The Greek goddesses Hera and Athena were active in the Trojan War on the Greek side, and Artemis and Aphrodite, on the Trojan side. The Athenians traced their lineage indirectly to their patron goddess Athena. Greek women annually gave Thanksgiving to Demeter at the Thesmophoria festival. Hestia watched over the hearth fires. The goddesses were so intimately involved in the stories and festivals of the Greeks, that it would be hard to study Greek history proper without an understanding of who the Greek goddesses were.
Athena
Athena was a goddess of wisdom, crafts, and war. She was the goddess most favored by her father, Zeus. She was the patron goddess of Athens because in the competition between the sea god Poseidon and Athena, the residents of the area preferred her gift of the olive tree, which provided food, oil, and wood. They named Athens to honor her.
Artemis
Artemis is another virgin goddess, yet she watches over women in childbirth. Artemis is another daughter of Zeus and the sister of Apollo. She is a hunter depicted with a golden bow. In the Trojan War, Artemis sided with the Trojans and was pushed around for it by the Greek-siding goddess Hera. Agamemnon couldn't leave Aulus until he sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to Artemis.
Aphrodite
Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love and beauty. She may be another daughter of Zeus although the usual story is that she was born of sea foam. In the story of the Trojan War,
Paris awarded the apple of discord to Aphrodite as the most beautiful of the goddesses. When war ensued, she sided with Paris and the Trojans throughout and received a wound for her efforts.
Demeter
Demeter was one of the original Olympian goddesses, a daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea. Demeter was a fertility and grain goddess who is mostly associated with her daughter Persephone and the Eleusinian mystery cult.
Hestia
Hestia is a homebody, goddess of the hearth fire -- a fire that must always be kept burning, and first born of the original Olympians, which makes her a daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea. Hestia is another virgin goddess. She receives the first share of any sacrifice made by the family. Although there are no great stories about her, she was a very important goddess who gave up her Olympian throne.
Hera
Hera is the queen of the gods, the sister and wife of the king of the gods Zeus. Hera sides with the Greeks in the Trojan War. She stirs up trouble for the women in her husband's life and extends her anger to Zeus' son Hercules. Hera is the goddess of marriage and birth.
