It’s Story Time…Let’s call this one

The Creation Story

(according to the Greeks)I say “myth”,

you say “ology”…

MYTH!

Learning Objectives:

• Students will learn the basics of the Greek Creation story.

• Students will practice note-taking skills, using the visual map as an aid.

• Students will share insight or questions as they develop.

• Students will further their knowledge on mythology, as this story will be referenced for the duration of the mythology unit.

“The short version of the creation of the world, according to the Greeks, would go like this:

Scary old gods came first; they got stomped down by their kids, who were better looking,

younger gods, who then created humans; humans and gods jockeyed for advantage;

humans won a few rounds, but got more and more miserable” (Blackwell 29).

Um…hello? That like, sounds

kind of complicated, like. Can’t you just give me the basic

gist first?

Simply intriguing…I MUST learn more. I want

the whole story, and I’d like it now if at all possible. Please?

Snap JudgmentWhat can’t you wait

to learn about associated with

mythology? In other words, you’re losing sleep over wanting

this knowledge. DISCUSS!

Chaos(shapeless void of confusion: had the elements of the world—earth, sky, and

sea—all jumbled together, none of which had their own identity)

At first there was only one thing that existed:

Chaos

Nyx (Night)—entity

Erebus (Darkness)—entity

(Underworld)—entity (Love)—entity

(Mother Earth)—being

Here come the 5 elements:

Mommy, where did

Uranus come from?

Well…that’s an interesting situation,

although not the MOST

interesting, as you’ll come to

see…

Gaia brings another being into the world…and marries him:

Gaia, the first Great Goddess (Mother Earth), has Uranus as her son (Ruler of the Sky)

People drew a connection between women’s ability to have kids with Earth’s ability to “give birth” to plants, so Earth was always seen as feminine –early Greeks worshipped female deities

Gaia & Uranus start a family, and yes, it’s quite dysfunctional

Thank you Gaia and

Uranus for making us

look normal!

The “Little” Ones

The ultrasound is in: they are the

proud parents of triplets!!!

But…they all have 100 hands and 50 heads

The Hundred-Handed Giants

I have the worst

headache!

3 more were born soon after…

they were giants with 1 eye in the middle of their

foreheads

“The Cyclopes”

Uranus is threatened by his kids because they are big and scary, and he fears that they will take him over, causing him to lose

his power, so… he sends them to Tartarus, where he intends for them to be imprisoned for eternity.

That eventually comes back to haunt him, but I’ll fill you in on that later.

The Titans are Born• Oceanus—God of the sea• Hyperion (Helios)—God of the sun• Selene—Goddess of the moon• Themis—Goddess of prophecy• Prometheus— “forethought”• Epimetheus— “afterthought”• Atlas—strongest Titan (gets in BIG trouble

with Zeus later)• Rhea (Cybele)—Great Goddess • Cronus (Saturn)—youngest, brightest, and

most clever of Titans; god of the sky and ruler of Titans after Uranus (WAIT UNTIL YOU HEAR THAT STORY)

Snap JudgmentSpielberg is making a

movie about the Titans: which

actors/actresses is he hiring to play

who? Come up with at least two he

should hire.DISCUSS!

But WAIT, they couldn’t just live their lives without conflict…

Uranus’ hate and fear for his children didn’t stop with the first monsters born;

the Titans were strong too and he hated the idea of them taking his power,

so after each birth…he shoved the kids back into Gaia.

Who does he think he is?

Needless to say, Gaia didn’t appreciate this

very much!

WHO DOES THAT?

P.S.—the kids are still alive and growing inside her

Gaia: “Enough is enough!”• Gaia develops a plan and confronts her

kids for help; of course, they are scared of their father and don’t want to challenge him, but Cronus decides he’s sick of living in such a confined space, so he steps it up and goes along with his mom’s plan.

• It’s not likely his dad would EVER forgive him for this one.

