▁war , ▁H ades ▁the ▁r uler ▁of ▁the ▁under world , ▁and ▁Ath ena ▁the ▁god dess ▁of ▁wisdom ▁and ▁courage . ▁Some ▁gods , ▁such ▁as ▁Apol lo ▁and ▁D ion ys us , ▁revealed ▁complex ▁personal ities ▁and ▁mi xt ures ▁of ▁functions , ▁while ▁others , ▁such ▁as ▁H est ia ▁( liter ally ▁" he arth ") ▁and ▁Hel ios ▁( liter ally ▁" sun "), ▁were ▁little ▁more ▁than ▁person ifications . ▁The ▁most ▁impress ive ▁tem ples ▁t ended ▁to ▁be ▁dedicated ▁to ▁a ▁limited ▁number ▁of ▁gods , ▁who ▁were ▁the ▁focus ▁of ▁large ▁pan - H ellen ic ▁cult s . ▁It ▁was , ▁however , ▁common ▁for ▁individual ▁regions ▁and ▁villages ▁to ▁dev ote ▁their ▁own ▁cult s ▁to ▁minor ▁gods . ▁Many ▁cities ▁also ▁hon ored ▁the ▁more ▁well - known ▁gods ▁with ▁unusual ▁local ▁r ites ▁and ▁associated ▁strange ▁myth s ▁with ▁them ▁that ▁were ▁unknown ▁elsewhere . ▁During ▁the ▁hero ic ▁age , ▁the ▁cult ▁of ▁hero es ▁( or ▁dem ig ods ) ▁supp lement ed ▁that ▁of ▁the ▁gods . ▁ ▁Age ▁of ▁gods ▁and ▁mort als ▁Br id ging ▁the ▁age ▁when ▁gods ▁lived ▁alone ▁and ▁the ▁age ▁when ▁divine ▁inter ference ▁in ▁human ▁affairs ▁was ▁limited ▁was ▁a ▁trans itional ▁age ▁in ▁which ▁gods ▁and ▁mort als ▁moved ▁together . ▁These ▁were ▁the ▁early ▁days ▁of ▁the ▁world ▁when ▁the ▁groups ▁m ing led ▁more ▁freely ▁than ▁they ▁did ▁later . ▁Most ▁of ▁these ▁tales ▁were