Download Greek Mythology According to the Ancient Greeks, in the beginning

Greek Mythology
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According to the Ancient Greeks, in the beginning (before creation) there was “chaos”
(nothingness – empty matter)
Then appeared a being (Gaia – female/Earth Mother); Gaia “marries” with Uranus (Sky
Father)
Gaia and Uranus together create the first beings:
o 100 Handed Monsters
o Titans
o Cyclops
Cronus (a Titan) kills Uranus (his father) and becomes the new Sky Father
Theme shown throughout mythology: Son overthrowing his father
o In Greek Mythology this means the son either kills his father or “pushes” him out
in some way to gain his power
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Cronus (now becomes Sky Father) marries Rhea (another Titan who now becomes Earth
Mother)
o Together Cronus and Rhea have children who become the first Olympians
 Poseidon*, Hera*, Hades*, Demeter, Hestia, Zeus*
 * means these four eventually become the most important
o Cronus now has to worry that his children will overthrow him for his
power/control
Theme shown throughout mythology: Parents “harming” children to avoid losing power
o Cronus demanded that Rhea give him any of their children that are born and he
consumes (eats) them so they cannot overthrow him
o After he consumes all of their children born so far, Rhea refuses to sacrifice the
last child (Zeus).
 She creates a plan with help from Gaia to trick Cronus and save the last
child.
 The trick is they take a stone and wrap it in a blanket and Cronus eats it
believing he has eaten his last child. He is overly confident that he can’t be
hurt now by his children
 In the meantime, Zeus is raised on a nearby island and when he is old
enough, he plots (with help from his mother and grandmother) to
overthrow his father
 He is successful and releases his brothers and sisters from Cronus’
body when he “kills” him
 Cronus is dismembered by Zeus. His body becomes the mountains,
his blood creates the rivers and oceans, his testicles are thrown into
the ocean and from that co-mingling Aphrodite is created.
o Since Cronus is immortal his body is life-giving, so the
spirit of life is given to the world through the dismembering
of his body.
The three brothers decide which parts of the world they will each control:
o Zeus controls the skies
o Hades controls the Land of the Dead (underworld) (Hades refers not only to the
God, but also the name given to the place where he rules)
o Poseidon controls the waters/oceans/waterways
Zeus now becomes Sky Father and Hera becomes Earth Mother
Hestia – Goddess of the Home and Fireplace (hearth)
o She is important because she provides life-giving characteristics:
 fire for the home;
 light;
 important to daily life of a Greek (not on Mt. Olympus)
Demeter – Goddess of the Crops and the Season
o Important to the Greeks because they were an agricultural society
o Greeks prayed to her for their crops and for good seasons
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Hades: the place – “underworld”
o Place where all souls went when they died
o Your soul crosses the River Styx to get there
o You cross by a ferry; must pay a gold coin under the tongue to the boatman in
order to be ferried across
o Guarding the gates of Hades is the three-headed dog – Cerebrus
 No one alive can get past the dog
 If you are not dead, the dog kills you and then you are punished
o Hades is divided into three parts:
 If you were a good soul, you went to the Elysian Fields
 similar to our idea of Heaven
 To get to the Elysian Fields you worshiped and respected the Gods
while living
 If you were a bad soul you went to Tartarus
 paid for your crimes over and over again
 If you murdered someone in your life you went to Tartarus
 Tantalus is one example of a soul who was sent to Tartarus;
o Hades oversees all of the underworld…he is very fair and just
o Hades is a wealthy God because he controls all of the jewels, gold, etc. found
“under the world”
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Zeus (the new Sky Father) and Hera (the new Earth Mother) marry and have one child –
Ares (violent God of War...no justice in this type of war…not a well-liked God)
Hera has one child of her own – Hephaestus
o Hera has her own affair and Hephaestus is the product of that affair.
o He is unattractive so she throws him out of Mt. Olympus.
 One theory says he hit against the rocks as Hera flung him off Mt.
Olympus, leaving one side of him damaged and deformed
 The other theory says he was born deformed looking and that’s why she
threw him off Mt. Olympus
o But Hephaestus has the skill of a blacksmith.
o Later, Hera sees his talent and invites him back to Mt. Olympus – he never does
live on Mt. Olympus, though.
o He later marries Aphrodite.
Zeus has many affairs and has many kids as a result of those affairs
o Athena – Goddess of War & Wisdom
 She is not about violence in War like her brother…she was smart and used
military tactics to win battles
 It is believed that she was born from Zeus’ forehead, fully-grown, and
covered in armor
 City of Athens worshiped her; many statues and shrines to honor her
o Aphrodite – Goddess of Passion/Love/Beauty
 she marries Hephaestus – from this comes the saying “love is blind”
 she cheats on Hephaestus, though, given that she is so passionate
o Apollo
o Artemis
o Hermes