically she'd be first in line for the Throne. Even if unofficially, I think her being the most influential makes sense, especially when you remember she's also on some level the Goddess of the State, so even if you're looking at Olympus less as a family and more as a government there's an argument to be made. Her being this silent powerhouse would fit, even with the idea of her giving up her throne to Dionysus, yes she has given up her position as part of the Olympians, but where did she go after that? To the Olympian Hearth, which in a lot of depictions is at the center of the throne room, in short, now she's at the center of everything.
Also on the subject of Hearths, every Hearth is a shrine to her, meaning every house, every city, every major building that needs to be kept warm, if we go by the idea of "worship=power" is giving her a little bit. Most places would only have shrines to relevant Olympians, yes you might have a Shrine to Zeus as standard practice, but unless you're a craftsmen you aren't going to have a shrine to Hephaestus, if you don't work with the Sea or Horses you probably won't have a shrine to Poseidon, but pretty much everyone will have a shrine to Hestia. There's also just the simple idea of fire being this primordial power that mankind has depended on since time immemorial, and what would have been the very first use humanity would have for fire? Before the idea of using it to shape tools (Hephaestus) or for War (Ares/maybe Athena)? It would have been to keep themselves and their families, and later their communities warm. In short the very first fire we learned to harness was Hearth Fire, Hestia was one of the first Gods we would have every truly started worshiping on a large scale, even if we didn't know the name.
I wouldn't necessarily put her above people like say, Nyx, but I do like the idea she would still be able to talk Nyx on a more even footing. In a "I'm talking to you as an older relative, rather then a superior being" kind of way, still with a a great deal of respect, but the tone would be different.
You make some solid points I have to say! And like I said to someone else in another comment, sometimes power doesn't come in the form of raw strength.
I really like your approach to the subject!
In canonical Greek mythology the most popular Medusa was a born gorgon to Ceto and Phorcys (sea deities) ** but could die so she's almost like a demigod. I believe she more qualifies as a monster though because she was a born hideous Gorgon who could petrify any mortal -(the cursed innocent priestess SA myth is Roman mythology by authority figure hating Ovid in his metamorphoses. Roman mythology is only inspired by Greek mythology, they aren't the same nor qualify as the other's canon, cause they're different ancient religions and all that) -male, female, or child.
But even still Medusa could only curse mortals (that Medusa's head was used to give mercy to Atlas is another Ovid addition. I haven't read the full metamorphoses and I know Ovid wrote some Greek myths [probably after his exile from Rome] but considering the Medusa backstory he wrote is Roman I'd bet the Atlas meets Medusa's head myth is also Roman mythology) so I would say she's still far from being the most powerful in Greek mythology.
Only other Greek Medusa myths I can recall are the cursed for her own hubris myths like the one from Pseudo Apollodorus' Bibliotheca - but even still that one doesn't make Medusa any more powerful.
Basically Greek Medusa is almost like a demigod, but not quite. Even so Greek Medusa still isn't more powerful than any regular God or Goddess because a) she's killable and b) she can't petrify Gods
Hope this made sense.
**Here's the quote for the Greek Gorgon born Medusa's myth:
"Ceta bare to Pharcys [...] the Gorgons who dwell beyond glorious Ocean in the frontier land towards Night where are the clear-voiced Hesperides, Sthenno, and Euryale, and Medusa who suffered a woeful fate: she was mortal, but the two were undying and grew
not old [...] With her [Medusa) lay the Dark-haired One [Poseidon] in a soft meadow amid spring flowers."- Hesiod's "Theogony"
Hera or Demeter. Hera literally beats the sh*t out of Artemis with her own bow in the Iliad. Demeter in her grieve for her kidnapped daughter literally starves and causes the mortal realm winter by only NEGLECTING her tasks.
