Greek Mythology
...s and merchants. He was also the messenger to the gods. Ares (Mars) was the god of war and a coward. He was the son of Zeus and Hera. Hephaestus (Vulcan) was so ugly when he was born; Hera threw him off Mount Olympus. He was the god of fire and surprisingly married to Aphrodite. Hestia (Vesta) was the goddess of the earth. She was also a virgin goddess. Each god or goddess had his or her own domain and character. Each god was very human like and represented each and every side of human nature. There were other gods on Olympus besides the twelve great Olympians. Eros (Cupid) was the god of love and son of Aphrodite. Hebe was the goddess of youth. The goddess of the rainbow and another messenger to the gods was Iris. The three Graces were Aglaia, Euphrosyne, and Thalia. They were the daughters of Zeus and Eurynome. The Muses were the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne. They are known for the music of their song, which brought joy to any who heard it. There are nine Muses, each with her own specialty: Clio (History), Urania (Astronomy), Melpomene (Tragedy), Thalia (Comedy), Terpsichore (Dance), Calliope (Epic Poetry), Erato (Love Poetry), Polyhymnia (Songs to the Gods), Euterpe (Lyric Poetry). Monopoli 3 In the beginning, according to ancient Greeks myths, the world was created much like the creation story of Adam and Eve. At first there was only Chaos, which was a meaningless mass of darkness. Out of Chaos came Nyx (night) and Erebus (the unfathomable deep). Gaea, Mother Earth, was the first god to come into existence though no one knows where she came from or how she came into being. Uranus, Father Sky, was born of Gaea as she slept. He became her husband, and together they had many children. The Greek gods exemplified many characteristics that us human have today. The concepts of greed are greatly illustrated between Uranus’ lack of trust in his first born children the Hecatonchires. There is a constant power struggle in the immortal society. This is shown in the creation story when out of fear, Uranus imprisons his first born sons deep within the earth out of fear that they would one day dethrone him as the Lord of the Universe. The Greek gods also lack mutual agreement within their relationships with each other. Such as when Gaea does not agree with Uranus’ course of actions to imprison her first born children. There is as much deceiving between Greek gods as there is greed. A constant power struggle is evident between the Greek gods and their quest to fulfill their own personal ambitions. When Cronus defeated Uranus and took his place as Lord of the Universe it was simply meant to achieve his own personal desires. He never planned to release his imprisoned brothers and sisters. Monopoli 4 A lack of trust continued within the immortal society. Cronus had the same fears his father had. Cronus feared that his children might one day overthrow him. This relates to the concept of original sin in which Cronus himself is affected by his own fathers lack of trust exemplified when each time Rhea gave birth, Cronus would swallow the newborn god. However, history eventually repeats it self when Cronus is defeated by his youngest son as he defeated his own father. This, once again, is cause by deceiving when Rhea gave birth to Zeus in secret. It is as though the Greek gods tried to avoid fate in a sense. Within the story of the creation by man, there is evidence of a lack of equality between most gods and mortals. When Prometheus gave man this gift of fire, this gift made possible all of man’s arts, and also made it possible for man to conquer the cold and the dark. With power over fire, man was indirectly given the possibility to obtain seats near the gods! Anger flourished when Zeus realized that Promet...