Who is the most evil Greek god?
Cronus is often thought of as the most evil Greek god, though there’s a lot of competition. Cronus consumed his own children to thwart a prophecy that one of them would take his kingdom. He also castrated his father.
What Greek god causes chaos?
Eris was the Greek goddess that caused chaos because she encouraged conflicts, both big and small, for her own amusement. She once threw a golden apple into a wedding that was inscribed “to the fairest.” The goddesses present all thought it was for them, and, yes, chaos ensued.
Where does evil come from in Greek mythology?
According to the most popular Greek myths, evil came directly out of Pandora’s box. Pandora was created by the gods as the first human woman. Zeus gifted her a box of mysterious contents, and when she opened it, all the ills and evils of the world came into being.
When did these evil Greek gods make their most significant impact on mythology?
The evil Greek gods were most significant during times of conflict. Their personal vendettas, ambitions, and vendettas often turned seemingly harmless events into full-scale wars.
Why did the Greek gods fight?
The Greek gods fought for reasons very familiar to mortals. They fought for power. They fought for vengeance. They fought over love and betrayal. Some of them even fought just for their own amusement.
How did the actions of evil gods shape Greek mythology?
Evil gods shaped Greek mythology as central characters in many of the most famous myths. They were driven by themes of ambition, retribution, jealousy, and punishment, all frequently featured in Greek mythology’s greatest legends.
Table of Contents
Evil in Greek Mythology
It is easy to look upon the acts of the gods of Greek mythology and label them “evil.” Turning someone into a cow and then torturing that cow with a fly that never stops biting is . . . evil. However, in Greek mythology there is always additional context to these stories. The cow incident was retribution for infidelity, for example.
The acts of “evil” gods were often dramatically overdone, but they were relatable.
They were the result of ambition, anger, or vengeance—emotions that we are all familiar with—simply performed on a godly scale. In that way, they explained the power of human emotions or in cases such as Typhon, explained natural disasters.
This is the endearing legacy of Greek mythology—human emotions and experiences writ large. Evil, as we know it in the world, could be explained in the heavens (and the underworld.)
Notable Evil Greek Gods
One of the more interesting aspects of Greek mythology is that the gods are far from perfect. Just about all of them are guilty of some pretty serious transgressions.
That makes narrowing down which Greek gods and goddesses are “good” and which are “evil” pretty tough. But here is what I consider the Hall of Fame of evil Greek gods—those that exhibited some truly shockingly bad behavior.
Hera
Hera was both sister and wife to Zeus, the Greek god of thunder. The relationship, although a long one (their wedding feast alone lasted 300 years) was more than a little rocky.
Hera is still celebrated as the goddess of marriage, women, and family, but Zeus truly brought out the worst in her. Zeus was not at all faithful and had many children with other goddesses as well as mortals.
Hera’s responses to these infidelities are what secured her spot on the evil gods list.
Here’s a small sample of her work: Hera turned one of Zeus’s lovers into a cow and then sent flies to constantly sting her. She sent someone to rape another of Zeus’s lady friends. She kidnapped the goddess of childbirth to prevent another impregnated mistress from giving birth to Zeus’s son. She dressed as a nurse to try to stop another and kidnapped some of Zeus’s other illegitimate children. There’s more, but it starts to get repetitive—Hera’s jealousy knew no bounds.
Hera also played a big role in the Trojan War. In fact, she did everything in her power to sabotage the Trojans. Why? Because Paris, the Trojan prince, thought Aphrodite was more beautiful than Hera.
But worst of all may have been Hera’s treatment of Heracles, whom she constantly tormented from birth. Heracles was technically her stepson and her namesake, but their relationship was a little strained.
They got off on the wrong foot when Hera attempted to kill baby Heracles with poisonous snakes. After Heracles was married with children, Hera drove him to insanity, which caused him to kill his family.
To make up for this murderous rampage, Hera influenced the sentencing of Heracles, and he was assigned the famous twelve labors of Heracles as penance. They were all impossible tasks, but he completed them. As Heracles tried to settle back into a normal life, Hera drove him to kill his dearest friend, and back to the labor camp he went.
Believe it or not, in some accounts Hera and Heracles put their differences aside in the end, but it was not enough to save Hera from her rightful spot on this list.
Hades
Hades may be among the least deserving on this list. He is often thought of as evil simply because he’s the god of the underworld, and the confusion between the Christian concept of hell and the Greek concept of the underworld makes many modern readers equate Hades with the devil.[1]
He’s also listed here because, as the old saying goes, “you are the company you keep.”
Hades had a rough childhood, as do so many who go on to a life of evil. Hades’s nadir was certainly when his own father swallowed him. Hades survived and, along with his brothers Zeus and Poseidon, fought back and defeated the older generation of gods.
