ANCIENT GREECE
The Pantheon of Greek Gods and Goddesses
In the Beginning
According to legend, before anything
existed, there was a nothingness called
Chaos.
 From this Mother Earth, or Gaea, was
formed.
 She gave birth to the sky; called Uranus.
 Gaea and Uranus had many children but
the most important were the Titans.

The Rise of Cronos
Uranus banished some of his children to a
gloomy place under the Earth called the
Underworld.
 Gaea was angered by this and encouraged
the Titans to rise up against their father
Uranus.
 Led by Cronos they overthrew Uranus.
 Cronos became king of the Titans and
married his sister Rhea (I know, its weird).

Zeus is Born
Cronos had been warned that one of his
future children would kill him, so he ate
his first five children.
 When Rhea was giving birth to their sixth
child, Zeus, she tricked Cronos by giving
him a stone wrapped up in clothes.
 She then sent Zeus to be raised by
Nymphs.

Titanomachy



Zeus returned as an
adult and slipped a
potion into Cronos’
drink.
This caused him to
throw up Zeus’
trapped siblings.
They waged a war
against Cronos, and
the Titans of the
Underworld, called
Titanomachy.
Zeus Victorious






Zeus became King of the gods and ruler of the
sky.
His brother Poseidon became King of the Ocean.
His other brother Hades became King of the
Underworld.
His sister Hestia became goddess of the hearth
and home.
His other sister Demeter became goddess of
plants and the harvest.
His third sister Hera became protector of
women and marriage; also married Zeus.
The Olympians


The new gods were
called the Olympians
because the Greeks
believed they lived on
Mount Olympus.
There were generally
12 main gods and
several demigods the
Greeks believed in.
The Other Olympians
Ares – god of war
 Aphrodite – goddess of love
 Apollo – god of the Sun, light and truth
 Hephaestus – god of craftsmen
 Artemis – goddess of the moon and hunt
 Athena – goddess wisdom and war
 Dionysus – god of wine and plays
 Hermes – messenger of the gods
