4. The CHAOS
*According to the Hesiod's Theogony (around 700
BC), in the beginning there was Chaos as a primeval
state of existence.
*Chaos was the primal emptiness- a dark, silent,
formless and infinite oddity with no trace of life.
*Out of Chaos, Mother Earth Gaea first came to
existence. Full of life and power, Gaea created high
mountains, low lands, rivers, lakes and seas.
5. The CHAOS
*Soon Chaos created Tartarus, the embodiment of
the Underworld who built his home deep below the
World of Gaea. Gaea and Tartarus united and
created Typhoeus(Typhoon), an appalling, fire
breathing dragon with hundred heads.
*Then, love appeared out of Chaos, in the form
of Eros. Eros was the most handsome of all greek
gods and invincible by nature.
6. The CHAOS
* Chaos also gave birth to Erebus, the
symbolization of the dark silence, and Nyx, the
embodiment of the night.
*With the intervention of Eros, Erebus and Nyx
united and Nyx created Aether (the Atmosphere)
and Hemera (the Day).
8. Greek Mythology – 2nd Part
THE FIRST GREEK GODS
The Titans of Ancient Greece
* The Titans were a race of primordial, powerful
deities that ruled during the legendary Golden Age.
The Titans were created by Gaea, the goddess of
the Earth and Uranus, the god of the Heaven who
embraced Gaea strongly with his starry coat. Gaea
and Uranus became the first divine couple of the
World.
9. THE FIRST GREEK GODS
The Titans of Ancient Greece
* The Titans were the first to dwell in Mount
Olympus in Ancient Greece, but were overthrown
and expelled to the lower basement of Hades, the
Tartarus, after their defeat in a huge battle with the
Olympian Gods, known as Titanomachy.
17. Greek Mythology – 3rd Part
The THEOGONY
* The ancient Greek mankind, trying to explain
certain metaphysical phenomena and anxieties,
invented amazing myths concerning the
Cosmogony (the creation of the World) and the
Theogony (the birth of the Gods). Thus, the ancient
Greek people created their own splendid, yet
human-like world of gods, justifying the various
abstract significances like Love, Birth or Death.
18. The THEOGONY
*The origins of the gods of ancient Greek religion
are described in the Theogony, the famous poem
which was composed by the Greek
writer Hesiod around 700 BC, and the Library of
Apollodorus.
The creation of the gods needs to be divided into
four parts.
19. The THEOGONY
The Coming into Existence of Chaos
* First there was Chaos, a rough unordered mass of
things, also considered as a void. Chaos was
followed by Gaea (Earth) and Eros(Desire), who
came to cancel every logical thought or act. Gaea
then brought Uranus (the Heaven), the infinite
Pontus (the Sea) with his raging waves and high
mountains full of forests to the world.
21. The THEOGONY
The Castration of Uranus
* Uranus' task was to surround and cover Gaea
with his starry coat, however, it very soon came to
a union between Uranus and Gaea and they became
the first divine couple in the world.
* Gaea bore Uranus twelve Titans: the
deep Oceanus, Coeus, Crius,Hyperion, Iapetus, Thei
a, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, the goldenwreathed Phoebe the charming Tethys,
and Cronus, who was the youngest of all.
22. The THEOGONY
The Castration of Uranus
* Furthermore, she produced three one-eyed creatures
called Cyclopes (Brontes, Steropes and heady Arges),
as well as three hundred-handed creatures
called Hecatonchires.
* Uranus was fearful of his children overthrowing him,
so he pushed his children back one by one into the
womb of Gaea. His wife Gaea was in deep grief and
sorrow over the loss of her own children, so in the end
she decided to hand a sickle to her son Cronus, the
youngest of the Titans, in order to castrate his father.
23. The THEOGONY
The Castration of Uranus
* Furthermore, she produced three one-eyed creatures
called Cyclopes (Brontes, Steropes and heady Arges),
as well as three hundred-handed creatures
called Hecatonchires.
* Uranus was fearful of his children overthrowing him,
so he pushed his children back one by one into the
womb of Gaea. His wife Gaea was in deep grief and
sorrow over the loss of her own children, so in the end
she decided to hand a sickle to her son Cronus, the
youngest of the Titans, in order to castrate his father.
24. The THEOGONY
The Castration of Uranus
* Cronus castrated his father while he was sleeping;
the blood from Uranus was collected by Mother
Earth Gaea and she
produced Erinyes (Furies), Giants and Nymphs.
Cronus then threw his father's genitals into the sea,
around which foams developed, that started in the
island of Kythera and then slowly made their way to
the island of Paphos, in modern Cyprus. In Paphos,
the foams transformed into Aphrodite, the Olympian
goddess of Love and Beauty.
25. The THEOGONY
The Great Escape of Zeus from
the Threat of Cronus
*Soon afterwards, Cronus rescued his brothers and
sisters and shared the World (the Cosmos) with
them. Then, Cronus married his sister Rhea and
together they created children who would later on
become the Olympian gods.
