Greek mythology refers to the myths and legends of the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes. Myths were typically used to explain natural phenomena and the origins of human customs. The Greeks believed their myths were passed down orally from one generation to the next through poetry, song, and storytelling. Some key points about Greek myths include: they told stories about the origins of the universe from primordial beings like Chaos, Earth, and Love; the early rulers including Uranus, Cronus, and finally Zeus; and the war between the Titans and Olympians that resulted in Zeus' rule over the cosmos on Mount Olympus with his siblings.

1. Greek Mythology

2.  Greek Mythology
-refers to the myths and hero legend of the ancient |Greeks
 Myths
 -stories about gods or other supernatural beings.
 -usually explain the origins of the world or how human customs
came to be
 -typically set in the distant past, during the early history of the
world, before or soon after the appearance of human beings
 Sources:
• passed along orally from one generation to the next
SONG
POETRY RECITATION
STORYTELLING

3. Written literary pieces
Epics - long narrative poems recounting the great deeds of heroes
Examples:
•Iliad- focuses on the hero Achilles (hero of the Trojan war)
•Odyssey - tells the adventure of Odysseus (Ulysses)
•Hesiod’s Theogony - describe the origins of the world
• Homeric Hymns - a collection of poems addressed to different
gods
•Apollodoro’s Library - an ancient book of mythology
•Greek tragedies - w/c concern famous heroes and heroines.

5. Literature of the Ancient
Romans
(who borrowed much from the Greeks)
 Important works:
Vergil’s Aeneid
-an epic poem about the Trojan hero Aeneas
Ovid’s metamorphosis
-collection of mythological stories about
people and animals who change into
something else

7. Origins of the Universe
In the whole universe there was nothing else: all was
black , empty, silent, endless.
• CHAOS -huge space, came into being first
Believed to have children NIGHT
Erebus
• From darkness & death, Love was born & w/ its birth
order & beauty began to banish blind confusion .
Love - created light w/ its companion radiant DAY
-next was the creation of Earth (Gaea) which
just happened .
Earth– solid ground
Heaven– was the blue vault on high

8. First creatures who had the appearance of life
were the children of:
Mother Earth (Gaea) Their children were said to be
Father Heaven (Ouranos) MONSTERS

9. Tartarus - a great prison for gods & other
immortal beings, who could not be killed
Love – caused living beings to be drawn
together and to mate one another, producing
nearly everything in the world.
Earth– was once inhabited by strange gigantic
creatures called TITANS
 Hecatoncheires
-monstrously huge and strong
-had each a hundred hands & fifty heads
•Cyclops(Wheel-eyed)
-each had only 1 enormous eye , as round as big as a
wheel in the middle of their forehead.

10. Cyclops Titan

11. CYCLOPS
-each had
only one
enormous eye,
as round and
as big as a
wheel in the
middle of their
forehead

12. TITAN (Atlas)
• Last came
were the Titans
- they are of great
size and strength
but they were
purely not
destructive

13. HEAVEN/SKY (OURANOS)
•became the 1st
ruler of the
world
•cruel and
jealous father
•prevented
some his
children from
being born from
their mother

14. GAIA(GAEA)Plotted against
SKY through the
help of their
youngest son,
CRONUS - lay in
wait for his
father and
wounded him
badly by
castration/cuttin
g of genetalia
(His penis was
cut)

15. BLOOD
The Fourth
race of
monsters,
sprang up
his from
blood

16. Erinyes/
Furies
-were born “to
pursue and
punish sinners”
-hair made up of
snakes & eyes
that wept tears
of blood.

17. *Assumed the throne of his father
- The children of Cronus and Rhea were called the OLYMPIANS!
CRONUS
-proved to be as just as bad as his father had been
-swallowed his children
*afraid that one of his children would overthrow him
-knew that one of his children will overthrow him
until Rhea gave birth to zeus

18. ZEUS
-6th child
-secretly carried to Crete
Rhea
-had given her husband a great
stone wrapped in baby clothes and
swallowed down accordingly
-grew up, he forced his father to
vomit up his other children w/ the
help of his grandmother GAEA
Followed a terrible war between
CRONUS (helped by his brother
Titans) and ZEUS (w/his five
brothers and sisters) a war that
almost wrecked the universe (a.k.a.
Titanomachy)

19. Titans- were defeated
Reasons:
*Zeus released from their
prison the hundred-handed
monsters
- *One the sons of the Titan
Iapetus his son
Prometheus (who was very
wise took sides w/ Zeus)
ZEUS
-punished his enemies terribly
-some were imprisoned in
Tartarus

20. ATLAS
-it was held up by one
of the Titans, Atlas,
who supported it on
its shoulders
*took them about 10
years to defeat the
Titans,
THEY WHERE NOT
COMPLETELY
VICTORIOUS

21. EARTH (Gaea)
-gave birth to her last
and most frightful
offspring
1.) Typhon-a huge,
violent, monster w/
snaky heads
*BUT – w/ the use of
Zeus weapons w/c were
the thunder & lightning
he struck Typhon down

22. 2.GIANTS
BUT- gods were already strong
and helped by the mighty
Hercules ( A son of Zeus)
* The giants were defeated and
hurled down to TARTARUS

23. ENDING
Zeus became the third and final ruler of the cosmos. He nurtured
his children and ruled justly
* Ruled Olympia/Mt. Olympus together w/ his brothers and sisters