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Greek Mythology Creation, Gods, And Minor Myths The Greek Story of Creation Chaos gives birth to Uranos (Heaven) and Ghea (Earth) Ghea gives birth to the Cyclopes, monsters with 100 hands and 50 heads (Hecatontries), and the titans: Cronos (time) and Rhea Ocean and Tethys Hyperion (sun) Mnemosyne (Memory) Themis (justice) Iapetus (who bore Atlas, Prometheus, and Epimetheus) A VERY Mean Act Uranos, fearing his children, attempts to stop Ghea from having more by shoving her children back into the womb (vast canyons of earth) Cronos rebels and castrates Uranos. The drops of blood form the Furies, who become responsible for vengeance. Cronos casts the remains into the sea and Aphrodite (love) is born from the sea foam Birth of the Gods Cronos marries Rhea, and have children: Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, and Hera Cronos, like Uranos, fears his children. He swallows them at the time of birth. Rhea hides Zeus to protect him and feeds Cronos a stone dressed in swaddling clothes instead Cronos regurgitates his children and Zeus leads them in the battle of the gods. The gods (with help from some of the creatures of the earth) win the battle and the titans assume secondary roles Creation Myth Zeus makes Hera his wife and they settle on Mt. Olympus with their siblings and their children: Ares, Athena, Apollo, Hermes, Artemis, and Hephaestus Mankind Zeus commissions Prometheus (forethought) and Epimetheus (afterthought) to populate the world. Epimetheus creates all the animals and gives them all of the physical attributes necessary for survival (fur, claws, fangs, gills, wings). Prometheus creates mortals with what was left over (clay) The Meat Trick Zeus argued with Prometheus over the sacrifices to the gods Prometheus gave Zeus a choice between two sacrifices. When animals had been killed, Prometheus offered two choices to Zeus In glistening fat, Prometheus hid the animal’s bones Under the animal’s stomach, he his the animal’s meat Zeus picked the fat and forever was denied the meat In anger, he denied man fire to cook this meat The Punishment of Prometheus Prometheus, on the side of man, steals fire from the gods and gives it to the mortals so that they may survive. As a punishment, Zeus chained Prometheus to a mountain where a giant eagle eats his liver every day Each night it would grow back Pandora Zeus asks Hephaestus to create Pandora, the first woman She was bestowed gifts from the gods (Pandora means “all gifts”) Clothes and looming ability from Athena Beauty and charm from Aphrodite The ability to lie persuasively from Hermes According to Hesiod, she had “thievish morals and the soul of a bitch” As revenge for the meat trick, Zeus delivered Pandora to the world with a mysterious jar Pandora’s “Box” Prometheus warned his brother about Pandora, but he was smitten by her After she was married, Pandora was warned to never open the jar When she did, all of the evils of the world flew out of the box All that was left was hope In the 16th Century, the Dutch author Erasmus mistranslated the Greek and called the jar a box The Metal Ages of Mankind The first humans were made of gold and existed alongside the titans There is no explanation where they came from The second age of man was created by Zeus out of silver They refused to make sacrifices to the gods and were wiped out The third age were made out of bronze They were so warlike that they wiped themselves out The Heroic Age The fourth age of man was the Heroic Age These were all demigods created by Zeus When they died, they became the constellations, companions of the gods, or lived on the Island of the Blessed The Iron Age The current human form was perfected in the Iron Age Zeus, in disguise, was disgusted to discover that these people practiced cannibalism and human sacrifice Zeus decided to destroy them, and (with the help of Poseidon) unleashed a terrible flood This killed everyone except two good people Deucalion and Pyrrha Deucalion, son of Prometheus, and Pyrrha, daughter of Pandora survived the flood Warned by Prometheus, Deucalion built a big boat After the flood, he sent a dove to search for land The ship eventually settled on a mountaintop Repopulating the Earth Deucalion and Pyrrha heard the voice of a goddess in a nearby cave telling them to throw their “mighty mother’s bones” over their shoulders Befuddled, they soon deduced that the goddess meant mother earth, and the bones were rocks The rocks turned into people One of these people was named Hellen (male); whose name became synonymous with Greeks (Hellenes) Zeus God of the sky, ruler of the gods Roman: Jupiter (Jove) Powers: Shape shifter, wields