The Twelve Olympians were the supreme deities of the Greek pantheon who resided on Mount Olympus after overthrowing the Titans, led by the sky god Zeus and his queen Hera. This divine council governed all aspects of existence, featuring Poseidon (seas), Demeter (agriculture), Athena (wisdom and war), Apollo (light and music), Artemis (the hunt), Ares (war), Aphrodite (love and beauty), Hephaestus (fire and crafts), and Hermes (the messenger). The final seat was typically held by Hestia (hearth), though she is often replaced by Dionysus (wine) in later traditions, while Hades, despite his power, remained excluded from the twelve as he resided in the Underworld.
Although Hades is a brother to the other major gods and a member of the same divine generation, he is almost never counted among the Twelve Olympians. This is not due to a lack of power—as one of the “Big Three,” he is considered equal in rank to Zeus and Poseidon—but rather due to his residence. By definition, the “Olympians” are the deities who reside on Mount Olympus. Hades rarely left his dark realm and did not have a throne in the celestial palace. Instead of “Olympian,” he is classified as a chthonic deity, a term referring to gods of the earth or the subterranean world