<P> Images existed on pottery and religious artwork that were interpreted and more likely, misinterpreted in many diverse myths and tales . A few fragments of these works survive in quotations by Neoplatonist philosophers and recently unearthed papyrus scraps . One of these scraps, the Derveni Papyrus now proves that at least in the fifth century BC a theogonic - cosmogonic poem of Orpheus was in existence . </P> <P> The first philosophical cosmologists reacted against, or sometimes built upon, popular mythical conceptions that had existed in the Greek world for some time . Some of these popular conceptions can be gleaned from the poetry of Homer and Hesiod . In Homer, the Earth was viewed as a flat disk afloat on the river of Oceanus and overlooked by a hemispherical sky with sun, moon, and stars . The Sun (Helios) traversed the heavens as a charioteer and sailed around the Earth in a golden bowl at night . Sun, earth, heaven, rivers, and winds could be addressed in prayers and called to witness oaths . Natural fissures were popularly regarded as entrances to the subterranean house of Hades and his predecessors, home of the dead . Influences from other cultures always afforded new themes . </P> <P> According to Classical - era mythology, after the overthrow of the Titans, the new pantheon of gods and goddesses was confirmed . Among the principal Greek gods were the Olympians, residing on Mount Olympus under the eye of Zeus . (The limitation of their number to twelve seems to have been a comparatively modern idea .) Besides the Olympians, the Greeks worshipped various gods of the countryside, the satyr - god Pan, Nymphs (spirits of rivers), Naiads (who dwelled in springs), Dryads (who were spirits of the trees), Nereids (who inhabited the sea), river gods, Satyrs, and others . In addition, there were the dark powers of the underworld, such as the Erinyes (or Furies), said to pursue those guilty of crimes against blood - relatives . In order to honor the Ancient Greek pantheon, poets composed the Homeric Hymns (a group of thirty - three songs). Gregory Nagy regards "the larger Homeric Hymns as simple preludes (compared with Theogony), each of which invokes one god". </P> <P> The gods of Greek mythology are described as having essentially corporeal but ideal bodies . According to Walter Burkert, the defining characteristic of Greek anthropomorphism is that "the Greek gods are persons, not abstractions, ideas or concepts". Regardless of their underlying forms, the Ancient Greek gods have many fantastic abilities; most significantly, the gods are not affected by disease, and can be wounded only under highly unusual circumstances . The Greeks considered immortality as the distinctive characteristic of their gods; this immortality, as well as unfading youth, was insured by the constant use of nectar and ambrosia, by which the divine blood was renewed in their veins . </P>

Where were the greek gods thought to live