Porphyry wrote an interesting piece on how to understand the allegories contained in Art. These might help us to understand the Gods of yester year and inspire us to re-find them in a more modern context as Erebos suggested in his previous article.
I rewrote this piece which is a summary on Porphyry’s Images. I hope it assists you in making the necessary connection to the Divine, and may it happen through interpretation of the arts and the application thereof to your reality.
In “Images” Porphyry teaches us to understand and interpret the unspoken qualities of the Gods by simply looking at the art and statues of the Ancient Greeks as one would read a book.
The Supreme Deity’s nature is Light and dwells in the atmosphere of ethereal fire. It is invisible but perceptible in Life and pure as gold is pure and cannot be defiled.
Men molded their Gods in human form to show God’s rationality, perfect beauty, of various shapes and age, some male some female, and so forth, to represent the diversity of the Gods. The Olympian Gods were white and to them was assigned the sphere of the cosmos and the Sun and the moon, eternity, the motion of the heaven, the areas and cycles therein. Black marble was utilized to signify Divinities’ invisibility; i.e. the Gods of the Underworld.
The authors of the Orphic Hymns saw Zeus as the Mind of the World. He created everything therein and contained the world within himself.
“Zeus was the first, Zeus last, the lightning's lord,
Zeus head, Zeus centre, all things are from Zeus.
Zeus born a male, Zeus virgin undefiled;
Zeus the firm base of earth and starry heaven;
Zeus sovereign, Zeus alone first cause of all:
One power divine, great ruler of the world,
One kingly form, encircling all things here,
Fire, water, earth, and ether, night and day;
Wisdom, first parent, and delightful Love:
For in Zeus' mighty body these all lie.
His head and beauteous face the radiant heaven
Reveals and round him float in shining waves
The golden tresses of the twinkling stars.
On either side bulls' horns of gold are seen,
Sunrise and sunset, footpaths of the gods.
His eyes the Sun, the Moon's responsive light;
His mind immortal ether, sovereign truth,
Hears and considers all; nor any speech,
Nor cry, nor noise, nor ominous voice escapes
The ear of Zeus, great Kronos' mightier son:
Such his immortal head, and such his thought.
His radiant body, boundless, undisturbed
In strength of mighty limbs was formed thus:
The god's broad-spreading shoulders, breast and back
Air's wide expanse displays; on either side
Grow wings, wherewith throughout all space he flies.
Earth the all-mother, with her lofty hills,
His sacred belly forms; the swelling flood
Of hoarse resounding Ocean girds his waist.
His feet the deeply rooted ground upholds,
And dismal Tartarus, and earth's utmost bounds.
All things he hides, then from his heart again
In godlike action brings to gladsome light.”

As we can easily perceive, Zeus was the entire existence. The entire world. Zeus is animal of animals, God of Gods. He is the Mind which brings forth all things. By his thoughts he creates all. How could the ancients depict this Life, Intelligence and forethought? Through using the Sphere.
Zeus wrought all things because of Mind, he brought all things to completion by generative laws, so man represented Zeus in human form, seated, steadfast and powerful. His torso is bare because he is manifested in the intellectual and the heavenly parts of the world. He is clothed from his waist down to demonstrate that he is invisible to all things that lie below. He holds his scepter in his left hand closest to the body, for there lays the heart, the seat of Goodness and Spiritual Intelligence, the most commanding and intelligent organ. The creative mind was viewed as the sovereign of the world. In Zeus right hand held an eagle to demonstrate his mastery of all the Gods in the Air/Olympus. Zeus was victorious over all things.
Hera was made Zeus’ wife because her name, demonstrated the ethereal/subtle air and aerial power. Hera was the power of the whole air as the origin of her name denotes. Leto represented the sub-lunar air which is affected by light and darkness, as she was oblivion caused by insensibility in sleep and because souls begotten below the moon are accompanied by forgetfulness of the Divine. She is the Mother of Apollo and Artemis, both sources of light during the day and night.
Hestia was assigned the ruling principle of the power of the earth. Represented as a voluptuous virgin she was normally placed on the hearth and presided over the sacred fires of the city and those of the family. She was the productive power of sustenance.
The rocky mountain outcrops were named Rhea and the plain and fertile lands were named Demeter. As a sign of Demeter’s productiveness they crowned her statue with poppies and ears of corn. By Zeus Demeter gave birth to Kore, meaning the production of shoots from the seeds of plants.
The seeds sowed in the earth had power. Kore was the seminal power. Pluto, the sun passing under the earth, traversing the unseen and netherworld at the time of the winter solstice, carried off Kore, leaving mother Demeter alone and lamenting her darling’s loss.
Dionysus was the power which produced the hard-shelled fruits, fruit and plants in general. Both Dionysus and Kore bore horns. Kore carried with her the symbols of the plants which grew amongst the crops. Dionysus had an effeminate form representing the union of male and female and the transcendence of both.
Pluto, god of the Underworld, wore a helmet which signified that he was invisible and belonged to an unseen realm. His scepter was short and was the emblem of his Kingdom in the Netherworld. His dog, Cerberus, had three heads which indicated the three divisions in the generation of fruits: sowing, quickening through germination and finally growth. The three heads also represented sunrise, midday and sunset. By carrying away Kore Pluto provides for the earth’s fertility.
Attis was the blossoms which appear in early Spring and fall off before complete fertilization. This was the reason why Attis had to suffer castration. Adonis, on the other hand, was the symbol of the cutting of the perfectly ripened corn.
Silenus represented the power or movement of the wind under which the entire world benefits. He wears a wreath of flowers on his head and this refers to the precession of the equinoxes and his revolution of the heavens, whilst the hair in his legs and feet indicate that the wind is denser nearer to the earth.
Themis is the power of prophecy and can predict what is determined for every person. She utters oracles. Priapus, the seminal law, descends into her bosom. His influence on dry crops is named Kore and on shell-fruits is called Dionysus. Kore is abducted by Pluto (the Sun going) and carried underground at sowing time. Dionysus sprouts according to the power which beneath the earth.
Silenius is also the frenzy which overwhelms a Bacchante. As a Satyr he is also the impulse which excites to lust.
Oceanus is the productive power of water. It is also symbolized as Tethys. Acheolous is drinking water, Poseidon the waters of the sea and Amphitrite that which makes the sea. The powers of water are called Nymphs and Nereids.
Hephaestus is the power of fire. He has the form of a man and wears a blue cap as a symbol of the revolution of the heavens as the purest fires are to be found only there. The fires brought down to earth are less intense and need to be fed and supported by matter. For this reason Hephaestus is lame and needs matter to support him.