the thunderbolt Parents: Cronos and Rhea Symbols: The eagle, the oak tree, the lightning bolt Mate: Too many to list Children: At least 38 mortals and 7 gods Hera Goddess of marriage, childbirth, and the home; Queen of the gods Roman: Juno Powers: Can make people fall in love with her; protects married women Parents: Cronos and Rhea Symbols: The peacock, cow, pomegranate (symbol of marriage) Mate: Zeus Children: Ares, Hephaestus, Hebe Poseidon God of the sea, earthquakes, and horses Roman: Neptune Powers: Second in power only to Zeus; can cause earthquakes and tidal waves Parents: Cronos and Rhea Symbols: Trident, dolphins, and horses Mate: Amphitrite; had affairs with Medusa, Thoosa, and Aethra Children: Triton (half human, half fish), Polyphemus (Cyclopes), and others (Including Percy Jackson) Hades God of the underworld, the dead, and wealth Roman: Pluto Powers: None, but has some helpers such as Cerberus, Charon (boatman of the river Styx), Thanatos (death) and Hypnos (sleep) Parents: Cronos and Rhea Symbols: Cerberus, bident, precious metals Mate: Persephone Children: None Athena (Pallas Athena) Goddess of wisdom, crafts, and fine arts Roman: Minerva Powers: Shape shifter; invented the trumpet, flute, ship, bridle, and chariot Parents: Sprang from Zeus’ head Symbols: Owl, olive tree Mate: None Children: None, but she did have a friend named Arachne who she turned into a spider Apollo The most Greek god; he is god of music (plays a golden lyre), archery (uses a silver bow), healing, truth, light/sun, prophecy, and agriculture Roman: Phoebus Apollo Powers: Can shape shift, can play any instrument, can tell the future Parents: Zeus and Leto Mate: Calliope and Clymene; had affairs with Cyrene, Hecuba, and Cassandra (all mortals) Children: All sons: Orpheus, Phaethon, Aristaeus, Troilius, Asclepius Orpheus Orpheus had the most beautiful voice in all the world and fell in love with Eurydice On their wedding day, Eurydice was bitten by a snake and died Orpheus went to the underworld and so moved Hades that he allowed him to take Eurydice back with him to the world, provided that he did not look back at her on the way out He does turn back and Eurydice is forced to stay behind Orpheus, depressed, wandered the world singing sad songs A group of Maenads told him to cheer up and when he could not they ripped him limb from limb and tossed the remains into a river He was then reunited with Eurydice Phaethon Borrowed Dad’s chariot of the sun so everyone would know he was Apollo’s son He could not control it and scorched the earth Zeus was forced to strike him down with a thunderbolt in order to prevent further damage Artemis Goddess of the moon, hunt, children, virginity Roman: Diana, Phoebe, Luna Powers: Brought sudden death with her arrows, controls lunar and menstrual cycles, helps women with childbirth Parents: Zeus and Leto Symbols: Cypress tree, moon, deer Mate: None Children: None, but twin sister of Apollo Aphrodite Goddess of love and beauty, desire and fertility; protector of sailors Roman: Venus Powers: Can make people fall in love Symbols: Dove, magic girdle, goose, sparrow, Myrtle tree Mate: Hephaestus, but had affairs with Ares, Hermes, Dionysus and the mortals Adonis and Anchises Children: Eros (Cupid) with Ares, Aeneas, and Anteros Echo and Narcissus Echo fell in love with Narcissus, but her love was not returned She hid in shame and lost the ability to start a conversation; she could only repeat what was said Narcissus spurned many maidens; he eventually fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water and drowned Hermes Messenger of the gods; god of thievery and commerce; leads the dead to the underworld; mischievous Roman: Mercury Powers: Fastest of the gods; invented the lyre, pipes, musical scale, weights and measures, boxing, gymnastics Parents: Zeus and Maia Symbol: Staff Mate: Dryope, Aphrodite Children: Pan (demigod of mischief) Hestia Virgin goddess of hearth and home Roman: Vesta Powers: Protects orphans and missing children Parents: Cronos and Rhea Symbols: In Rome, Vestal Virgins Mate and Children: None Demeter Goddess of agriculture Roman: Ceres Powers: Made crops grow Parents: Cronos and Rhea Symbols: Corn, poppies, wheat, cornucopia Mate: Zeus Children: Persephone Persephone One day while picking flowers, the world opened up and Hades kidnapped Persephone and made her his queen Demeter searched for her and during that time the crops withered and died Zeus demanded that Persephone must be shared Spring and summer were spent with Demeter, fall and winter with Hades Ares God of war, worshipped by no one Roman: Mars Powers: Sacred lance and armor; cannot be wounded in battle Symbols: Vulture and dog