After them, Gaia (Earth) was born who gave birth to Uranus (the Sky). Hesiod depicted the universe as a chaotic place until the emergence of the divine beings Eros (Love), Abyss (Tartarus) and Erebus (Darkness). Some facts about the Greek mythology (Theogony by Hesiod, Cronus takes over power, Zeus taking power) and the Olympian gods: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Aphrodite and more. From this, it can be seen that there was a sense of respect and fear between people and the gods and that people didn't feel free to live their lives, but thought that everything would come or be taken away from them.
If a flood would occur and destroy their city, they would make a sacrifice to calm down the gods. If they had a disease, they would pray to the gods to forgive his sins. In general, the ancient Greeks would consider something bad in their lives as punishment for gods. If someone did so, the god would get angry and punish him. Particularly strong for the mortals was the anti-blasphemy rule, which banned people from talking unrespectfully against a god. If a mortal broke up a moral rule, the punishment was severe. How much liberal rules were for the gods, this would not apply for mortals. Family unions were not applicable to them, that is why brothers could marry their sisters and have children or a son could kill his parents. Gods, for the ancient Greeks, had a very liberal attitude in life. He is famous as a king of Athens and also for his difficult tasks: to kill the Minotaur and to win the legendary Amazons during their siege of Athens. Hercules is mostly known in mythology for his twelve labors, such as the slaying of the Nemean Lion and of the 9-headed Lernaean Hydra, the steal of the Esperides Apples and the Capture of Cerberus.Īnother hero with superficial powers was Theseus, the son of mortal Aethra and the divine Poseidon. He had great strength and could beat huge giants in battle. Although he was not considered a god, he had inherited some extra-human powers. Let's take the example of Hercules, the son of Zeus and mortal Alcmena. It was very frequent that the child of a god and a mortal was made god or at least had superficial powers. Also, the coupling of Zeus and a mortal woman named Leto gave birth to two important gods, Apollo and Artemis. For example, Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, and Ares, the god of war, gave birth to Cupid, the god of love. The gods would usually mate with each other or with mortals and have children. There were also special gods for feelings and situations, such as Themis for justice, Via for violence, Eris for discord, Hebe for youth, Hypnos for sleep, Mania for insanity and many others. Aether was the god of the upper air, Hemera was the goddess of daylight, Erebus the god of darkness and Zephyros the god of the west wind. For example, nymphs of the sea lived in the waves and nymphs of the forest lived inside the boles of the trees.įor the ancient Greeks, many natural phenomena or nature itself were also personalized as gods. However, in Greek mythology stories, there were also many other smaller gods and deities that lived in the earth. To keep their eternal life, the Olympian Gods would eat ambrosia and drink nectar.
For example, Zeus and Hera were middle-aged, while Apollo and Aphrodite were forever young. The imagination of the people would not picture them as eternally young, but each god had a different age. The Greek mythology says that the Greek gods were living in Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece. As the name of the poem depicts (Theogony means the birth of Gods), it deals with the creation of the human world and the ancient Gods. The poem Theogony by Hesiod followed around 700 BC. The most ancient works to portray the mythology was certainly Iliad and Odyssey, dating from the 8th century BC. Quick links: Facts | 12 Gods of Olympus | Other Deities Note that these myths constituted the main theme of the ancient plays written by famous play writers, like Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Only in the 5th century, BC was the Greek Mythology written down in plays. At first, Greek mythology stories were transmitted orally and they were usually narrated in the form of songs. The myths were actually efforts of the people to explain the creation of the world, the nature around them, weather conditions and generally any superhuman that was happening in their daily life. Greek mythology is one of the most fascinating mythological accounts of the ancient world.