GAEA(GREEK

AND ROMAN
MYTHOLOGY)
A.Y. 2022-2023
FIRST REPORTER
Prepared by: Rhea Gallardo
 Lesson Objectives

At the end of the lesson,

the students will be able to:
• Define what Gaea is.
• Trace back the origin or creation
of Greek and Roman
mythology.
 Background of Greek Mythology

. Fully developed by
about 700 B.C.
• Homer and Hesiod
are generally
considered the
earliest Greek poets
whose work has
survived.
 WHAT IS GREEK MYTHOLOGY?
• Greek Mythology is a collection of myths and
legends that Greeks used to explain their world.
• Although we now view these stories as fiction,
the Greeks believed them to be true.
• Greek mythology is the body of stories
concerning the gods, heroes, and rituals of
the ancient Greeks.
What do you know about Greek mythology?

• Polytheistic and Pantheon.

• Gods interact with humans.
• Humans worship the Gods.
 THE
CREATION
 THE CREATION
• In the beginning, there
was only Chaos, the
gaping emptiness.
Chaos- the first deity,
the primordial god of
nothingness from which
all things in the universe
emerged.
 THE CREATION
• Then, either all by
themselves or out of the
formless void, sprang
forth three more
primordial deities: Gaea
(Earth)-Greek goddess
of the Earth, or Mother
goddess.
 THE CREATION
• Tartarus(the Underworld)-
The name was originally used
for the deepest region of the
world, the lower of the two
parts of the underworld, where
the gods locked up their
enemies. It gradually came to
mean the entire underworld.
 THE CREATION
• and Eros (Love)-
personified love, passion,
and procreation. He was
originally imagined as a
primordial god who
emerged at the dawn of
creation, alongside Chaos,
Gaea, and Tartarus.
 THE CREATION

• Once Love was there, Gaea and

Chaos – two female deities –
were able to procreate and shape
everything known and unknown
in the universe.
 The
Children of
Chaos and
Gaea
Erebus and Nyx

Chaos gave birth to Erebus

(Darkness)-the god of a
dark region of the
underworld and the
personification of
darkness. Erebus is one of
the primordial beings in
the Greek creation myth.
Erebus and Nyx

