Mythology Chapter 4: the Rise of Zeus
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Mythology Chapter 4: The Rise of Zeus y Theogeny explains birth of god and Cosmogony explains how Zeus came to power y Hesiod: wrote origin of the universe through succeeding generations of gods and their rise to power 1000 line poem called Theogeny (hymn to Zeus) y Starts off with old generations of Chaos (Chasm), Gaea (Earth), Uranus (Sky) and Tartarus (below earth) y Eros=fairest of all immortals who frees all from sorrow but decreases wisdom y Chaos kids: Erebus (Darkest) and Nyx (night)= mother of Aether (radiance) and Hemera (Day) produced with Erebus y Eros=sexual love and attraction and is the source that causes sex to make kids and ensures future changes and generations y Eros, Gaea, and Tartarus are not Chaos͛s kids=independent Children of Gaea: Titans and Their Cousins y Offspring = 6 male and 6 femaletitans, 3 cyclopes (round eyes) and hectanochires (100 handers) y Asexually Gaea produced Uranus and mountains and then her watery doublet Pontus (seas) and then Uranus and Gaea fucked and made 6 male and 6 female titans last born =Cronus (against Uranus for power) y Mountains protect Uranus and the gods and support the feet of the gods y Titans are not shown in Art and not in stories of religion, but their offspring made cycle of divinities y Gaea + Uranus also made: Oceanus (deep swirling), Coeus (divine), Crius(divine), Hyperion, Iapetus, Theia(divine), Rhea, Themis(Deplhi oracle was his before Apollo also associated w/law/related with earth and everything being fixed), Mnnemosyne (memory), Gold Phobe (brilliant/light of the sky), and fair featured Tethys y Cronus was very cleaver and scheming and hated Uranus y Oceanus (male) and Tethys (female) titans on Homer gave birth to all gods y Sky + Earth in sexual embrace and is also shown in Egyptian paintings y All water comes for Oceanus and gave birth to 6000 Oceanids=spirits of all water bodies y Themis + Mnemosyne bear children to Zeus y Cronus and Rhea= doublets for Uranus + Gaea= Grandparents of 12 Olympians y Olympia=top most y Cyclopes= strong and abrupt of emotion=Brontes (thunderer), Steropes (lightning), and Arges (brilliant) = forgers of Zeus͛s bolts and were violent and shrewd y Hectanochires=Briareus (Vigorous), Cottus ( Striker/furious) and Gyes (Big-Limbed) all were hated by Uranus the most Titan Hyperion: He who goes above) y Hyperion=Sun god who fathered Helius (sun god), Selene (moon) and Eos (dawn) with Theia (Titaness) y Phaethon=Son of Helius + Clymene (Oceanid) : Myth about him, his mom, dad, step dad=king of Ethiopia, and wish about to ride the sun chariot across sky horses dashed down close to earth and almost set it ablaze (=present day Libya) and how Zeus blasted him into river Eridanos y Selene=Moon=favorite of love poets and loved the handsome mortal shepherd Endymion seduced him and bore him 50 daughters and @ Selenes request via Zeus he was placed in eternal sleep so he doesn͛t grow old y Eos had many love affairs: Tithonus=Trojan Pirnce received similar boon as Endymion but didn͛t receive youthfulness= he shriveled up and turned into a cicada=chirping in wind y None of Uranus͛s and Gaea͛s kids could come into light since Uranus hated his kids Uranus imprisoned Gaia's youngest children in Tartarus, deep within Earth, where they caused pain to Gaia. She shaped a great flint-bladed sickle and asked her sons to castrate Uranus. y Cronus cut off Uranus͛s genitals and were absorbed by Gaea y This created Erinyes (scary) giants in armor and Melian Nymps (ash tree nymphs) via blood y Erinyes=furies and ferocious female spirits who haunt anyone that soills blood y Giants= earthy born with strength and violence Birth of Aphrodite, Monsters and Sea Deities y Genitals of Uranus in water formed foam and at Cypros Aphrodite emerged =foamborn aka Cytherea (where she was first seen) y Eros walked by her side and Desire (arose after) and joined the race of gods=passion + goddess of sexual love y Gaea also had relations with Pontus (sea)=monsters y Harpies: hman headed