The power of the Sun is called Apollo. Nine Muses sing to his lyre and they represent the sublunar sphere, the seven spheres of the planets and the fixed stars. He is crowned with laurel; this plant is full of fire and crackles whilst burning and represents the God’s domain over the prophetic arts. Heracles is the Sun who wards off the evils of the earth. His name “Hera – cles” derives from his clashing with the air as he moves through the 12 labours or the 12 houses of the zodiac from east to west. He bears a club and wears a lion’s skin to denote his strength and dominion in the sign of Leo (August) the hottest month in the European continent.
Asclepius symbolizes healing power. He bears a staff around which two serpents wind themselves. They symbolize support and the preservation of body and soul as well as ascension during spiritual evolution.
However, it is as Dionysus that the fiery power of the solar ambulation or revolution ripens the crops.
The fiery power of the Sun’s revolving and circling motion and universal orbits, whereby he ripens the crops, is called Dionysus. He makes the seasons, the tides and times.
Pluto, dressed in purple, presides over the gifts of wealth and represents the Sun’s power over agriculture. He has the power to destroy and represents the absence of light. His broken scepter shows us that his power is underground.
Artemis, the Moon, true to her name, cuts through the air. Though a virgin, she presides over childbirth because of the power of the Moon over parturition. Apollo is the Sun. His sister, Athena is the Moon, for the Moon is a symbol of wisdom of which Athena with her large helmet represents. In her different phases the Moon is also Hecate, Selene or Diana Artemis. She wears a white robe, sandals and bears a lit torch. As the Goddess of the Full Moon she wears golden sandals and bears a basket which symbolizes the harvesting of crops which she makes grow in accordance to her phases and light.
The Crescent Moon represent the Goddess of the Hunt, and then she is portrayed carrying a bow. Kore and Dionyss also bear the lunar horns.

The Fates are three: Clotho (the generative power), Lachesis (the nutritive power) and Atropos (the Goddess’ inexorable Will). They refer to the powers of the Goddess. Kore and Dionysus both bear the lunar horns

Kronos (time) is slow and sluggishly cold represents the power of time. He is depicted as a grey-haired and bearded old man which takes into himself anything sprouting forth from him. Kronos ate his children and is the power of time reabsorbing everything it creates into itself. The Curetes or power of the seasons, attend Kronos, for Time moves on, through the Seasons.
The Hours are either Olympian (they open and close the gates in the air for the passage of the Sun) or Earthly, demarcating night and day and the seasons of the year.
To Ares belongs the fiery power of causing war and bloodshed. His power can bring both harm or benefit.
Aphrodite possesses the power of desire, fertility and generation of offspring. She is represented by a beautiful woman and is the power of generation and beauty of the evening star. Aphrodite, who rises from the constantly moving element of water, is surrounded by the seminal principle (foam). She veils her breasts and genitals to shield their powers, those being the powers of generation and nourishment.
Hermes is naked, strong, vigorous and represents the law which pervades all things. He is the messenger of the Gods, and represents reason and speech. He wears winged sandals and helmet. He is a solar symbol and is closely connected with the power of Love (Eros). Eros is the son of Hermes. Eros is the impulse of Love and desire.
The Universe is symbolized by Pan, and he bears the horns as symbols of the Sun and the Moon and the fawn skin symbolizes the stars in the heavens and the cosmos.
The Egyptians called the Demiurge Cneph. He had human form but his skin was dark blue. He bore a girdle and a scepter and was crowned with a royal wing to demonstrate that reason is hard to discover, being inconspicuous and hidden in secret. Because this power of discerning reasoning has the power to give life, he bears a scepter which demonstrates his kingship. From his mouth came forth an egg from which arose Ptah. He was seen as a flying man, feet bound together, wearing a multi-coloured cloak and on his head bearing a golden sphere. The bound feet represent the immobility of the earth, the colours the colours of Life and the golden sphere, because our planet is spherical.
The Sun was a man on a ship, set on the back of a crocodile. Just as the Sun moves across the waters the crocodile and boat travelled over the waters and through the air.
Isis was the celestial and terrestrial power of the earth. She is both because equality is the source of justice. The Moon was seen as the celestial earth and the earth on which we live and die, was the terrestrial earth. Isis is that which nourishes and raises the fruits of the earth and Osiris supplies the fructifying power, which the Ancient Egyptians lamented and propitiated when the Sun disappeared into the earth during the sowing season and as it was consumed by us for food.
The demiurge, in the Elysian Mysteries, was the hierophant dressed up in order to represent it, as the torch-bearer represented the Sun, the priest who stood by the altar represented the Moon and the sacred herald Hermes.
Egyptians did not believe the animals to be the Gods, but saw them as symbols of the Gods. Apis the bull was dedicated to the Moon bore both the signs of the Sun and the Moon, for the Moon irradiates the light it reflects from the Sun.

Reference:
http://classics.mit.edu/Porphyry/images.html