Homer was a legendary author, born in Greece in the 8th century BC, and presumably the one who wrote the two major epic poems, Iliad and Odyssey. His influence has been massive these past centuries, as his two masterpieces are the basis for Greek education and culture and have been translated in many languages, making them some of the most important ones in the Classical European tradition. According to the myths, Homer was blind and this might be the reason why his poems where first shared orally and were written many years later. He is referred as a “Poet Sovereign” and “King of all Poets”.

Alexander the Great was the king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia and one of the world's greatest military generals. When Alexander was 20, his father King Phillip was assassinated. Then the nobles and the army made him King. Although he ruled for less than 13 years, he made massive changes to history, by creating the largest empire the ancient world had ever seen, from Greece to Egypt and to parts of India. This allowed Greek culture to become well known in the majority of the ancient world. In his years as King, he never lost a battle, but he was “defeated” by death in Babylon, due to sickness, at 32 years old.

Odysseus was the legendary Greek King of Ithaca and was well known for his intellectual brilliance. His idea to create the Trojan Horse helped the Greeks win the Trojan war. The war lasted for 10 years and ended when the Greeks pretended to withdraw, leaving behind a large wooden horse with hidden warriors inside. As Trojans considered horses to be sacred, they allowed it in and the Greeks opened the city gates to their comrades, at night. After the war, he spent 10 years trying to return home and reassert his place as rightful King of Ithaca. His journey is described in the famous Homer’s Odyssey, an epic poem about his adventures.

Hercules was a demigod, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, a mortal woman. Goddess Hera, the wife of Zeus, was jealous of him and made Hercules lose his senses, so he killed his children and wife. His legacy was mainly built from the 12 labors he completed, as an act of penance for his tragic action. One of his most famous labors was killing the vicious Nemean Lion and, according to the myths, he carried the carcass of the lion on his shoulders since then. When he died, his mortal portion perished and his father Zeus took his “God” half back to Mount Olympus where he married Hebe, Hera’s daughter.

In Greek mythology, Sphinx was a female mythical creature, which had the head of a human, the body of a lion, the wings of an eagle and the tail of a serpent. She was daughter of Orthus (a monster dog with two heads) and most likely Echidna (half woman – half snake). According to the myths, she dwelt outside the city of Thebes, and asked an unsolved riddle to all travellers, in order to let them pass: “what has four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs at night?” Anyone who could not answer was killed. However, a wise young prince, named Oedipus, answered "the human", who crawls on all fours as a baby, walks on two as an adult, and needs a walking cane, when old. His answer frustrated the Sphinx, killing itself in despair. 

Cyclopes were gigantic, one-eyed monsters, led by Polyphemus. Odysseus, on his return voyage to Ithaca, was starving. Luckily, he located a few goats on an unknown island, where he managed to find food in a cave. The cave, though, was home of Polyphemus, who got angry with Odysseus and his men and started eating them. Not being able to escape from the cave, Odysseus had to find a plan to trick the cyclops.  He introduced himself as “No one” and offered him his wine. Polyphemus soon fell asleep, giving Odysseus the opportunity to blind the cyclops with a wooden stake. Eventually, the Greek hero and his men escaped. Nevertheless, Poseidon, the God of the Seas and father of Polyphemus, found out about Odysseus’ actions and made sure that his return to Ithaca would last a bit longer!..

The Minotaur was a mythical creature, portrayed as a being part man and part bull. According to the Myths, he was the result of a curse imposed on the King of Crete, Minos, for disrespecting the Gods. He was the unnatural offspring of the Minoan Queen Pasiphae and a snow-white bull. Embarrassed by Minotaur’s existence, King Minos instructed the craftsman Daedalus to build a gigantic labyrinth, to hide him and prevent him from causing harm. He was fed on young Athenians, who were sent as tribute to Crete as part of a peace treaty. Eventually, the Greek hero Theseus volunteered to slay the monster and free Athens from this obnoxious tribute. With the help of king Minos’s daughter, Ariadne, Theseus entered the Labyrinth and managed to kill the Minotaur. Bull’s eye!

