1/19/18
 85% of all greeks believed in the gods
 few people in ancient greece that were disbelievers
o greek religion did not have a series of concepts or dogmas that you have to
believe
o there was zeus and there was a wife called hera
o did not have to believe in the stories that involved the god
o religion was state run but there were no schools of religious instruction but no
seminiar
o there were priest or priestes but there was no sitting through an exam; some
priesthood were inherited within the family
 very famous feast
 some were state controlled;
 they got a salary for keeping up the coal site
 every cult site had a temple; there is a place where you make scarfice
 almost all the temples had a place where you could scarfice to god or
goddess
 in terms of people in response to greeke gods; weren’t forced to accept
any stories about them
o could not discuss if gods are real
o there were several creations stories
o in the theogany; it explains how the first gods came into existence
 in the beginning there is nothing; out of nothing comes a opening
 that opening is called chaos
 chaos is connected to our word gap our yawn
 Among the god, there was a time period in which was nothing, and then
there was a lot
 Inside of it, flat disk (mother earth)
o Underbelly (acron)
o The womb like enitity is called chaos
o Based on anaology with womb or an egg
o Within that womb like enitiy
 Within chaosChaos (mother earth, tarterus)
o Mother earth begins to differentiate
 Give birth to mountain and sea
 Will marry that son (Uranus)
 They in term will have three sets of children (titans) and cyclcops
 The titans and the 100 handers and cyclops will be kept in mother earth
belly
 After a while, mother earth get angry at father and get her youngest son
to castrate
 Father Uranus will be free and float to dome after castrated
 Now we have a new dynasty
o Second dynasty of gods (titan dynasty)


o Oceanous surrounds mother earth
 Has a wife that is also a sea
goddess or water goddess
 Goddess of nymphs
 Hyperon which is the sun
god; wife is called thei
o Yaphetus (the 7th)
 After great flood; repopulation of the world
 All humans come from ancient Hebrews
o Ham sham Japheth
 Two important sons
o Promethous and epimethus
 Proemthus becomes
benefactor of humans; tricks
zeus into making a choice
between two place
o Chronus has overthrown his father and take over kingship
 Has 6 children with his wife
 6 children with his wife (rayus)
 oldest generation of greek gods
o Hestia, demeter, posidoen, hades,
hera, zeus
o As the first give was born, raia will
hand over the chronus to swallow
 Raia is tired of having
children swallow by chronus;
gives birth on island of crete
to zeus
o Raia will return
 Zeus is protected by goats,
chormatis, and bees?
 Zeus grows up quickly; goes
to mount olypmius
 Gives his father and medic and doesn’t
know what he is drinking; throws up 5
children
o Uses consort
Theogany is the birth of the universe
Titan 10 year war
o Stalemate for 10 years
o Zeus frees cyclops and 100 handers
o The cyclops

Will create thunderbolt for zeus and a trident
posideon and a helmet of invivisble for hades
o 100 handers throw boulders at titian


three gods divvy up land
o Zeus in charge of the earth
o Posideon becomes king of the sea
 Has a palace down of the bottom of the agean sea
 Hades will get underworld
 The underworld is just below mother earth
 If souls of the dead did not have prayers, would not be able to pass over
to the next world
 Will cause trouble for the living
 Hades is in the underworld; will have a queen
 Persphonie
o Story of the seasons
Birth of Athena
o Came out of a head of zeus
o Zeus first wife (mayteus) (ocean god)
 Second child will overthrow him so zeus swallow her
 Incorporates thinking of a women
o Athena becomes goddess of defenses, warfare, defense art, wisdom
o Posiden and Athena fight over naming rights of Athens
 Posiden gives them salt water
 Athena gives them a olive tree (picked)
o Athena is army garb
 On the garmet of Athena is medusa
 Snakes as tassles