How did the gods of the Greek pantheon differ from humans?

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The Greek Gods were immortal and possessed powers beyond the average human. One of the most important aspects of ancient Greek mythology was not how different the deities were from mankind, but how similar. In Christianity, certain emotions are taboo: rage, jealousy; lust. However, in Greek mythology, those same emotions that modern-day religions are trying to suppress were emphasized in the Gods. Unlike our modern view of God in Western tradition, the Olympian Gods experienced extremely intensified jealousy, rage, and also lust. One need only remember the war against Troy that ensured after Paris slighted Hera and Athena.

Added: Greek concepts of gods are quite different from most modern views. They wrestled with whether their gods were omniscient (all-knowing) and they certainly weren't omnipotent (all-powerful) -- even Zeus (who came closest). For the Greeks, it was POWER that made the gods gods -- not morality. Their gods weren't "good" (or necessarily bad). They were amoral ... beyond human morality. "Weird" in the old sense of that: eerie. So yes, like humans ... but still unlike (I agree and disagree with the poster above). Mostly, it's just a very different concept of divinity.

In terms of physical differences ...

1) They were undying (immortal), but there is some suggestion that they could be killed under certain circumstances (albeit very rarely). The gods were afraid of Zeus for a reason!

2) They COULD be wounded, at least by each other and/or the heroes (and demigods).

3) If wounded, they bled "ichor," a substance that reputedly smelled Very Bad, and was poison to a human. The color of ichor is unclear, but it may have been yellow-greenish (hold all Vulcan jokes please).

4) They ate special food called ambrosia and nectar. According to some stories, these foods held the secret to their immortality, although according to other myths, at least consuming ambrosia by humans was poison/fatal. Demigods (mortal humans with one divine parent) like Achilles could eat it, and doing so was like eating super-energy bars. Ambrosia appears to be semi-solid, but nectar was made into wine. (There aren't really any clear descriptions of this stuff.)

5) The gods could and did eat normal human food too, at various points, although after the Prometheus Incident (tricking Zeus to pick the wrong sacrificial pile), the gods reputedly wouldn't touch meat. So they were ancient vegetarians. ;>

6) The gods looked like humans except for a few distinct differences:
A) They were TALL.
B) They were all beautiful (except Hephaistos), albeit to differing degrees and in differing ways.
C) They SHONE. Yup. These were the Original Sparkly Vampires! (Sorry, couldn't resist the reference.) They didn't actually *sparkle*, they just shone in the sunlight.

7) They gods were able to alter their forms, so they were shape-changers. They might appear to humans as anyone. This was WHY Greeks sometimes asked strangers, "Are you a god?" One had to be careful lest one accidentally offend them! (See what happened to the pirates who tried to kidnap Dionysos!) The gods appear to have been able to become other humans or animals, or even (for Zeus) a shower of gold! They could also change *others*. The mortal priestess Io was turned into a cow by Zeus, for instance, to hide her from a wrathful Hera. (She was one of Zeus's many one-night stands.)

8) The "arrows of the gods" rarely miss ... e.g., when the male gods slept with someone, especially a mortal someone, she almost ALWAYS gets pregnant.

9) Last ... the children of gods are not immortal! Not usually. They're "demigods" -- the heros -- and have special gifts (usually faster, stronger, smarter, etc.). But relatively few mortals became immortals (apotheosized) other than by being "placed in the heavens." The two most famous are Dionysos and Herakles (Hercules). The former was better known as a god -- was in fact one of the more powerful Great Gods -- while the latter was better known as a hero.

First answer by Elcompa. Last edit by Kenoshamaensa. Contributor trust: 1 [recommend contributorrecommended]. Question popularity: 54 [recommend question].