The Gods

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The Gods

• The Greeks believed that the universe created the
  gods. This belief is the reverse of most
  creation stories. For example, the native
  Americans believed that the great spirits created
  the earth.
• The Greeks also believed the universe was the
  first parent.
• The universes children were the Titans.

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• The gods were the children of the Titans and the
  grandchildren of the universe.

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The Titans and the Twelve Great Olympians

• The Titans were the Elder gods.
• They were giant in size and strength.
• The Titans reigned supreme in the universe for a
  very long time.
• There were many Titans but there are few stories
  written about them.
• Cronus or Saturn (Latin) ruled until Zeus fought
  and dethroned him.

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• Cronus had swallowed all of his children up until
  Zeus. Cronus swallowed his previous children,
  Hestia, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon because of a
  prophesy that one of his children would dispose
  him. Rhea and her mother Gaia wrapped a stone in
  a baby bunting and Cronus who believed this was
  Zeus swallowed the stone instead of the baby.
  Rhea hid Zeus in a cave in Crete so Cronus would
  not be able to swallow him. When Zeus became a
  young man he made his father regurgitate his
  brothers and sisters.

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• Zeuss siblings rose up and fought the Titans.
• When Zeus or Jupiter became the ruler Cronus or
  Saturn fled to Italy bringing the Golden Age.
  This was a time of great peace and happiness.
• Ocean was a river that encircles the earth. His
  wife was Tethys.

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• Some noteworthy Titans were Hyperion, father of
  sun, moon, and dawn.
• Mnenmyosyne- meaning memory.
• Themis-meaning Justice.
• Iapetus- who was important because of his sons.
• Atlas-who held up the pillars that separated the
  earth and the heavens.

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• Prometheus-who brought fire to the humans.
• These older gods were lowered in status when Zeus
  arrived.
• The twelve gods called the Olympians were supreme
  among the gods.
• They were called Olympians because they lived on
  Olympus.

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• Originally Olympus was associated with Mt.
  Olympus which was the highest mountain in Greece.
  
• In the Iliad, Zeus talks to the gods from the
  topmost peak of the many ridges of Olympus.
• Then further in the Iliad, Zeus could hang earth
  and sea from a pinnacle of Olympus.

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• Zeuss siblings drew lots to determine what
  domains they would control.
• Poseidon ruled the seas.
• Hades ruled the dead.
• Zeus ruled heaven.
• Olympus was common to all three realms.

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• The 12 Olympians are the following
• Zeus/Jupiter
• Poseidon/Neptune
• Hades/Pluto
• Hestia/Vesta
• Hera/Juno
• Ares/Mars
• Athena/Minerva

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• Apollo
• Aphrodite/Venus
• Hermes/Mercury
• Artemis/Diana
• Hephaestus/Vulcan

12
Zeus

• Zeus pursues lots of women and tries to hides his
  affairs from Hera (his wife).
• Zeus is a patchwork quilt of the many different
  gods. He gets a lot of different characteristics
  from various gods.
• When the worship of Zeus spread to a particular
  village where there was an ultimate ruler the two
  gods would slowly merge together.

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• When the two gods merged the wife of the previous
  god was transferred to Zeus. This is were his
  endless love affairs come into the myths.
• All of the gods had conflict within their
  personalities. They had some not so attractive
  qualities such as Zeuss philandering ways and
  his demand that people sacrifice and take the
  right course.

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• His breastplate was the aegis or a shield.
• His bird was the eagle.
• His tree was the oak.
• His will was interpreted by the listening to the
  rustling of oak leaves.
• His oracle to interpret the leaves was Dodona.

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Hera

• Hera was Zeuss wife and sister.
• She was raised by the Titan Ocean.
• Hera was the protector of married women.
• She was praised in poetry but mainly seen as
  punishing Zeuss women.
• Hera judged and punished Zeuss women all equally
  harshly whether or not they were tricked by Zeus
  or not.

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• Hera held grudges in fact she extended the Trojan
  war because a Trojan had judged another goddess
  lovelier than she.
• Heras daughter Ilithyia helped women in
  childbirth.
• The cow and the peacock are sacred animals to
  Hera.
• Argos is her favorite city.

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Poseidon/Neptune

• Poseidon is the ruler of the sea.
• He is second only in importance to Zeus.
• The sea was very important to the Greeks as it
  was central to life for Greeks on either side of
  the Aegean. The Greeks are fishermen and
  sailors.
• This stresses the importance that Zeus holds for
  them.

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• Poseidons wifes name is Amphitrite.
• She is a granddaughter of the Titan Ocean.
• What kind of things can you think of that could
  go wrong on the seas?
• Poseidon controls storm, calm, and the surges of
  the sea.
• He calms the seas via a golden car that drives
  over the waters. The waves subside in stillness
  in the spots where the wheels of the car pass
  over.

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• He has a trident, a three pronged spear, that can
  shake or shatter anything he decides on.
• He has a beautiful palace under the sea but
  prefers to be on Olympus.
• He gave the first horse to humans and they were
  extremely grateful for that.
• He is also connected with bulls but lots of other
  gods are as well.

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Hades/Pluto

• Hades is the third brother of the Olympians.
• He rules the Underworld and the realm of the
  dead.
• He is also known as Pluto, the god of wealth and
  precious metals in the earth. Some examples of
  precious metals are gold, and titanium can you
  name any others?
• He has an invisibility cap or helmet.

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• I like to think of Hades as a hermit, who does
  not like leaving the Underworld and seldomly does
  so.
• He is characterized as a terrible god.
• He does not feel any sympathy.
• So of all the gods there doesnt seem to be the
  normally present struggle with Hades between good
  and bad. The other gods struggle and this shows
  that the gods are human like and flawed.