I.
Chaos- Black nothingness
A. Mother Earth (Gaia)- produced son, Uranus
B. Uranus- Married Mother Earth
1. Kids with Gaia- Cyclops, Hundred Handed, Titans (12), Golden Race
2. Locked children in underworld
C. Gaia wanted Cronos, a Titan, to rebel against father, Uranus for cruel
treatment
1. Cronos attacked Uranus with sickle
2. Blood made Furies and Aphrodite out of sea foam
D. Cronos became ruler
II.
Cronos married sister, Rhea
A. Had 6 children (Olympian)
B. Cronos swallowed children, except 6th child, Zeus
1. Rhea hid Zeus with nymphs
C. Zeus slips potion in Cronos’ drink
D. Cronos coughs up children
III.
War between Titans and Olympians
A. Zeus freed Cyclops
1. Gave Zeus thunderbolts, Hades invisibility helmet, and Poseidon a trident
B. Olympians win
C. Zeus becomes King of Gods and Sky, Poseidon God of Ocean, Hades God of
Underworld
IV. What the World Was Like
A. Earth- Humans lived here
1. Gods visited in disguise as humans
2. Gods rewarded or punished humans
B. Underworld
1. Asphodel Fields- Shades or ghosts of ordinary people stayed here
2. Tartarus- Evil people here
3. Elysian Fields- Heroic people here
4. River Styx- River to the Underworld
5. Hades- God of Underworld
6. Persephone- Wife of Hades; she was kidnapped; must stay there half the
year (winter), and back with mom, Demeter (spring / summer)
C. Believed in reincarnation
D. Mt. Olympus- Home of the Gods
E. Ocean- Poseidon is the King
V. Pre-Trojan War
A. Golden apple (for the most fair / beautiful)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Eris brought it to wedding because she was not invited.
Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite wanted it
Zeus would not choose most fair
Picked Paris, Prince of Troy, to choose
a. Abandoned because he was supposed to cause downfall of Troy
Hera offered Paris wealth and power
Athena offered him great victory in battle
Aphrodite offered him love of most beautiful woman in the world, Helen
a. Helen was married to King Menalaus, King of Sparta
Paris chose Aphrodite because he wanted Helen’s love
VI. Beginning of Trojan War
A. Paris and Helen run off to Troy
B. King Menalaus gets his brother, King Agamemnon, Achilles, and Odysseus to
come to Troy to fight to get Helen back.
C. Bring 1000 ships with them
VII. The Trojan War
A. Lasts 10 years
B. The Illiad- covers last 50 days of the Trojan War
C. Achilles, Great Greek Warrior, leaves war because he and King Agamemnon fight
over a slave girl
1. He has one weak spot- his heel that was not burned off by his mother to
make him immortal
2. Came back to war whenever his friend, Patroclus, wore his armor and was
killed by Hector
3. Achilles then kills Hector
4. Paris then kills Achilles
D. Ajax and Odysseus both want Achilles armor
1. King Agamemnon gives armor to Odysseus
2. Ajax kills himself because of this
E. Greeks were losing the war, especially since Achilles left
F. Odysseus comes up with idea of Trojan Horse (got idea from Poseidon)
1. Greeks pretended to surrender
2. Left Trojan Horse outside of walls of city of Troy
3. Horse was supposed to be a peace offering to Gods
4. Odysseus and others hid inside Trojan Horse
5. Greeks celebrated a victory
6. At night, Odysseus and his men snuck out of horse through trap door,
opened the gates for the Greeks, took the Trojans by surprise, and
burned the city to ruins
G. Greeks won.
VIII. After the Trojan War
A. King Agamemnon returns home and is killed by his wife, Clytemnestra, and his
cousin, Aegisthus
1. She stabs him while he is defenseless
2. She marries Aegisthus afterward and they become King and Queen
B. Karma- “You reap what you sow”
1. Orestes, Clytemnestra’s and Agamemnon’s son, kills Clytemnestra and
Aegisthus
2. Orestes is then haunted by the Furies and goes mad
3. Orestes tries to kill Helen, but she is saved by Zeus
4. The family curse is broken once Orestes makes amends for his crime
IX. Odysseus’ Journey home
A. Odysseus- King of Ithaca, Greece
B. Wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus, at home in Ithaca for 20 years without
him
C. Poseidon curses Odysseus because he claims to win the war all by himself
D. Lotus-eaters- Odysseus’ men eat the lotus fruit and forget they want to go
home
E. Cyclops lock Odysseus and his men in a cave and eat many of them
1. The Cyclops, Polyphemus, is Poseidon’s son
F. Aeolus- God of the winds give Odysseus a bag of winds to get home, but his men
open it and unleash a tempest storm- Yes! this is like Spongebob!
G. Circe- A sea witch goddess turns Odysseus’ men into pigs!
H. Underworld- Odysseus must see Tiresias, a shade, to find out about his future
I. The Sirens- try to lure Odysseus men to their death with their beautiful songs
J. Scylla- the Seas Monster and Charybdis- the Whirlpool- Odysseus must choose
between the lesser of these two evils
K. Helio’s cattle- Don’t eat Helio’s cattle or everyone will die
L. Calypso- Kept Odysseus hostage for 7 years because she loved him.
X. Once Odysseus gets home
A. Men are trying to marry Penelope, Odysseus’ wife
B. They are mistreating her and his son, Telemachus
C. Odysseus not sure if he can trust wife and son
D. Test of the bow- Whoever could string Odysseus’ bow could marry Penelope
E. Odysseus kills all of the suitors