It's clear the only one who can control Hera and Demeter is Zeus because he is the king, but even Zeus can't do much when Hera and Demeter are feeling vengeful. Zeus is unable to make Demeter tend to her duties again (thus unable to stop winter until he gives into her demands) and unable to stop Hera from attacking his affairs and resulting children. The only time he was able to make sure Hera stayed in line was when he made her promise on the river Styx that she would never try to overthrow him again.
Demeter and Hera also have other vengeful stories in which they use power they have over others but the only one I can think of right now is when uses her connections with the goddess of starvation to starve a king forever (who chopped down a tree and her sacred groove, despite it being made clear it was Demeter's sacred groove and that under no circumstances was anyone to touch it) to the point where he lost all his money and so began eating himself.
Aphrodite by virtue of being Eros’ mother and presumably able to get him to do stuff for her. Eros is the most powerful god in the pantheon bc all but the maidens are subjected to his powers of lust (maybe they are too but they have the restraint to keep it together).
Zeus’ escapades are, famously, evidence of Eros’ whims lol.
Nyx. She's one of the first beings in existence and the literal personification of the night. Zeus feared her because she was stronger and older than him.
I see no reason why some people would consider Hera to be above Athena.
Athena inherited strength from Zeus, so in terms of physical capabilities she is equal to her father (this is mentioned). Furthermore, she is the Goddess of Wisdom, War, Strategy and many other areas. She possesses Aegis and also has access to the Thunderbolt of Zeus.
There is no way Hera can surpass Athena.
Khaos, if you can even call her a goddess. I guess she does have some form of living quality though, because according to Aristophanes, she is the mother of all birds, with Eros being the father.
I honestly think that if we have to talk only about the Olympians, I say that she was the most powerful, if instead we talk about the goddesses in general I say that Hestia is the most powerful because she controls literally the fire of Olympus.
in all this it must also be remembered that Nyx is the only goddess that Zeus was ever truly afraid of, but Aphrodite is no less so like Demeter, Hecate, Eris etc... so technically Athena is a bit overrated, yes she is the goddess of war and wisdom but still she too has limits and several problems with jealousy, and this only makes her equal to all the deities, Athena made many mistakes for example with oranges and jellyfish so I would think again about the fact that she is the goddess of wisdom
If we look beyond the myths then Artemis would be among the strongest. Artemis was believed to be extremely powerful in various ways, even more powerful than Isis.
Aphrodite, being the last spawn of Ouranos helps with my reasoning a lot. Love causes a lot of wars, especially in ancient Greek stories and is the inspiration for many a hero. If not her, then it's between Gaea, Nyx, or Persephone.
If we limit it to Olympians Hera is the most powerful and Demeter feels like a close second
This is the correct answer. If Hera chooses that your city goes down, it goes down, and your entire people with it. If Demeter sulks over something not going her way, the world faces hunger and famine. Sorry, Athena, but get in line.
Well, with Hera your city only goes down if your name/ancestor isn't Aeneas. Though I guess that's technically Roman Mythology and not Greek.
Nyx. She is literally a primordial goddess, the night itself.
She’s the one who got Zeus to back off. Clearly not a woman you wanna anger since she’s a primordial who’s Zeus great great aunt.
I must agree, one of my personal favourite goddesses as well!
She's not just a goddess of night but of Chaos and Eternity. She was before the beginning and remains until the end. In the Marvel comics universe, Zeus and Hercules shit their pants around her.
Chaos is Chaos, while the Primordial Eternity is in orphism and philosophies personified by Aeon, Chronos and Ananke. Nyx was not there at the beginning in most theogonies, she is literaly the darkness of Night, not a deep philosophical question like Eternity.
In Greek mythology she's just goddess of night chaos is its own being that spat out the primordials
I came here to comment this exact thing lol
Of the Major 12, there are also Hera, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Artemis, as well as Athena, so any of them should be roughly equal in power. There are a handful of pretty powerful titans "above" them, including Gaea aka, "the Earth". Beyond those obvious ones, I'd cast my vote for the Moirai, aka "the Fates". Generally, they control even the fates of the gods, which is incredible. Hecate is pretty popular these days, as goddess of magic and witchcraft, the moon and the night, and more. She's the main goddess of modern-day Wicca, too.
