Name: __________________________________________ Date: ___________________ Block: ________ Greek Mythology What are myths and if they aren’t real, why do we study them in history class? A “myth” is a traditional story about gods and heroes that societies use to explain their history, culture, beliefs, and the natural world around them. For the Ancient Greeks, their gods and goddesses were immortal beings who looked like people, acted like people, and lived on Mount Olympus (a tall mountain in northern Greece). The Greek gods controlled the universe and occasionally would come down to earth in their own shapes, or sometimes disguised as humans or animals. The Greek myths and gods teach us about their history, like how the story of the Iliad teach us about the Trojan War. Myths also teach us about their culture, including their values and what they belief about humans and humanity. Lastly, myths explain natural phenomena. For example, the Greeks explained why the seasons changed through the story of Demeter, the goddess of fertility. The goddess Demeter had a daughter named Persephone [per-sef-uh-nee] who brought her much joy. But when Persephone married Hades, the God of the Underworld, she had to live with him for half of the year in the Underworld. Then would return to Mount Olympus for the other half of the year. Demeter, as the goddess of fertility, caused things on Earth to grow, but only when she was happy and with Persephone. Therefore, half the year (summer) is bright and plants grow fruitfully, while the other half of the year (winter, when Persephone and Demeter are apart) is dark and lifeless. Modern science has disproved the Greek myths – we know why the seasons change without explaining the depression of the goddess Demeter – but this does not make them less real for the ancient Greeks. Read the creation myth below to understand how the earth was created and where the gods and goddesses come from. Greek Creation Myth Gaea [jee-uh], the Earth, came out of darkness so long ago that nobody knows when or how. Earth was young and lonesome, for nothing lived on her yet. Above her rose Uranus, the Sky, dark and blue, set all over with sparkling stars. He was magnificent to behold, and young Earth looked up at him and fell in love with his stars. Soon Earth and Uranus gave birth to the Giants, the Titans and Earth became Mother Earth. All her children loved their warm and bountiful mother and feared their mighty father, Uranus, lord of the universe. The Titans were the first children of Mother Earth. They were the first gods and were taller than the mountains she created to serve them as thrones. Both of their parents, the Earth and the Sky, were proud of them. There were six Titans, six glorious gods, and they had six sisters, the Titanesses, whom they took for their wives. When Gaea again gave birth, Uranus was not proud of their new children. These new children were also huge, but each had only one glowing eye set in the middle of his forehead. They were the three Cyclopes and they were named Lightning, Thunder, and Thunderbolt. They were not handsome gods, but tremendously strong smiths (like blacksmiths). Sparks from their heavy hammers on iron flashed across the sky and lit up the heavens so brightly that even their father’s stars faded. After a while, Mother Earth bore three more sons. Uranus looked at them with disgust. Each of them had fifty heads and a hundred strong arms. He hated to see such ugly creatures walk about on lovely Earth, so he seized them and all of their brothers, the Cyclopes, and flung them into Tartarus, the deepest, darkest pit under the earth. Mother Earth loved her children and could not forgive her husband for his cruelty to them and for sending them away. Out of hardest flint she fashioned a sickle and told her Titan sons to take the weapon and end their father’s cruelty. All of the Titans refused except one, Cronus, the youngest and strongest. Cronus confronted his father with the sickle and Uranus could not withstand the weapon wielded by his strong son. Uranus then gave up all his powers and fled. Cronus was now the lord of the universe. He sat on the highest mountain and ruled over heaven and earth with a firm hand. When Cronus began to rule he did not set his monstrous brothers free, and this made Mother Earth very angry with him. Because of her anger Mother Earth plotted the downfall of Cronus, just as she had plotted the downfall of Uranus. She had to wait, for a god to be born who was strong enough to oppose her son Cronus. And she knew that one of Cronus’ sons would be stronger than himself, just as he was stronger than his father. Cronus knew it too, so every time his Titaness-wife Rhea [ree-uh] gave birth, he took the newborn god and swallowed it. With all of his offspring securely inside his stomach, he had nothing to fear. But Rhea became upset about not having her children with her. Her five sisters, who had married the five other Titans, were surrounded with Titan children. And Rhea was all alone with no children. When Rhea expected her sixth child, she asked Mother Earth to help her save the child from his father. And that was just what Mother Earth had been waiting for! As soon as Rhea had given birth to her child she hid him, this child would be named Zeus. Next, she wrapped a stone in baby clothes and gave it to her husband to swallow instead of giving him Zeus. Cronus was fooled and swallowed the stone, and the little god Zeus was taken away to a secret cave on the island of Crete to grow older and stronger so he could eventually defeat his father. Zeus grew up to be a powerful god and was determined to overthrow his father. When Zeus went back to Mount Olympus he got into immediate conflict with Cronus and Cronus did not even know that this newcomer was his own son. In order to slay his father Zeus needed his brothers and sisters help! So Metis [mee-tis], Zeus's first wife, went to Cronus and cleverly tricked him into eating a magic herb. Cronus thought the herb would make him unconquerable, but in reality it made him so sick that he threw up the stone and his five other children. The children were the gods Hades and Poseidon and goddesses Hestia, Demeter, and Hera. All the of these mighty gods joined forces with Zeus and defeated Cronus! Zeus was now the supreme god overall and divided control of the universe among his siblings. Zeus made himself God of the Sky and all its phenomena, including the clouds as well as the thunderbolts. To his brother Poseidon, he gave the rule of the Sea, and his brother Hades was made god of the Underworld. Zeus’s sister Demeter became a goddess of Fertility, Hera (before she married Zeus and became a jealous wife) was the goddess of Marriage and Childbirth. And Hestia became goddess of the Hearth (home). What does the Creation Myth tell us about the Greek Gods/Goddesses and their beliefs? Major Greek Gods Aphrodite was the most attractive goddess of Mount Olympus. She was the goddess of Love, Beauty and Eternal Youth, arousing desire to gods and humans as well as birds and beasts. In addition, she was connected with the death/rebirth of nature and human beings. Nevertheless, Aphrodite was a rather weak, frightful goddess, according to the Iliad. Aphrodite's symbols were the girdle, which she was using to compel love, the seashell and the mirror. Her sacred animal was the dove. Apollo was the Greek god of the Music, also called the Sun God. He invented the lute (a plucked string instrument with a body shaped like a pear), but most popular he was for his playing the lyre. Apollo excelled in important music contests, competing against Greek god Hermes and the Satyr Pan as well as other deities. In addition, Apollo owned the precious gift of prophecy, given to him by his father Zeus in his infancy, and was the patron of the ancient city of Delphi, where the first oracle in Ancient Greece was located. Apollo and Artemis are twin children of Zeus. His symbols were the lyre, the tripod, and the laurel tree. Ares, the Greek god of War, was the son of Zeus and Hera. Just like his mother Hera, Ares had a very difficult character to deal with and was therefore rather unpopular among the other deities and mankind. For this reason, no Greek city wanted to have him as its patron. He often had conflicts and fights with Artemis, the goddess of the Hunt and also with his sister Athena, especially during the Trojan War. His symbols were the spear and the dog. Artemis, the Virgin Huntress, was associated with the moon, nature, and childbirth. Apollo (the Sun God) and Artemis are twin children of Zeus. Artemis was born before Apollo and had helped her mother Leto to give birth to her little brother. Artemis had absolute sovereignty over nature and was said to bring fertility to all places that worshipped her. Usually accompanied by Nymphs and Oceanids, Artemis loved to hunt with arrows dipped in poison; oddly enough, Artemis was both a killer of wild animals and their protector. Her symbol was the bow and her sacred animals were the snake and the deer.