Greek Gods

Gods are an ageless race of vastly powerful, immortal, and divine beings, each one embodying a certain aspect of the universe. They are related to the older Titans, their ancestors and chief enemies. There are twelve major gods who rule over the universe, the Olympians, and many minor ones who serve smaller, though necessary, purposes in the world. Gods are also able to mate/reproduce with non-god beings resulting in demigods. The only group of gods known to exist in the world of the Percy Jackson series are those of the Greek-Roman pantheon, though statements in the Kane Chronicles, a parallel book series, seem to at times suggest that the Egyptian pantheon exists in the same universe.



History
The first and most powerful six gods were Demeter, Hades, Hera, Hestia, Poseidon, and Zeus, the sons and daughters of the two Titans Kronos and Rhea. Fearing his children would overthrow him in the same way he had done his father, Kronos devoured his first two sons and his three daughters after they where born. Hestia first, then Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon. He would have devoured Zeus as well, but Rhea, unable to bear the pain of losing another child and seeing her husband now for the monster he was, plotted to save her son from the fate of his siblings. Entering into an alliance with Gaia, Rhea was able to smuggle her son away to safety and gave her husband a rock instead to devour.

After years in hiding, Zeus was finally old enough and strong enough to overthrow his father, and returned to his father's palace to free his siblings who, being immortals, remained alive and undigested within their father all this time. According to some accounts, Zeus freed his family by smuggling a potion into his father's meal, forcing him to vomit up the children up. Having freed his siblings, as well as the Hekatonkheires and the Cyclopes whom Kronos had reimprisoned in Tartarus, Zeus led a rebellion against the Titans. In gratitude, the Cyclopes forged the Big Three's symbols of power: The Master bolt, the Trident, and the Helm of Darkness, while the sheer strength of the Hekatonkheires proved to be a great advantage against the Titan army.

The final blow was delivered when Zeus, using his father's own scythe, cut Kronos in to a thousand pieces and dropped them in Tartarus where he would (hopefully) never rise again. This marked the end of the Titan age and started the Olympian age.

The Olympians have been challenged many times for their control of the world, but they have always come off on top, often with the help of their children, the demigods.

Zeus married his sister Hera, and subsequent children followed. Ares, Hephaestus, Hebe, Eris, Eileithyia and Enyo. From affairs the other gods and goddesses were created. However Aphrodite was born when Ouranos' genitals touched the sea. Thus she is more powerful and the oldest of the gods, and an actual embodiment of love, She can influence the other gods and goddesses (although not the ones that are sworn to be eternally a virgin - Athena, Artemis and Hestia.

Divine Form
Gods, in their natural, fully empowered form, are radiant with a divine light so intense that no mortal, non-god, or even demigod can look upon it and live. To interact with mortals and heroes, the gods take on a lesser form which can be safely observed. Gods can instantly call back this power any time they desire, and may even revert involuntarily to their divine from if experiencing intense emotions. But this now is questioned because in The Lost Hero, Jason saw Hera's divine form and lived but Piper used her charmspeaking skills to bring Jason back to life

Abilities
Each god has specific powers based on what they represent, but they all share certain powers and even abilities specific to their individual domains can sometimes overlap (such as Morpheus and Hypnos both whom have power over sleep).

Each of the Big Three, after overthrowing the Titans, took one of the three largest physical domains on earth (the heavens, ocean, and the Underworld). This is why the Big Three are the most powerful and influential gods on Olympus.

Powers shared by all tend to include immortality, superhuman strength, speed, agility, durability, senses, ect, and a broad range of magical abilities.

Gods possess a nearly limitless amount of magical control over their domain, as well as many general powers including levitation, teleportation, telepathy, manipulating the elements, among other vast amounts of control over the world. The limits of a god's power in this regard is unknown, as is to what extent they can cross into the domain of another.

However, gods are not all-powerful. They can be tired or defeated by immortals or even demigods. If they choose to engage in physical battle in one of their lesser forms they can be injured through the proper weaponry. Percy Jackson was able to wound Ares, defeat Hades, and nearly defeat a weakened Hyperion all in physical combat, through use of his own powers, or some combination. However, at least the more powerful gods in their divine form or in full use of their powers are too powerful to be defeated by a demigod.

Gods can appear in multiple places at once, so long as their domain is being invoked. Dionysus was able to manifest at a party despite the fact that his "true" self was buried under a mountain. It is unknown how many of these "copies" can be made at once, or what powers the god retains while in this state. .

