Demigods or half-gods are the descendants of a god and mortal. They are consistently recognized for their bravery, governance, and outstanding power. Demigods have skills and superpowers that are more than humans but to a lesser extent than gods. They have varied capabilities, depending on their parent-god. These could include super-strength, durability, intelligence, and healing. But who are these Greek Demigods? Keep reading to find out.
Who Are the Greek Demigods
Achilles

Son of Peleus – mortal king of the Myrmidons and Thetis – a Nereid or a sea nymph, Achilles was the ultimate Trojan War warrior of the Greek Demigods. When he was an infant, his mother did everything to make sure he becams immortal. She burned him many times and dipped him into the River Styx. It was said the waters of the said river can make anyone invulnerable. Submerging his entire body, she held him by the ankle, making that part dry and vulnerable.
He was instrumental in the Greeks’ victory in the Trojan War. He slew tons of enemies, but refused to fight after an argument with King Agamemnon. When Hector started winning the war for the Trojans, Achilles’ best friend Patroclus wore his armor to boost the spirit of their troops. Hector killed Patroclus in battle, thinking he was Achilles.
His best friend’s death led Achilles to fight again, killing Hector and dragging his body around with his chariot. Hector’s younger brother Paris then killed Achilles using Apollo’s arrow, aiming at his vulnerable heel, killing the Greeks’ greatest hero of all time.
In today’s medicine, the Achilles tendon is the tendon that extends up the calf from the heel. But the term Achilles’ heel is only used to mean someone or something’s “weakest point”.
Aeneas
Son of goddess Aphrodite and a mortal cattle farmer named Anchises, Aeneas was a Trojan hero in both Greek and Roman mythology. His mother took this Greek Demigod to Mount Ida when he was an infant and when he was five, he was returned to his human father.
Aeneas was a Dardanian leader, an ally of the Trojans. He was also Hector’s second cousin and primary lieutenant. Aeneas was frequently helped by his mother during his battles. He was also Apollo’s favorite. Even Poseidon who favored the Greeks was on his side when he battled Achilles.
According to Aeneid, Aeneas wasn’t killed when Troy fell. With the help of the gods, he and his group called the Aeneas, journeyed to Italy, and became the first Roman forefathers.
Heracles

Son of Zeus and Alcmene – a mortal descendant of Perseus, Heracles was the strongest human and the greatest hero of all Greek Demigods. Vice and virtue, two emblematic characters, visited him during his youth. They gave him two choices to live his life – happy, leisurely, and pleasant or challenging, chaotic, but glorious, and he chose the latter.
Hera was jealous that he was Zeus’ favorite son, so she tortured him all his life. There were many great stories told about him, but the most famous is the Twelve Labors. Hera ordered Lyssa, the spirit of madness to induce Heracles, making him kill his own family. As punishment, the Oracle of Delphi told him to go to King Eurystheus and do as he was told. The king then gave him twelve labors to complete, which were all impossibly dangerous tasks:
- Slay the Nemean lion
- Slay the nine-headed Lernaean Hydra
- Capture the Ceryneian Hind
- Capture the Erymanthian Boar
- Clean the Augean Stables in a single day
- Slay the Stymphalian birds
- Capture the Cretan bull
- Steal the Mares of Diomedes
- Obtain the bridle of Hippolyta, the Queen of the Amazonians
- Obtain and herd the cattle of the monster Geryon
- Steal the golden apples of the Hesperides
- Capture and bring back Cerberus, the three-headed guardian dog of the underworld.
After completing the twelve labors, he eventually gained acceptance into Olympus. There, he became immortal and married Hera’s daughter.
Perseus

Several generations before the famous Heracles was born, there was Perseus. Also the son of Zeus, this Greek Demigod’s mother is Danae, daughter of the Acrisius, king of Argos. King Acrisius locked up his daughter because an oracle told him that his daughter’s son will kill him in the future. Zeus came to Danae’s enclosure thru the form of a golden rainfall.
Perseus became legendary and famous for slaying beasts and monsters. He was sent by the king of Seriphos on this quest to bring Medusa’s head, whose hair was made of poisonous snakes. Athena sent him to Hesperides to get weapons. He was also given an adamantine sword from Zeus, a helm of darkness from Hades, winged sandals from Hermes, and a polished shield from Athena. The polished shield saved him from Medusa’s stone gaze.
Theseus

Son of Poseidon and Aethra – mortal princess of Troezen, Theseus was a legendary Greek hero and Athens’ earliest king. He faced many great adventures and battled terrible villains and foes. He was the perfect Athenian embodiment – a man of action, firm to aid his city the best he could, and a steadfast guardian of fairness.
One of his biggest encounters was battling the Minotaur – half bull and half man-beast living in a labyrinth under King Minos’ castle. Back then, seven beautiful young men and women from Athens were being sacrificed to the Minotaur every seven years. King Minos’ daughter fell in love with Theseus and helped him and his men kill the Minotaur and come out of the labyrinth alive using a silk thread and instructions from the labyrinth’s creator.
Theseus once journeyed to the underworld along with his friend who was pursuing Persephone. They got stuck and stayed there for a long time. His cousin Heracles came to the underworld to do the last of the twelve labors, which was to capture the underworld’s three-headed dog. He rescued Theseus at the same time.
Odysseus
Odysseus was the great-grandson of one of the twelve Olympian Gods – Hermes. He was Ithaca’s most intelligent king and strategist. He’s also famous Greek explorer. Odysseus fought alongside Achilles in the Trojan War. When Achilles died, Odysseus came up with the idea of the Trojan Horse, which was the trick that led the Spartans to defeat the Greeks.
On his way home at the end of the war, Odysseus and his men encountered many obstacles. It was a 10-year-long journey recounted in Odyssey, Homer’s epic poem. They came to the island of Lotus-eaters, where his men became mad after eating the said plants. They met and blinded a man-eating cyclops, and faced the wrath of its father, Poseidon. He rescued his men who were turned into swine on the island of an enchantress. They faced cannibalistic giants, the Cattle of the Sun, two immortal monsters, and Sirens.
He alone survived all of this, and he came to the island of Calypso where he stayed for years. Hermes was eventually sent to convince Calypso to let Odysseus go so he could come home to his wife and son in Ithaca.
Dionysus

