Mythological Fictional Theme ig

RISE OF THE OLYMPIANS

Ch-1 : Introduction

Ch-2 : The Protegenoi Period

Ch-3 : Ouranos Clinches the Throne

Ch-4 : The Downfall of the Protegenoi Period

Ch-5 : The Ultimate Rise of Kronos and the Begenning of the Golden Ages

Ch-6 : Rhea’s blunder in the Second Golden Age

Ch-7 : The Titanormarchy

Ch-8 : Ultimate Victory of Zeus and his companions

Ch-9 : The Concrete establishment of Olympus and furthermore :D :D

Ch-1 :

The Olympian gods - Nicolas-André Monsiau (1754-1837) - PD-life-100

After the Titanomachy Zeus, Hades and Poseidon would draw lots for the division of the
cosmos. Hades would be given the Underworld, and there he would build his palace;
Poseidon would be given the sea, and a palace was made beneath the Mediterranean;
and Zeus was given heavens and earth, and so upon Mount Olympus Zeus would build.
Zeus decided that there would be 12 ruling gods

The first Olympians were the children of Cronus and Rhea, for when Zeus led
the uprising against their father, Mount Olympus would become the base of
operations for Zeus and his allies. From Mount Olympus the allies of Zeus
would face off against the Titans based on Mount Othrys.

Certainly Zeus, Hades and Poseidon were at this time to be found on Mount
Olympus, although it is not clear whether Hera, Demeter and Hestia were
there as well at this point.

It was though, after the Titanomachy that the term Olympian gods really came
into its own.
Ch-2 Protegenoi

The first of the Greek deities to come into existence was Chaos a goddess
who would come to represent the air of the earth; differing therefore from the
air of the heavens or the underworld. Shortly afterwards three other Greek
gods and goddesses were formed. Gaia, a female deity, who, as well as being
the personification of the earth, would also become regarded as the mother of
almost all other deities of the Greek pantheon.

Two male deities were also classed in the first wave of Protogenoi; Eros, the
Greek god of procreation, who enabled the continuation of life; and Tartarus,
a god who would exist beneath the earth, and would become the prison of the
underworld.
Chaos would bring forth a daughter and a son. The daughter was Nyx,
the Greek goddess of the night, who each day would leave her cave to
bring night to the world. Nyx would work hand in hand with her
husband-brother, Erebus, the Greek god of darkness.

Nyx and Erebus would become parents to a third generation of

Protogenoi, when Aether, the god of day, and Hemera, goddess of
light were born. Aether and Hemera would of course work hand in
hand just like their parents, and were responsible for banishing night
and bringing forth the day each morning.

Gaia would also bring forth other Protogenoi, with Ouranus, the god
of the sky, and Pontus, the god of the sea, being earth's sons.
Pontus, as representative of the sea, was important in Ancient
Greece, but it was Ouranus who became the prominent god, being the
first supreme ruler of the Greek pantheon.

Gaia would also give rise to the only group regarded as

Protogenoi, the Ourea, ten bearded gods that represent the
mountains, mountains that included Mount Olympus.

Ch3

Ouranos, or Uranus, was at one time the most important god within the Greek
pantheon of deities; as two generations prior to the rule of Zeus, Ournos was
the supreme deity of the cosmos.
According to Hesiod’s version of the timeline of Greek deities, Ouranos was
classed as a Protogenoi, one of the primordial gods of Ancient Greece. To
this end, Ouranos was born of Gaia (Earth), with no father involved.
Just as Gaia was Mother Earth, Ouranos was considered to be Father Sky,
the personification of the great brass dome that was thought to stretch above
the earth.
Ouranos took up the mantle of supreme deity, and sired children with Gaia.
Six sons quickly followed, the three Cyclopes (Brontes, Arges and Steropes)
and the three Hecatonchires (Briares, Cottus and Gyges); both sets of sons
being powerful giants.