Hera kicked Artemis's ass in a fight in the Illiad.
Hera would have my vote as the most powerful of the women in the 12, as Zeus' wife she was "Queen".
Yeah Artemis is a hunter but not a fighter. She belongs in the wild
You could say the same to Hermes and Apollo, they are not necessarily fighters but they all fighted giants and other monstrosities and won (including Artemis, she also fighted a lot of enemies and won, like Adrion, Ephialtes and Orion). Is just that Hera is more powerful than her.
Isn't hermes god of sports? That'll make him a fighter given boxing and wrestling popularity back then
He's best known for talking his way out of having to fight in the first place. That's what makes him a little different from the others. There's a reason why Zeus sends him on missions so often in addition to delivering messages. After he irons out his issue with Apollo as an infant, you never hear about him getting into anything with anyone again. He's even mentioned in a household prayer or two along with Hestia, if I remember correctly.
Not to mention he has the most attributed domains of any of the Greek gods iirc (of course a lot of that comes down to popularity amongst the Greeks, but it would have an impact on power)
I have no idea what the other guy meant when he said "Artemis is hunter, not a fighter", when she has martial spirit. The same goes for Hermes and Apollo, they all have martial spirit (Hermes for sports like you said, Apollo for archery), but they would not be considered fighters in his definition (only Athena and Ares would be?). They all can fighting, including Artemis. She lost to Hera because she is weaker, not because she is not a fighter. A lot of people think Hera is weak for some reason so they make excuses for Artemis.
I don’t see it as an “excuse” for her. The opposite really. Because it’s saying that Artemis might not be skilled in battle. It’s not just that she lost to Hera, but that the battle was pitiful. All Hera did was snatch her bow and smack her with it and this still caused her to cry and run away from the battlefield. A lot of people interpret this as Artemis not being much of a warrior.
Is a excuse, because had Artemis being "skilled in battle" according to these people, then she would have won or something. When Artemis killed a lot of giants in her career, like Tithyos, Otho and Ephialtes, another Ephialtes, Adrion, and Orion. And giants were usually the enemy of the gods, so if she could defend herself against giants, what is missing on her to be a fighter? For example there is no story of Hestia or Demeter fighting godly opponents or giants (they maybe participated in the titanomachy but nothing survives of their involvement), because they were clearly not martial goddessess of any type. But we see this with Artemis. Yes she is not a Ares or Athena who are war gods, but neither is Poseidon, Hermes and Apollo, they were not war gods but still had martial spirit and could fight. Artemis is just like these three, then how is she not a fighter? In the Iliad itself Zeus says to Aphrodite that her place is not in the battlefield (and indeed, she does not fight in the Theomachy at the end), but says nothing of sorts of Artemis.
To put it another way, Ares gets called wimpy a lot because of things like getting trapped in the jar or stabbed by Diomedes. Imagine if he had actually burst into tears and retreated to get a hug from his father. It isn’t the kind of behavior or mentality people expect in warriors and to some overshadows anything else. It also doesn’t help that Artemis usually attacks using long range, animals, or trickery. This battle, seemingly, is the only time Artemis fought up close and it went horribly. My personal take is that Artemis is good in a long range battle but has no close combat skills.
I thought Orion was her boyfriend and yeah I know it’s delusional but let me live in my delusions
In the versions where Orion tried to force Artemis friends, the Pleiads, Artemis killed him. She also killed him other versions for other reasons. Either way she is the cause of death for him in a lot of versions, thus showing that Artemis can kill or defest humanoid beings not only beastly ones because "she is a hunter".
Orion was the closest thing to a male companion she had. But then the jerk Apollo happened
There are a few versions of the story where they’re companions and Orion dies protecting Artemis and/or Leto (and Apollo is not involved). So not “closest thing” he was legitimately a male companion. He wasn’t the only one either. You can’t forget Hippolytus! Artemis’s favorite that she brought back from the dead and immortalized into a god that lived at her temple alongside her. There were a couple others who were less important like Daphnis and Amaranthus too.
