An Introduction to Greek Mythology
Note making: Slide notes
What is Mythology?
Mythology is the study of
, associated with a particular
that were used to explain the world and other human experiences
These exciting stories explained
by
,
phenomena that could not be explained
in the ancient world
Myths were used to explain the creation of the
, death and the
, human experiences (love, jealousy and revenge), and a
or belief.
Gods and Goddesses
The Greeks worshipped their gods and regularly prayed, gave offerings and built
to please the gods.
The Greeks were distinctly different from all previous
they were the first to create gods in their own image.
Unlike religious gods today, the Greek gods
human.
because
and
They married, loved and quarrelled; they had love affairs (and children) with both gods and mortals;
they also loved games, challenges and trickery.
But the gods were
not blood, ran in their veins.
The gods and goddesses lived at the top of
a gate of clouds. There they ate only
and would never die because
,
in Greece behind
and drank only nectar.
Why Should We Study Mythology?
They provide insight into Greek
They present us with
and different time periods.
ways of looking at our world.
They have become an integral part of our current cultural landscape from Atlas Moving Company to
Project Prometheus.
They remind us, through the common elements we see in the myths of various cultures, that
despite our
, such as language, we are much more
than different.
R. Efpatridis – 2014 – 1DP Mythology
Greek Creation Story: How the World Came to Be
1. At first there was only darkness also known as
2. The Earth grew out of this
space.
3. Mother Earth, also known as
became the mother of
all living things and of the first gods.
4. Gaea gave birth to Uranus who was known as the
.
5. Plants, animals and
appeared after Uranus rained down on the Earth.
6. Gaea and Uranus had children called the twelve giant
. They ruled
the Earth for a long time. There were
boys and
girls.
7. They also had other ugly children called the Cyclopes who were
and monsters with a hundred arms and
heads called
. They were hated by
and thrown into
the
also called Tartarus.
8. Gaea loved her children and wanted them rescued. Cronus who was the
and the bravest chased his own father away and became
.
9. Cronus was now the Lord of the universe but would not free his
.
10. He married his
Rhea, and had many
. He was
afraid that one of them might betray him, so as each child was born, he
it.
11. Rhea, the mother of the children, hid the last child she had. His name was
.
He was raised in the woods to become the
god.
12. Cronus thought he destroyed his youngest son, but he actually swallowed a
wrapped in a blanket.
13. He along with all his brothers and
and the ugly monsters from
fought the Titans and Cronus. The war went on for
years between the Titans and the new gods.
14. The new gods known as the Olympians won. Earth was finally at
. And the
three most powerful Olympian brothers ruled over different parts of the world:
and Hades and
.
15. The great
built a palace on Mount
where they lived forever.
R. Efpatridis – 2014 – 1DP Mythology