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Creation Myths

The document provides a summary of the Greek creation myth. It explains that in the beginning there was Chaos, from which emerged Night and Depth. Order came in the form of Eros. Uranus (the sky) and Gaea (the earth) produced offspring like the Titans. Uranus was a poor father who imprisoned his children, so Cronus overthrew him with his mother Gaea's help. Cronus then ruled but ate his children born to his wife Rhea. Rhea saved Zeus, who later defeated Cronus and the Titans in a ten year war. Zeus became ruler of the sky and gods and established Mount Olympus as the home of the gods.

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Karissa Young
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121 views4 pages

Creation Myths

The document provides a summary of the Greek creation myth. It explains that in the beginning there was Chaos, from which emerged Night and Depth. Order came in the form of Eros. Uranus (the sky) and Gaea (the earth) produced offspring like the Titans. Uranus was a poor father who imprisoned his children, so Cronus overthrew him with his mother Gaea's help. Cronus then ruled but ate his children born to his wife Rhea. Rhea saved Zeus, who later defeated Cronus and the Titans in a ten year war. Zeus became ruler of the sky and gods and established Mount Olympus as the home of the gods.

Uploaded by

Karissa Young
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Creation Myths

All ancient societies developed a creation myth to explain how the world began and how people
came into existence.

This is the Green Creation Myth:


In the beginning there was Chaos, which was confusion and darkness. Out of Chaos came
Night (Nyx) and Depth (Erebus). From these two came Eros, which to the Greeks was order. The
Greeks thought that Eros gave order to the universe by bringing together Uranus, the sky, and
Gaea, the Earth.
Gaea produced the mountains and the seas and many types of offspring such as the
Hundred-handed monsters, the one-eyed giants called Cyclops, and the 12 Titans, who were
huge giants. Human beings were later created in the image of these Titans.
Uranus was not a suitable father because he was jealous and afraid that his children
would usurp his power. Therefore, he solved his fear by burying them alive in the Earth. Gaea
was most unhappy with Uranus’ actions so she plotted with Cronus, the youngest Titan, to
overthrow Uranus. Cronus, with his mother’s help, wounded Uranus with a curved knife called a
scythe or a sickle. Now Cronus became the supreme ruler.
Once in power, Cronus feared that he might be overthrown. Therefore he released the
Titans from the Earth but left the Hundred-handed and Cyclops buried. Cronus married one of
his sisters, Rhea, and they had 12 children. Fearful that his children might harm him or usurp his
power, he ate each child as it was born. Rhea was determined that one child would live, so when
the last child (Zeus) was born, she sent him to Mount Ida in Crete where he was raised in a
sacred cave. To trick Cronus, she wrapped a stone in a cloth and fed it to Cronus.
When Zeus was a young man, he went to Cronus’ court and fed him an emetic. This
caused Cronus to regurgitate all of his 11 fully grown children. These children agreed to help
Zeus defeat Cronus. A war developed.
Zeus and his brothers Poseidon and Hades, and two Titans, Prometheus and Epimetheus,
and the Hundred-handed and the Cyclops fought for ten years against Cronus and the Titans.
Zeus was victorious and made himself god of the sky and the upper world. He made Hades the
god of the Underworld and Poseidon the god of the sea. Zeus’ other siblings and allies were
treated favourably, but his enemies were punished unmercifully. For example, Atlas, a Titan who
had supported Cronus, was forced for all eternity to hold up the sky.
Zeus and the gods established themselves on Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in
northern Greece, and established a new world order. By having the gods all live together, the
Greeks were establishing the concept of family. In their myths the Greeks acted as though the
gods physically lived on Olympus, but the Greeks knew this was not reality. Zeus’ palace was
the centre of Olympian life, and the gods would go there when Zeus summoned them. Mortals
were not allowed to enter the home of the gods.

After reading the Greek Creation story, complete the following tasks on a separate piece of
paper. Use a highlighter while reading to help you keep track of important ideas and answers to
questions. Write your answers in complete sentences.
1. Define the following words: usurp, scythe, sacred, emetic, regurgitate, unmercifully,
eternity, summoned, mortals.
2. Why are the numbers “12” and “11” written as numerals, while the number “ten” is
written as a word?
3. Why is there an apostrophe after the word “Uranus” in paragraph three and “Zeus” in
paragraph six?
4. Create a diagram that shows the relationships between Chaos, Night, Depth, Eros,
Uranus, and Gaea.
5. Create a diagram that shows the relationships between Gaea, Uranus, the Hundred-
handed monsters, the Cyclops, and the Titans.
6. Create a diagram that shows the relationships between Gaea, Uranus, Cronus, Rhea,
Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades.
7. In the classroom there is a poster that has a definition for the word “Theme”. Based on
this information, identify one theme that can be found in this myth.
8. A pattern in a story is something that happens more than once. Often in myths there are
patterns that emerge. Identify two patterns that can be found in this myth.
The Greek Gods

Zeus (p.3)
1. Who are Rhea and Cronos?
2. Why does Rhea play a trick on Cronos and what is the trick?
3. Explain the mighty battle by answering what happens. Who is involved, why, where, and
how?
4. What natural phenomenon are explained by the battle?
5. Explain how the word “panic” was derived.

Hera (p. 6)
1. What trick does Hero play on Zeus?
2. How does Zeus retaliate?
3. List five one-word characteristics for Zeus and Hera (each).

Athena (p. 8)
1. How did Athene come to exist?
2. What characteristics did she possess? Give proof for each characteristic.
3. Athene said to Arachne, “You are being destroyed by your own worth.” Explain this
quote with reference to the story.
4. What is the moral lesson from this story?

Poseidon (p. 15)


1. List the characteristics of Poseidon with an example for each.
2. What was the conflict between Poseidon and Athene?
3. How and what sea and land animals did Poseidon create?
4. How did the Greeks explain tides and ‘mare’?

Hades (p. 19)


1. Draw a Diagram on a 3-ringed blank piece of paper of the Kingdom of Hades to include:
Styx, Charon, Cerebus, Tartrus, Sisyphus, Tantalus, Field of Asphodel, Elysian Fields,
Ises of the Blessed and who went to these places, Erebos, Furies, Eumenides, Hades, and
his Queen.

Demeter
1. Describe Persephone. Where does she go and why?
2. What does Hades give to Zeus and why?
3. How are Winter and Summer explained?
4. Why does Persephone have to stay in Tartarys?
5. What moral lesson does this story teach?

Artemis (p. 32)


1. What caused Zeus to bring Artemis and Apollo to Olympus?
2. What other names and symbols are associated with Artemis?

Apollo (p. 37)


1. Why did Apollo want to kill the python?
2. What was important about the place where the python was killed?
3. What contest does Apollo challenge Marsyas to? Why does he lose?
4. What natural phenomenon is explained by the myth?

Hermes (p. 45)


1. Give three examples to show how precocious Hermes was?
2. What trade do Hermes and Apollo work out?
3. How does Hermes become the messenger God?
4. What lesson does this story point out?

Hephaestus (p. 50)


1. Describe the unusual events of Hephaestus’ birth.
2. What natural phenomenon might Hephaestus’ workshop explain?

Aphrodite (p. 52)


1. How was Aphrodite born?
2. Explain why she chooses the husband she does.

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