Greek God Themed Party – Godlike Ideas How To Celebrate on Olympus

Sexy like Aphrodite, ruler like Zeus and Hera or cheeky and nimble like Hermes – everyone is guaranteed to look divine at a Greek God themed party in Olympus! 

You want to throw a really cool theme party that everyone will remember? Why not celebrate like the gods? Call out the Olympus theme – Feast of the Greek Gods and your party will be a myth that poets will still be singing about for thousands of years! 😉

A perfect Greek God themed party combines cool god costumes, a truly Olympian feast of nectar and ambrosia (or their equivalents) and an unforgettable atmosphere. The best way to create this atmosphere is with the right décor and one or two Olympic party games, depending on your mood.

But first things first…

At Abenteuer Freundschaft you’ll find lots of ideas for Celebrating a theme party together!

Greek God Themed Party – Celebrate Like Ancient Gods

The Dirty Dozen – The 12 Olympic Gods

Most important for a party in Olympus is the divine party company. The Greek world of gods and legends is almost unmanageably large, so even the ancient Greeks felt the need to bring a bit of order into it.

Thus, 12 main gods were established, also called the Twelve Gods or the 12 Olympians. These had a fixed place at the table and, quite progressively, the number of seats was evenly divided between male and female gods (although Zeus was still the supreme male god).

Normally, I think you should be surprised at a theme party when it comes to who comes as which guest. In the case of the Greek Gods theme party, however, it is worth considering whether you, as the host, should let each guest tell you which goddess/god he/she intends to come as and possibly make a counter-proposal, e.g. if the 5th guest already wants to come as Zeus or there are already 3 Aphrodites.

Here you will find a clear list of the 12 Olympic gods with their meaning, behind them in brackets the Roman names of the gods, which are more familiar to some.

Zeus (Jupiter)

• Function: ruler of Olympus, god of lightning & thunder
• Depiction: Bearded man with thunderbolts in hand and an eagle on his shoulder
• Animals / Attributes: Eagle, thunderbolts, sceptre
• Character: Notoriously unfaithful philanderer, constantly exploits his boss position to indulge his insatiable sexual appetite

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Hera (Juno)

• Function: Ruler, mother goddess, goddess of family, birth and all strong women, Zeus’ wife (and sister… yeah that’s how it goes in Olympus!)
• Depiction: Royal lady with crown & sceptre
• Animals / Attributes: Peacock, Cuckoo, Cow, Pomegranate, Golden Headband or Diadem
• Character: Strong, energetic, cunning often jealous and pissed off because her husband Zeus cheats on her all the time, the Alice Schwarzer of Olympus

Poseidon (Neptune)

• Function: God of the sea, storms and earthquakes
• Depiction: Bearded man with trident, blue-green hair
• Animals / Attributes: Horses, fish, dolphins
• Character: He is usually not easy to deal with, has a pretty hot temper, sometimes he gets together with his sister Demeter in the shape of a horse…. er yes…

Demeter (Ceres)

• Function: fertility and mother goddess, goddess of fertile earth, harvest, grain (cereals!) and seasons
• Perception: attractive MILF from the countryside, always walking around with a bunch of ears of corn
• Animals / Attributes: Mare, wreath of ears of corn on her head, bundle of corn, peaches, flowers
• Character: Quite a nymphomaniac and incest seems to be totally her thing, does it on/off with her brothers: Zeus, Poseidon and Hades!

Ares (Mars)

• Function: God of war, cruelty and masculinity
• Depiction: handsome muscleman with helmet, spear and shield, sometimes also sword or bow and arrow
• Animals / other attributes: Dogs, vultures, torch
• Character: Usually pretty aggressive, incorrigible gun nut, totally macho, looking for a fight.

Aphrodite (Venus)

• Function: Goddess of love, (female) beauty and sexuality, passion and seduction
• Depiction: picture-perfect, lightly dressed woman with a hand mirror
• Animals / further attributes: dove, swan, swallow, scallops, roses, apples
• Character: This woman is pure sex! Otherwise she is a bit conceited with supermodel airs and she can be a bitch when she feels like it, she doesn’t think much of fidelity for example, ex-wife of Hephaestus, on/off sex relationship with Ares.

Hephaestus (Vulcanus)

• Function: God of forging, fire and volcanoes
• Performance: Bearded, muscular neo-hipster type with cool cap, limps on one leg, always carries his hammer
• Animals / Attributes: Hammer & Anvil, Blacksmith’s Apron, Lava
• Character: Damn skilled guy, the best blacksmith and (art)craftsman ever, nice in himself, but very bad at certain gods. His parents Zeus and Hera are to blame for his crippling and then also disowned him because mummy Hera thought he was too ugly as a baby and later his ex Aphrodite also cheated on him with Ares. Poor Hephaestus…

Hestia (Vesta)

• Function: goddess of hearth & sacrificial fire, virginity and peace
• Performance: chastely veiled woman, sometimes she likes to wear large wings
• Animals / Attributes: she is so modest that she does not need any
• Character: extremely chilled lady, probably from constantly inhaling the fumes of the many sacrificial fires for her and thanks to her motto: no sex, no problems.