When it came time to hand out governing assignments, the brothers drew lots. Hades drew the underworld and dutifully went down to attend to his task.
Perhaps the cruelest of his acts is his abduction of Persephone, his young niece. Hades was enraptured and asked her father Zeus for her hand. Zeus said sure, but there was no way Persephone’s mother, Demeter, would agree. So, a plan was hatched by the brothers, and when Persephone was alone in a meadow, the earth opened up and Hades grabbed her.
Demeter was so distraught that she unleashed a great famine upon the earth, demanding Persephone’s return. Zeus backed Demeter, but Hades tricked Persephone into eating some pomegranate seeds. Since she ate the fruit of the underworld, she was destined to spend at least three months a year down below.
Hades was also known to rule the underworld with an iron fist. To do so, he enlisted some unquestionably evil characters, including Cerberus, the three-headed dog monster with a snake’s tail that ate any souls that tried to escape.
Hades needed Cerberus because the underworld was home to the souls that did not deserve life in the Isles of the Blest. Hades had to keep the bad souls where they belonged. In this capacity, he was heartless and unsympathetic.
But one abduction, some pomegranate seeds, an evil dog, and a job as a jailkeeper don’t amount to a very evil resume, at least not comparatively. What truly puts Hades on this list is simply that he was in charge of what can seem like the cruelest fate of all—the eternal separation from those we love.
Eris
Eris is the goddess of chaos, but is chaos really evil? Chaos in a Benny Hill sense can be fun for everyone, after all. But Eris enjoyed a more bloody chaos. She loved battles for their own sake, not caring who won or lost.
She was also terrifyingly tenacious in her quests. In the Iliad, Homer describes her as one who “rages incessantly,” whose “fury never tires.”
A busybody with bloodlust is a surefire candidate for any evil gods list.
Eris had particular influence on the Trojan War, which she more or less started with her golden apple trick. When she threw the golden apple with the inscription “to the fairest” into a wedding, the goddesses Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena all assumed the apple was for them.
Poor Paris, the prince of Troy, was called upon to settle this dispute, and after diplomacy failed, he succumbed to a bribe by Aphrodite. Aphrodite offered him Helen, the undisputed fairest human woman, and in exchange, Paris proclaimed Aphrodite to be the fairest of the goddesses.
To the absolute delight of Eris, this sets off the Trojan War when Paris takes Helen with him back to Troy. Eris spends much of the war egging on both sides then savoring the battles she instigates.
Eris’s gift for mayhem did not go unnoticed by the other gods. Both Zeus and Hera used her to start or extend conflicts, and she’s associated with many other wars. When Hera, who could be evil incarnate when she wanted to be, outsourced her evildoing, she selected the most evil god she could think of. She selected Eris.
Nemesis
Nemesis is another borderline case. She was certainly cruel, but as the goddess of vengeance, at least some of the cruelty she inflicted was deserved.
Perhaps her most famous act of vengeance is what she inflicted upon Narcissus. When Narcissus cruelly rebuffed one of his many suitors, the suitor complained to Nemesis. Nemesis then placed her infamous curse: Narcissus would fall in love with his own reflection. Narcissus did so and wasted away in misery, staring at his own reflection in a pool.
Is that evil? Or is that justice? Probably somewhere in between, since excessive vanity is pretty annoying but doesn’t seem like a capital offense.
Similarly, Nemesis was called upon to avenge the goddess Artemis when Aura, one of her handmaids, questioned Artemis’s virginity. In retribution, Nemesis had Aura’s virginity taken from her via a violent rape. That also seems like a bit of an overreaction.
In the end, I think Nemesis belongs on this list because she was too good (too evil) at her job.
Typhon
Typhon clearly wins the award for having the most evil appearance. He is described as having between fifty and a hundred snake heads, some of which emitted fire, others horrific sounds. Some accounts give him wings, others give him snake coils for legs, and he may have been as tall as two thousand feet. The bottom line is he was horrific.
But was he truly evil on the inside? Typhon was brought into the world by Gaia in retaliation for Zeus’s victory over Cronus. Typhon did his duty and attacked Zeus and fought him for the throne, but considering his appearance and the tools he had at his disposal, what else could he do?
Unfortunately, there were unintended casualties. The war between the two brought down fire and lightning from the sky, tidal waves from the sea, volcanic eruptions, and shockwaves that were felt all the way down in the underworld.
When Typhon was finally vanquished by Zeus, he was buried, according to some legends, under Mount Etna, where he literally seethed. The raging fire that still emits from his many heads is what accounts for so much volcanic activity around Etna and all of Sicily.