Also called Bacchus in Rome, Dionysus was Zeus’ son to a mortal named Semele. His mother was blasted with Zeus’ thunderbolts when he tried to appear to her in his real form. Zeus saved his infant son, sewing him up in this thigh until he’s mature enough to be born. Being born from him, Dionysus instantly became immortal.
Hera, furious that Dionysus wasn’t killed along with his mother, set up the Titans to slay him this time. The Titans tore him to pieces, but Rhea saved and brought him back. Zeus then sent Dionysus to the Nymphs for protection.
Dionysus went to the underworld to bring back his mother Semele. He is known as the god of wine, ecstasy, vegetation, and fertility. Festivals in honor of Dionysus are held when vines start bearing leaves in spring.
Orpheus
Son of the god Apollo or Thracian king Oeagrus, Orpheus’s mother was Calliope, a muse who taught him his early singing verses. He was a musician, a philosopher, and a Thracian Bard.
In their quest for the golden fleece, Orpheus saved the Argonauts from the sirens’ bewitching songs. The sirens of the sea drew sailors to the sea, and none of them would come back. Orpheus helped by playing a louder and more pleasing song with his lyre.
His wife died on their wedding day from viper venom. He became so sad and played the most mournful yet beautiful songs that touched the hearts of Persephone and Hades. They told him that he could have his beloved wife back. All he needed to do was to guide her through the underworld back to the living world, without looking at her.
He failed as he couldn’t resist looking at her and checking if she was still with him through the journey. This made him more sorrowful, spending the rest of his life composing and singing heartfelt, lovely songs. He was killed by the Maenads who once were his fans but didn’t like that he rejected them. He happily traveled to the underworld to reunite with his beloved wife.
Minos
According to Homer in his Odyssey, Minos was one of Zeus’ three sons with Europa, the princess of Phoenicia. Later he became the king of Crete, reigning after the Trojan War for three generations. He was the creator of Cretan’s navy and the writer of the Cretan constitution.
Minos once asked the god Poseidon to send him a sign that he was fit to rule by sending him a white bull that he could sacrifice. Poseidon did just that but when he saw the white bull, he decided it was too precious and wanted to keep it for himself. He sacrificed a different bull in its place, and Poseidon got mad. He cursed Minos’ wife to fall in love with the white bull and she gave birth to a half-human, half-bull creature called the Minotaur. A labyrinth was built underneath his castle to hide and keep it.
Minos’ athletic son Androgeus joined in contests, and after winning all, Athens’ king became jealous and killed him. Enraged, Minos asked the gods to curse Athens with famine and plague. The curse could only be lifted if Athens would sacrifice seven young men and women to the Minotaur after.
When he died, the Olympian gods highly esteemed him, making him one of the judges of the underworld. He was one of three judges, and he gave his decision whenever the two other judges were in doubt.
Bellerophon
Bellerophon was the son of Poseidon and a mortal named Eurynome, whom Athena trained with intelligence and humor to meet the gods. Aside from Perseus, Bellerophon was one of the demi-gods who could tame and ride Pegasus, the winged horse.
He rode Pegasus as he faced and won his many battles. Bellerophon was accused of raping Proitos’ wife, king of Tiryns. Proitos sent him to his father-in-law, Iobates, king of Lycia. Iobates then sent him to kill the Chimera, a fire-breathing monster that’s part lion, part snake, and part goat. Pegasus flew on top of the Chimera, as Bellerophon shot his arrows onto it. As it weakened, he struck his spear in its mouth with a lump of lead attached to the end of it.
The lead melted in its fire-breathing mouth, pouring down its throat, solidifying its organs, and eventually killing it. Surprised that he survived, Iobates then sent Bellerophon to fight the warlike people Solymoi. Pegasus flew above the Solymoi as Bellerophon dropped heavy boulders, killing them all.
After this victory, he was sent another impossible task, this time to defeat the Amazons, which he also won. He also battled Carian pirates and emerged victorious. Iobates set up an ambush by his men, but Poseidon helped him by flooding the Xanthian Plain. He was then convinced that all the accusations against Bellerophon aren’t true.
Bellerophon’s fall came when he attempted to fly with Pegasus to Mount Olympus and take a place among the gods. Zeus sent an insect to bite Pegasus in the ear, making the winged horse frantic and accidentally throwing Bellerophon back down to earth. Pegasus continued to fly up to Mount Olympus while Bellerophon became crippled, wandering the earth alone until he died.