Apollo (Apollo)

• Function: God of light, the sun, the arts (especially music), spring, male beauty, healing, divination and temperance
• Depiction: slender, beautiful, shining youth with lyre (Greek lyre) under his arm
• Animals / further attributes: swan, wolf, falcon, vulture, laurel wreath or shining crown, lyre, cithara or flute, arrow, bow and quiver
• Character: Always radiant, good-humoured, bisexual showman and jack-of-all-trades. Everybody’s darling, very nice and helpful, also medically savvy, but can get quite vain and arrogant at times, especially when someone doubts or challenges his musical talents

Artemis (Diana)

• Function: Goddess of the forest, the hunt and the moon, twin sister of Apollo
• Performance: Young beautiful huntress with bow and arrow, the Catniss Averdeen among the Greek gods
• Animals / further attributes: hind, bear and boar, hunting dogs quiver with golden arrows and a silver bow (crescent moon), wormwood, cypress, cherry tree
• Character: She is wild and untamable. Although she is often hunting, she loves animals and especially their young are under her protection. Her relationship with men is strained and, like Hestia, she is a convinced virgin; when she wants to be, she can be dangerous and destructive…

Hermes (Mercury)

• Function: God of travel and communication, therefore also messenger of the gods, also god of shepherds, thieves and merchants, of oratory, gymnastics and magic
• Depiction: young type with shepherd’s hat or winged helmet, small wings on the fetters, and a staff around which two snakes wind (Kerykeion / Caduceus)
• Animals / further attributes: rams, turtles, shepherd’s crook, money bag
• Character: Pretty cheeky and sly guy, the class clown of Olympus, quick-witted and smart, with Aphrodite he fathered the first intersex child.

Athena (Minerva)

• Function: Goddess of wisdom, craftsmanship, cunning in war and strategy
• Depiction: tough fighter with helmet, spear and shield (with Gorgon head on it)
• Tiere / weitere Attribute: Eule, Schlange
• Character: Clever, sometimes somewhat nerdy woman with almost infinite knowledge, good warrior, who, however, unlike Ares, stands out less for brute force than for sophisticated strategy.

Good Gods, Bad Gods – The Oldest Soap of All Time

At the latest after reading my short description of the 12 Olympic gods, it should be clear to everyone that the Greek gods and their deeds represent pretty much the most crass soap you can imagine…

The best prerequisite for a shredding party!!!

If you’ve invited more than 12 to your Greek Gods theme party and don’t want any deity to be present twice – no need to worry: there are plenty of them!

More suggestions for further divine or semi-divine visits to Olympus: Uranus (Caelus), Gaia (Tellus), Kronos (Saturn), Rhea (Ops), Eris (Discordia), Heracles (Hercules), Dionysus (Bacchus), Hebe (Iuventas), Ganymede, Pan, Hecate, Eos (Aurora), Hades (Pluto), Persephone (Proserpina), Priapos… 😉

Nectar and Ambrosia – Divine Foods

According to legend, people on Mount Olympus fed on nectar and ambrosia. Both were imagined to be a kind of divine honey falling from the sky like dew, nectar later being regarded as the liquid and ambrosia as the solid form of it.

How you interpret nectar & ambrosia for your Greek Gods theme party is, of course, entirely up to you. One possibility, for example, would be this delicious dessert. Or you can bake a delicious honey cake or buy baklava.

Otherwise, the food is definitely Greek cuisine! Stuffed vine leaves, olives, grapes, feta cheese, souvlaki skewers, gyros, etc. will delight the palate of the gods. That pleases the palate of the gods!

And of course wine, lots of wine. But it doesn’t just have to be Greek retsina (wine spiked with resin), because that’s not to everyone’s taste (I don’t like it at all, for example)… 🙂

Olympic Style Guide – How to Decorate a Greek God Themed Party

Part of a good theme party is that the party location is decorated accordingly.

Ideas for truly Olympic decor:

• Greek columns made of cardboard (2D or even 3D)
• Artificial vines as garlands
• Clouds made of cotton wool
• drape large white cloths (e.g. tablecloths) beautifully with classic folds
• Antique-looking crockery and cutlery
• Fruit bowls & baskets
• Furniture with antique or classicist décor
• Small statuettes of gods (if you own something like this or find it by chance at a flea market)
• Laurel wreaths
• Torches
• Swords

Let’s Dance – Olympic Sounds

There’s nothing the gods like better than to hear songs about them! Or at least about their friends, enemies and acquaintances. Here’s a small selection of Olympian-godly songs for your Greek God themed party playlist.

• Stupid Cupid – Connie Francis
• Cupid – Sam Cooke
• Venus – Bananarama
• Chariots of Fire – Vangelis
• Achilles Last Stand – Led Zeppelin
• Aphrodite – Kylie Minogue
• Ares – Bloc Party
• Minerva – Deftones
• Persephone – Wishbone Ash
• Tales of Brave Ulysses – Cream
• Flight of Icarus – Iron Maiden
• Hyacinth House – Doors
• It’s Never Over (Oh Orpheus) – Arcade Fire
• Orestes – A Perfect Circle
• Pandora’s Aquarium – Tori Amos
• Jupiter (Swallow the Moon) – Jewel

Can you think of any more songs with reference to Greek mythology? Otherwise you can also play a bit of Greek folklore in between – it’s especially good when there’s already been a lot of wine flowing from the gods… 😉

What else do you need for a gigantic Greek gods theme party? By the way, you can find more ideas for theme parties on our Theme Party List with 111 fabulous themes! Browse our search form for ideas for occasions, seasons or search specifically for activities with friends, family and as a couple!

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Image source Cover image: Greek Gods by The Lowry at CC BY SA-2.0.

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