Date : Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Time : 2:21 AM
Title : Twelve Olympians

The Twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon (Greek: Δωδεκάθεον < δώδεκα, dōdeka, "twelve"+ θεοί, theoi, "gods"), in Greek mythology, were the principal gods of the Greek pantheon, residing atop Mount Olympus. The first ancient reference of religious ceremonies for them is found in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes. The classical scheme of the Twelve Olympians (the Canonical Twelve of art and poetry) comprises the following gods: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Athena, Ares, Demeter, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Hermes and Dionysus. The respective Roman scheme comprises the following gods: Jupiter, Juno, Neptune, Minerva, Mars, Ceres, Apollo, Diana, Vulcan, Venus, Mercury and Bacchus. Hades (Roman: Pluto) was not generally included in this list. He did not have a seat in the pantheon because he spent almost all of his time in the underworld. Also commonly seen among the twelve is Hestia (Roman: Vesta.) When Dionysus was offered a seat, the total number of Olympians became thirteen. Believing thirteen to be an unlucky number and wishing to avoid a fight, Hestia stepped down.

There was, however, a great deal of fluidity when it came to who was counted among their number in antiquity. Around 400 BC, Herodotus included in his Dodekatheon the following deities: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hermes, Athena, Apollo, Alpheus, Cronus, Rhea and the Charites. Wilamowitz agrees with Herodotus' version of the Twelve.

Herodotus includes Heracles as one of the Twelve. Lucian also includes Heracles and Asclepius as members of the Twelve, without explaining which two had to give way for them. At Kos, Heracles and Dionysus are added to the Twelve, and Ares and Hephaestus are left behind. However, Pindar, Apollodorus, and Herodorus disagree with this. For them Heracles is not one of the Twelve Gods, but the one who established their cult.

Plato connected the Twelve Olympians with the twelve months, and proposed that the final month be devoted to rites in honor of Pluto and the spirits of the dead, implying that he considered Hades to be one of the Twelve. Hades is phased out in later groupings due to his chthonic associations. In Phaedrus Plato aligns the Twelve with the Zodiac and would exclude Hestia from their rank.

Hebe, Helios and Persephone are other important gods, goddesses, which are sometimes included in a group of twelve. Eros is often depicted alongside the other twelve, especially his mother Aphrodite, but is rarely considered one of the Olympians.

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. Ares, Hermes, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, the Charites, Heracles, Dionysus, Hebe, and Persephone were children of Zeus. Although some versions of the myths state that Hephaestus was born of Hera alone, and that Aphrodite was born of Uranus.

Currently, the 12 members of the Singapore Jubeat Olympian Gods team is:
Apollo - James
Ares - Haziq
Artemis - Shermin
Athena - Naomi
Demeter - Wen Jie
Dionysus - Kai Qi
Hades - Ashley
Hera - Amelia
Hermes - John
Hestia -
Poseidon -
Zeus - Lucas

Note: Aphrodite & Hephaestus were replaced with Hestia & Hades in our team due to e-amusement's 8-characters only restriction & we're still on the look-out for two more potential & worthy members.