Chapter 1 Outline Greek Mythology

The Ancient Greeks believed in many gods and heroes during their time. Each one had a sole purpose in a mortal’s lifetime. Greek mythology had a huge impact on religion in Ancient Greece. The Greeks performed rituals in order to honor their gods. Mythology affected the Ancient Greeks in many ways. The origins of mythology, the influences of mythology through a human’s lifetime and lessons taught in the ancient myths will be examined.

Greek mythology is one of the coolest things anyone could think of. The ideas of gods and goddesses coming down to earth to interact with the human race, is quite an amazing thing. In many cultures, gods are very important. The ancient greek culture is an example where mythology is very important to the people, the gods are everywhere in daily life. Yet with the made up mythology, they needed a place to begin with and the greeks are no exception, but the story of the gods beginning is very interesting.

Greek Mythology has been known to be one of the footprints left by the civilization of ancient Greece to our history and these mythology somehow shed a light to the culture, life style, religion and history of ancient Greece since the mythology were the primary basis of the origin of the ancient Greeks and they believed that these mythologies explained the origin of why things turned out to be like that.

myths were sacred in the Greek culture and it helped people figure out how everything was

The creation of the gods starts with chaos and from the chaos came the endless gods: Eros, Tartarus, and Gaea (Love, hell, and the earth). Gaea created Uranus, the first ruler of the sky and Eros

The supreme ruler and king of gods, Zeus, is often mentioned as Jupiter and the sender of thunder, lightning, rain, and wind (Britannica.com). “Zeus was the first of the gods and a very imposing figure. Often referred to as ‘the father of gods and men,’ he is a sky god who controls lightning.” (Britannica.com) Although the god is labeled most powerful and the mightiest of all, he is not perfect. Zeus is known for his promiscuous action. Often times he fell in love with one woman after the other and attempted to disguise his infidelity from his wife. Zeus left no woman behind in his crazy love-life, the god married and had children with his sister, Hera and. Hera was not Zeus’ only siblings. He also had two brothers, Poseidon and Hades and another sister named Hestia. His parents are known as Cronus and Rhea. Zeus was not just handed the title “god of the sky,” instead him and his two brothers drew lots. The sea was given to Poseidon, the underworld to Hades, and Zeus was named lord of the sky, rain god, and cloud gatherer. The eagle is considered sacred to this god. Zeus also treasures the oak tree. It is often told that the gods will was revealed by the rustling of the oak tree. (Hamilton 27)

In ancient Greece, Greek mythology began to emerge. Mythical narratives began to erupt for the purpose of giving an explanation to certain social, religious, and environmental phenomena. Greek chronicles included the gods/goddesses, heroes, and non-human creatures.

The Theogony is one of the most well-known sources of ancient Greek Mythology. It was written around 700 BC and delineates the emergence of the universe as well as the gods’ births and origins. Hesiod begins and ends the poem with a reference to the Heliconian Muses, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, goddesses of the arts as well as proclaimers of heroes and gods. In the beginning of the poem, Hesiod discloses that by order of the Muses he has to begin and end his stories of the gods with a reference to them (Hesiod quoted by Evelyn-White, Hugh G., Theogony 2004: 29-35).

When people wonder about Ancient Greece the first thing that comes to their minds is Greek mythology; gods and goddesses that have helped shape many historical events. “In ancient Greece, stories about gods and goddesses and heroes and monsters were an important part of everyday life.” (“Greek Mythology.”) The civilization showed that numerous characters and stories helped shape Greeks. The beliefs the Greeks had with mythologies was they understood the meaning behind all the characters that are known today. However, to the Greeks, they were not just characters, these were their gods and goddesses who gave them meaning and understanding of the world around them. Worshiping the gods and goddesses helped them with their religious rituals and the temperament of the weather. A famous wine-jar that was made during this time period was “Achilles killing the Amazon Queen Penthesilea, 540-530 BCE, black-figured amphora”. (Khan Academy) The civilization that they lived in grew around their worship and achievements.

Hera, the Greek goddess of childbirth and marriage, was the wife and sister of Zeus. She was the Queen of Olympian Deities. People knew her as the most beautiful and powerful goddess, but she had a bad side to her.

Hera, he had countless affairs and many children. His father, who he overthrew, was Cronos, and his mother was Rheas. He had five siblings, Poseidon and Hades, who he divided the realms with, Demeter, Hera, and Hestia. He was married to his sister, Hera, and had four children with her, Ares, Eileithyia, Hebe, Enyo, Eris, Angelos, and Hephaestus. Other gods that he had children with were Demeter, who gave birth to Persephone; Dione, who gave birth to Aphrodite; Eurynome, who gave birth to the Charities (Aglaea, Euphrosyne, and Thalia), and 23 other gods who bore him around 35 other children. While he had many affairs with gods, he had even more with mortals. A few of the many were Electra, who gave birth to Dardanus, Harmonia, and Iasius; Europa who gave birth to Minos, Rhadamanthys, Alagonia, Carnus, Dodon, and Sarpedon; and Leda, who gave birth to Polydeuces and Helen. He had another 43 affairs with mortals, and at least 54 other children with

Had “main gods” Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Athena, Artemis, Apollo, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Ares, and Hermes.

In the beginning there was emptiness called Chaos, as well as Earth, Hell, and Love named Eros. Eros was half girl half boy and created the earth named Gaia. Gaia, out of her own fertility, created a male companion named Ouranos, sky (Stone 39). Ouranos and Gaia would begin to create all other creatures of the universe including the massive Titans. Some of their offspring were giant rats and lizards, some only had one eye in the center of their forehead, and others had fifty heads and one hundred arms. Ouranos was disgusted by these deformed creatures and hid them away deep within the earth. Gaia did not agree with this decision and vowed to get revenge upon him. She turned to the Titans for help and promised if one of them would use an adamant sickle against their father they would assume his role as the master of the universe and king of the Titans. Kronos, the largest of the Titans, stepped forward. That same night Kronos snuck up behind his father and cut off his genitals. Kronos raised the genitals in victory spraying blood everywhere. Some of the blood hit Gaia and seeped into her womb (Stone 40). Other drops dripped into Tartarus, the deepest part of the underworld, and created the Furies. Finally, drops would become the Giants of the Earth which would be impervious to death, even by the hands of a god. Although Kronos was now king of the Titans he was told by his mother and father that he would be

Together the Gods went to war against Cronus and the Titans for ten years, and Cronus was defeated. Having beaten the old gods, Zeus made himself supreme god of the Olympians and most powerful god. The brothers drew straws for domains of the Universe and therefore were divided into three parts. Poseidon became the god of the sea, Zeus became the king of gods, the sky, and heaven and earth and Hades became the god of the underworld.

Siblings: Hera had six siblings, three sisters, Demeter, Hestia, and Chiron. Hera also had three brothers, Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon.