5 Famously Unknown Greek Gods and Goddesses

Apate (Goddess of deceit):

Apate was the goddess of deceit, deception and fraud, an embodiment of them. She was the daughter of Nyx, the goddess of the night, and Erebos, the god of darkness. She had 22 siblings some examples Oizys, the god of suffering; Momos, the god of blame; and Keres, the god of violent death. Like all of her other siblings, she was trapped in Pandora’s box until the first-ever human woman, Pandora, opened it. The Greeks believed that the reason for all the evil in the world is because Apate and all her siblings escaped the imprisonment of the box. One very interesting story about Apate is the story involving Hera. Hera had heard about her husband's affair with the Theban Princess, Semele, and looked to Apate to help punish the Princess. Apate convinced the Princess to ask Zeus to show her his real self and Zeus agreed. The human Princess burst into flames and died because no mere mortal can survive looking directly at a God in their natural form. To make matters worse Zeus and Semele had had a son Dionysus who would later become the God of wine and with Apate’s and Hera’s interference it left him motherless.

Asclepius (God of Healing):

Asclepius was the god of healing. He was the son of Apollo and Coronis, a princess of Orchomenus. Some sources say that Asclepius barely survived birth as his mother died while in labour. His father had to cut Coronis open to save his son. To give his son more knowledge on medicine, Apollo took Asclepius to Chiron, a centaur, to raise him. Asclepius became very knowledgeable and knew more about medicine than both Chiron and Apollo. Asclepius had a staff, that was called the Caduceus wand. It had a serpent wrapping around it and his staff later became the symbol for pharmacies. Asclepius married Epione, the goddess of soothing pain, and they had five daughters and three sons. The most famous of their children, Hygea, became the goddess of health and cleanliness. The word hygiene originated from her name. Asclepius became so powerful that he was able to save humans even from death itself. Human’s worshipped him and considered him a hero. Soon, the other gods started to realize how much the human’s loved him and they didn’t like it, especially Hades, the god of the underworld. He wanted souls to enter his kingdom but with Asclepius healing everyone fewer people were dying meaning fewer people were being welcomed to the underworld. Hades talked to Zeus to ask him to kill Asclepius and Zeus agreed as he was furious that Asclepius was bringing people back from the dead without his permission. Apollo tried to stop his father, but his attempt was unsuccessful. Zeus killed Asclepius by shooting him with a lightning bolt. Zeus then lifted Asclepius up and placed him into the stars. Asclepius is now the constellation, known as ‘The Serpent Holder.’

Hypnos (God of sleep):

Hypnos was the god of sleep. He is the son of Nyx, the goddess of the night and Erebus, the god of darkness. Hypnos and his twin brother, Thanatos, God of death, lived in caves in the underworld. Their caves received no daylight or moonlight, yet they were filled with poppies that helped induce sleep. The river Lethe is said to originate from Hypnos’ cave (which is a famous river in Greek mythology) and it is said that the cave is where night and day meet. Hypnos is often described as a young man who has wings that sprout from his shoulders, he is said to have slept in a bed made from ebony and to be a kind and gentle man. Since he is the god of sleep, he owns half of every human life. Hypnos was asked twice by Hera, goddess of love and marriage, to put her husband, Zeus, to sleep. The first time Hypnos put Zeus to sleep was to avenge the ransacking of the city Troy which had been led by Zeus’s son, Heracles. When Zeus woke up, he realized what had happened, so he went looking for Hypnos. However, Zeus couldn’t as Hypnos was hiding in Nyx’s caves and every god including Zeus was afraid of her. The second time Hypnos put Zeus to sleep it was because he had been promised Pasithea as a wife by Hera. Hera dressed up beautifully and went to get Zeus’s permission to go to her Parents and stop them from arguing. Hera also had a love charm given to her by the goddess of love, Aphrodite, Zeus agreed as he was under the love spell. When he hugged Hera, Hypnos put him to sleep. Hypnos then went to Poseidon, God of the sea, and told him he could help the Greeks win the trojan war. Zeus never realised that Hypnos had put him to sleep another time, so Hypnos was not punished. Because Hypnos had done what he had promised Pasithea had three sons, Morpheus, Phobetor and Phantasos, who controlled people’s dreams.

If you want to know more about any Greek god or goddess search them up here: https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/