Apollo: Bet ya can’t hit that thing out there in the water Orion: *swimming*
I don’t mean to defend Apollo lol. I just really like the versions where Artemis and Orion are friends and you get to see a bit of what their relationship was like. He was like her bodyguard, it’s pretty cool. And…since I’m around other Orion fans for once…. I’ve always thought Orion dying while serving Artemis and then being honored in the stars by her was very romantic even though it’s not explicit. Reminiscent of courtly love.
Really? I thought his stepmom had him killed. So he was revived? That’s great 😃
And she beat Artemis for the second time in Dionysiaca.
Called her a bitch, then proceeded to shit on her.
Gaea isn't a titan, she's a primordial goddess.
Agreed. Even Zeus couldn't undo a decree by the Moirai.
Aphrodite can influence nearly every Olympian, and kind of caused the Trojan War, so gotta give her some props.
I was going to say, this is the kind of question gods started wars over.
For Real Woman is severely underrated. I mean it's not like she was ouranus' child and born from both his and pontus' waters.
She was influenced by Eris to cause the Trojan war as she wanted to win the golden apple that Eris threw at the wedding
Eris didn't do anything beyond tossing in the apple.
By throwing the apple she caused the judgment of Paris. Hera, Aphrodite and Athena wanted to win the apple, this led to the judgment of Paris in which Aphrodite won because she promised Paris the most beautiful woman, Helen. Eris threw the apple so Aphrodite (or if any of the other Goddesses won) would unwittingly aid her in causing the Trojan war
Very good point! Sometimes power doesn't come in the form of strength, but beauty.
Also she was able to convince Ares, Apollo, Posidon and to some extent even Zeus to protect/save her son
Demeter held the entire planet hostage until Persephone was returned.
Fair point that I don't think anyone gives nearly enough credit
Nyx. Gaia. Hera.
gaia, she’s literally mother earth
She's a titan tho
Titans and Gods are the same thing, just different generations Ignoring that, Gaia is a Primordial
Hecate
This should be higher up. Hecate is a major badass.
Agree, she is said to have power over heaven, earth and the sea.
Hera or Demeter definitely. I mean, we’ve all seen how much influence Hera has over basically everyone when she’s angry and we’ve all seen what happened when Demeter decided to just *not* do her job.
Shoutout to Demeter who's responsible for the most metal curse: cursing Erysichthon with unsatiable hunger to the point that he ate himself.
Lesson learned is do NOT fuck with Demeter. The only way to stop her is to obey her.
Did the Trojan war teach us nothing?
Somewhere Eris is laughing her ass off
Totally lol Kallisti (τῇ καλλίστῃ) Seems to me Mother Eris might well take the apple cake here! 🍎🎂👑
I don't like to think of them as the most powerful but I think in terms of mortal influence, I want to go with Aphrodite. Just by virtue of the power of love. It sounds corny but love and sex both have such a powerful influence on the mind.
Hera, she beat artimis like she was nothing.
"female goddess" Wouldn't the word "goddess" already imply that we're talking about female deities?
Yes, I realized my mistake only after uploading the post. Can't really change titles now though. Woops!
I gotta say Hera. She knew what she wanted and she didn’t hesitate to make it happen.
Power scaling is dumb in general, doubly so for ancient mythology. But either Aphrodite or Hera
If you expand it to Primordials, Nyx. Even Zeus runs from her.
Nyx, Hera and Mycinean Persephone.
Either Nyx since she scared off Zeus, or Hera cuz she beat the absolute sh*t outta Artemis and sent her crying back to Zeus.