and Nyx (Night)- was the

primordial Greek
goddess of the night and
a consort to Erebus, the
god of darkness and
daughter of chaos also.
• Erebus slept • and out of this union Aether,
with his sister the bright upper air, the
Nyx, primordial god of light. Son
of Erebus and Nyx.
• And Hemera,
daughter of Nyx
and Erebus
emerged as the
primordial goddess
of the day, sister
and wife of
(Aether,
Heavenly Light).
• Among others, Nyx(Night)
children included the
hateful Moros (Fate)-is
the 'hateful' personified
spirit of impending doom,
who drives mortals to their
deadly fate. It was also said
that Moros gave people the
ability to foresee their death.
• , the black Ker Thanatos (Death),
(Doom), Thanatos was the daemonic
representation of death
Hypnos (Sleep), Oneiroi (Dreams),
the god of sleep, were the dark-winged
The Greeks spirits (daemons)
believed that
Hypnos touched
mortals with a
magic wand or
fanned them with
his wings to make
them sleep.
GERAS was the personified
spirit (daimon) of old age, Oizus (Pain), is the
one of the malevolent spirits personification of
spawned by the goddess pain or distress
Nyx (Night).
 Eris the personification of
• Nemesis goddess of
(Strife), is an unpopular
(Revenge), the
figure in Greek mythology
embodiment of jealousy,
due to her problematic
envy and anger of the gods
behavior and her ability to
and was believed to punish
stir up trouble wherever she
human gluttony.
goes.
Apate is the Philotes(Sexual
goddess/personification Pleasure) was a minor
of fraud, deceit, trickery, goddess or spirit
deception, and guile. She was (daimones) personifying
one of the evil spirits released affection, friendship,
from Pandora's Box. and sexual intercourse.
Momos (Blame) was the and the Hesperides
god or personified spirit (the Daughters of
(daimon) of mockery, blame, the Evening). are
ridicule, scorn, complaint and nymph-goddesses of
harsh criticism. He was the evening and the
expelled by Zeus from heaven west in Greek
for ridiculing the gods. mythology.
 Gaea
and
Uranus
• Meanwhile,
Gaea gave birth
to Uranus, the
God of the Sky
and first ruler.
Uranus became
Gaea's husband,
surrounding her
from all sides.
• Together, The three Hundred-
they produced Handed
three sets of Hecatoncheires, with 50
children: the heads and 100 arms
three one- apiece.
eyed
Cyclopes,
giant one-
eyed
creatures.
• and the twelve
Titans. brothers
Oceanus,
Coeus, Crius,
Hyperion,
Iapetus, and
Cronus, and the
sisters Theia,
Rhea, Themis,
Mnemosyne,
Phoebe, and
Tethys.
1.Oceanus: 2. Thethys: Titan 3. Hyperion: Titan
Titan God Of Goddess Of God Of Light &
The Sea & Water Freshwater Observation
4. Theia: Titan 5. Coeus: Titan God Of 6. Phoebe: Titan
Goddess Of The The Oracles, Wisdom, Goddess Of Prophecy &
Sun & Light And Foresight Intellect
7. Crius: Titan 8. Mnemosyne: 9. Iapetus: Titan God Of
God Of Titan Goddess Of Mortal Life Or God Of Death
Constellations Memory
10. Themis: Titan 11. Cronus: Titan 12. Rhea: Titan
Goddess Of Law, Ruler of the Universe Goddess Of Fertility
Order, And Justice
 The
Castration
of Uranus
• However, Uranus was a cruel
husband and an even crueler father.
He hated his children and didn’t want
to allow them to see the light of day.
So, he imprisoned them in the hidden
place of the earth, Gaea's womb.
This angered Gaea, and she plotted
with her sons against Uranus. She
made a harpe, a great adamant
sickle, and tried to incite her children
to attack Uranus. All were too afraid,
except the youngest Titan, Cronus.
 Cronus
Revenge
• Gaea and Cronus set up an ambush for
Uranus. As he was preparing to lay with
Gaea, Cronus castrated him with the sickle,
throwing his severed genitals into the ocean.
It is unclear as to what happened to Uranus
afterward; he either died, withdrew from the
earth, or exiled himself to Italy. From the
blood that was spilled on the earth due to his
castration, emerged the Giants, the giants
were equal in size, and some weren't even
that big, but they all had incredible
manpower.
• the Meliae (the
Ash Tree
Nymphs), were
Oread nymphs of
the mountain
Ash. They are
young human
ladies who grow
within the trees..
and the Erinyes
(the Furies) three
goddesses of
vengeance who lived
in the Underworld
and were sent out to
bring justice to
people who
committed crimes.
• From the sea foam
that was produced
when his genitals
fell into the ocean,
arose Aphrodite,
the Goddess of
Beauty.
 Cronus
Devouring
His Children
A New Ruler
• Cronus became
the next ruler.
He imprisoned
the Cyclopes
and the
Hecatoncheire
s in Tartarus
and set the
dragoness
Campe to guard
them.
• Campe was a
monstrous
Drakaina
(She-Dragon)
set by the Titan
Cronus to guard
the
Hecatonchires
and Cyclopes
trapped in the
pit of Tartarus.
• He married his sister, the Titaness Rhea,
who bore him five children. However,
Gaea and Uranus had both prophesied
that Cronus would eventually be
overthrown by one of his sons. So much
like his father, Cronus maltreated his
children, devouring each of them at the
time of birth. Rhea was distressed by
Cronus’ treatment of her children and, just
like Gaea before him, plotted against her
husband. On the advice of her mother,
when it was time to give birth to her sixth
child,
• Rhea hid herself on Crete, leaving the newborn child to be
raised by the nymphs of the island. To conceal her act, she
wrapped a stone in swaddling clothes and passed it off as the
supposed baby to Cronus, who, unaware of her intentions,
swallowed it yet again.
The Return
of Zeus
 Raised by the
• The child was
nymphs
Zeus. Zeus was
Adrasteia,
the god of the
Ida, and the
sky in ancient
she-goat
Greek mythology.
Amalthea, he
As the chief Greek
quickly grew
deity, Zeus is the
into a
ruler, protector,
handsome
and father of all
