FIRST DYNASTY

ORIGIN OF THE
WORLD
 Uranus and Gæa
(Cœlus and Terra)
 URANUS

Uranus, the more refined deity,

represented the light and air of heaven,
possessing the distinguishing qualities of
light, heat, purity, and omnipresence.
 GÆA

Gæa, the firm, flat, life-

sustaining earth, was worshipped
as the great all-nourishing mother.
GÆA
 OCEANUS

The first-born child of Uranus and

Gæa was Oceanus, the ocean
stream, that vast expanse of ever-
flowing water which encircled the
earth.
 OCEANUS

The ocean is formed from the rains

which descend from heaven and
the streams which flow from earth.
Merely assert that the ocean is
produced by the combined
influence of heaven and earth.
OCEANUS
 Aether (Ether)
Nearest to Uranus, and just beneath him,
came Aether (Ether), a bright creation
representing that highly rarified
atmosphere which immortals alone could
breathe.
 Aër (Air)
Then followed Aër (Air), which was in close
proximity to Gæa, and represented, as its
name implies, the grosser atmosphere
surrounding the earth which mortals could
freely breathe, and without which they
would perish.
Aether and Aër were separated from each
other by divinities called Nephelae. These
were their restless and wandering sisters,
who existed in the form of clouds, ever
floating between Aether and Aër.
Gæa also produced the mountains, and
Pontus (the sea). She united herself
with the latter, and their offspring were
the sea-deities Nereus, Thaumas,
Phorcys, Ceto, and Eurybia.
 Erebus (Darkness)
Erebus reigned in that mysterious world
below where no ray of sunshine, no
gleam of daylight, nor vestige of health-
giving terrestrial life ever appeared.
 Nyx (Night),
yx, the sister of Erebus, represented Night, and
was worshipped by the ancients with the
reatest solemnity.

ranus was also supposed to have been united

o Nyx, but only in his capacity as god of light,
e being considered the source and fountain of
ll light and their children were Eos (Aurora), the
awn, and Hemera, the Daylight.  
 GIANTS

ere were three Giants, Briareus, Cottus,

d Gyges, who each possessed a hundred
nds and fifty heads, and were known
llectively by the name of the
ecatoncheires, which signified hundred-
nded.
ese mighty Giants could shake the
niverse and produce earthquakes.
 TITANS

The Titans were twelve in number;

their names were: Oceanus, Ceos,
Crios, Hyperion, Iapetus, Cronus,
Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne,
Phœbe, and Tethys.  
Giants, Gæa instigated a conspiracy on the
part of the Titans against Uranus, which was
carried to a successful issue by her son
Cronus.

He wounded his father, and from the blood

of the wound which fell upon the earth
sprang a race of monstrous beings also called
Giants.
Assisted by his brother-Titans,
Cronus succeeded in dethroning his
father, who, enraged at his defeat,
cursed his rebellious son, and
foretold to him a similar fate.
SECOND DYNASTY
 Cronus (Saturn)
Cronus was the god of time in its sense of
eternal duration. He married Rhea, daughter of
Uranus and Gæa.

Their children were, three sons: Aïdes (Pluto),

Poseidon (Neptune), Zeus (Jupiter),

and three daughters: Hestia (Vesta), Demeter

(Ceres), and Hera (Juno).
 Cronus (Saturn)
In order, therefore, to render the prophecy
impossible of fulfillment, Cronus swallowed
each child as soon as it was born,greatly to
the sorrow and indignation of his wife Rhea.
 
 ZEUS
Rhea wrapped a stone in baby-clothes, and
Cronus, in eager haste, swallowed it, without
noticing the deception.
The child thus saved, eventually, as we shall
see, dethroned his father Cronus.
Anxious to preserve the secret of his
existence from Cronus, Rhea sent the infant
Zeus secretly to Crete, where he was
nourished, protected, and educated.
 ZEUS

A sacred goat, called Amalthea, supplied the

place of his mother, by providing him with
milk; nymphs, called Melissae, fed him with
honey, and eagles and doves brought him
nectar and ambrosia.
 ZEUS
Under the watchful care of the Nymphs the
infant Zeus throve rapidly, developing great
physical powers, combined with
extraordinary wisdom and intelligence.
Grown to manhood, he is determined to
compel his father to restore his brothers and
sisters to the light of day
 METIS

Who artfully persuaded Cronus to drink a

potion, which caused him to give back the
children he had swallowed.

The stone which had counterfeited Zeus

was placed at Delphi, where it was long
exhibited as a sacred relic.  
Zeus, with his brothers and sisters, took his stand
on Mount Olympus, where he was joined by
Oceanus, and others of the Titans.

Cronus and his brother-Titans took possession of

Mount Othrys, and prepared for battle.