Gaia gives Cronus the necessity to their plan

• She tells him to hide it until the time is right. • Uranus lays beside her at night and “tries for another child”

that he can later shove into Gaia’s womb.• Then, taking Uranus by COMPLETE surprise, Cronus does

as planned.

WARNING: What you are about to see is graphic if you have a vivid imagination, so feel free to cover your eyes, especially if you’re a male…

He uses the sickle his mom created to emasculate his father— not exactly father-

son bonding!

Snap JudgmentGaia: a strong, no-nonsense woman

who teaches men not to mess

with her, or a complete creep?

DISCUSS!

Next…• He threw his dad’s manhood into the sea

and foam arose from where it landed.

• From the blood, Giants and The Furies were born—The Furies sole job was to get back at sinners, especially those that kill their parents

• From the foam, Aphrodite came to life (goddess of love, sexual desire, and beauty)—her name means “foam born”

-there are other stories about her birth, and although she is born at a different time than her sibs, she is considered to be an Olympian goddess

The rest of Cronus’ siblings were freed and he became the replacement ruler for his father: God of the Sky

However, although he promised Gaia he would release the Hundred-Handed Giants and Cyclopes from Tartarus, he backed out on his promise because he feared them too.

How does this connect to Matriarchal societies?

• Mythology is a reflection of what happens in society

• In Matriarchal societies, the Great Goddess dismembered the Sacred King after he was killed—his blood was used to fertilize the soil (of Mother Earth) and make it grow

• Cronus emasculating his father is similar because Uranus’ blood from “the accident” allowed life to spring—the monsters and Furies

The Next Generation: The Olympians

Cronus marries his sister Rhea and they go on to have 5 kids. HOWEVER, he’s a total hypocrite, because much like his father, he feared losing power, so he swallowed all of his kids whole right after they were born, or so he

thought. 1. Hestia (Vesta)—virgin goddess of hearth and home; kindest and most

loved of gods because a guardian of the home

2. Demeter (Ceres)—goddess of grain; Great Goddess like Rhea

3. Hades (Pluto)—ruler of the underworld; lord of the dead

4. Poseidon (Neptune)—god of the sea; creates earthquakes

5. Hera (Juno)—goddess of marriage and childbirth; queen of Olympus

6. Not born yet, but a sneak peak: Zeus (Jupiter)—god of the sky (after Cronus), ruler of gods; youngest, most intelligent and powerful of gods; maintains order in the world of mortals; protects strangers and guests

There are some parallels to Matriarchal ceremonies here: Cronus “eating” his kids as

babies might stem from how female priestesses ate the flesh of sacred kings for fertility purposes;

again, this just shows that mythology is a reflection of what occurred in societies. Notice

how Gaia has gradually lost power to her husband and then her son…sound familiar?

Rhea and Gaia have more in common than

their genes: Cronus ignores Rhea’s wishes to allow her to have her children in her life, so she finally goes to her mom

for help.

Mom, I need help immediately. My

husband is a CREEP and is swallowing my babies!

I have a plan, but we’re going to need the next kid’s help. I think it’s going to be a male who will be a better leader than his father and grandfather both. (The fact that he’s male and will dominate over the other gods/goddesses might represent

the shift from matriarchal to patriarchal societies).

The Plan…• Immediately after giving

birth to the 6th child, Zeus, Rhea hands Cronus “the baby”, which he immediately swallows.

• Had he paid more attention, he would have noticed that Rhea really handed him a rock and sent baby Zeus off with Gaia for protection until it was safe for him to return.

• Eventually, Zeus came back as a grown god and with the help of his mother and good old Grandma Gaia, they offered Cronus a drink that made him vomit up his 5 siblings.

•Thus began THE WAR

Cronus went to the Titans for help on his side, but many were not interested in

helping him fight the Olympians—eventually though, Atlas was named the

leader of the Titan army.

Mount Olympus Olympians

Mount Othrys Titans

They fought for 10 years, with the battle going back and forth, and seemingly, there

was no end to the fighting, until Grammy

Gaia comes to the rescue, once again for

Zeus

Zeusy Boy, here’s what you do. I

miss my kids—the Hundred-Handed Giants and the

Cyclopes—and I’m sure they’re sick of

Tartarus. If you and the Olympians release them, I bet they’d be willing to

help your side in the war,

considering Cronus betrayed them.

