Greek Mythology

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Since the beginning of time the people of the world have their share of beliefs. Greek mythology is the arguably the most popular region of study. In Ancient Greece every citizen had a patron that would protect them and pantheism was commonplace. The Romans admired the Greeks in their art and culture and even took different aspects of their gods. Polytheism was widely accepted in all cultures so the seed of mythology bloomed. The time line of the creations of gods to the end of their reign is an important factor in Greek Mythology.

Creation

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 brought them together. Gaea and Uranus created the three Cyclopes, the three hecatoncheires, and twelve of the titans. Uranus hated the hecatoncheires and imprisoned them, which enraged Gaea who plotted against Uranus. The youngest titan, Cronus, castrated him and threw his genitalia into the ocean. Uranus left the earth and vowed that the titan would suffer a similar fate. From Uranus’ blood, Giants and Nymphs were created and from the ocean foam, where his genitalia, fell came Aphrodite (goddess of love).

Reign of Titans

After the fall of Cronus, the rule of the titans began. He chose Rhea, his sister, to be his wife and together had many children. But due to the prophesy that Uranus spoke of, Cronus ate all of his children so that none would overthrow him as he did to his own father. Rhea grew angry of this and hid the youngest son, Zeus, from him. According to Diodorus Siculus, Rhea tricked her husband to eat a rock instead of Zeus. Zeus would live to be brought up on the island of Crete i...

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...e in Classical mythological themes.

Works Cited

Coppens, Philip. "Crete: the Egyptian Island of the Dead?" Philip Coppens.com. Frontier Magazine, 2000. Web. 06 Nov. 2011.

"Cronus." Myths and Legends of the World. Encyclopedia.com. 2001. Web. 7 Nov. 2011

Pattanaik, Devdutt. "The Infidelities of Zeus." Devdutt., 25 Oct. 2008. Web. 13 Nov. 2011.

Hatzitsinidou, Evangelia. "Greek Monsters-Typhoon, the Monstrous Child of Mother Earth."Greek-Gods.Info- Greek Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Greece. 2005. Web. 13 Nov. 2011.

Leadbetter, Ron. "Cronus." Encyclopedia Mythica: Mythology, Folklore, and Religion. MMIX Encyclopedia Mythica, 03 Mar. 1997. Web. 06 Nov. 2011.

Siculus, Diodorus, . The Library of History. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard Univ., 2006. Web. www.penelope.uchicago.edu 7 November, 2011

“Titanomachy.” Wikipedia. 8 November, 2011Web.6 November, 2011

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