Gods consume a divine food and drink called nectar and ambrosia. It is too powerful for mortals to eat under normal circumstances as they will literally burst into flames, yet in some myths the gods have used nectar and ambrosia to bestow immortality upon a mortal, though its more likely the nectar and ambrosia is specially prepared for a mortal. Demigods, however, can consume small amounts of both in order to regain strength and heal wounds, though too much will make them ill or destroy them in the same way it would a mortal.

Gods also adapt to their host country's culture when they move with Western Civilization and if they stay long enough it can become a permanent part of there aspects.

Roman Counterpart
As they follow the flow of Western Civilization, the gods will change slightly to reflect the culture of the country they currently reside in. Normally, this has only a small effect and are not permanent, such as Zeus wearing designer suits and Apollo's chariot becoming a sports car. But the gods resided in Rome almost as long as they ruled from Greece, and therefore each god has a Roman aspect to themselves that they can change into. In this form, the gods became more disciplined, warlike, and militaristic just like the ancient Roman Empire. As Roman gods, they rarely interacted with mortals or had affairs with them. When they did, however, these relationships produced Roman demigods who knew of their godly parent only by their Roman name, spoke Latin, and possessed a disciplined, ferocious and orderly quality not present in the Greek demigods at Camp Half-Blood. These Roman demigod children were sent to be trained by Lupa at the Roman Camp Half-Blood, somewhere near San Francisco (assumed).

Rules
Despite their vast powers, gods are bound by certain rules. Some of these rules are laid down by Zeus and others are just in the nature of being a god. Only a few of these rules have been explored.


 * No god can directly steal the symbol of power of another. This applies to both the Titans and Olympians and is why Zeus knew a hero or mortal had to have stolen his Master Bolt in The Lightning Thief as mortals and demigods are exempt from this rule.
 * No god can enter the domain of another unless invited by the god of said domain (unless their domain overlaps). The only known gods to freely travel the worlds are Hermes and Iris, both of which are the Messenger god/goddess respectively.
 * It is stated by Chiron that immortals can only fight demigods after being challenged or attacked first (however the titans have been shown to ignored this rule).
 * Gods are limited to how much they can interfere in mortal affairs. This rule is a decree of Zeus. It also depends on how much Zeus enforces it or knows about it as gods have been known to interfere when they were not supposed to, with nothing happening to them, like Apollo in The Titan's Curse, or Hera in The Battle of the Labyrinth.
 * The Big Three were banned from having children after World War II because their children were deemed "too powerful." This rule had been broken by Zeus and Poseidon, Zeus broke it by siring Thalia Grace and Jason Grace. Poseidon broke the rule by having Percy Jackson. Hades was the only god of the Big Three to keep true to his end and not sire any more children (even though Bianca and Nico di Angelo are Hades's children they were born during World War II). This rule was banished at the end of The Last Olympian.

Weaknesses
Despite their immortality and invulnerability, the gods do possess some weaknesses. They can be injured by supernatural weapons such as those made from Celestial bronze, Stygian iron and Imperial gold. If they are injured, they bleed golden ichor, their divine blood. If a god's domain is attacked, he/she will may weaken and age and take the form to represent their domain state, such as Poseidon did when Oceanus made war on his palace in the Last Olympian. Gods can also fade from existance should they lose the will to live, either from a lack of worship or the diminishing of their domain. Gods such as Pan, Helios, and Selene have allowed themselves to fade because their realm was either too small to rule (Pan) or they became unnecessary due to the fact that the Romans decided to give their jobs to other gods (Helios and Selene). However, since the Titans were able to survive despite lack of worship or the loss of their domains and based on statements from various monsters the key is will to live. A god can survive lack of worship or loss of their domain so long as their will to live is strong enough. Otherwise, they will fade.

Gods also are in general lustful (with the exceptions of Maidens or most wives, such as Hestia, Hera and Amphitrite), and often have many illegimate children, both immortal and demigod.

If a god or goddess is trapped, his or her power is useless. An example of this is Hera being trapped within Gaia's cage in The Lost Hero or Artemis after being tricked to hold the sky in Annabeth's place during The Titan's Curse.

Trivia

 * In The Kane Chronicles, there are references to a group of Egyptian gods that reside in Brooklyn though they don't like to interact with each other, often avoiding to go to Manhattan. This seems to imply that the Greek and Egyptian gods may coexist in the same world, though the same passage also states that the two pantheons must not meet. The nature of their connection, if there is any, is unknown though Thoth implies that he met Hermes.