In Pantheon, pan meant "all," while theon meant "god." In the rites of the Olympian gods, the direction of the heavenly gods was not merely where daylight came from; festive banquets were indispensable to both mortals and gods.
There was a circular opening at the center of the Pantheon's dome. It admitted not only sunlight but rainwater as well. Yet twenty-two holes had been left in the marble floor, so inconspicuous that they were hard to notice unless one looked carefully, and the rainwater drained away through them.
Isaac had nearly sacrificed his own son before being stopped by an angel. The Romans, however, had no such scruples. They would even deliberately make the blood of the sacrificial victim spray toward the sky, while the entire process remained peaceful and solemn, or took on the appearance of a happy festival.
The gods of Ancient Greek myth often feasted on Mount Olympus. Compared with Zeus's lovers among mortals, the cupbearer brought to Olympus to replace the goddess of youth was somewhat improper—though from a human perspective, it was a fortunate thing.
Neither Themis nor Hera could restrain Zeus. Zeus swallowed his first wife, Metis, and Themis was deeply repulsed by this. Thus, she created the laws of marriage and invented the concept of family, hoping to use them to bind Zeus.
When Zeus swallowed Metis, she was already pregnant. When her time came, Zeus suffered a splitting headache. Hephaestus, the god of fire, split Zeus's head open with an axe, and Athena leaped out from Zeus's skull.
This lame god of fire took Aphrodite, the goddess of love, as his wife. To please her, he made jewelry for her every day.
Among them was a rose ring, exquisite beyond compare, yet covered in thorns, symbolizing that love came with a price