These volcanoes and earthquakes were a real source of fear and death for ancient Greeks, which is why Typhon, despite simply fulfilling his calling, joins the rank of the evil gods. In fact, Mount Etna still erupts, so Typhon continues to haunt us to this day.
Cronus
We could probably make the case for Cronus’s inclusion on this list in one sentence: he ate five of his six children.
But there’s more! He also castrated his father.
Cronus had a reason for both transgressions—his insatiable desire for power. He attacked his father to take over the throne and ate his children because he was told they would similarly rebel against him.
Luckily, the sixth child of Cronus, Zeus, was born and raised in secret, eventually forcing his father to vomit up his siblings. Proving the prophecy correct, Zeus and his regurgitated brothers and sisters waged a long war against Cronus and his cronies and eventually had him overthrown.
I think we can all agree, however, that any child-eating, father-castrating god belongs on this list, regardless of his reasons.
Characteristics of Evil Greek Gods
Evil Greek Gods can more less be classified into three groups: those that sought vengeance, those that sought power, and those that sought destruction and chaos.
Evil Gods of Vengeance and Retribution
In this category, I’d put Hera and, of course, Nemesis. Hera could actually be quite pleasant, but if you cheated with her husband or professed someone else was more beautiful, she would unleash immeasurable evil to get back at you.
For Nemesis, revenge was her actual job. Gods and mortals would approach her when they had been slighted and seek her help in exacting her revenge. She was good at it, too! So good, in fact, that she made the evil list.
Evil Gods of Ambition
For a lot of evil gods, their motivation was simply power. They wanted to be at the top of the heap and didn’t care whose toes they stepped on (or ate.)
Cronus is the poster child for evil gods in general and for ambitious gods in particular. He would do anything to gain power, like castrating his father with an enormous sickle, and anything to maintain his power, like swallowing his own children and then waging a ferocious war against them after they’d been regurgitated.
Hades also belongs in this category. Once he was named lord of the underworld, he took that job extremely seriously and proved he was up to the task. His power was profound—he maintained the border between the living and the dead—and he relished it. He showed no mercy.
Evil Gods of Chaos and Destruction
Some evil gods just mess stuff up, either for the heck of it, like Eris, or as a way to (literally) blow off steam, like Typhon.
Unlike gods that sought revenge or lusted for power, Eris simply enjoyed a good fight. Whether it was between goddesses who all considered themselves fairer than the rest or mortals in actual combat, Eris did everything she could to instigate and intensify chaos.
Typhon, on the other hand, started with ambition—he wished to take the heavenly throne from Zeus—but ended as a god of destruction. His deep simmering anger at his loss to Zeus wreaked havoc upon the earthly world in the form of volcanoes and earthquakes.
Are All “Evil” Gods Truly Evil?
As we look through our list, it’s safe to say that some gods did unquestionably evil things, particularly the baby eater and father castrater. But other than Eris, who just seemed to get a thrill out of chaos, all the other evil gods had justifications for their behavior.
Some, like Nemesis and Hades, just seemed to be doing their jobs, although they were perhaps a bit overzealous.
Typically, the rest of them were trying to protect something, such as power, reputation, or marriage. When these things came under threat, they often reacted with unspeakable cruelty. Even Cronus the baby eater was merely trying to protect his throne. Others, such as Typhon, acted out of ambition but never thought about the unintended consequences and casualties.
Cultural norms change over the centuries, and although baby eating has probably always been taboo, a lot of what the Greek gods did in the name of retribution or ambition weren’t far from the realities many Greeks saw around them.
While we remember ancient Greece for its many advances in philosophy, mathematics, and governance, there was also significant warfare, power struggles, rebellions, and more.[2] The “evil” depicted in Greek mythology probably wouldn’t seem quite as evil in the context of the era.
The Dark Side of Greek Gods: A Final Reflection
Greek mythology covered everything, from the generosity of the gods who gave love, festivals, and harvests to the cruelty of the gods who could take everything away without an ounce of remorse.
The fact that the character of the Greek gods demonstrated the full spectrum of human character in such a dramatic way is one of the reasons Greek mythology still resonates centuries later. And it is most often the evil in Greek mythology that give us the greatest lessons in morality.[3]
What did we learn from the gods above?
Don’t take your thirst for power, vengeance, or chaos too far. And for god’s sake, don’t consume your children, no matter how many times they leave their skateboard on the stairs.
References
- Cunningham, Vinson. 2019. “How the Idea of Hell has Shaped the Way We Think.” The New Yorker
- Morris, Ian, and Barry Powell. 2021. The Greeks: History, Culture and Society. Oxford University Press.
- Kelsey, Morton T. 1974. “The Mythology of Evil.” Journal of Religion and Health 13 (1): 7–18.