Aided by these new and powerful allies, Zeus now

made a furious onslaught on his enemies,
The sea rose mountains high, and its angry
billows hissed and foamed; the earth shook to
its foundations, the heavens sent forth rolling
thunder, and flash after flash of death-bringing
lightning, whilst a blinding mist enveloped
Cronus and his allies.
Victory smiled on Zeus. Cronus and his army
were completely overthrown,
and Cronus himself was banished from his
kingdom and deprived forever of the supreme
power, which now becamevested in his son
Zeus.
This war was called the Titanomachia, and is
most graphically described by the old classic
poets.
 Saturn

Cronus is often represented as an old man leaning

on a scythe, with an hour-glass in his hand. The
hour-glass symbolizes the fast-fleeting moments as
they succeed each other unceasingly; the scythe is
emblematical of time, which mows down all before
it.
 Saturn

He took refuge with Janus, king of Italy, who

received the exiled deity with great kindness,
and even shared his throne with him. Their
united reign became so thoroughly peaceful
and happy, and was distinguished by such
uninterrupted prosperity, that it was called the
Golden Age.  
 Rhea (Ops)

Rhea, the wife of Cronus, and mother of Zeus and

the other great gods of Olympus.

Rhea is generally represented wearing a crown of

turrets or towers and seated on a throne, with lions
crouching at her feet. She is sometimes depicted
sitting in a chariot, drawn by lions.
 Ops

In Rome the Greek Rhea was identified with Ops,

the goddess of plenty, the wife of Saturn, who had a
variety of appellations. She was called Magna-
Mater, Mater-Deorum, Berecynthia-Idea, and also
Dindymene.
Division of the World
At last it was settled by a lot that Zeus should reign
supreme in Heaven, whilst Aïdes governed the
Lower World, and Poseidon had full command over
the Sea.

The supremacy of Zeus was recognized in all three

kingdoms, in heaven, on earth (in which of course
the sea was included), and under the earth.
Trouble arose in an unlooked-for quarter.
The Giants, those hideous monsters (some
with legs formed of serpents) who had sprung
from the earth and the blood of Uranus,
declared war against the triumphant deities of
Olympus.
One of the most powerful monsters who opposed
Zeus in this war was called Typhon or Typhœus.
He was the youngest son of Tartarus and Gæa, and
had a hundred heads, with eyes which struck terror to
the beholders, and awe-inspiring voices frightful to
hear.
Defeated by Zeus, who, after a violent encounter,
succeeded in destroying him with a thunderbolt.
Theories as to the Origin of
Man
 Like the wild plants and flowers, he was
supposed to have had no cultivation, and
resembled in his habits the untamed beasts of
the field, having no habitation except that
which nature had provided in the holes of the
rocks, and in the dense forests whose
overarching boughs protected him from the
inclemency of the weather.
But the human race became in the
course of time so degenerate that the
gods resolved to destroy all mankind
by means of a flood; Deucalion (son of
Prometheus) and his wife Pyrrha,
being, on account of their piety, the
only mortals saved.
By the command of his father,
Deucalion built a ship, in which he and
his wife took refuge during the deluge,
which lasted for nine days.
 Theory of Autochthony

When this belief existed there were no

religious teachers whatever; but in course
of time temples were raised in honor of the
different gods, and priests appointed to
offer sacrifices to them and conduc their
worship.
 Theory of Autochthony
These priests were looked upon as
authorities in all religious matters, and the
doctrine they taught was, that man had
been created by the gods, and that there
had been several successive ages of men,
which were called the Golden, Silver,
Brazen, and Iron Ages.  
 `Life in the Golden Age

The favored mortals living at this happy

time led pure and joyous lives, thinking no
evil, and doing no wrong. The earth
brought forth fruits and flowers without toil
or labor in plentiful luxuriance, and war
was unknown.
 `Life in the Golden Age

• death laid his hand so gently upon them

that they passed painlessly away in a
happy dream,
• and continued their existence as
ministering spirits in Hades, watching
over and protecting those they had loved
and left behind on earth.
 The men of the Silver Age

• The men of the Silver Age were a long time

growing up, and during their childhood, which
lasted a hundred years, they suffered from ill-
health and extreme debility.
 The Men of the Brazen Age

• Everything which surrounded them was of brass;

their arms, their tools, their dwellings, and all that
they made. Their characters seem to have
resembled the metal in which they delighted;
their minds and hearts were hard, obdurate, and
cruel.
 Men of the Iron Age

The goddess of Justice having

abandoned mankind, no influence
remained sufficiently powerful to
preserve them from every kind of
wickedness and sin.
 The Theory of Hesiod

was that the Titan Prometheus, the

son of Iapetus, had formed man out of
clay, and that Athene had breathed a
soul into him.
 The Theory of Hesiod

Prometheus determined to elevate

their minds and improve their
condition in every way; he therefore
taught them astronomy, mathematics,
the alphabet, how to cure diseases,
and the art of divination.
 The Theory of Hesiod

It was decided that Prometheus, as the

advocate of man, should slay an ox,
which should be divided into two
equal parts.
 The Theory of Hesiod

that one part consisted of the bones

(which formed of course the least valuable
portion of the animal), artfully concealed
by the white fat; whilst the other
contained all the edible parts, which he
covered with the skin, and on the top of all
he laid the stomach.  
 The Theory of Hesiod

Having punished mankind, Zeus

determined to execute vengeance on
Prometheus. He accordingly chained him
to a rock in Mount Caucasus, and sent an
eagle every day to gnaw away his liver,
which grew again every night ready for
fresh torments.
 The Theory of Hesiod

For thirty years Prometheus endured this

fearful punishment; but at length Zeus
relented, and permitted his son Heracles
(Hercules) to kill the eagle, and the sufferer
was released
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