Greek mythology example, Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty, Ares was the god of war, Hades the ruler of the underworld, and Athena the goddess of wisdom and courage. Some gods, such as Apollo and Dionysus, revealed complex personalities and mixtures of functions, while others, such as Hestia (literally "hearth") and Helios (literally "sun"), were little more than personifications. The most impressive temples tended to be dedicated to a limited number of gods, who were the focus of large pan-Hellenic cults. It was, however, common for individual regions and villages to devote their own cults to minor gods. Many cities
Goddess movement of the Greek mythology such as the ritual year and annual sacrifice of the king were adopted as the basis to describe the goddess' aging and rejuvenation with the seasons. Myths from ancient cultures are often reinterpreted as new evidence comes to light. Reinterpretation becomes necessary because myths from religions that included goddesses, those after the Bronze Age, including Greek and Roman mythology, are believed to have a patriarchal bias. These new interpretations by Goddess movement authors and women scholars help to provide a truer mirror of the social set up of the period in which the story was written.