Greek Mythology

Titans and Gods

CreationGaea (the earth) gave birth Uranus (the heavens) and he became her mate. They produced the Titans.

Uranus was a bad father and husband, so Gaea convinced the Titan Cronus to overthrow him.

Gaea and Cronus ambushed Uranus at night. Cronus grabbed his father and castrated him, throwing the severed genitals into the ocean.

Uranus either died, withdrew from the earth, or exiled himself to Italy.

Cronus’ rule Cronus married his sister Rhea, and under his rule the Titans had many children. However, it was prophesied that Cronus would be overthrown by a son. To prevent this, Cronus swallowed each of his children as they were born.

Naturally, Rhea was angered by this. When it was time for her to give birth to her sixth child, Rhea left the baby to be raised by nymphs. She then wrapped a stone in swaddling cloths and passed it off as a baby to Cronus, who swallowed it.

The baby’s name was Zeus.

Zeus’ returnAfter he had grown up, Zeus gain a drink from the woman Metis which would cause Cronus to vomit up the other children.

Rhea convinced Cronus to allow Zeus to serve as his cupbearer. This allowed Zeus to slip Cronus the drink, which worked perfectly.

Being gods the other children were unharmed. They were thankful to Zeus and made him their leader.

The Titan-God WarCronus and the other Titans fought to retain their power, with the Titan Atlas as their leader in battle.

Zeus and his fellow gods received allies in the form of the Titan Prometheus and the Cyclopes and Hecatoncheires, both of which were creatures also born of Gaea and Uranus, who were imprisoned by their father. With their help Zeus won.

Zeus exiled the Titans who had fought against him into Tartarus, except for Atlas, who was made to hold the sky up on his shoulders.

Typhoeus Gaea was angry that her children were imprisoned by Zeus so she gave birth to Typhoeus, who was so fearsome that most of the gods fled.

Zeus faced the monster and manage to defeat it, barely.

Typhoeus was buried under Mount Etna in Sicily.

The Giants Born from Uranus’ spilt blood, the Giants challenged Zeus’s rule.

They tried to invade Mount Olympus, home of the gods, but they were all subdued or killed.

Prometheus creates ManPrometheus and Epimetheus were spared imprisonment because they had not sided with their fellow Titans. Instead, they were given the task of creating man.

Epimetheus had the task of giving the creatures of the Earth their various qualities, but when he got to man he had all ready given out all the good ones.

To make up for this, Prometheus decided to make man stand upright as the gods did, and to give them fire.

Prometheus grew to love man more than the Olympians.

Prometheus steals fireIn one of his (many) moments of anger, Zeus took fire away from man.

Prometheus lit a torch from the sun and brought it back to man.

As punishment, Zeus had Prometheus bound with unbreakable chains and had him tortured day and night by a eagle who would tear at his liver.

Prometheus was eventually freed by the centaur Chiron and the demi-god Heracles.

Pandora’s BoxTo punish man, Zeus had Hephaestus, smith of the gods, create a woman named Pandora who had stunning beauty, a deceptive heart, and a lying tongue. He then gave her a jar and told her not to open it.

Naturally, she opened it.

The jar was full of evils, and they flew out to plague man.

However, there was one more thing at the bottom of the jar: Hope.

The Olympians

Zeus and his family

Zeus God of the sky and ruler of the Olympian Gods

Weapon of choice: the thunderbolt

Married to his sister Hera, but has had many affairs

Known to punish those who lie or break oaths

Also the personification of the laws of nature, the lord of state-life, and the father of gods and men

Zeus’s loversFirst married to Metis, then Themis, and then Mnemosyne.

Involved with Leto shortly before he married Hera

His list of lovers while married to Hera: Europa, Io, Semele, Ganymede, Callisto and Leto (again!)

Not all of his lovers were consenting (or male, for that matter)

Poseidon God of the sea, protector of all waters

Brother of Zeus, second to only him in terms of power

Married to Amphitrite, granddaughter of the Titan Oceanus

Created the first horse

Weapon: a trident which could shake the earth and shatter any object

Greedy, quarrelsome personality. Had several disputes with other gods when he tried to take over their cities

Hades God of the underworld, ruler of the dead. Drew the “short straw”, as it were.

Brother of Zeus

Married to Persephone (who he abducted)

Also the god of wealth

Has a helmet which makes him invisible

Unpitying, but not cruel

Disinclined to allow any of his subjects to leave

Not the god of death, that would be Thanatos

Everybody Hates HadesHades was not the god of evil, nor was he a Satan figure. That is a modern misconception

Hestia Goddess of the Hearth, symbol of the house around which a newborn child is carried before it is received into the family

Sister of Zeus. A virgin goddess

Each city had a public hearth sacred to her, where the fire was never allowed to go out

Mildest, most upright, and most charitable of the Olympians

HeraGoddess of marriage and children. The supreme goddess

Zeus’s wife and sister

Was tricked and raped by Zeus, married him to cover her shame

Most stories involving her have to do with her jealous revenge for Zeus’s infidelities

Once tried to rebel against Zeus, failed horribly

Sacred animals: the cow and the peacock

Ares God of war

Son of Zeus and Hera. Disliked by both of them

Murderous, but a coward

When once caught in a act of adultery with Aphrodite, her husband Hephaestus publicly ridiculed him

Sacred animals: the vulture and the dog

Athena Goddess of wisdom, courage, law, and justice. A virgin goddess

Sprang full grown in armor from Zeus’s head, so she has no mother

A mighty warrior, but only fought to defend

Invented the bridle, the trumpet, the flute, the pot, the rake, the plow, the yoke, the ship, and the chariot

Zeus’s favorite child, was allowed to use his thunderbolt

Her tree is the olive, her bird is the owl

ApolloGod of light, truth, music, healing, and archery

Son of Zeus and Leto. Twin brother of Artemis

Each day, he would ride his chariot with four horse and drive the Sun across the sky

Taught man medicine

Cannot speak a lie

Famous for hi oracle at Delphi

His tree was the laurel. His animals were the crow and dolphin

ArtemisGoddess of chastity, virginity, the hunt, the moon, and the natural environment. A virgin goddess

Daughter of Zeus and Leto, twin sister of Apollo

Protector of the young

Presides over childbirth

Her tree is the cypress

All wild animals are scared to her, especially the deer

Aphrodite Goddess of love, desire, and beauty. Represents sex, affection, and the attraction that binds people together

Wife of Hephaestus, lover of Ares

Either the daughter of Zeus and Dione, or arose from the sea foam on a giant scallop after Cronus castrated Uranus and tossed his gentiles into the sea

Has a magic girdle that compels anyone she wishes to desire her

Her tree is the myrtle. Her animals are the dove, swan, and sparrow

Hephaestus God of fire and the forge. Smith and armorer of the gods

Son of Zeus and Hera, husband of Aphrodite

Ugly and lame, but kind and peace loving

Was flung off Mount Olympus as a child, which may have been what broke his legs

Uses a volcano as a forge

HermesGod of thieves and commerce. Messenger of the gods and the guide for the dead to go to the underworld

Son of Zeus and Maia

Fastest and cleverest of the gods

Invented the lyre, the pipes, the musical scale, astronomy, weights and measures, boxing, gymnastics, and the care of olive trees

Other GodsThanatos Demeter Persephone Dionysus Eros Hebe Eris Helios Pan Nemesis The Graces The Muses The Fates The Erinnyes

Work Citedwww.greekmythology.com

My own personal knowledge on the subject