From empty Chaos, somehow sea, earth, and air were formed. They swirled around each other. The earth wasn’t walkable, the air wasn’t breathable, and the sea wasn’t swimmable. Shapes and textures shifted. Anything flammable could quickly turn to ice. Life, there was no such thing. And rules of nature and survival? There were none. There was nothing in this crazy things, except lack of order. And lack is the essence of need.
Out of that need, came the mother force, Gaia, she swirled the sands together, -free of air. She formed huge mountains, higher and higher till snow settled on their peaks. She created a huge gaping hole, for the dead. But she didn’t know that yet. She pushed the rocky plates together to form a livable, not chaotic place.
As Gaia disentangled herself from the water and air, the sea, Pontus, fell in gigantic puddles, and the sky, Uranus filled the space above the earth and welcomed the stars. At this time the world looked like this, just plain, crystal clear, no pollution, perfect environment for plants and animals. Not that there were any. Yet. As all this happened, Chaos gave a great yawn and out came the pitch black darkness of Night, as well as Erebus. Erebus, like Gaia was a place as well as a force. She settled as the upper part of the underworld, while Tartarus, another primordial god settled for the deepest part of the underworld. Night and Erebus fell in love and gave birth to Day. Only then truly life began on earth. The grass became green, the sky a brilliant blue, and families slowly started to appear, some of this was thanks to Eros, the primordial god of Love.
One of the big marriages was Gaia and Uranus. They fell in love, and Gaia bore him 3 sons, the Cyclops. They were big and strong, and only had one eye, on their forehead. Uranus looked at his children with disgust. But, he kept going. Gaia bore him 3 more sons, the hundred-handed ones. Uranus loathed them as well. But, he kept going. Finally, Gaia bore him 12 sons, the Titans. This was too much. Uranus threw them into the deep caverns of their mother, Gaia.
Gaia glared at Uranus, but she kept quiet. She reached deep inside herself, and found a lustrous adamantine sickle. She gave it to the youngest Titan, Kronus. While Uranus was sleeping, Kronus cut him to pieces. Out of the remains of Uranus three more groups of creatures sprang out. Nymphs, carefree and fun loving. These were her mother’s daughters. Erinyes , with vicious snake hair lashing out, and Giants, ready for battle. As the pieces of Uranus sped out to sea, Aphrodite came out, the goddess of love.
These are the gods and their titles. There are many, but there are so much more, Hera, the goddess of Marriage. Hestia, the goddess of the hearth. And there also is Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Leto was a daughter of the Titans. Yet, she was gentle, like some of the other Titan offspring such as Calypso, who was imprisoned in Ogygia because of her Titan father Atlas.
Leto was the daughter of Coeus and Phoebe and both were titans. When the Titans got defeated, Zeus had his first wife, Metis. He drank her and therefore came Athena. And then there was Hera, Queen of gods. And she was mad. She was supposed to have Zeus’ first child. Then came Leto. Everyone knew that Zeus’ eye obeyed to no rules. So Leto took him as her husband.
Leto started having pains. She searched for a place to give birth in but everyone locked her out. Rumor was that her child would be as feared as Zeus. Not true, everyone only thought that because of Hera. Hera told everyone in every land to not welcome her. This was a product of envy. Leto heard everyone on land didn’t welcome her. Then it dawned on her. Water! That was what she needed. Water! She rolled out to sea and came upon the rocky isle of Delos. Her daughter came out from her as slippery and as fast a stream.
Almost as suddenly, the pains returned. This time, a boy came forth and let out a cry that was faultless. Faultless. This was Zeus’ first godly son. He had many affairs with mortal women, but this was a true cause for celebration. All the goddesses came, even Gaia. Nearly over night Apollo became everything Zeus hoped for. None came close to arguing with him, he never missed at mark with his arrows.
Artemis wasn’t fazed by Apollo’s birth. She was older anyways. She hunted lynx and stag with wolves as fast as a stream, and with eyes that looked like the moon. She was a force, and everyone knew it. And that was good enough for her. As you know, when Zeus defeated Kronus, he locked him in the Tartarus. Gaia, became bitter and gave forth to the god Typhon, king of monsters. When Typhon was defeated, Gaia didn’t attack them. But, Gaia took one more husband, Tartarus, the spirit of the abyss. Gaia bore him 12 giants, each to oppose a god.
