Greek Mythology  Their flaws were pride, cruelty,

stubbornness, impulsiveness, lust for

What are Myths?
power, and a desire to be like the
 Traditional stories of gods, kings, gods.
and heroes
The Creation Myth
 Show the relations between gods and
people First there was Chaos (vast and unorganized
 Mythology was a form of early space from which all other things
science to Greeks because it helped originated).
explain the unexplainable.
Chaos gave birth to Gaea, the earth, and
Myths seek to explain all those Night, which gave birth to day.
unexplainable or unknowable aspects of life.
Gaea and Uranus (the sky) gave birth to
 Where do we go after we die? Cronus and the other Titans, the
 How was the world created? Cyclopes, one-eyed giants, and the
 Why can we see our reflection in Hecatonchieres with 50 heads and 100 arms
water? apiece.
 Why are there four separate seasons?
The foundation of Greek mythology
 Why do we fall in love?
 How is lightning created?  In general, Greek gods were divided
 Why do our voices sometime echo? into three categories:
 How was fire created, and why do  Heaven
we have it?  Earth
 Sea
Background of Greek mythology
 The Titans ruled before the Gods of
 Fully developed by about 700 B.C. Olympus.
 Homer and Hesiod are generally  The Titans were the children of
considered the earliest Greek poets Uranus (Heaven) and Gaea (Earth)
whose work has survived and the parents of the Gods of
Olympus.
Ancient Greek beliefs and characteristics
 The Titans were overthrown by
 Death is inevitable and final, so the Olympians.
goal was to become a legend through  Cronus mutilated his father and
great deeds. overthrew him.
 The Greeks were tough, restless,  Cronus and Rhea married and
ambitious, hard-living, and produced the Olympians: Hestia,
imaginative. Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon.
 Honor was extremely important, and  Cronus swallowed them to keep
the Greeks were very vengeful if from being overthrown. When Zeus
wronged. was born, Rhea gave her husband a
 The gods mirrored human feelings rock to swallow. Zeus overthrew his
and physical form.
 father Cronus and forced him to Poseidon
disgorge the other Olympians.
 Roman name: Neptune
How did humans get fire?  Realm: god of the sea and
earthquakes
Prometheus was the wisest Titan of all.
Prometheus is credited with bringing  Symbol: trident
enlightenment to humans. Prometheus stole  Zeus’s brother
fire from the gods and gave it to humankind,  Controlled earthquakes, hurricanes,
bringing the power of warmth and light to rough seas, tidal waves
the dark and miserable earth.  Gave the horse to mankind

Prometheus acted against the express wishes Hades

of the Olympian Gods, who wanted to keep
 Roman name: Pluto
the power of fire - enlightenment - for their
 Also called Dis, the rich one
exclusive use. For this Zeus punished
(because he owned all the minerals
Prometheus by having him chained to a rock
in the earth)
with an eagle tearing at his liver.
 Realm: god of the Underworld
The olympians  Symbol: Cerberus, cypress, bident
 Rarely visited Earth
 A group of 12 gods who ruled after
the overthrow of the Titans  Not friendly, but not evil either
 All the Olympians related in some Hestia
way
 Named after their dwelling place,  Roman name: Vesta
Mount Olympus  Realm: goddess of hearth and home;
 The Olympian Gods: Zeus, protector of the sacred fire
Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Hera, Ares,  Symbol: torch, a distaff (hand-held
Athena, Apollo, Aphrodite, Hermes, loom)
Artemis, and Hephaestus  Zeus’s sister
 Six priestesses called Vestal virgins
Zeus attended her temple and protected
 Roman name: Jupiter the fire; shrines were built to her by
 Realm: King of gods, god of thunder the fireplace in homes
and lightning  Today the word vestal means “pure”
 Symbols: eagle, oak tree, lightning or “virginal”
bolt Hera
 Married to Hera; had many affairs
and many children, some of whom  Roman name: Juno
were gods and goddesses because as  Realm: goddess of marriage
the Greeks conquered territories,  Symbols: peacock, cow
they took on the new goddesses and  Married to Zeus
“married” them to Zeus  Jealous of Zeus’s affairs
 The spiritual father of gods and men
  Because of this, asked Aphrodite
a 100-eyed giant to
 Roman name: Venus
watch him. When
Hermes put the giant  Realm: goddess of love, beauty,
to sleep, she turned sexuality
him into a peacock,  Symbols: shell, mirror, dove, swan
an animal with eyes  Born of the foam when Cronus’
on its tail feathers. genitals hit the ocean
 Married to Hephaestus
Ares  Son was Eros (Cupid)
 Roman name: Mars Hermes
 Realm: god of war
 Symbols: dogs of war; vulture,  Roman name: Mercury
weapons  Realm: messenger of gods; god of
 Son of Zeus and Hera commerce, thieves, science
 Very unpopular (sometimes medicine)
 No myths written about Ares  Symbols: winged helmet or sandals,
caduceus (medical staff with 2
Athena snakes)
 Roman name: Minerva  Created the lyre, which he gave to
Apollo when Apollo caught him
 Also called Pallas Athena
stealing his cows
 Realm: goddess of defensive
warfare, wisdom, handicrafts Artemis
 Symbols: armor, owl, olive tree
 Roman name: Diana
 Emerged from Zeus’s head fully
 Realm: goddess of the moon, the
grown
hunt, and (sometimes) witchcraft
 City of Athens named for her after
 Symbols: crescent moon, bow and
she gave them the olive tree
arrow, short hunting robes
 Also created the spider
 Apollo’s twin sister
Apollo  Avoided men
 She turned Acteon, a hunter, into a
 Roman name: Apollo
stag (deer) and set his own dogs on
 Realm: god of light (the sun), music,
him because he watched her bathe.
shepherds
 Symbols: bow and arrow, the sun Hephaestus
chariot, the lyre (small harp)
 Roman name: Vulcan
 Some myths say he drove the sun
 Realm: god of the forge; made
chariot, others give this job to Helios
Zeus’s lightning bolts and the armor
 His son Phaeton tried to drive it and
for war
burned part of the earth
 Symbols; the forge
 Always shown in pictures as being
 Son of Zeus and Hera
young, beardless, and handsome
  Zeus threw him out of heaven for  Jupiter- king of the gods
siding with his mother (Hera)  Saturn- god of agriculture
 Husband of Aphrodite, who was  Neptune- god of the seas
constantly unfaithful to him  Uranus- ancient Greek deity of the
heavens
Demeter  Pluto- god of the underworld
 Roman name: Ceres Using the lingo… today
 Realm: goddess of agriculture
 Symbols: sheaves of wheat Cupid:
 Zeus’s sister, mother of Persephone Son of the goddess of Love. This winged
 Persephone was kidnapped by god can be seen to this day, especially
Hades. Demeter created eternal during Valentine’s Day. One shot from his
winter on earth until Zeus agreed to bow is supposed to make the victim fall in
bring her back. She had eaten 6 love.
pomegranate seeds and so had to
remain in the underworld for 6 Nike:
months of the year. The Greek goddess of victory
Underworld features Cyclops:
 Charon, who rowed people across Named after a mythological being with only
the river Styx one eye.
 Cerberus, the 3-headed dog who
guarded the underworld
The fates
 daughters of Zeus
 Three blind sisters who determined
people’s life span
 One spun the thread of life
(Clotho) spins the thread (decides
on the time of arrival ( birth)
 One measured the thread
(Lachesis)
 One cut the thread with scissors
of death (Atropos)
Mythology in nature and science
Many of our planets (and many moons) are
named after Roman gods
 Mercury- messenger god
 Mars- god of war
 Venus- goddess of love