The
Greek
Gods
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Chaos
Uranus & Gaea
Oceanus
&
Tethys
Coeus
&
Pheobe
Cronus
& Rhea
Hades
Poseido
n
Zeus
Apollo
Artemis
Aphrodit
e
Hermes
Iapetus
Hera
Themis
Demeter
Hestia
Hephestus
Ares
Athena
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THE BEGINNING, CHAOS
• In the beginning, there was Chaos
(shapeless nothingness). Everything was
in confusion and darkness.
• Out of Chaos, there appeared
– Night (darkness)
– Death (Erebus).
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• From the union of these two elements came
Eros, which was Love and the most significant
figure to appear thus far.
• To the Greeks, Eros represented a principle of
order. They believed that it was Eros, which
was capable of bringing an ordered universe out
of Chaos. In its role as a principle of order, Eros
performed the first marriage by bringing together
Uranus, the sky (father), and Gaea, the earth
(mother).
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Uranus &
Gaea
• Gaea was both sister & wife to Uranus and bore
him monsters
– the Hundred-handed children w/ 50 heads
– 3 huge one-eyed giants called Cyclops
– 12 huge giants called Titans.
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• Uranus was jealous and afraid of his
children and feared they might try to take
his power.
• To solve this possible problem, he buried
them alive in the earth.
• Naturally, Gaea was very unhappy &
plotted with Cronus, the youngest of the
Titans, to overthrow Uranus.
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• Cronus, with his mother’s help, wounded
Uranus with a long, curved knife and
became supreme ruler.
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Cronus &
Rhea
• The youngest of 12 Titans, Cronus had 5
brothers & 6 sisters. However, his other
brother & sisters (the Cyclops & Hundredarmed monsters) were still buried in the
earth, breaking a promise to his mother
that he would free them.
• One of his sisters, Rhea, he married.
• Together, they had 12 children.
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• However, Cronus worried that he might be
overthrown just as his father was, so he
swallowed every child soon after it was
born with the exception of Zeus.
• With the help of Gaea (still holding a
grudge about the broken promise), Rhea
saved Zeus by giving Cronus a wrapped
up stone to swallow instead of baby Zeus.
• Zeus was raised in secret on an island, &
when he was ready, he conquered Cronus
& freed his 11 brothers & sisters.
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Zeus
• Zeus was raised by nymphs on the island of Crete.
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• Zeus had many wives, but ruled Mount Olympus
with his sister & wife Hera.
• He was the ruler of the heavens & other gods.
• Zeus divided the world among his brothers after
conquering his father Cronus.
• Zeus is the most powerful of all the gods.
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Oceanus &
Tethys
• Oceanus was the Titan of the Ocean, & with Tethys,
his sister Titaness that he married, they had
daughters that were nymphs known as the
Oceanids.
• All the gods of all the streams & rivers on earth
were their sons.
• After Zeus & the Olympians overthrew the Titans,
Poseidon became ruler of the ocean.
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Poseidon
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Coeus &
Phoebe
• Coeus, one of the Titans, married his sister
Titaness, Phoebe.
• Coeus was the Titan of intelligence, & Phoebe was
said to be the Titaness of the moon.
• Together, they had 2 children.
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Iapetus
• One of the Titans born to Gaea & Uranus.
• He had 3 sons: Atlas (punished by Zeus to carry the
earth on his shoulders for eternity),
Epimetheus, & Prometheus
(punished by Zeus & later saved by
Hercules).
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Themis
• A Titaness born to Gaea & Uranus.
• She was the goddess of order, justice, & law. She
is represented carrying a cornucopia & a pair of
scales.
• She was the first to make
prophecies & started the
oracle at Delphi. She later
gave it to Apollo as a
birthday present.
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Hera
• Sister & wife to Zeus, she was the most jealous
goddess in all of Greece & persecuted many of
Zeus’ mistresses.
• She was the goddess of childbirth, marriage &
children.
• There are many stories of
fighting between Zeus &
Hera because of his affairs.
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Demeter
• Goddess of corn, grain & the
harvest.
• Hades abducted her
daughter, Persephone, &
because of the arrangement
between Zeus & Hades,
Demeter was able to see her
daughter for part of the year
& the other half was spent
with Hades.
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Hestia
• Quiet goddess of hearth &
home.
• Most gentle of all the
Olympians, she gave up the
throne for Dionysus. Hestia
tended the sacred fire in the
hall of Mount Olympus.
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Apollo
• God of prophecy, reason,
music, light, & healing.
• Born the twin to Artemis, he is
the son of Zeus and Leto
(daughter of Coeus & Phoebe).
• The oracle of Delphi was given
to him.
• He is the father of many heroes
such as Orpheus & Asclepius.
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Artemis
• Goddess of the hunt, all
newborn creatures &
chastity.
• She is the twin to Apollo.
• When she was young, Zeus
promised her that she would
never have to marry.
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Aphrodite
• Goddess of love & beauty.
• She was the only Olympian to have no parents.
• She was born of the ocean’s foam & was led to
Mount Olympus by the three Graces.
• Because of her great beauty, she was given in
marriage to Hephaestus, the god of fire.
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The 3
Graces
• Aglaia (Splendor).
• Euphrosyne (Mirth).
• Thalia (Good Cheer).
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Hephaestus
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• However, she was not very faithful & had many
affairs, including one with Ares, the god of war.
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Hephaestus
• Hephaestus was the god of fire
& an expert metal-smith.
• He was the son to Zeus & Hera.
• Hephaestus was born lame &
deformed, but married Aphrodite
to prevent other gods from
fighting over her.
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Ares
• Ares was the god of war.
• He was the son of Hera & Zeus.
• Ares loved the sounds of war & bloodshed.
• None of the gods on Mount Olympus liked him
much due to his bloodthirsty nature.
• Aphrodite liked him only for his good looks.
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Hermes
• Hermes was messenger to
the gods.
• He was the son of Zeus.
• He was brought to Mount
Olympus after Apollo
discovered his talents for
making things.
• He was the patron of liars,
thieves, & gamblers.
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Poseidon
• Poseidon was god of the sea.
• He was the brother of Zeus.
• When moody, he could create violent storms at sea
& wreck ships & flood lands.
• However, when he was in a good mood, he could29
raise up new lands out of the sea.
Hades
• Hades was god of the
underworld, that all mortals
feared.
• Though he lived in the
underworld, Hades was still
considered an Olympian.
• He lived a gloomy existence with
his wife Persephone, whom he
abducted.
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Athena
• Athena was the
goddess of war,
wisdom,& the liberal
arts.
• She was born fully
grown from the head of
Zeus.
• Athena was the patron
to Athens & also aided
many heroes: Perseus,
Argus, Heracles, &
Odysseus.
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