Importance Of Power In Greek Theogony: Building On Generations

Generations Building on Generations

In Greek mythology having power and control over others was the greatest achievement that any character could achieve. In order to gain this dominance many characters had to use fraudulent tactics. These tactics were learned from earlier generations and then tweaked in order for future success. This path was an example of how Ouranos, Cronos and Zeus all came to power. In the poem Hesiod’s Theogony, the Greek family relationships between the husband, wife and their children are a repeated cycle, built on the characteristics of power, deceit and achievement that maintained the family dynamic in Greek life.

The cycle of power, deceit and achievement created by the families in the first generation of Greek

“Ouranos used to stuff all of his children back into a hollow of Earth as soon as they were born, keeping them from the light, an awful thing to do, but Heaven (Ouranos) did it, and (he) was very pleased with himself” (136). This passage reveals how the number one priority of a Greek husband was obtaining power and keeping it. Often these men would live in fear that their descendants would one day try and overrule them. Therefore, the desire not to lose control caused Greek men with families to act in forceful ways. Often times in Greek culture we forget about the wife, since she was often hidden the husband. In this situation many people don’t realize Gaia was the character that suffered because she was taken advantage of and forced to hide her children, without even having a say in the whole situation. Eventually Gaia realized this maltreatment needed to stop. She realized that she wasn’t strong enough on her own, so she asked her children for help. “Listen to me, children, and we might yet get even with your criminal father for what he has done to us. After all, he started this whole ugly business” (136). The family dynamic of Greek mythology articulates that a man

When Cronos came to power, he came with an abusive past, causing him to become uneasy when it came to others and his reign. Therefore, after Cronos and Rheia had children, he decided to be smarter with his plan of action. “Cronos swallowed them all down as soon as each issued from Rheia’s holy womb onto her knees, with the intent that only he among the proud Ouranians should hold the title of king among the Immortals”(145). Cronos only father figure was Ouranos, who feared his children and dealt with it by abusing them, caused Cronos to fall into his father’s ways and mistreat his own children in harsher ways, because he was also afraid they would try to take over his reign. In doing so Cronos children and wife Rheia experience significantly more pain. Greek life system was a repeated cycle of previous generation when it came to wives being forced to create deceptive plans against their husbands. Rheia was being punished for producing children and eventually became sick of the situation and decided to take action. “She petitioned her parents, Earth (Gaia) and starry Heaven (Ouranos), to put together some plan so that the birth of her child might go unnoticed, and she would make devious Cronos pay for the avengers of her father and children”