youth in a cave
gods and
on the Cretan
humans.
Mount Ida.
• When the time She answered by preparing
came, he left a drink indistinguishable
Crete to ask from Cronus’ favorite wine
his future wife, but designed to make him
the Titaness vomit for ages. Zeus
Metis disguised himself as the
(Wisdom) gods’ cupbearer and, after
Zeus’ first a while, successfully
wife, for advice slipped Metis’ drink to
on defeating Cronus.
Cronus.
The plan Called Omphalos,
worked or the Navel,
perfectly: represents the stone
Cronus that Rhea wrapped
started in swaddling clothes,
vomiting and pretending it was
spilled out all Zeus, in order to
of Zeus’ five deceive Cronus. the
siblings, but stone was later set up
only after at Delphi by two
throwing up eagles Zeus sent to
the stone. meet at the center of
the world.
Overwhelmed with gratitude, Rhea’s ,Demeter- goddess of
children – Hestia, goddess of the grain and agriculture.
hearth, home, and hospitality.
, Hera- Queen of Olympus, ,Hades was the God of the
and the Olympian goddess of Underworld.
marriage.
and Poseidon –the violent and ill-tempered god of the sea.
recognized Zeus as their leader.
 The
Titanomachy
Gods vs Titans
• However, Cronus was still in command
– and yet to be defeated. He was too old
to protect himself from the attacks of his
enemies, but he enlisted the help of the
faithful Titans, who also feared the new
generation of gods. This led to a decade-
long war between the Titans and
the Olympians, remembered by
generations hence as the Titanomachy-
a ten-year war between the new
generation of Greek gods and older gods
known as the Titans.
Atlas became the Titans’ leader and led his armies to many
victories. At one point, it even seemed that Zeus would be
defeated. However, at the advice of Gaea, he went to Tartarus
and released the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires. In
gratitude, the Cyclopes provided Zeus with his signature
thunderbolt; they also made a trident for Poseidon and a
helmet of invisibility for Hades. The tables had turned.
The Winning
Trick
• However, as so many times before, the
final victory would not be the result of
brute force, but it would happen due to a
cunning little trick, possibly devised by
Prometheus, who deserted from the
Titans’ army beforehand. Prometheus
sided with Zeus and the other
Olympians against the Titans and
their brother and father because
Prometheus could foresee the outcome
of the conflict. Prometheus was the son
of the Titan Iapetus.
• Armed with boulders,
Hecatoncheires set an ambush for
the Titans. At the right time, Zeus
retreated his forces, drawing the
Titans into the Hecatoncheires’ trap.
The Hundred-Handed ones started
raining down hundreds of boulders,
with such a fury that the Titans
thought the mountains were falling
down upon them. They ran away, and
Zeus could finally consider himself
the King of the Universe.
Tartarus
and Atlas
• Zeus exiled the Titans who
had fought against him into
Tartarus. He made an
exception with Atlas, son
of the Titan Iapetus and the
Oceanid Clymene (or Asia)
and brother of Prometheus.
though: being the leader
of the opposing force, he
was punished for holding
the universe on his
shoulders.
The Final
Challenge
Zeus and Typhon
• Zeus’ power would be challenged
on a few occasions afterward. Just
after the Titanomachy, his
grandmother Gaea, outraged by
the imprisonment of her children,
issued forth one last child of her,
the monstrous Typhon, the
youngest son of Gaea and
Tartarus. He was so fearsome
that most of the gods fled the
second they saw him; however,
Zeus didn’t hesitate.
• He faced the monster and
using the power of his
lightning bolts, he was able
to defeat it. Typhon was
subsequently buried under
Mount Etna in Sicily. They
say that you can still hear him
growling under the volcano.
And that someday in the
distant future, he will return
to challenge Zeus once again.
Introduction
to Roman
Mythology
• The Roman
Empire was a
primarily
polytheistic
civilization, which
meant that people
recognized and
worshiped multiple
gods and goddesses.
• They believed that these deities served a role in
founding the Roman civilization and that they helped
shape the events of people’s lives on a daily basis.
• The gods and goddesses of Greek culture significantly
influenced the development of Roman deities and
mythology.
• Due to Rome’s geographic position, its citizens experienced
frequent contact with the Greek peoples, who had expanded
their territories into the Italian peninsula and Sicily.
• Romans adopted many aspects of Greek culture,
adapting them slightly to suit their own needs.
• For example, many of the gods and goddesses of
Greek and Roman culture share similar
characteristics.
• However, these deities were renamed and effectively
rebranded for a Roman context, possessing names
that are different from their Greek counterparts.
• Romans adopted many aspects of Greek culture, adapting them
slightly to suit their own needs.
• For example, many of the gods and goddesses of Greek and
Roman culture share similar characteristics.
• However, these deities were renamed and effectively rebranded
for a Roman context, possessing names that are different from
their Greek counterparts.
• The twelve great Olympians mentioned earlier were turned into
Roman gods also.
References:
GreekMythology.com, T. Editors of Website (2021,
April 07). The Creation.

GreekMythology.com Website.

https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/The_My
ths/The_Creation/the_creation.html

https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/gods-and-
goddesses-greek-and-roman-pantheon?
fbclid=IwAR1Rvzb1tFwJQLisT8Uk3uHb-
FiyhPuOUmIC9mEo4vd39wPgeghWXYf8pUw
Thank you for
listening!