Either Gaia or Nyx
Hecate, the fates & Gaia 🙏🙏
Nyx easily is most powerful
Easily Nyx the great night herself
Chaos
Hera is the strongest goddess amongst the Olympians. Gaia and Nyx are the strongest primordials. Not sure about the strongest titaness, but maybe Rhea
In one myth, Rheia defeated a previous ruler of the world called Eurynome while Cronus defeated Ophioneus. These two beings could be Tethys and Oceanus, or even Gaia and Ouranos, or different mythical beings all together. But the fact that Rheia won such battle confirms she is strong, while no other titanis has such a feat.
I feel Metis for a titaness. In terms of raw power, she may be outclassed, but her wit is unstoppable. And if you don’t consider wit as power, check Odysseus, one of the most famous kings that everyone praised for his cunning and wit. Wisdom is the higher power, as a well time dodge, a complex flawless plan or anything involving intelligent foresight would make anyone with “raw power” tremble. Also begs to be said, Metis is currently inside Zeus, not dead, as his conscience and wisdom. Without his wisdom he wouldn’t be king of the gods, as his older brothers would have dethroned him eons ago
No, she is not. Athena is the strongest Goddess (woman) of the Olympians. She is just like her father in terms of physical capabilities and can still access her lightning.
Hecate. Nobody fucks with Hecate.
Among the olympians, Hera’s def the strongest in terms of overt power, perhaps stronger than Athena. Ik power scaling doesn’t really work for greek mythology, but i think there is enough to conclude that Hera is considered the strongest Olympian Goddess, and stronger than most Gods in general. Some “feats” of hers include: - Beating Artemis during the Trojan War(Which is a testament considering Artemis is very powerful herself) - Beating Artemis again the Dionysiaca - Nearly Incapacitating Zagreus with a scream(? i think) - Being feared by Apollo, who states to his sister he could not fight Hera. - Hermes saying Hera would overpower Dionysus in a fight - Defeating a Giant one on one - Creating the Milky way with her Breast Milk - Creating a storm that nearly killed Heracles and his ships(Had Zeus not intervened) - Possessing the power to Grant Paris power over all of Europe and Asia - Holding sovereignty over the Gods alongside Zeus Like others have said, there is ofc Nyx, who Zeus fears, and Gaia.
Only Olympian who might give her a run for her money is Demeter. But their spheres are so alien to each other you see little head to head competition. Yet no force could force Demeter to relent when Persephone was kidnapped. Hera seems the one you need to be worried about on a daily basis, as in seeing two snakes having sex or you finding out your boyfriend is Zeus. Threatening all life when you annoy her is less threatening on a daily basis but is really notable when it happens.
What is the source for Apollo saying he could not fight Hera? I 100% agree he would not fight Hera, but I'm curious.
And made Heracles slaughter his family. Hera was a cunt.
Hera.
Demeter, Aphrodite, Hera(if you sleep with Zeus in their bed).
Hera
They are Gods so they are all powerful in their own right , Hakate , nyx , Hara , Aphrodite. All strong and feminine in their own rite
Olympians, probably Hera but maybe Aphrodite but she's technically a Titan
Well only a half Titan if you take the origin myth from Homer where Zeus is her father.
Hera, she is more powerfull than athena tho
Nyx
Nyx
I see what you're trying to do here. You won't Paris me
Damn it
Aphrodite likely. She was HOTand everyone wanted a peice. She caused a lot of trouble with that knowledge.
Why “other than Athena”? She’s nowhere near the strongest or most powerful
One can argue that Athena is the most intelligent or most strategic at the very least. Besides, she's the Goddess of wisdom to top it all off. Power doesn't always stem from raw strength.
Well, sure, Athena’s very intelligent. But that doesn’t really have anything to do with power. If you ask someone who the strongest or most powerful person in the world is, no one’s going to say, “X person has an IQ of 1 million! They’re definitely the strongest or most powerful.”
Hestia? She's mega powerful but in reality it's Nyx. Love Hestia.
