Twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon in Greek religion, were the principal gods of the Greek pantheon, residing atop Mount Olympus. There were, at various times, seventeen different gods recognized as Olympians, though never more than twelve at one time.
Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Ares, Hermes, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Demeter, and Hestia are the 12 Olympians. Heracles, Hebe, Helios, Hades, Dionysus, and Persephone are some other important gods, goddesses, and in Heracles' case, heroes. Persephone spent three months of the year in the underworld (causing the barren landscape of winter), and was allowed to return to Mount Olympus for the other nine months in order to be with her mother, Demeter, during this time, would be in woe and not with the Olympians. And, although Hades was always one of the principal Greek gods, his home in the underworld of the dead made his connection to the Olympians more tenuous.
The Twelve Olympians gained their supremacy in the world of gods after Zeus led his siblings to victory in war with the Titans; Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia, and Hades were siblings; all the other of the Dodekatheon are usually considered the children of Zeus by various mothers, except for Athena, who in some versions of the myth was born of Zeus alone, and Aphrodite who was formed from the castrated phallus of the primordial sky which Cronos threw into the sea when he freed the Titans. Additionally, some versions of the myth state that Hephaestus was born of Hera alone as Hera's revenge for Zeus' solo birth of Athena.
