Greek Gods, Goddesses and other important information

Mythology:

What is a myth you ask? Well…myths are stories about supernatural beings that attempt to explain such things as….

Nature- Where did Earth come from?Heavens –sun, moon, stars, etc.Seasons- Climate, rainGeography- Oceans, Mountains, Forests

Man- Where did man come from?Life, birth, deathVictories or defeats in battle, misfortunesHis end –rewards and punishments

Gods- Where did gods come from?Number of gods, their roles, powers and weaknesses

Mythology is the study of myths.

Because it’s interesting, entertaining, and it shows how ancient people viewed life!

Mythology is all around you…In literature, music, the arts…In language – Janitor- Janas, Martial –Mars,

Museum-Muses, Volcano- VulcanIn advertising – brand names like: Nike, Atlas,

Midas, Apollo, Venus, Ajax

Why is mythology so important?

We’ll be studying ancient GREECE.We’re talking…3,000 BC. This is 5,000 year

old stuff we’re discussing. And for those of you who don’t know…

First things first…

We’re Here

Greece is here.

Out of Chaos (Confusion)

Gaea (Mother Earth)

Uranus (Heavens, the sky)

8 Titans including: Oceanus, Tethys,

Hyperion, Thea, Rhea,

Themis, Mnemosyne, and Cronus

Hecatonchires

(Monsters with 100 hands)

3 Cyclopes (monsters with one big eye)

How the world was created…according to the Greeks.

Uranus hated all of his children, especially those nasty Monsters and so he sent them to the underworld (Tartarus).

Gaea asked the Titans, her other children, to rescue their brothers the Monsters but only Cronus agreed.

Cronus fought his father and managed to kill him.

From Uranus blood came the Giants , the Erinyes, and Aphrodite.The Giants: More like men, fierce fighters.The Erinyes: called Furies, hair of writhing

snakes, had wings.

The Story…

Cronus (New Ruler) & Rhea (Great Mother) get married

3 Girls:DemeterHestiaHera

All of that led to…

3 Boys:Zeus

Poseidon

Hades

Yes, they are brother & sister…ewwwwww

Cronus got scared that his kids would destory him like he destroyed his own dad…sooo Cronus did what any man would do….he swallowed all his kids.

Needless to say, Rhea, his wife and sister (ewwww) was unhappy with this so when her son Zeus was born she tricked Cronos into swallowing a rock instead of the baby and Zeus was saved!

When Zeus grew up, he and Rhea tricked Cronus into puking up the other kids (yuck!) and then waged war on Cronus, ultimately defeating him.

Yes, there is still more to this soap opera.

Zeus split up his father’s kingdom among all his brothers and sisters.Zeus- King of the Gods and SkyHades- Lord of the UnderworldPoseidon –God of the Ocean and SeasHestia – Goddess of Hearth and HomeDemeter- Goddess of AgricultureHera- Goddess of Marriage

But these aren’t all the gods and goddesses…because Zeus is only just

starting to get busy!

After the war

Zeus is a ladies man. He likes the ladies…a lot. Over his lifetime he had a lot of partners and a lot of children. No one really seemed to mind, except of course his wife…Hera (yes, she’s also his sister).

Zeus + Hera = Hephaestus, Hebe, and Ares.Zeus + Demeter = PersephoneZeus + Leto = Apollo and ArtemisZeus + Maia= HermesZeus + Metis= AthenaZeus + Seleme =Dionysus Zeus + Themis= The Horae/SeasonsZeus + Mnemosyne= The Nine Muses (they slept

together 9 days and had nine children called the Muses)

Zeus is a BUSY god!

Zeus may have a lot of kids, but he always supports them. All of his kids have a specific job, here are ONLY a few (he had over a hundred).

Ares- God of war and bloodlustApollo- God of the sun, music, and fortune-

tellingArtemis- Goddess of the moon, virgins, and

huntingHephaestus- God of metal workingPersephone – Goddess of spring, always

Hades’ wifeHermes – God of messengers, thieves, and

travelersDionysus- God of wine and partiesAthena- Goddess of wisdom and reason

He’s a good dad though!

Aphrodite- Goddess of Love and Beauty (she came out of the ocean, born from the blood of Uranus).

Eros –Her son with Ares (also called Cupid)Scylla –A sea monster who eats sailorsCharybdis –monster who swallows the sea (whirlpool)Sirens- Half bird, half women who lures sailors to

their death with beautiful music.Nike- Goddess of VictoryAeolus- King of the four windsCerberus -3 headed dog used to keep people in the

underworld

Other important characters…