Parents: Zeus and Hera (both disliked him) Mate: Aphrodite (his brother’s wife); various mortals Children: Eros, Anteros, Harmonia, Deimos, and Phobos Mars in Music Mars, The Bringer of War, Holst, The Planets Am I Evil? Metallica Hephaestus God of fire and the forge Roman: Vulcan Powers: Master craftsman; made Apollo’s chariot, Athena’s shield, Eros’ arrows, Zeus’ thunderbolt, Achilles’ armor, Pandora Parents: Zeus and Hera Mate: Aphrodite Children: None Hephaestus and Hera Hephaestus was known as the lame god. He was born weak, ugly, and crippled Once Hera saw he was weak, she cast him out of Olympus He made it to the island of Lemnos where he built a forge in a volcano Zeus commissioned him to make thrones for the gods. He made a special throne for Hera. Once she sat in it, the arms closed around her and not even Zeus could release her Hephaestus refused to release her, so Dionysus got him intoxicated and brought him back to Olympus on a mule He agreed to free Hera only after Zeus gave him Aphrodite as his reward Dionysus God of wine, fertility, and drama Roman: Bacchus Powers: Can bring the dead back to life Parents: Zeus and Persephone (or Semele, or others) Symbols: Grapes, comedy and tragedy masks, wine bottles/glasses Mate and children: Too many to list Midas Granted by Dionysus the ability to turn anything he touched into gold Asked Dionysus to take the power back when he accidentally turned his daughter into gold Uranos and Ghea (Gaea) Roman: Caelus, Tellus Mater Powers: Father Sky and Mother Earth Parents: Chaos Children: The titans, Cyclopes, monsters Cronos Titan associated with time Roman: Saturn Powers: Keeps time running Parents: Uranos and Ghea Mate: Rhea Children: Hades, Poseidon, Zeus, Hera, Demeter, Hestia Atlas Titan associated with strength; said to be the king of Atlantis Powers: Supports the weight of the heavens on his shoulders Children: The Hesperides, the Hyades, and the Plieades Hebe Goddess of youth Roman: Juvantes Powers: Cupbearer of the gods; serves them nectar and ambrosia Iris The rainbow goddess, assistant messenger to the gods Nike The goddess of victory Roman: Victoria Sisyphus King of Corinth, he spied Zeus having an affair with his daughter He told a god and Zeus was upset Zeus punished Sisyphus by making him forever roll a rock uphill. He would be released only when he had pushed the rock over the hill. Just as the rock was almost to the top, the rock would always roll back down Pegasus Glaucus, the son of Sisyphus, fed his horses human flesh to make them meaner in battle He was eventually tossed from his chariot and devoured by his own horses His son, Bellerophon, was also a great horseman He coveted Pegasus, a winged horse born from the blood of Medusa He tamed Pegasus with a golden bridle given to him by Athena With Pegasus, he slayed the Chimera, a beast that was lion in the front, goat in the middle, and serpent in the back Tantalus Tantalus angered the gods Either he lied about dining with the gods or served the gods his own son He was sentenced to stand in a pool of water, which drained whenever he tried to drink it He was also almost within reach of fruit that dangled in front of him The verb words tantalize and tantalizing come from this myth The Amazons A nation of gigantic, warrior women The source for many paintings and statues, but not much literature Orion Very strong and handsome, he was a great hunter He eventually settled in Crete and was the chief hunter of Artemis He fell for the demi-goddess Dawn Artemis, in a jealous rage, shot him with her arrow To make up for it, she turned him into a constellation Orion’s belt is one of the most prominent features of the Western Hemisphere Romulus and Remus Unlike the Greeks, the Romans believed that their divinities were real Romulus and Remus were sons of Mars Mars raped Rhea Silvia, the first of the Vestal Virgins Since she was defiled, her children were taken from her and set afloat on the Tiber river The She-Wolf The babies were rescued by a she-wolf, who treated them like her pups until they were discovered by a shepherd They became hunters and warriors Eventually, they were so respected that men decided to follow them to a new city where they would rule. Death and the City Very shortly after they decided to found a city, the brothers quarreled. Romulus killed Remus, but felt immediate remorse He built Rome (named after himself) The Rape of the Sabine Women Rome quickly became a safe haven for runaway slaves, bandits, and murders (all men) A nearby group of people (Sabines) held a religious festival The Romans killed all of the men and raped all of the women Romulus became the first king of Rome until he disappeared in a thundercloud