Greek Mythology: Creation and the Olympian Gods

The Olympian Gods and the First Man - The Creation

Hesiod's Theogony

• Greeks accepted Hesiod's Theogony (c. 700 BCE) as the stand

• ard mythical account of the world's earliest history.

• It explains how the world and deities came into existence, and how Zeus and the Olympian gods gained supreme authority.

Primordial Entities

• Chaos: The first entity, a 'gaping void,' representing a murky reality and the source of darkness.

• Gaea (Earth): A primal entity that came into existence independently of Chaos. Significant genealogically.

• Tartarus: The nethermost region of the universe, a remote prison for banished deities, separate from Hades initially.

• Eros: Personification of love/desire, drives procreation.

Procreation and Generations

• Chaos produced Erebus (darkness) and Nyx (Night). Nyx's descendants are personifications of negative forces.

• Gaea independently generated Uranus (Sky), the Mountains, and Pontus (Sea).

• Gaea and Uranus founded the main divine family, while Gaea and Pontus founded a family of sea-gods and monsters.

Gaea, Uranus, and the Titans

• Gaea and Uranus are the primordial couple.

• Uranus mistreated his children, causing Gaea anguish.

• Gaea bore the Titans, Cyclopes, and Hecatoncheires to Uranus. Uranus hated them and prevented them from emerging into the light.

The Downfall of Uranus

• Cronus, the youngest Titan, castrated Uranus with a sickle prepared by Gaea.

• From Uranus' severed genitals thrown into the sea, Aphrodite was generated.

• Blood from the genitals dripped on Gaea, creating the Erinyes, Giants, and Meliae.

• This separation of Earth and Sky is a common cosmological theme.

Cronus and the Succession Myth

• Cronus overthrew Uranus, becoming the new lord of the universe.

• Cronus swallowed his children to avoid being overthrown, but Rhea hid Zeus.

• Zeus overthrew Cronus, banishing him and the Titans to Tartarus.

• This forms a 'succession myth' showing the establishment of the divine order under Zeus.