Greek Creation MythsHow the world began... according to the ancient Greeks.
Almost all cultures or religions have a creation myth. A "how the world came into being" story that explains the creation of the earth, it's deity/ies, and how man was created. There is sometimes slight variations to the myths, but mainly they explain different aspects of nature, like why volcanoes rumble or where thunder and lightning come from. Most of what we know about Greek creation myths comes from Hesiod's Theogony. Hesiod was writing around 700 BCE, which is when archaeologists see a change in periods. So Hesiod's work is thought of as bridging the Dark Age and the Archaic Period.
ChaosAccording to Hesiod's Theogony, Chaos is the beginning of creation, or the first step in the process. It's difficult to describe or grasp the meaning and nature of Chaos, but most scholars refer to it as a void, a formless matter. From Chaos, Gaia (also spelled Gaea or Ge) sprung into being. Gaia is what we know of as Earth and takes a feminine form. Next Eros was formed out of Chaos . Then came Tartarus, Erebus and Nyx (Night). Tartarus is thought to be a place deep down in the depths of Earth and Erebus is the darkness of Tartarus. Now from Gaia spawned as her equals, Uranus (Sky), Mountains and Pontus (Sea). From Nyx came Day and Light. Gaia and UranusThere was a union between Gaia and Uranus, Mother Earth and Father Sky. Their children are the 12 Titans, the Cyclopes, and the Hecatonchires. The Cyclopes, or Orb-eyed, are creatures with only one eye in the center of their forehead. Gaia gave birth to three of them, Brontes (Thunder), Steropes (Lightning), and Arges (Bright). These three cyclopes were responsible for forging thunder and lightning. The Hecatonchires are strong, monstrous creatures that each had 100 arms and 50 heads. Gaia bore three of them named Cottus, Braireus, and Gyes. The castration of Uranus is one of the myths about the birth of the goddess Aphrodite. Uranus hides all of his children, the Titans, the Cyclopes and the Hecatonchires, deep inside of Gaia, in Tartarus. Gaia creates a sickle and persuades her children that their father should be punished. The only one willing to punish his father is the Titan Cronus. Uranus came to lay with Gaia one night. Cronus seizes his opportunity to grab the sickle and cut off his father's genitals and throw them into the sea, thus releasing the children from within their mother. From Uranus's genitals a white foam rises around them and in the foam a maiden grew. And from Uranus' spilled blood the Earth bore the Erinyes, or Furies, the Giants, and the Meliae, or nymphs of ash trees. After all of the children were released, Cronus banished his brothers, the Cyclopes and the Hecatonchires, back down to Tartarus so they wouldn't be a threat to his rule. The 12 TitansThe 12 Titans are Oceanus (Ocean), Coeus, Crius, Cronus, Hyperion (Sun), Iapetus, Mnemosyne (Memory), Phoebe, Rhea, Tethys, Theia, and Themis (Law). There are six males and six females and in usual Greek deity fashion some of them create unions with each other. Oceanus mates with his sister, Tethys, and they produce many children known as the Oceanids. The Oceanids are 3,000 daughters and 3,000 sons, all of them are spirits of rivers, springs and other bodies of water. Hyperion, god of the sun, mates with his sister, Theia. Together they have three children Helius, Selene, and Eos. Helius takes on the identity of a sun god like his father. He drives a chariot drawn by four horses across the sky from East to West. Selene is the goddess of the moon and drives a chariot drawn by two horses. Eos (Roman Aurora) is the goddess of the dawn and like Selene she drives a chariot drawn by two horses. Her epithets are usually rosy-fingered or saffron-robed and she is seen as being an amorous goddess. Even Aphrodite was jealous of her when she caught her lover, Ares, in Eos' bed. Iapetus joins with Clymene, an Oceanid, although in some accounts (Aeschylus) the mistress is his sister Themis. They have four, well-known children together: Prometheus, Epimetheus, Atlas, and Menoethius. Cronus (Saturn) and his sister Rhea form a union that creates what we know of as the Olympian gods. Cronus and RheaCronus (Saturn) takes on the identity of a sky god like his father and Rhea an earth goddess like her mother. Cronus and Rhea have six offspring: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. Cronus feared that one of his children might try and usurp his power as he did his fathers. So as Rhea gave birth to each of their children he swallowed them. This depressed Rhea and so when she was about to give birth to her last child, Zeus, she consulted with her parents about how to save her son and stop Cronus. She traveled to Crete and when Rhea gave birth Gaia hid Zeus and gave Cronus a stone wrapped in a blanket instead. Cronus swallowed the stone unaware that his son still lived. Zeus grew to maturity and then returned to his parents and tricked Cronus into regurgitating his brothers and sisters. And after this began the Titanomachy. The TitanomachyA ten year war between Cronus and Zeus broke out because of Zeus trying to usurp his father's position as head of the gods. This battle is referred to as the Titanomachy, or war of the Titans. Zeus released his brothers and sisters from the stomach of Cronus and also the Cyclopes and the Hecatonchires from the depths of Tartarus. Deities sided with either Cronus on Mt. Othrys or with Zeus on Mt. Olympus. Sided with Zeus Hestia Demeter Hera Hades Poseidon The Cyclopes The Hecatonchires Themis Prometheus Sided with Cronus Oceanus Coeus Crius Hyperion Iapetus Theia Mnemosyne Phoebe Tethys Atlas The Cyclopes made thunder bolts for Zeus, who hurled them down on the Titans. And even though the strength of the Titans was great, the Hecatonchires, with their 100 arms, threw a steady stream of rocks at the Titans. This drove the Titans down into the depths of Tartarus, where they were bound and the Hecatonchires were left to guard them. Atlas, the son of Iapetus, was punished by having to hold up the sky. The GiantomachyDetails of the Giantomachy are various and confusing. What is known is that the battle was vicious and Zeus defeats the giants. He imprisons the Giants under the earth and they are usually said to inhabit volcanic regions, areas where mortals can witness the effects of their violent natures. 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