The Possibility Of Chaos In Greek Myth

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.

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.

Out of Chaos, came Earth and Sky, and the very first gods. In this story, life came from nothingness-a void. From the Void there then came Darkness and Night. From Night came the Light and then Day. Earth, named Gaia, brought about Sky, known as Uranus, and then after lying with Sky, she birthed Ocean, along with the giants and Cyclopes, and immortals. Hesiod's story is similar to the Bible in that it describes children falling from grace and having to deal with the consequences and fallout. Also like the Bible, where Eve is the cause of the fall, it is a female-the "mother" who causes the same problem in the Theogeny. This mother gets together with Chornus, her son, who cut his father Sky's insides out of his own body. In the Bible, the Father has great love for his creation, but in Hesiod's story, the father hates his children, who he called the Titans. The Titans were the parents of the Greek gods of Mount Olympus, thus beginning the line of gods that rose from chaos. There is a similarity, though, in the hatred of the father of the Theogeny and the rebellion of the children that stemmed from this feeling, and the great flood of the Bible and the Epic of Gilgamesh, in which the children were punished for their disobedience by an angry Father or

It is said that in the beginning, there was Chaos, the silent and dark abyss. Out of Chaos, all things came into existence. According to the Theogony of Hesiod, Chaos created the

As I began to read Homer’s The Odyssey, I must admit that I was searching for acts of chaos in the most general form. I was looking for Homer to express his views of chaos vividly and distinctly. However, Homer does something different. He imbeds his imagery of chaos in the journey of Odysseus’s son (Telemachus) to avenge his father by getting rid of his mother’s suitors, and by bringing word of his father’s return back to Ithaca. One chaotic point that stood out to me in Homer’s The odyssey was when Telemachus was expressing his fear of living in his own home because he was afraid his mother’s suitors would kill him “ They are eating us out of house and home, and will kill me someday (184).” This was a chaotic point because during the time

Some of the most famous Greek heroes, including Herakles, Perseus, and Theseus have all restored order in times of chaos. This reoccurring theme of chaos to calm is particularly evident in Homer’s Odyssey. The Odyssey retells a series of events where Odysseus encounters and overcomes chaos, before he finally returns home and restores order to Ithaka. By using the chaos created from the suitors, the monsters and the internal dilemma on whether he should continue his quest for nostos or to abandon it, Homer emphasizes the need for Odysseus to instill peace where there is chaos.

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

Prometheus is given the task of making mankind. He makes man and gives them fire. Then Zeus gets angry at Prometheus and takes away fire, but Prometheus brings back fire from the son. When Zeus sees that man has fire again, he is angry with Prometheus and gives him a woman as punishment. From Pandora, the first woman, came all of the evil in the world.

In the beginning there was no time or gods, only land and sea. Where the sea meet the land a white mare burst forth from the sea foam, her name was Eiocha. Eiocha soon found some sea-foam seeds and ate them, soon they grew into a child in her, she gave birth to the god named Cernunnos. While she was giving birth her pain was so great that she ripped off a piece of bark that she catapulted into the sea, as it fell to the watery deeps of the sea it grew to deep-sea giants. As for poor lonely Cernunnos he felt that he was outnumbered for the great number of sea giants, he along with his horse-mother they created more gods, their names were Maponos, the God of Youth, Tauranis, the God of Thunder, Teutates, the Protector, and the fertility goddess, Epona. After Eiocha’s children grew into adults she became sad and depressed, while she longed for the sea she finally returned to her life as a sea-mare, and became known as Tethra, goddess of the deep. Soon the gods and goddesses created a paradise like land, while the deep-sea giants looked upon the gods with hatred they declared war upon the gods. After a great war and successfully making the giants return to the sea, the gods turned to the place they once called paradise. It was in ruin, as well as almost all humans were killed, all except for two that Epona had saved and they were charged with recreating the human

The creation of the world is explained through two stories where a son usurps the place of his father - Cronus from Ouranos and Zeus from Cronus perhaps referring to the eternal struggle which exists between different generations and family members. (Brummett) The Olympian gods led by Zeus twice defeated the sources of chaos represented by the Titans and the Giants. These gods then, rule man’s destiny and sometimes directly interfere favorably or otherwise. (Cartwright)

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In the beginning of time there was Chaos. He was a Unicat, a cross between a cat and a unicorn. He was the god of all unicats that lived. He became lonely while sitting in the Heavens so he decided to make a wife that was also a Unicat, whose name was Creation. Both Chaos and Creation had children together, a pair of cats named Death and Despair, and a pair of Unicorns named Gaia and Prospero. Chaos was confused, but Creation loved her children nonetheless.

Each region had their own god of Chaos but no matter the location they all seemed to evade the chaos god. They had a history of being tricksters and in some ancient cities they held more respect than others. While some were just an inconvenience, others were meant to be avoided at all costs, so much so that even the other gods were known to be weary of them. There were 2 gods of chaos in ancient Greece. To the Greeks, chaos was a dark void from whence life emerged.

Chaos was the first God. The Erebus came and him and Night gave birth to the heavenly light, Day, the earthly light. Night alone created Doom, Fate, Death, Sleep, Dreams, Nemesis, and all things that dwell to darkness. Gaea married her son and they gave made the three Cyclopes, the three Hecatoncheires, and the twelve Titans.

"A myth is a collective term denoting a symbolic narrative in religion, as distinguished from symbolic behavior (cult, ritual) and symbolic places or objects (temples, icons)". (The New Encyclopedia Britannica. Vol. 24)Mythology is a collection of myths meant to explain the universe. Mythological stories were told in many different cultures and civilizations. The existence of myths is known in every society. Many different myths were conceived to explain occurrences that happened in nature.