* However, Cronus became fearful as well so he
started to swallow his own children, just like his
father.
26. The THEOGONY
The Great Escape of Zeus from
the Threat of Cronus
* Rhea was highly discomforted, so, in her attempt
to save her youngest child, Zeus, she tricked her
husband by giving a huge stone to swallow. Rhea
then sent Zeus to the Greek island of Crete in order
to protect him.
27. The THEOGONY
The Victorious Battle of the Olympian
Gods against the Titans (Titanomachy)
* Zeus grew up in the island of Crete. He was fed by
the goat Amaltheia and the Nymphs took good care of
him. Doves brought him ambrosia from far away to
eat and an eagle brought him nectar to drink. When
he reached manhood, as prophesied, Zeus rescued his
five elder brothers and sisters and then started a war
against his father and the Titans. This war is also
known as also known as the "Titanomachy".
28. The THEOGONY
The Victorious Battle of the Olympian
Gods against the Titans (Titanomachy)
* In this battle, Zeus succeeded in overthrowing
Cronus, casting him and the other Titans into the
depths of the Underworld. A huge battle with
the Giants followed, where the Olympian Gods
excelled... and then time had come for the Olympian
gods to rule the world!
30. Deucalion's Flood
* When Prometheus stole fire from the King
of the gods Zeus and gave it to humans,
humans were no longer afraid of the cold
and slowly they started progressing.
However, instead of being good people, they
turned out to be bad and unfair.
31. Deucalion's Flood
* Furiously, the King of the gods Zeus one
day decided to destroy the human race. But
in Thessaly, in Central Greece, there lived the
son of Prometheus, Deucalion, and his wife
Pyrrha. Those people were good and
righteous and Zeus felt pity for them and
didn't want them to die.
32. Deucalion's Flood
* So he asked from Deucalion to build an ark.
Deucalion obeyed, and when he built the ark
and gathered all the necessary supplies, he
entered the ark with his wife. Zeus then
opened the heavens and it rained so much
that all the land of Greece transformed into a
sea.
33. Deucalion's Flood
* For nine days and nine nights, Deucalion's
ark was wandering around, until finally it
stopped at the top of Mount Parnassus.
Suddenly, the rain stopped, and Deucalion
with Pyrrha stepped out of the ark and made
sacrifices to thank Zeus for saving them.
34. Deucalion's Flood
* But, obviously, they were very sad and
cried, because the world they were now
living in was lonely... Zeus felt sorry for the
couple, so he sent his messenger Hermes to
grant them a wish. The couple asked for
people.
35. Deucalion's Flood
* "Go back and throw stones", he told them and so
they did. The stones that Deucalion threw became
men and those of Pyrra became women . This way,
once again a new race of men was created. The first
stone thrown by Deucalion became a man called
Hellen (Hellinas). According to the legend, from
Hellen and his descendants the Greek people (the
"Hellenes") originate.
36. Olympian Greek Gods & Goddesses
* The Olympian gods were the main gods of
Ancient Greece. After overthrowing their ancestors,
the Titans, the Olympian gods became the rulers of
the World (Cosmos), representing the civilization
of the world. The Olympian gods majestically and
democratically dwelled on Mount Olympus, the
highest mountain in Greece, built by the Cyclopes.
The leader of the Olympian gods was Zeus.
a
37. Olympian Greek Gods & Goddesses
* The gods were born and grew just like human
beings, some of them even married, however they
were unaging and death never came to them. They
lived inside human-like bodies with an ethereal
fluid called ichor running through the veins. They
had passions and human weaknesses and were
many times at fault, but were then obliged to take
the full responsibility of their actions.
38. Olympian Greek Gods & Goddesses
*Greek myths always refer to the twelve Gods
of Mount Olympus, but actually, in total there were
more Olympian Gods in Greek Mythology.
However, there were never more than twelve at
one time. The four alternative gods
were Hestia, Hades, Dionysus and Demeter,
depending on the location.
39. Olympian Greek Gods & Goddesses
Aphrodite
The sensual
goddess of
Love and
Beauty
Apollo
The youthful
god of the Sun
and the Music
40. Olympian Greek Gods & Goddesses
Ares
Artemis
The fierce god
of War
The wild
goddess of the
Hunt
41. Olympian Greek Gods & Goddesses
Athena
Demeter
The
sophisticated
goddess of
Wisdom and
Arts
The natural
goddess of the
Harvest
42. Olympian Greek Gods & Goddesses
Dionysus
Hades
The joyful god
of Wine
The gloomy god
of the
Underworld
43. Olympian Greek Gods & Goddesses
Hephaestus
Hera
The illfavored god
of Metallurgy
The mature
goddess of the
Family
44. Olympian Greek Gods & Goddesses
Hermes
Hestia
The cunning
god of the
Trade
The calm
goddess of the
Hearth
45. Olympian Greek Gods & Goddesses
Poseidon
Zeus
The moody
god of the
Seas
The superior
King of the
Gods and
Ruler of
Mankind