The Gods and Goddesses of the Greeks were at times more like mortals then there divine nature supposed them to be. At times they were jealous, and spiteful. They did things to people to prove that they were better then them. When Marcyas challenged Apollo to a musical contest, he won and then burned Marcyas at the stake forever challenging a God. Hermes was a trickster, Zeus' right hand man, constantly setting people up. As a baby, he stole his brother's cattle, and tricked him into allowing him to keep them in return for a lyre. When Athena was challenged to weaving contest, she won, and turned the loser into a spider. The people feared the "wrath of the gods" so extensively that they would do anything the ward themselves against it. But the Gods weren't all bad; there were times, when rather than be spiteful and childish, the gods acted like the supreme beings they were supposed to be.
             But Athena did good things to, when Peruses, was sent to kill Medusa, she told him how to do it, and helped him by giving him a shield. When Hercules went mad, and proceeded to kill his children, she threw a rock at him before he attempted to kill his mortal father. She was known more to help people out, then to hurt them, unlike many other goddesses (like Hera). Apollo had some horrible tendencies but at the same time he was the god of things like music, light, respect for law, and youthful good health. Hermes might have been a cleaver trickster, but he was also very athletic and invented boxing and the footrace. He also persuaded Calypso to release Odysseus, when was held captive and gave them the herb that would reverse the spell, when Odysseus and his mean were turned into pigs.
             The gods did have some humanistic tendencies but they did do things beyond our understanding and control.
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