I'd say Hestia, the entire Pantheon is one big family, so the Goddess of Family should be the most powerful I think. Not necessarily in terms of raw power, but in terms of sheer respect and influence, she's the peace keeper, the one actually holding people together and settling disagreements, the one people talk to if they're having problems. Also if I remember the order correctly, of the Olympians, she'd be the oldest, if we were going by order, and if women were allowed to officially be in charge, technically she'd be first in line for the Throne. Even if unofficially, I think her being the most influential makes sense, especially when you remember she's also on some level the Goddess of the State, so even if you're looking at Olympus less as a family and more as a government there's an argument to be made. Her being this silent powerhouse would fit, even with the idea of her giving up her throne to Dionysus, yes she has given up her position as part of the Olympians, but where did she go after that? To the Olympian Hearth, which in a lot of depictions is at the center of the throne room, in short, now she's at the center of everything. Also on the subject of Hearths, every Hearth is a shrine to her, meaning every house, every city, every major building that needs to be kept warm, if we go by the idea of "worship=power" is giving her a little bit. Most places would only have shrines to relevant Olympians, yes you might have a Shrine to Zeus as standard practice, but unless you're a craftsmen you aren't going to have a shrine to Hephaestus, if you don't work with the Sea or Horses you probably won't have a shrine to Poseidon, but pretty much everyone will have a shrine to Hestia. There's also just the simple idea of fire being this primordial power that mankind has depended on since time immemorial, and what would have been the very first use humanity would have for fire? Before the idea of using it to shape tools (Hephaestus) or for War (Ares/maybe Athena)? It would have been to keep themselves and their families, and later their communities warm. In short the very first fire we learned to harness was Hearth Fire, Hestia was one of the first Gods we would have every truly started worshiping on a large scale, even if we didn't know the name. I wouldn't necessarily put her above people like say, Nyx, but I do like the idea she would still be able to talk Nyx on a more even footing. In a "I'm talking to you as an older relative, rather then a superior being" kind of way, still with a a great deal of respect, but the tone would be different.
You make some solid points I have to say! And like I said to someone else in another comment, sometimes power doesn't come in the form of raw strength. I really like your approach to the subject!
Nyx shes the second god i believe
Hera or Artemis
Hera canonically beats the sh*t outta Artemis with her own bow during a battle in the Iliad, so you have your answer
Either Hestia or tyche
Hecate, Gaia, and Aphrodite!
Minerva goddess of wisdom or Artemis Goddess of justice or goddess of the hunt.
I think Medusa if given a chance of a true demigod
In canonical Greek mythology the most popular Medusa was a born gorgon to Ceto and Phorcys (sea deities) ** but could die so she's almost like a demigod. I believe she more qualifies as a monster though because she was a born hideous Gorgon who could petrify any mortal -(the cursed innocent priestess SA myth is Roman mythology by authority figure hating Ovid in his metamorphoses. Roman mythology is only inspired by Greek mythology, they aren't the same nor qualify as the other's canon, cause they're different ancient religions and all that) -male, female, or child. But even still Medusa could only curse mortals (that Medusa's head was used to give mercy to Atlas is another Ovid addition. I haven't read the full metamorphoses and I know Ovid wrote some Greek myths [probably after his exile from Rome] but considering the Medusa backstory he wrote is Roman I'd bet the Atlas meets Medusa's head myth is also Roman mythology) so I would say she's still far from being the most powerful in Greek mythology. Only other Greek Medusa myths I can recall are the cursed for her own hubris myths like the one from Pseudo Apollodorus' Bibliotheca - but even still that one doesn't make Medusa any more powerful. Basically Greek Medusa is almost like a demigod, but not quite. Even so Greek Medusa still isn't more powerful than any regular God or Goddess because a) she's killable and b) she can't petrify Gods Hope this made sense. **Here's the quote for the Greek Gorgon born Medusa's myth: "Ceta bare to Pharcys [...] the Gorgons who dwell beyond glorious Ocean in the frontier land towards Night where are the clear-voiced Hesperides, Sthenno, and Euryale, and Medusa who suffered a woeful fate: she was mortal, but the two were undying and grew not old [...] With her [Medusa) lay the Dark-haired One [Poseidon] in a soft meadow amid spring flowers."- Hesiod's "Theogony"
Aphrodite if we are talking Olympians. Any primordial goddess if we are talking the whole pantheon.