All the giant weren’t truly immortal except Alcyoneus, bane of Hades. He was only truly immortal in his home territory though so he couldn’t be killed as long he was there. No giants could be killed by only gods. No giants could be killed by only demigods. Only a combination of Demigod and god could they be killed. The war began. Otis and Ephialtes trapped the war god in a jar, and climbed up to Mount Olympus by using mountains. But finally, the gods won. It was a hard battle, Hephaestus was almost overwhelmed by Mimas, but Ares helped him and together they killed Mimas.
Trojan War
King Peleus who ruled the kingdom of Phthia, married a nymph goddess, Thetis. They invited gods and goddesses to their wedding except, Eris, goddess of discord, because she was known for ruining everything. She threw an apple with the label, “for the fairest.” All the goddesses wanted it, but the three most powerful put themselves forward: Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera. They asked Zeus to choose. Only an idiot would have accepted the accepted the task of choosing. Zeus told the three goddesses to ask Paris, son of King Priam, and Hecuba. They offered bribes. Hera offered political power: Paris could rule Asia and Europe. Athena offered military power: Paris could lead Troy against Greece and win. Aphrodite suggested love power: Paris could marry the most beautiful woman alive.
Paris chose Aphrodite and went off to claim his price. Who was the most beautiful woman? A daughter of Zeus, of course. Leda, the wife of King Tyndareus of Sparta. Her daughter was Helen, and by the time she was ten, word of her beauty had spread. She had the grace of her mother. Theseus stole her away, only to have her be stolen back by her brothers. She married Menelaus, who soon replaced KIng Tyndareus as king. Paris came, and he stole Helen and made her come to Troy. The winds and ships kept going along. The son of King peleus and Thetis was named Achilles. He was dropped in river styx as a infant. But she had held him by one heel, and his heel was his point of vulnerability. Over in Troy, thousands of men fought. King Priam’s son Hector, was the best Trojan warrior. They battled month after month, year after year, because of the gods and goddesses who saw them as pawn, rooks, queens, and kings on a giant chess board. Killing happened. Achilles killed Hector. Paris killed Achilles. In the tenth year, a prophet said Troy couldn’t be taken without the bow and arrows of Heracles. Odysseus led a quest, found the arrows and their owner Philoctetes. Philoctetes killed Paris with an arrow. But the war didn’t end, Helen was still deep in the castle. Odysseus had a moment of genius. He said the GReeks build a giant greek horse and conceal their best warriors within it. The rest of them hid on the field. The Trojans thought this was a gift to please them, and to propose the greeks had fled. The Greeks came out at night and killed all of the Trojans. Helen grieved for the devastation she caused by giving in to Paris. But, there was one survivor…
Rise of the Roman Empire
After the events of the battle of Troy, Aeneas of Troy escaped. He wandered from place to place. At last, he stumbled upon Italy. He founded the Roman Empire. Using Greek figures, Aeneas created Roman gods. They are a little different from the greek ones, but a lot more luxurious. Greek gods are more classical, and more powerful more powerful. Here are the Roman Gods:
Conclusion
Greek mythology is a subject that explains the world in many ways. Gaia, the earth. Helios, the sun. Selene, the moon. Uranus, the sky. Erebus, the waiting hole for the dead. Pontus, the sea. Kronus, god of time. Greek myths explain the world in many ways. According to the Greeks and Romans, the world wouldn’t look like this, mind you, the galaxy wouldn’t look like this. This a picture of Gaia, Helios and Pontus.
These myths explain the world, and are very important to the Greeks. Do you believe in these important myths? Do you think these myths are real? Do you think the gods are watching you? This is the part that my writing can’t explain. This is the part that’s up to you. Thank you for reading. I hope you’ve learnt something!
Bibliography
- Donna Jo Napoli. (2011) Treasury Of Greek Mythology (National Geographic Society)
- B. A. Hoena. (2003) World Mythology: Athena. (Capstone Press)
- B. A. Hoena. (2003) World Mythology: Zeus. (Capstone Press
- D’aulaire. (1962) D’aulaires’ Book Of Greek Myths (Delacorte Press)
