Greek mythology still grabs the modern consciousness. Apollo and Dionysos, Artemis and Aphrodite, Zeus and Hermes--but what exactly did these divinities stand for? A team of international scholars offer fresh insight into the making and meaning of Greek mythology. They recount the stories and significance of individual gods and ask to what extent cult, myth, and literary genre determine the nature of divinity. How do Greek gods function within a polytheistic pantheon, and what is their connection to the heroes of their myths? What is the influence of philosophy and in what way do the gods of late antiquity differ from those of classical Greece? This volume presents a synchronic and diachronic view of these characters in the decades before Christianity.