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HISTORY / LORE:

In the "Laws", Plato arranged the divine as the Olympian gods and city gods, the underworld gods, the daemons, the heroes and the ancestral gods.

The Olympians or ouranians (heavenly) are the gods and goddesses that live on mount Olympus, are benevolent to humans and are guardians of communities and families. They usually include Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Demeter, Dionysos, Hepaestus, Athena, Hestia, Poseidon and Hermes.

The chthonic (earth) gods and goddesses live on or under the earth and deal with spirits and taboos. Some are always considered chthonic such as Hades, Persephone and Hekate while others are an aspect of the Olympian deities such as Zeus Meilichios and Apollo Patroos.

In the field of daemons, the most general category is called keres which includes every thing from ghosts and evil spirits to bacteria and old age. The first subcategory of kere is the harpy or wind daemon whose job is to carry off the soul at the time of death. Their description is similar to the Christian angels but, in ancient Hellenic culture, they're considered evil.

Next is the Erinyes which are the angry ghosts of those killed violently. They return (or are called) to seek vengeance on the cause of their death.

Then there are the gorgans who are described as a head without a body. People put their images above forges, hearths, altar fires and tombs to protect from the keres that come from fires or the dead.

The Siren is a kere in the shape of a bird women who take souls like the Harpies but the Siren takes them before their time.

The Sphinx is, also, a kere that takes souls and acts as an oracle. This time the souls are taken by the choice of the victim (i.e. they play the contest of riddles to win treasure and lose).

Heroes that are worshipped are mighty and noble members of the family who have died and return in the shape of bearded snakes. They return at times of family need or if called to avenge a wrong.

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