What do you say?

I’m in; I’ll take my sibs with me and we’ll

bring them back

Zeus’ uncle monsters joined in the fight and gave the Olympians weapons they made while in the Underworld to show their thanks:

-Zeus got thunder/lightning-Poseidon got the trident to

cause earthquakes-Hades got the invisibility

helmet Finally the Olympians won and those that fought in the Titan army were sent to Tartarus, except

for Atlas (the leader), who got a special punishment; Zeus made sure he would spend

eternity using his strength to hold up the sky. THAT WOULD GET OLD, DON’T YOU THINK?

Zeus married his sister Hera and continued the

Olympian family:• Ares (Mars)—god of war (Olympian); had an affair with Aphrodite, Hephaestus’ wife, and Eros (Cupid) was born: arrows that find love– The Romans mocked love and appreciated war,

hence adored Mars (Ares in Greek)– The Greeks cherished love and hated war, thus

didn’t like Ares because he represented the destructive part of war

• Hephaestus —god of fire and forge (Olympian); the one and only ugly god; the peace maker amongst gods

• Ilitheia —goddess of childbirth (not really considered an Olympian even though part of this generation)

Snap JudgmentWhich god or

goddess are you most intrigued

by at this point? Why?

DISCUSS!

Zeus is unfaithful to Hera and has several more kids with other

women: With Leto, he has twins: – Apollo —god of sun, music,

medicine, poetry, archery—the ideal Greek, BEAUTIFUL, god; associated with the sun

– Artemis —virgin goddess of the hunt; associated with the moon—watched over women as they make transitions; born right before Apollo and helped deliver him

The Virgin Goddess Review

• Hestia—highly respected in every single home; people depended on her to keep them safe

• Artemis—fierce and vengeful woman that’s not tied down by anyone

• Athena—the most respected of all Olympians for her wisdom

Hera—at times, she can viewed as a joke: she rarely does anything too useful since she’s so busy trying to sabotage the lives of her husband’s mistresses and children (AKA-She’s THAT girl)

Aphrodite—gets involved in several love triangles, allowing men to string her along at times (AKA-She’s THAT OTHER girl)

Etc.

What does this imply about the virgin goddess, or goddesses without men in

their lives?

More kids…• With Metis (he swallowed her)/on his own, he had

Athena, virgin goddess of wisdom and war—Zeus had a headache and called Hephaestus over (blacksmith) to help; he cut Zeus’ head open and she popped out fully grown and in armor; his favorite child

• With Maia he has Hermes —the messenger of gods; trickster

• With Semele, a human, he has Dionysos —god of wine and revelry/enjoyment; only god with 1 human parent: Zeus promised Semele he’d do anything for her, and she asked to see him in his full glory, which saddened him because no human could see him this way and live, so he showed her anyway, as promised, and she died immediately. He grabbed the unborn baby and hid him in his thigh until ready to be born and gave to nymphs to raise

Zeus has more kids…• Persephone—she’s the daughter of Demeter

and her “husband” is Hades. Let’s just say she would have left him at the altar if that was option, but I’ll explain more about that later.

• Congrats…they’re triplets— The Fates! Talk about having power. They decided the lifespan of people’s lives via spinning thread. One spun the thread, one measured the thread, and one cut the thread. This determined the fate of one’s life.

• The Muses —they were children of Mnemosyne, and brought about an appreciation for the arts. Each of the nine Muses was responsible for one branch of the arts.

• The Graces —daughters of Eurynome; they bring grace and beauty wherever they go. They were literally the life of the party.

Wow…that was quite the story

There is plenty more to hear, but we’ll call it quits for now. Take this time to work with a partner, and add any

needed material to your Greek family tree. We have a lot more mythology to look forward to. I CAN’T WAIT!