Indeed, such was the power of these giants that Ouranos worried for his own
position as supreme deity. So, Ouranos decided to lock his own sons within
the belly of Gaia.
Twelve more children were then born to Ouranos and Gaia, six sons and six
daughters; the sons being Cronus, Crius, Coeus, Hyperion, Iapetus and
Oceanus, whilst the daughters were Rhea, Phoebe, Themis, Theia, Tethys
and Mnemosyne. Collective these 12 children of Ouranos were known as the
Titans.
Ch4
Ouranos was less wary of the power of the Titans than he had been of the
Cyclopes and Hecatonchires, and so allowed these 12 children to roam free.
This decision would ultimately lead to his downfall.

Locking up the Cyclopes and Hecatonchires within the earth caused Gaia
great physical pain, and so she plotted with the Titans to overthrow their
father. Eventually the uprising went ahead, and when Ouranos descended to
earth to mate with Gaia, the four brothers Crius, Coeus, Hyperion and Iapetus,
held tight to their father at the four corners of the earth, whilst Cronus wielded
an adamantine sickle to castrate Ouranos.

The castrated Ouranos was allowed by Cronus to ascend once again to the
heavens, but Ouranos had lost most of his powers, and no longer had the
strength to be the supreme deity, and so Cronus succeeded Ouranos as
supreme god of the Greek pantheon.
Ch-5
Ouranos would retreat back to his domain, with much of his power now gone. Cronus, having
been the only Titan willing to wield the sickle, would then take up the position of supreme deity
of the Greek pantheon.

Each male Titan then married one of his sisters. The pairings were generally considered to be
Cronus and Rhea, Oceanus and Tethys, Hyperion and Theia, and Coeus and Phoebe, whilst
Iapetus, Crius, Mnemosyne and Themis were unpaired.

The Titans, or Elder gods as they were also named, would be in charge of a particular area of
the cosmos and life. For example, Ocenaus became linked with water, Hyperion with light,
Mnemosyne with memory, and Themis was linked with justice.

Under the Titans everyone prospered, hence the period being named as the "Golden Age".
Cronus was no more secure in his position than his father had been, and rather than releasing
the Hecatonchires and Cyclopes he angered his mother by keeping them imprisoned. Nor was
Cronus so unwise as to allow his own children to roam free, and each time Rhea gave birth,
Cronus would swallow them, imprisoning them in his stomach.

Gaia and Rhea though conspired against Cronus, and when the sixth child, Zeus, was born,
instead of allowing him to be imprisoned, they pair of goddesses secreted him away on Crete.

Zeus would grow more up, and become powerful, and soon he was in a position to revolt
against Cronus; and the son of Cronus would release his siblings from their imprisonment, as
well as the Hecatonchires and Cyclopes from Tartarus, and so a ten year war would begin
between Zeus and his allies, and the Titans.

Ultimately the Titans would lose and many would be banished for eternity into Tartarus
themselves, whilst the cosmos was then divided amongst Zeus, Hades and Poseidon.
Ch-6

The Olympian gods - Nicolas-André Monsiau (1754-1837) - PD-life-100

After the Titanomachy Zeus, Hades and Poseidon would draw lots for the division of the
cosmos. Hades would be given the Underworld, and there he would build his palace;
Poseidon would be given the sea, and a palace was made beneath the Mediterranean;
and Zeus was given heavens and earth, and so upon Mount Olympus Zeus would build.
Zeus decided that there would be 12 ruling gods, just as there had been 12 Titans; and
so the first five Olympian gods were quickly chosen.

Zeus -
Zeus was the youngest of the six siblings but was also the strongest. A natural leader
after the Titanomachy he was given as his domain the land and the sky, and supreme
ruler of Mount Olympus. He is considered the god of justice, although the stories told
about him tell more often about his love affairs with goddesses and beautiful mortal
women, the likes of Europa and Danae, rather than of any fighting or great deeds. Most
of Greek mythology though can be traced back to an action of Zeus, as his love life
produced scores of offspring, some of which were gods and some of which became the
primary Greek heroes.
 Hestia -
The oldest of Cronus’s children, Hestia is the goddess who actually takes the
least active role in the affairs of gods and men. Hestia was the goddess of the
hearth and the home, but is remembered mostly for her virginity, when she
turned down the advances of Apollo and Poseidon. Hestia also distanced
herself from the quarreling of the other Olympians, and willingly gave up her
place on Mount Olympus.

