Chaos Love

Earth (Gaia) Sky (Ouranos/Uranus) The Underworld

The Titans The children of Gaia and Uranus are called the Titans. Their first children were giants and monsters like the Cyclops. Uranus hated his monstrous children and banished them to the Underworld. (Gaia could not forgive him).

The Titans Next, Uranus and Gaia had six sons and six daughters. Among them were: Cronus (the god of time) Rhea (the goddess of mothers) Oceanus (the god of water) And others

The Titans Gaia secretly hated her husband for what he did to her first children, so she plotted to have her son Cronus rule in his place. Cronus and his brothers and sisters could not defeat their father alone, so Cronus released the monsters from the earth. After the defeat of Uranus, however, Cronus trapped the giants back in the earth.

The Rule of Cronus Cronus married his sister Rhea. After their first son was born, Cronus began to fear that what he did to his father would be revisited on him. So he took his baby son and swallowed him whole. Rhea was angry, but said nothing.

The Rule of Cronus When their next child was born, Cronus also quickly swallowed the baby. Finally, after giving birth to two sons and three daughters, Rhea was fed up. After giving birth to her sixth child, a boy she named Zeus, she hid him on the Earth and gave her husband a rock wrapped in a blanket. He swallowed it.

The Rule of Cronus When Zeus was old enough, he defeated his father – cutting open his belly to release his (now also fully grown) brothers and sisters. But you cannot kill a god – they are immortal – so Zeus and his brothers Poseidon and Hades chopped their father up into little pieces and threw them in the ocean. Even now the pieces of Cronus writhe in pain.

The Rule of Zeus Zeus, his two brothers, and their sisters Hestia, Demeter, and Hera made their home on Mt. Olympus, the mountain of the gods. But who should rule? Zeus and his brothers drew straws – Zeus became king of the gods and ruler of the sky and the Earth. Poseidon became god of the sea, and Hades god of the underworld.

The Rule of Zeus Zeus married his sister Hera, goddess of marriage. However, he was not always faithful and had many children with different mothers.

The Olympians There are twelve gods who live on Mt. Olympus (plus a few more). They are: 1. Zeus (Jupiter) king of the gods and god of the sky and lightning. 2. Hades (Pluto) god of the dead and lord of the Underworld (he does not live on Olympus) 3. Poseidon (Neptune) god of the sea and of horses.

The Olympians 4. Some say that Hestia (Vesta) goddess of the hearth chose not to live on Olympus. 5. Hera (Juno) goddess of marriage and Queen of the gods. 6. Ares (Mars) son of Zeus and Hera and god of war. 7. Athena (Minerva) the battle-goddess, daughter of Zeus alone, she was also goddess of crafts.

The Olympians 8. Apollo, son of Zeus and Leto, god of music, light, and healing. 9. Artemis (Diana) Apollo’s twin sister and goddess of the moon and of hunting. 10. Aphrodite (Venus) goddess of love and beauty, daughter of Zeus and Dione (although some say she was born of sea foam).

The Olympians 11. Hermes (Mercury) the messenger of the gods, son of Zeus and Maia (the daughter of Atlas, a Titan). 12. Hephaestus (Vulcan) son of Zeus and Hera (or of Hera alone) god of fire and of blacksmiths.

The Lesser Gods of Olympus Eros (Cupid) the god of love Demeter (Ceres) goddess of grain and growth Persephone (Proserpina) her daughter, goddess of spring and Queen of the Underworld Dionysus (Bacchus) god of wine And others

You Need to Know About…

Hybris Hybris is what it is called when someone thinks he or she is better than the gods. People with hybris usually get punished.

Punishment Many myths feature someone who does something wrong and then gets punished. The punishment usually fits the crime.

Nature Myths often explain the mysteries of nature. For example, the myth of Demeter and Persephone (which we will read later) explains why the leaves turn brown and fall off of the trees in the autumn.

Women Many Greek and Roman myths were born from a time when Matriarchal societies and Patriarchal societies began to live together. For this reason (which we will cover in more depth later) myths often try to make you think that women are bad.

Theme/Moral Many myths have a theme, moral, or lesson. These myths try to teach you something about life.

Allusions We will go over these another day.

The End