Originally, Medusa was a beautiful priestess of Athena, who was cursed by the Goddess for breaking her vow of celibacy. As a result, she was turned turned into one of the three monstrous Gorgons. She was often depicted with venomous snakes instead of hair and she had the ability to turn anyone who looked into her eyes, into stone. The Greek Hero, Perseus, managed to cut Medusa’s head, using the godly gifts: Athena provided a mirrored shield, Hermes a pair of winged sandals, Hephaestus a sword and Hades a helm of invisibility. Perseus managed to kill Medusa by avoiding direct eye contact and by looking her reflection, only through his mirrored shield. He then gave Medusa’s head to Goddess Athena, who mounted it on her shield ever since.

Circe was the Goddess of Sorcery, daughter of Helios, the Sun God and Perse, the Ocean Nymph. She was a powerful enchantress in the art of potions, famous for her talent of mixing herbs and turning humans into animals. In the “Odyssey”, Homer described Circe as a beautiful, fearsome Goddess with a human voice and beautiful hair. During his return to Ithaca, Odysseus and his companions arrived in Aeaea, Circe’s island, and the sorceress transformed them into swine. Only ingenious Odysseus managed to trick her, as he used the holy herb moly, a mythical plant with a white flower and a black root, to protect himself from Circe's potion. Eventually, he managed to free his men from the spell and continued his journey to Ithaca.

Sappho was an ancient Greek lyrical poet, born on the island of Lesbos, Greece. Her style of writing was not formally literary, but picturesque and direct. She was well known for her lyric poetry, read to be sung while accompanied by music. She was the leader of a “thiasos”, a female community which educated women for various matters, especially marriage. Her work has been lost throughout the years and only one twenty-eight-line poem has been found intact, the “Ode to Aphrodite”. The “Sapphic stanza”, named after her, is an Aeolic verse form of four lines (strophe), supposedly created or refined by Sappho. She was so popular that she has been honored in many different ways, such as pottery, statuary and coinage, centuries after her death. Sappho remains one of the most famous figures of Ancient Greece.

Achilles was the greatest of all Greek warriors, a hero of the Trojan War and the central character of Homer’s Iliad. Since he was a half-god, he was very strong and quickly became a fierce warrior. However, he was also half human and wasn't immortal like his mother, Thetis. According to the myths, when he was born, Thetis tried to make him immortal by dipping him in the river Styx. Because she was holding his left heel, it remained vulnerable, later known as "Achilles' heel". He was killed near the end of the Trojan War by Paris, who shot him in his vulnerable spot, with an arrow.

Zeus was the youngest son of the Titans, Cronus and Rhea. According to the myths, he was the sky and thunder God, who ruled as king of the Gods of Mount Olympus. After the defeat of Cronus, the world was divided between his three sons; Zeus was given the sky, Hades the underworld, and Poseidon the sea, with the earth and Mount Olympus belonging to all three. He is often presented as a wise older man with a beard and is usually represented by symbols such as the lightning bolt and the eagle. He was married to Hera and was father of several Greek Gods and heroes, such as Hercules and Athena.

Poseidon was the son of the Titans, Cronus and Rhea and brother of the Gods, Zeus and Hades. He was one of the twelve Olympians in ancient Greece. According to the myths, after the Gods defeated the Titans in an epic battle, he got the title “Lord of the Sea”, while his brothers controlled the sky and the underworld. He was the God of the sea, waters and storms, horses and earthquakes. Even though he was one of the supreme gods of Mount Olympus, he spent most of his time in the water with his famous trident. He is the father of Pegasus, the legendary flying horse, and Theseus, the killer of Minotaur.

Hermes was the son of Zeus, King of Mount Olympus and Maia, the Pleiad. He was the messenger of the Olympian Gods which made him the God of roads and the protector of travelers, shepherds and merchants. Hermes was also known as a dream God. According to the myths, he could move freely and quickly between the worlds of the mortal and the divine, aided by his winged sandals. His main symbol is the caduceus, a winged staff intertwined with two snakes copulating. He was a divine ally of the Greeks during the Trojan War and he also helped the Greek hero, Perseus, slay Medusa by directing him to her lair.