Poseidon -
Brother to Zeus, Poseidon was given dominance over the seas and waterways,
following the defeat of the Titans. Like his brother though, Poseidon is more
remembered for his love life and his children than for great actions or
adventures, although his anger his also a central point to many stories. As a
result of his anger he became known as the god of earthquakes, and it was as
a result of his anger that Odysseus was forced to struggle home after the
Trojan wars.

Hera -
Hera was the most powerful of the Olympian goddesses, and although sister
to Zeus, was also his third wife. Intensely jealous the stories of Hera are often
those of revenge against the lovers and offspring of her husband, but she
could also be forgiving, and soon became known as the protector of marriage
as well as the goddess of marriage and motherhood.

Demeter -
The last of the five original Olympians, Demeter was the goddess of agriculture and
fertility and the seasons of the year. Famed for her humble nature, Demeter gave birth
to Persephone after a brief relationship with Zeus. The lives of Demeter and her
daughter are intertwined, and the story of Persephone’s abduction by Hades, leads to
the evolution of the growing seasons. When Persephone is in Hades it is winter time, as
Demeter mourns the loss of her daughter, but when Persephone returns to Demeter,
Demeter rejoices and the growing season commences.
The only child of Cronus missing from the original list was Hades, who rarely left his
domain, and so Zeus added to the original five Olympians with other family
members. The choices were not always based on ability, but often based upon loyalty to
Zeus.
 The Assembly of the Gods - Jacopo Zucchi (1541–1590) - PD-art-
100
Hermes -
Son of Zeus and the nymph Maia, Hermes was considered to be the most loyal of all of
Zeus’s offspring and so was given the role as messenger of the gods. At the same time
though he was also the god of tricksters and thieves, trade and sport, as messenger he
is often seen as being the Olympian god who interacted most with mortals.

Apollo -
Apollo was the offspring of Zeus and the Titan Leto. Apollo was one of the most revered
of all of the gods and was worshipped as the god of truth, archery, prophecy, music,
poetry, healing and light. Importantly though he was also the god most associated with
youth and the sun, and was thus associated with life itself.

Ares -
The god of war, Ares was the son of Zeus and Hera, closely associated with
bloodshed and hatred, Ares figures prominently in the events of the Trojan
War. He was though distrusted by the other Olympian gods, and was often in
open conflict with them.

Artemis -
Twin sister to Apollo, Artemis is one of the most famous of Greek deities.
Closely associated with the hunt and the moon, Artemis was also extremely
easy to anger. Many of the stories that surround her are about her revenge on
those who displeased her in some way.

Athena -
Athena was the virgin goddess, and daughter of Zeus and the Titan Metis.
Similar to Ares, Athena is associated with warfare, but her stories will
 normally centre on the assistance that she provides to the mortal heroes, the
likes of Perseus, in their quests and adventures. As a result Athena is
normally associated with wisdom.

Hephaestus -
The Greeks gods and goddesses are normally portrayed as the most beautiful
of all people, Hephaestus was the exception though. Son of Hera and Zeus,
Hephaestus was deformed and ugly, and rejected by all other gods. Initially
thrown out of Mount Olympus he was though eventually given the vital role
of Blacksmith to the gods, and creator of all armour and weapons. An
inventor of some not it was Hephaestus who created Talos for Zeus to give as
a gift to Europa, Talos being a giant bronze robot who would guard Crete.
Aphrodite -
Aphrodite is different from all of the second generation of Olympians, in that she was
not born of Zeus, but was born as a result of Cronus’s actions in cutting of the manhood
of his father, Ouranos. Arguably the most beautiful of all goddesses, she too was known
for her love affairs despite being married to Hephaestus. As a result Aphrodite was the
goddess of love, beauty and sex.