How about a little overview today? An overview of the fertility gods of Hellenismos. I'm going to start off with a lesser known deity: Priapos (Πριαπος), protector of sheep, goats, bees, the vine and of all garden produce. He was depicted with a huge male member, and can be petitioned for aid with any issues regarding the male genitalia. He was native to the Mysian city of Lampsakos on the Hellespont but the ancient Hellenes adopted the God as the son of either Hermes or Dionysos. His mother was usually Aphrodite. Fun fact: primitive statues of Priapos were traditionally set-up in vegetable plots to promote fertility with the added benefit of functioning as a type of 'scarecrow' scaring away birds.


Rhea (Ρεα), wife of Kronos, is a female fertility Goddess--amongst other things. She also looks after mothers and children, and is one of the great mother Goddesses in the pantheon having obviously given birth to the Olympians. Anything female-related (including issues with fertility) can be put before Her. Hera, by the way, has many of the same domains as Her mother--logical as she is the new generation's mother figure.

Aphrodite is also a fertility Goddess. She along with Zeus, Hera, Eileithyia and Hymenaios were the Theoi Gamelioi (Gods of Marriage) who presided over the wedding rites. She was invoked as the Goddess of the consummation of marriage and the fertility of the bride.

Speaking of which, Eileithyia (Ειλειθυια) is the Goddess of childbirth and labour pains. According to some there were two Eileithyiai, one who furthered birth and one who protracted the labour. Her name means 'she who comes to aid'.

Demeter and Persephone were regarded as fertility Goddesses in the Eleusinian Tradition, and during Their Thesmophoria festival, women actively asked for fertility from Them. Demeter, especially, is obviously also very important for the growth of plant life.

Dionysos is mostly associated with the fertility of the soil, and especially in regards to the grape vine, but human fertility is amongst His descriptors. Pan is regarded as much the same, as are many of the Satyrs and daimons connected to Them--like Tykhon, Konisalos, and Orthannes.

Phanes (Φανης) is the Protogenos of procreation in the Orphic cosmogony. He is the primal generator of life, and was the driving force behind reproduction in the early cosmos. Phanes was hatched from the world egg when it was split into its constituent parts by the ancient gods Khronos and Ananke. Arguably, He still drives the process of reproduction, be it in plants, animals, or humans.