In the beginning…

…there was chaos

And out of chaos….

Gaea, Mother Earth, was created

And Gaea gave birth to Uranus, the sky

Uranus rained down on Gaea…

And plants, animals, and rivers appeared

Gaea and Uranus had many children…..

Their first born were the twelve Giant Titans, six boys and six girls.

Later more children were born…..

• Three were the mighty Cyclops, one-eyed giants

• And three were the Hecatoncheires, monsters with a hundred arms and fifty heads

Uranus hated the Cyclops and the Hecatoncheires, because they

were ugly

• And he threw them into Tartarus – the deepest pit of the underworld.

Gaea was furious. She urged the Titans to overthrow their father and rescue their brothers in Tartarus.

Only Cronus, the youngest ,

was brave enough.

• He attacked Uranus with a sickle and banished him from earth.

• Cronus replaced his father as Lord of the Universe. But he was cruel and did not free his brothers from Tartarus.

• Cronus married his sister, Rhea, and they had many children.

• Cronus was afraid that one of his own children might overthrow him just as he had overthrown his father.

• So as each child was born, he swallowed it whole. (Remember he was a giant Titan and his children were much smaller. )

• Also the children were gods (immortals) so they could not die. They remained alive and grew inside his stomach. (Imagine the indigestion.)

• Rhea was horrified. She finally tricked Cronus by feeding him a rock wrapped in a blanket instead of the next child. This baby was Zeus.

• Zeus was raised on the island of Crete by gentle woodland nymphs who fed him honeyed milk. When the baby would cry, the Curettes – Zeus’s guards – clashed their weapons to hide the sound from Cronus.

Zeus grew into one of the strongest gods and Rhea, his mother, wanted him to

overthrow Cronus. Rhea gave Cronus a

drink that

made him throw up the stone and his unharmed children – among those were:

Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and

Poseidon.

The children were all reunited and gratefully joined their brother. Zeus freed their uncles (the monsters) from Tartarus, and together they

prepared to fight the Titans. The cyclops made weapons.

They armed Zeus with a thunderbolt that shook the

universe.

They made Poseidon a trident that could split the seas.

They gave Hades a helmet of darkness that made him invisible to

his enemies.

For ten years a war raged between the old gods (Titans) and the new gods

(Olympians). At last Cronus and the Titans were defeated and thrown into Tartarus to be guarded by their own

hundred-armed brother.

Mother-Earth , Gaea, was finally at peace.

The universe was divided among the three brothers.

Zeus was King of the gods and heaven and earth.

Poseidon became god of the seas.Hades became god of the

underworld.

The Cyclops (children of the Titans, Cronus and Rhea) built the

“Olympians” a palace on Mt. Olympus.

• Zeus lived there with his brothers, sisters, six of his children, and Aphrodite (goddess of love) forever.

• The gods dined on nectar and ambrosia, the food and drink of the gods, and they could change shape or form to mingle and control the mortals on earth.

Each god and goddess has special powers.

First, these are the gods and goddesses

that live on Mount Olympus.

The magical kingdom of all of The magical kingdom of all of the Gods and Goddess. the Gods and Goddess.

Ruled by Zeus!Ruled by Zeus!

Mt. OlympusMt. Olympus

King and Queen of Mt. Olympus

Greek Greek NameName

Roman NameRoman Name DescriptionDescription

Zeus Jupiter King of the Gods(Player)

Hera Juno Queen of the GodsGoddess of family(Jealous)

Zeus, Jupiter• King of the

gods• Women

loved him and he loved them.

• Symbol:Symbol: Lightning bolt

Hera, Juno• Queen of the

gods• Goddess of

the family• Symbol: Symbol:

pomegranate (symbol of fertility)

Hera, queen of the gods

Brothers of Zeus

Greek Greek NameName

Roman NameRoman Name DescriptionDescription

Poseidon

Neptune Ruler of the seas, brother of Zeus

Hades Pluto Brother of Zeus, ruler of the Underworld.

Poseidon, Neptune

• Ruler of the sea

• Responsible for natural and supernatural events

• Symbol: Symbol: TridentTrident

Hades, Pluto• Supreme ruler

of the underworld

• God of the dead

• Symbol: Symbol: Helmet Helmet (helped him (helped him stay stay invincible)invincible)

Greek NameGreek Name Roman NameRoman Name DescriptionDescription

Aphrodite Venus Goddess of love, romance, and beauty

Apollo Apollo God of sun, music, and poetry. Twin of Artemis

Ares Mars God of War

Artemis Diana Goddess of the hunt and moon. Twin of Apollo

Athena Minerva Goddess of wisdom and war

Demeter Ceres Goddess of agriculture

Hephaestus

Vulcan God of fire and forge

Hermes Mercury Messenger of the gods

Hestia Vesta Calm goddess of home and homelife.

Dyonysus Bacchus Joyful god of wine

Aphrodite, Venus

• Goddess of love and beauty

• Mother of Eros• Wife of

Hephaestus• Lover to Ares • Symbol: Dove Symbol: Dove

Apollo, Apollo• God of sun,

music, poetry• Twin to

Artemis• Gift of

prophecy• Symbol: Lyre Symbol: Lyre

Artemis, Diana

• Goddess of moon and hunt

• Twin to Apollo• Absolute

power over nature

• Symbol: BowSymbol: Bow

Ares, Mars• God of War• Not well liked

by the other gods

• Ares and Aphrodite had a daughter--Harmony

• Symbol: Spear Symbol: Spear and dogs and dogs

Athena, Minerva

• Goddess of wisdom and war

• Approached war in terms of Justice

• Symbol: Staff Symbol: Staff and Owl and Owl

Demeter, Ceres• Goddess of

agriculture (grain)

• Mother of Persephone

• Taught mortals harvest

• Symbol: WheatSymbol: Wheat

Dionysus, Bacchus

• God of wine and festivities

• Spreads joy

• Symbol: Symbol: Grapes Grapes

Hephaestus, Vulcan

• God of metal working

• Only physically ugly god

• Husband to Aphrodite– She played

him

• Symbol: Fire, Symbol: Fire, ax, and ax, and hammerhammer

Hermes, Mercury

• Messenger God• Fastest because

of his winged shoes

• Only god who could visit heaven, earth, and underworld

• Symbol: WingsSymbol: Wings

Hestia, Vesta• Goddess of

the hearth• Kind and

forgiving

• Symbol: Symbol: FlameFlame

NameName DescriptionDescription

Persephone Queen of the Underworld; Daughter of Demeter

Cerberus Three headed dog off the Underworld.

Eros God of love; son of Aphrodite

The Fates Three fates: spin measure, and cut life

The Muses Nine beautiful deities

PersephonePersephone• Hades loved her Hades loved her

and stole her and stole her from her mother, from her mother, DemeterDemeter

• She spends 6 She spends 6 months with months with Mom and 6 Mom and 6 months with months with husbandhusband

Cerberus

• Watch dog of the underworld

• Prevent the dead from exiting

• Three heads, very scary

Eros, CupidEros, Cupid• Son of AphroditeSon of Aphrodite• Falls in love with Falls in love with

beautiful, mortal beautiful, mortal PsychePsyche

• Convinces Zeus Convinces Zeus to make her to make her immortalimmortal

The Fates• Clotho-spins the

thread of destiny• Lacesis-

measures• Atropos-cuts• Determined

every mortal’s life

• No other god could alter their decision

MusesMuses• 9 beautiful, intelligent deities9 beautiful, intelligent deities• Each Muse was in charge over an Each Muse was in charge over an

intelligenceintelligence• Required to praise them in epic Required to praise them in epic

poetrypoetry