When I said it didn't matter, I meant only in the context of this particular discussion!amyntoros wrote:It may not matter to US, but I'm guessing it did to the ancients. Anyway, yes, Hestia was sometimes included in the Olympians although I'm not sure who she replaced. And Hades wasn't included in the twelve (he didn't live on Olympia), but Dionysos. There were plenty of other lesser "Olympian" gods also - Theoi.com is the place to go for info. Kind of like Pothos for the Greek gods only without a forum.marcus wrote:Hmm, by my reckoning, Hestia can't be included if Demeter is, and vice versa - that's an interesting point to raise.artemisia wrote:Marcus, there are 6 goddesses, you forgot Hestia = Vesta
The male Olympians are: Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Apollo, Hephaestus, Ares, Hermes.
Which is seven, leaving room for five goddesses: Hera, Athena, Artemis, Aphrodite ... and one more. I have just discovered two lists, one of which says Demeter, and the other says Hestia. So I don't disagree with you, but am now puzzled as to which we list we should be following.
Anyway, doesn't particularly matter ...
ATB
I just checked the Oxford Classical Dictionary, which of course is now upstairs and I'm downstairs, so now I've forgotten what all of them were.
The OCD lists the Twelve Olympians as those that feature on the Parthenon Frieze. Hestia isn't among them, although Demeter is. Now, Dionysus is among them, so I'm thinking that the one that's missing is Hades - because, as Artemisia points out, he didn't live on Mount Olympus.
So, at least according to the OCD, the Twelve Olympians were: Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo, Hephaestus, Ares, Hermes and Dionysus; Hera, Athena, Aphrodite, Artemis and Demeter.
ATB