Greek Creation Story In the beginning, there was nothing but an empty space. The Greeks called it Chaos. The First Order Chaos gave birth to Erebus (darkness) and Nyx (night). Erebus and Nyx gave birth to Hemera (day) and Aether (light). Chaos created two more entities: Gaia and Tartarus. Gaia was earth and Tartarus was the place beneath the earth. From Gaia appeared Pontus (sea) and Ouranos (sky). The Second Order Gaia married her son Ouranos. Back then, it was normal for members of the same family to marry each other as there was no one else to marry. Gaia and Ouranos had three sets of children: three Cyclopes, three Hecatonchires and twelve Titans.
The Cyclopes were giants with one eye on their forehead. The Hecatonchires were terrible creatures with a hundred arms and fifty heads. Their incredible strength and ferocity surpassed that of all the Titans. It’s said that when the Cyclopes and the Hecatonchires were born, Ouranos, shocked by their hideous appearance, buried them deep in the earth. Six of the Titans were male and six were female. They didn’t share their brothers’ monstrous appearance. The Defeat of Ouranos Ouranos was a cruel father. Gaia could never forget what he had done to their children: the Cyclopes and the Hecatonchires. So, she came up with a plan. Together with her Titan son, Kronos, who hated and envied his father, they set a trap
Kronos wounded Ouranos, punishing him for his cruel behaviour. Ouranos cursed Kronos with the words: “May your children destroy you as you destroyed me.” Kronos buried his father deep in the earth and became the ruler of the world.
Page 1 of 5 visit twinkl.com Greek Creation Story He then married his sister Rhea The Return of Zeus and they had six children. Kronos, Zeus grew up and learnt to hate his remembering his father’s curse, father for all the bad things he had was afraid of his children. So, every done. One day, he went to the place time Rhea gave birth to a child, he where Kronos and Rhea lived, dressed swallowed it. like a servant. He poured a magic First, Hestia was born. Kronos potion into Kronos’ drink that made swallowed her. Then Hades, Demeter, him spit out his five children when Poseidon and Hera. They all had he drank it. Hestia, Hades, Demeter, the same fate. However, Rhea didn’t Poseidon and Hera recognised Zeus want to lose her sixth child too. So, as their leader. Together, they would she walked all the way to Crete and overthrow Kronos and the Titans. gave birth to Zeus. As she didn’t want Kronos to suspect anything, she let Zeus be raised by the nymphs of the island and the she-goat Amalthea. She then returned to Kronos, wrapped a stone in clothes and gave it to him in Did You Know...? place of their child. Kronos swallowed Kronos’ children didn’t call themselves the stone, sure that it was their sixth Titans, despite their Titan parentage. child. Instead, they called themselves gods and they would start a new dynasty. The Titanomachy A terrible ten-year war came next where the six gods fought against the Titans. The Titans were very strong but the gods had the The Olympians Cyclopes and the Hecatonchires on A new era began with Zeus as the their side. The war was so ferocious ruler. Zeus, Hera, Hestia, Hades, that it caused the ground to crack, Poseidon and Demeter were the islands to form and continents to first gods, but soon more followed. move and reshape. When everyone Aphrodite, Ares, Hephaestus, believed that the Titans would win, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes and the Hecatonchires threw boulders Athena followed. They called over them, forcing them to retreat themselves the Olympians because and run away. Zeus exiled them. they lived on Mount Olympus.
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Did You Know...?
Hades doesn’t belong to the Dodekatheon because he is the ruler of the Underworld.
The Creation of Humans Zeus was happy living among his fellow gods and ruling the world but he felt that something was missing. He wanted to have someone to protect, teach and to live happily in the world the gods had created. So, he had an idea. With the help of his beloved friend Prometheus, he created the first humans out of clay. Zeus conceived the plan, Prometheus created their bodies and Athena brought them to life, giving them her wisdom and sense. Zeus named them ‘Anthropos’, a word that is still used in Greece today meaning ‘human’.
Glossary Hecatonchires: the name of forests, lakes or the sea the mythical creatures with a hundred arms and fifty heads. exiled: when a person is banned ‘Hecatonchires’ means ‘a hundred from his native country arms’ in Greek. Dodekatheon: the Twelve Gods hideous: extremely ugly of Olympus were called the Dodekatheon because they were nymphs: young female mythical twelve. ‘Dodekatheon’ means ‘twelve creatures that lived near mountains, gods’ in Greek.
conceive: form a plan or idea in the mind
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