Hera was the daughter of the Titans, Cronus and Rhea and was associated with all the aspects of the life of women. She was the Goddess of women, marriage, and childbirth. She ruled Mount Olympus as Queen of the Gods and was married to God Zeus. The children of Hera and Zeus were Ares, the Greek God of war, Hebe, the Goddess of youth and Hephaestus, the God of the forge. According to the myths, she was very jealous and mean against Zeus' numerous lovers, his offspring and all the mortals who crossed her. Hera was commonly seen with the animals she considered sacred, including the lion, cow and the peacock.

Athena was the favorite child of Zeus and the Olympian Goddess of wisdom and warfare. She became the patroness of Athens through a contest with Poseidon. Athena won as she offered the city the sacred olive tree, which symbolized peace and prosperity and could provide “wood, food and shade” to the citizens. The Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens was dedicated to her and the modern city still carries her name. She used her power and knowledge to help many Greek heroes, such as Odysseus and Hercules. Athena was often portrayed wearing a body armor and a helmet and carrying a shield and a lance.

Aphrodite was the Goddess of love, beauty, fertility and eternal youth. She was the daughter of Zeus and Dione. She was married to Hephaestus, the God of fire and forger of Gods, but she was, also, known to be unfaithful to him. Aphrodite plays a major role throughout Homer’s Iliad. According to the myths, Prince Paris, son of king Priam of Troy, was chosen by Zeus to determine which of the three Goddesses was the most beautiful: Hera, Athena or Aphrodite. He chose Aphrodite and accepted her bribe to help him win the most beautiful woman (Helen of Troy), resulting the beginning of the Trojan War. Aphrodite’s major symbols include roses, myrtles, sparrows, doves and swans.

Helen of Troy, widely known as Beautiful Helen, was the most beautiful woman in the ancient world. She was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, wife to King Menelaus of Sparta. When Menelaus left Sparta to attend a funeral in Crete, Paris of Troy seduced and abducted her, causing indirectly the start of the Trojan War. The war lasted for 10 years and ended when the Greeks pretended to withdraw, leaving behind a large wooden horse with hidden warriors inside. As Trojans considered horses to be sacred, they allowed it in and the Greeks opened the city gates to their comrades, at night. After the fall of Troy, Menelaus brought Helen back to Sparta.

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath. He was born in the city of Stagira in Northern Greece during the Classical period. At the age of 18 he joined Plato's Academy in Athens and remained there for 20 years. He made contributions to all fields of philosophy and science. Aristotle proposed that there were three principles used in making an argument: ethos, pathos and logos. He was Alexander the Great’s mentor and taught him and his friends about medicine, philosophy, morals, religion, logic, and art. One of his famous quotes is that: “It is impossible to be really good without wisdom or to be really wise without moral virtue”.

Plato was a Greek philosopher from Athens, student of Socrates, and is considered one of the most important philosophers who ever lived. Plato’s Academy was the ultimate ancestor of the modern university, hence the English term “academic”. It served as an influential center of research and learning for 300 years. Plato believed that reality is divided into two parts: the ideal and the phenomena. The ideal is the perfect reality of existence and the phenomena is the physical world that we experience. His writings explored justice, beauty and equality, and also contained discussions in aesthetics, political philosophy, theology, cosmology, and epistemology. One of his famous quotes is that: “Opinion is the medium between knowledge and ignorance.”

Socrates was a Greek philosopher from Athens and the founder of Western philosophy. He was the first person to believe that happiness can be achieved through human effort, and not just given to those that the Gods prefer. The Athenian rulers turned against him, accusing him of corrupting the youth with his provocative ideas and he was sentenced to death by hemlock poisoning. He was offered a route to escape by friends and followers in prison, but he refused and stayed true to his beliefs. One of his famous quotes is that: “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing”.