birds/snatcher=hostile spirits of storm y Spinx: females with wings and human headed lions=stronger and deadly spirit of Plague (besieged Thebes) y Gorgans: woman bodies with wings, snake hairs and boars tusks y Geryon: Heracles enemy with 3 heads joined at waist y Orthus=dog 2ith 2 heads y Echidra: woman at top and serpant below y Cerebrus: 50/3 headed hound that guards Hades realm y Hydra: water serpent with 7 heads y Chimera: she goat, lion with snake tail and goat head at back y Ceto: large fish/sea monster y Graeae: grey ones=fair cheeked heads=witches y Nemean lion: looks like lion but is not directly killed y Nereus: wise old man of sea=prophetic god human shape but can change form at will ( In Iliad) can turn into fire, leopard, serpent sired 52 Nereidsea spirits which are hard to distinguish from Oceanids and live on the bottom of the sea on golden thrones=gentle aspect of the sea Zeus Against Cronus: Battle with Titans y Cronus overthrew Uranus=Cronus in control and had to act underhanded, violent, and suspicious Cronus learned from Gaia and Uranus that he was destined to be overcome by his own sons, just as he had overthrown his father y He feared that his kids would overthrow him so he used to eat his kids as they came from his wife/sister Rhea kids= Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus (born at Crete and was hidden) y Zeus was raised by nymphs on milk from goat Amalthea and honey from Melissa the bee y When last kid was born, Cronus asked for him and Rhea gave him a stone wrapped and he ate it saved Zeus͛s manhood y Zeus forced Uranus to vomit out kids and others say that the oceanid Metis gave Cronus a potion that caused vomiting stone also came out and is @ Delphi in Apollo͛s shrine=Omphalos Navel/stone y All gods lived @ Olympus except Hades y Titans fought with Olympians in stupendous Titanomachy=battle of Titans only Titan Themis (son of Prometheus) sided with Zeus y Zeus learned from Gaea that he could win battle with help from the 3 Hectanochires=released them and cyclopes from Tartarus and drank nectar and ambrosia cyclopes made thunder bolt for Zeus which helped him cast the titans into the black distant Tartarus y Atlas=Titan (Uranus͛s son) or Giant (Son of Iapetus and Oceanid) condemned by Zeus to the edge of the world and to hold up heaven (separation of heaven/earth via mountains) Zeus͛s Battle with Typhoeus y Gaea was not happy with titan defeat (her own kids) and she slept with Tarturus to give birth to monstrous Typhoeus in Cilicia=huge and waist down had hissing vipers, majestic wings, shaggy hair, etc y Threw rocks and fire into Olympia and gods ran off to Egypt (that͛s why they had animal headed gods) y Zeus pursued Typhoeus to Mount Casius and fought him and was captured on cave with a dragon god y Hermes=Zeus͛s goat shaped woodland spirit son in Aegipan slipped past the dragon and took sinews and gave them back to Zeus y Zeus buried Typhoeus under Mount Etna/Aetna in Sicily= that͛s why it͛s a volcanoes with smoke and lightening Zeus͛s Battle with Giants y Zeus͛s reign was still not secure due to the succession myth and therefore he married Cleverness i.e. Oceanid Metis who forced Cronus to vomit to prevent succession y She was the first of Zeus͛s consorts and was pregnant with Athena and found out from Uranus and Gaea that she was his death and therefore he swallowed the mother and cleverness became a part of him= this gave him a headache and Prometheus or Hephaestus cut his head open with a axe and out came Athena dressed in full armor and with a war cry= his agent and supporter y Athena: female in sex, virgin in body, and masculine in thought and behavior= thwarted prophecy of succession y Hesiod doesn͛t mention giants as enemy͛s (came from Uranus͛s blood) but were urged by Gaea and attacked the Olympians in the Gigantomachy y The giants were huge with long beards and shaky legs and oracle said that they couldn͛t be defeated without the help of a mortal= help by Heracles ended the Gigantomachy y Three brothers Zues, Poseidon, and Hades divided world amongst them but Olympus was common to all .