| |
 The most ancient works to portray Greek myths was certainly Iliad and Odyssey, dating from the 8th century BC. The poem Theogony by Hesiod followed around 700 BC. As the name of the poem depicts (Theogony means the birth of Gods), it deals with the creation of the human world and the ancient Gods.
 Theogony by Hesiod
Hesiod depicted universe as a chaotic place until the emergence of the divine beings Eros (Love), Abyss (Tartarus) and Erebus (Darkness). After them, Gaia (Earth) was born who gave birth to Uranos (the Sky). Uranos fertilized Gaia to give birth to the twelve Titans, six males: Coeus, Crius, Cronus, Hyperion, Lapetus and Oceanus; and six females: Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Rhea, Theia, Themis and Tethys. They also gave birth to the three Cyclopes Arges (thunderbolt), Steropes (lightning), and Brontes (thunder) and the three Hecatoncheires. Hecatoncheires were massive creatures with 50 heads and 100 arms of great strength.
Cronus takes over power
Cronus, a second generation god, made war with his father for the rule of the universe. He eventually won, having his sister-wife Rhea as his consort and the other Titans as his court. However, Uranos and Gaia prophesized that Cronus would be put aside in the rule of the world by his own children, in the same way that Cronus put aside his father.
Fearing that this would come true, Cronus swallowed the five children she had obtained with Rhea: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon. That time, Rhea was pregnant to another child, Zeus, and fearing that this child would also be swallowed by Cronus, Rhea went to a mountain cave in Crete to give birth. Zeus was hidden there and he was raised by a goat named Amaltheia and some nymphs. Instead of a child, Rhea gave Cronus swallow a stone.
Zeus and the Olympian Gods
When Zeus grew up, he decided to revenge his father for all the bad things he had done to the family. Using a trick, Rhea made Cronus vomit her five children, who joined their brother Zeus in this family war. On one side, there was the Olympian Gods and the Cyclops and on the other side, there were Cronus, the Titans and the Giants. Zeus and the Olympian Gods finally won in the war that lasted for ten years.
More about: Greece Mythology
More about: Greek Gods
|
|
Back:
More:
Related:
