Olympus
Ancient Greek deities linked to major arcana including Pan, Apollo, and Poseidon.
by Luca Raimondo, Manfredi Toraldo · 2002
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The record
Each of the twenty-two cards of the majors is associated with a one of the many deities of the Ancient Greeks. Some divinities have been linked with an entirely suitable major arcanum - Pan as the Fool, Apollo as the Sun - while the linkage of others seems more of a stretch. Poseidon as the Hermit and Demeter as Temperance seem unusual, but most of all, Hestia as the Tower. The traditional card of destruction or violent change is the goddess of the hearth 'who taught man how to build houses', and XVI has the suggested meanings of useful thought, simplicity, and adequacy. (Different!) The meanings of the minor arcana have been altered from the norm, and the suits are atypical. Instead of Cups, Pentacles, Wands and Swords, we have instead suits of Places, Objects, Creatures and Heroes. (Though the titles are printed on the cards using the standard suit names.) Ancient Greece is a basis of modern Western thought, so of course the pantheon, myths and heroes are familiar to most. Sparta, Athens, Odysseus, Jason, Midas and Narcissus. Athena's Shield, the Trojan Horse, Apollo's Lyre, Cyclops (the Ace of Wands), Cerberus, the Sphinx, Medusa, Pegasus, the list goes on. The little white book
The cards
