THE GREEK CREATION MYTH
PART 1: THE THEOGONYNaturally, it begins here. The Greek myth of creation is shard closely with Rome. This is how it began.
During the poetic times of Rome, the Greek creation myth was passed down orally. The poet Hesiod was the first to collect all the ideas of the Greek myth of creation in 700 BC and was unanimously accepted by the populace. This book was called the Theogony (Greek for "the birth of the gods"), and consisted of 3 main parts:
-A history of the Gods from Chaos to the Olympians (will be explained in this passage)
-The Greek gods' relations
-A collection of Greek places of antiquity (e.g. Places of Worship)
As I'm sure many of us know from the Percy Jackson series, the Olympians are descendants of the titans, specifically Cronos and Rhea. but even they come from somewhere.
PART 2: CHAOSAll things began in Chaos. Before there was existence, there was only Chaos. Chaos is often referred to as "the yawning gap" to many people of classics, the space between your mouth when you yawn, total emptiness. from Chaos was born the first five beings: Gaia (the earth), Eros (the pro-creative force), Tartarus (both a being and a place in the Underworld), Erebus (Darkness), and Nyx (Night). These beings would become the world.
PART 3: THE HORIZONThis is when beings come into play. Gaia and Eros mate and a few things are born from this: Pontus (the sea), Ourea (aka Mountains), and Ouranus (the Sky). This plays a large part in the creation myth.
Next, Gaia and Ouranus mate. If you noticed that Ouranus is familiar, then you are correct. Ouranus is also called Uranus, the name of the planet (So help me if there are any jokes about this I will delete the post).
Anyways, Gaia and Ouranus mate. This is the first instance of incest. Imagine it like this: The horizon is the place where Earth and Sky meet. the Greeks believed that the horizon was the place where Ouranus and Gaia hold each other in a constant embrace. The mating of Gaia and Ouranus leads to three things: the 12 Titans, the 3 Cyclopes, and the 3 Hundred-Handers. Ouranus was disgusted with the Cyclopes and Hundred-Handers, and cast them into the pit of Tartarus (remember that Tartarus is a place in the Underworld, located on Gaia.)
This upsets Ouranus. Ouranus fears that one of his sons will rise up and kill him, so he holds Gaia in a constant embrace to prevent the Titans' birth. This upsets Gaia, because she loves her children very much. Gaia forms a hard metal called adamant, and shapes it into a sickle. She gives this sickle to her son Cronos, and tells him to fight Ouranus.
Cronos does as he is told, and castrates Ouranus. In shorter terms, he hurt him where it HURTS. Ouranus lets go in pain, and the Titans are born.
This is one of those things I can't avoid, because it's the birth of one of the Olympians. This is the part when Aphrodite is born. The "castrated parts" of Ouranus fall into Pontus, the sea. This creats sea foam, and from this foam bursts Aphrodite (which means "from the foam.").
Furthermore, the blood of Ouranus lands on Gaia, and from the blood and Gaia three more beings are created: the Furies, the Nymphs of Ashwood, and the Giants.
PART 4: THE OLYMPIANSAt this point, Cronos takes the throne of the sky, and Ouranus leaves. Cronos, as we all know, becomes the father of a majority of the Olympians with the titan Rhea. These Olympians are Hestia, Hera, Demeter, Poseidon, Hades, and lastly Zeus. Cronos, in fear of being overpowered like his father was, eats all their children as soon as they are born. He successfully does that with all his children except for Zeus, whom Rhea substituted a stone for. The stone that is believed to have been Zeus's substitute is located on the island of Delphi.
So Zeus is saved, and whisked away to the island of Crete, specifically Mt. Dicte. There he is raised by a magic goat named Amalthea, and is raised from infancy. He is protected by guards who bang there shields whenever Zeus cries, to prevent Cronos from hearing. A year later, he is grown up, and wants to rescue his Olympian siblings.
This is what Zeus does. He slips Cronos a drug that causes him to regurgitate all his Olympian siblings. Zeus then frees the Hundred-Handers and Cyclopes from Tartarus for their support. For their freedom, the Cyclopes gift Zeus with the power of Thunder. With his siblings by his side and reinforcements in hand, the Titanomachy, or the battle of the Titans, begins.
PART 5: THE BATTLE OF THE TITANSThe Battle of the Titans lasts for 10 years. The gods wage war with the titans and bring the titans to their knees. In a last ditch effort, Gaia mates with Tartarus, and births the hideous snake monster Typhon. Typhon battles Zeus to the death, and Zeus wins, burying Typhon under Mt. Etna. The titans are then chopped up and tossed into Tartarus.
PART 6: WE'RE ON TOP NOWThe Olympians are now supreme. Zeus and his brothers Hades and Poseidon (we know them as the "Big Three"), draw reeds to see who claims what. Zeus claims the sky, Poseidon claims the ocean and the earth, and Hades claims the Underworld. Zeus marries Hera and they become the king and queen of the gods.
Zeus, however, isn't exactly loyal with Hera. Zeus's first wife is Metis, the goddess of practical wisdom. Zues is told by the oracle that his child with Metis will overthrow him. In fear, he eats Metis whole, and gains her practical wisdom. Later, this causes Zeus to get an awful headache. Thus an axe is taken and chops open his head. This results in the birth of Athena. With Hera, Zeus has Hephaestus (or born from Hera alone, we do not know) and Ares. From Zeus and Leto are born the two twins Apollo and Demeter. From Zeus and Maia, Hermes is born, and from Zeus and Semele Dionysus is born.
NEXT UP: THE STRUGGLE OF THE OLYMPIANS
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