Myth tree summary

Greek Mythology By Steve Gibbs

In the VERY beginning Chaos from which all things stem Gaea Mother Earth Tartarus Underworld Eros Love and Passion Erebus – Unknowable Place where Death dwells Night Uranus The Heavens

Gaea and Uranus, heavens and earth, brother and sister, married.

The Ancient Ones Chaos Uranus Heavens Gaea Earth Titans Cyclopes one-eyed Hecatonchires 100-arms Cronus Rhea Phoebe Oceanus Tethys

Uranus was ashamed of his deformed children, so he condemned the Cyclops and the Hecatonchires to Tartarus, a dark dungeon below the earth.
Gaea convinced her son Cronus to castrate his father.

Cronus castrates his father
And tosses his genitals into the sea (“Ouch!”)
From the blood sprang forth the furies, goddesses of vengeance against patricide

furies

Cronus castrates his father
From the froth and turbulent foam, rose Aphrodite, the goddess of love
(aka Venus on the half shell)

Titans breed Olympians

Cronus, fearing one of his children may rebel against him, decides to eat them.
He eats Hera, Poseidon, Hestia, Demeter, and Hades
When Zeus’s turn comes, Rhea wises up.
She hides Zeus in Crete and Zeus is raised by nymphs and feeds on goats’ milk

Cronus, fearing one of his children may rebel against him, decides to eat them.
However, Cronus becomes suspicious.
To allay his suspicion, Rhea pretends to breast feed Zeus.
Her milk spills out into the heavens to form the
Milky Way

Zeus grew up to avenge his brothers and sisters
With Rhea’s help, Zeus slips Cronus a potion that makes him throw up Hestia, Demeter, Hades, Poseidon, and Hera
Zeus frees the Cyclops and the Hecatonchires
The Olympians go to war against the Titans in the famous
CLASH of the TITANS

Zeus and the Olympians win
Cronus and the other Titans are sent to Tartarus and Zeus divides the world up with his brothers and sisters.
Poseidon draws a long straw and rules the sea
Hades draws the short straw and rules hell
Demeter becomes goddess of the harvest
Hestia becomes goddess of the hearth
Hera becomes the goddess of marriage and protector of married women

Zeus and the Olympians win
Cronus and the other Titans are sent to Tartarus and ZEUS MARRIES HIS SISTER HERA AND RULES THE HEAVENS
HOWEVER….

Zeus, having been raised by nymphs
Has a penchant for seducing beautiful women, goddesses and MORTAL women
He comes to earth many times disguised and pounces on many women, some willing, some not.

Girlfriends of Zeus Metis, Themis, Europa, Io, Semele, Ganymede, Callisto, Maia, Dione,

This is how ZEUS becomes such an important figure to the ancient Greeks
Many Greeks liked to believe that they were the illegitimate sons of Zeus.
Many important and wealthy Greeks were raised to believe Zeus was their daddy.
The common folk tended to believe these stories and gave reverence and power to the supposed descendents of Zeus

Greek to Roman name changes Zeus = Jupiter -- Captain of Gods Poseidon = Neptune God of the Sea Hades = Pluto -- God of the Underworld Hera = Juno -- Goddess of Marriage/Queen of Gods Athena = Minerva -- Goddess of Education/Science/Virginity Aphrodite = Venus -- Goddess of Love/Beauty

The End

Hecatonchires

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Myth tree summary

by gibb0 on Aug 28, 2010

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Myth tree summary — Presentation Transcript