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 semester.
It all sounds so
exciting!
We can’t wait to
get started!
Yes!!!
But we are sort of
wondering…
Is there anything
more we need to
know about
mythology in
general before we
get to the story?
There are some things you will need to keep in mind…
First of all…
Keep in mind that we are studying mythology as
Literature, which deals with characters, plot, themes, and
the beliefs of the people who created the stories,
NOT as
Religion, which deals with matters of personal faith.
Secondly,
Keep in mind that myths were spread through oral tradition
over hundreds of years before ever being written down.
Remember that game, TELEPHONE, that you played when
you were a kid?
What happens to the message as it passes from person to
person? Go ahead…try it out…
The same thing happened to myths as they passed from
one person to another. So, don’t be surprised if you
read one version of a myth and find that it differs
slightly from another version of the same myth. That’s
normal when working with myths.
Finally,
Keep in mind that myths are symbolic stories. They are not governed
by the rules of nature, logic, science, and time. Therefore, if you try to
make literal sense of the stories, you’ll drive yourself crazy!
So…
Sit back,
Relax,
and
Suspend your disbelief…
Snap Judgment
What can’t you wait
to learn about
associated with
mythology? In other
words, you’re losing
sleep over wanting
this knowledge.
DISCUSS!
At first there was only one thing that existed:
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)
Here come the
5 elements:
Chaos
(Love)—entity
(Underworld)—entity
Nyx (Night)—entity
Erebus (Darkness)—entity
(Mother Earth)—being
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:
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, the first Great Goddess (Mother Earth),
has Uranus as her son (Ruler of the Sky)
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”
Wait, Dad—what are
you doing?
Dad…NO…I don’t want
to stay in Tartarus
forever!!!! AHHHHH…
Whoa, these
…he sends
Uranus is threatened
kids are way
too scary for
them to me!
by his kids because
Tartarus,
they are big and scary,
where he
and he fears that they
intends
for
will take him over,
them to be
causing him to lose his
imprisoned for
power, so…
eternity.
That eventually comes back to haunt
him, but I’ll fill you in on that later.
Gaia, on the other hand…
AAARRRGGGH!!!
How DARE he lock
my kids away!!!!
Just you wait,
Uranus! I’m going to
wait for my chance,
and when the time is
right, you’ll get what
you deserve and I’ll
release my babies!!!
WHO does
But she can’t
do he
anything right now—Uranus has gained
think he IS?!?!
the upper hand. Bring in the patriarchal societies…
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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 Judgment
Spielberg 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!
There comes a time when…
GaiaI’ve
develops
a plan and confronts her kids
Nowfor
is the
had
time to
enough!
help; of course, they are scared of their father
and
act!!!
don’t want to challenge him, but Cronus decides
he’s up for the challenge, so he steps forward 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 necessary tool to implement their plan
• She tells him to hide it until the time is right.
• She then seduces Uranus on the seashore.
• Then, taking the sleeping Uranus by COMPLETE
surprise, Cronus carries out the plan.
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 Judgment
Gaia: a strong, nononsense woman
who teaches men
not to mess with
her, or a complete
creep?
DISCUSS!
Next…
Cronus threw his dad’s severed body parts into the sea where it
began foaming on the surface of the water.
From the foam rose Aphrodite, goddess of passionate love and
beauty, whose name literally means “foam born.”
From the blood of Cronus seeping into the ground, rose the
Giants and the Furies, three fearsome monsters who
tormented sinners, expecially those who killed their parents.
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 Giants and the 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.
3.
4.
5.
There are some parallels to Matriarchal ceremonies
Demeter (Ceres)—goddess of grain; Great Goddess like Rhea
here: Cronus “eating” his kids as babies might stem
Hades (Pluto)—ruler of the underworld; lord of the dead
from how female priestesses ate the flesh of sacred
Poseidonfor
(Neptune)—god
the sea; creates
earthquakes
kings
fertility of
purposes;
again,
this just shows that
Hera
(Juno)—goddess
of marriage and
queen of Olympus
mythology
is a reflection
of childbirth;
what occurred
in societies
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
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
Snap Judgment
How do Cronus’
actions resemble
humankind
today?
DISCUSS!
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 Judgment
Which 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
Hera—at times, she can viewed as a joke: she rarely
anything too useful since she’s so busy trying to
•does
Hestia—highly
respected
in
every
single
home;
people
sabotage the lives of her husband’s mistresses and
depended
on her to keep
themgirl)
safe
children
(AKA-She’s
THAT
• Artemis—fierce and vengeful woman
that’s not tied
down
by anyone
Aphrodite—gets
involved
in several
love triangles,
allowing men to string her along at times (AKA-She’s
•THAT
Athena—the
most respected of all Olympians
OTHER girl)
for her wisdom
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
Impromptu quiz
Can you guess the identity of the following Olympians?
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!
Snap Judgment
Why do you think high
school students
should or should not
study mythology?
Think of as many
different
explanations as you
can.
DISCUSS!