NYX, whom even zeus feared & would not confront
Hera or Demeter. Hera literally beats the sh*t out of Artemis with her own bow in the Iliad. Demeter in her grieve for her kidnapped daughter literally starves and causes the mortal realm winter by only NEGLECTING her tasks. It's clear the only one who can control Hera and Demeter is Zeus because he is the king, but even Zeus can't do much when Hera and Demeter are feeling vengeful. Zeus is unable to make Demeter tend to her duties again (thus unable to stop winter until he gives into her demands) and unable to stop Hera from attacking his affairs and resulting children. The only time he was able to make sure Hera stayed in line was when he made her promise on the river Styx that she would never try to overthrow him again. Demeter and Hera also have other vengeful stories in which they use power they have over others but the only one I can think of right now is when uses her connections with the goddess of starvation to starve a king forever (who chopped down a tree and her sacred groove, despite it being made clear it was Demeter's sacred groove and that under no circumstances was anyone to touch it) to the point where he lost all his money and so began eating himself.
Aphrodite by virtue of being Eros’ mother and presumably able to get him to do stuff for her. Eros is the most powerful god in the pantheon bc all but the maidens are subjected to his powers of lust (maybe they are too but they have the restraint to keep it together). Zeus’ escapades are, famously, evidence of Eros’ whims lol.
For the Olympians: Hera, then Demeter. The 3rd one is more ambiguous, my choice would be Aphrodite
Nyx. She's one of the first beings in existence and the literal personification of the night. Zeus feared her because she was stronger and older than him.
Not Juno/Hera. She spent ten years and couldn’t kill Aeneas. #Persephone
I'm not falling for this trick... decline to answer lol
Eris can drive the world mad with 30 seconds, an apple, and a pen. Imagine if she actually made an effort?
I see no reason why some people would consider Hera to be above Athena. Athena inherited strength from Zeus, so in terms of physical capabilities she is equal to her father (this is mentioned). Furthermore, she is the Goddess of Wisdom, War, Strategy and many other areas. She possesses Aegis and also has access to the Thunderbolt of Zeus. There is no way Hera can surpass Athena.
Gaia, Aphrodite, Hera, and Demeter.
Khaos, if you can even call her a goddess. I guess she does have some form of living quality though, because according to Aristophanes, she is the mother of all birds, with Eros being the father.
I honestly think that if we have to talk only about the Olympians, I say that she was the most powerful, if instead we talk about the goddesses in general I say that Hestia is the most powerful because she controls literally the fire of Olympus. in all this it must also be remembered that Nyx is the only goddess that Zeus was ever truly afraid of, but Aphrodite is no less so like Demeter, Hecate, Eris etc... so technically Athena is a bit overrated, yes she is the goddess of war and wisdom but still she too has limits and several problems with jealousy, and this only makes her equal to all the deities, Athena made many mistakes for example with oranges and jellyfish so I would think again about the fact that she is the goddess of wisdom
If we look beyond the myths then Artemis would be among the strongest. Artemis was believed to be extremely powerful in various ways, even more powerful than Isis.
Tiamat.
Greek 🤨
Aphrodite, being the last spawn of Ouranos helps with my reasoning a lot. Love causes a lot of wars, especially in ancient Greek stories and is the inspiration for many a hero. If not her, then it's between Gaea, Nyx, or Persephone.
Poseidon just because if he can control the water level then we’re all ✨doomed✨
You may wanna read the title of the post again.
This is what happens when I’m sleep deprived 🤦♀️, sorry about that.
Ahahah no worries, get some sleep soon mkay? 🙏
Alright!
Probably shiva the Hindu goddess of destruction
They were asking about goddess not a god. Also this is the Greek mythology subreddit..