Chapter 3: BeginningsHow the World and Mankind Were Created

Creation of the WorldOut of the Darkness

Origins of Stories• Most complete surviving

version of the creation of the world comes from the poet Hesiod’s (He-see-odd) Theogony (Thee-og-oh-nee) and Works and Days▫ Composed around the 8th

century BCE, about the same time as the Odyssey and Iliad (maybe 100 years later)

▫ Not an original work – writing down of oral tales Hesiod was a rustic bard

(lived north of Athens)▫ Not religious work like the

Bible or Koran There was no sacred text that

people had to follow in order to worship the Greek gods; Greek religion didn’t work that way

The Universe

• Gods are not separate from the universe, so although the Greek word Theogony means how the gods came into existence, the story starts with the creation of the universe (which is seen as a divine being)▫ This means that a character

can be (and often is) both a natural force or an element (the sun, the moon, the sea, etc.) and an anthropomorphic (humanlike) entity with a will, emotions, and bodily functions

• The gods don’t create the universe, they are a part of it▫There is no external

creator; the universe just comes into existence

▫While the gods are extremely powerful, they are not omnipotent

▫The gods are, however, immortal; they are a part of the universe, and as long as the universe exists, so do they

Chaos

• First there was Chaos -- (seen as a female entity)▫In Greek this doesn’t mean disorder; it simply

means a gap, void or open space• Out of Chaos come Tartarus, Erebus and Night

(whose name is Nyx)▫Tartarus and Erebus are the two divisions of the

underworld, with Tartarus being the deeper and darker, and Erebus being the portion where dead souls stay

Cosmic Egg• Erebus and Night

mated▫ Night is shown as a

black winged figure▫ When they mate,

the result is shown as a cosmic egg

• Eros (Love) was born of the egg▫ produced Ether –

Light, and Hemera – Day.

• Also out of Night comes ▫ the Moirae – Fates,

and ▫ Nemesis --

Retribution/Revenge

• According to Hesiod, all creation comes into existence through sexual reproduction, so Eros (or sexual desire) is present very early on in the creation▫ This primordial force

later becomes known as the son of Aphrodite

▫ Later, Cupid is shown to have wings, which gives rise to a belief that birds are somehow connected to the earliest primordial forces, and that the world may have in fact been hatched from a great primordial egg

Gaea• Into Chaos came Gaea (Guy-uh) --

(Also spelled Gaia; sometimes known as Ge)▫ Hesiod doesn’t tell us if Gaia

comes from Chaos, or simply comes into existence

▫ Since Hesiod’s (and the ancient Greek’s) view was geocentric (the earth as the center of the universe) it makes sense that the first god to come into existence is earth herself

• Underneath Gaea were the dark elements of Tartarus, Erebus, and Night, which Gaia stands upon

Gaea Cont.• Gaea produces Uranus --the

sky; Pontus -- the sea, (specifically the Mediterranean sea); the mountains; the Furies; and the giants (NOTE: Uranus is also spelled Ouranos)▫ She produces the

elemental forces that make up the forces that the Greeks know

▫ The world is being shaped into a recognizable form

Gaea, cont.▫ Originally, Gaea is seen

as a flat disc (until she gives birth to the landscape elements), and Uranus is a dome above her Think of a cake plate

with a cover Tartarus & Erebus is said

to be as far below her as Uranus is above her

Children of Gaea & Uranus

• Gaea and Uranus couple and produce ▫ three Cyclopes – (plural of the

singular Cyclops), which is a giant with a single

eye in the middle of its forehead;

▫ three Hecatonchires the hundred-handed monsters

(who have 50 heads) ▫ the 12 Titans, including Cronus;

Some believe that perhaps these ideas of giants and large monsters might have originated with the discovery of giant dinosaur bones by early Greeks

Uranus against his children• Overthrow of Uranus – 1st

patriarchal violent succession▫ Uranus tries to hide his

offspring back in the earth, from where they sprung Hecatonchires hidden in Tartarus Cyclopes condemned to live

inside the volcanic core of Mt. Etna Their roars said to cause

eruptions▫ The patriarchal “sky” gods have a

great fear of being overthrown by their children, and one way they try to prevent this is by stuffing their children back into the womb

Castration of Uranus•This put a great strain

on Gaea, causing her pain as well as anger, so she begged her titan children to help

•Cronus, the youngest titan, agrees, and as Uranus lies with Gaia, Cronus (who is hiding in Gaea’s womb) castrates him with a flint sickle

Result of the Castration• The blood of the genitals

that fell onto the earth created ▫ the Erinyes (Furies), the

elemental forces who punish blood crimes

▫ The Giants▫ The Nymphs of the Ash

Trees Meliae

• This is a violent overthrow of a father, and the impotence of that father’s ability to foster future offspring

Creation of Aphrodite• Cronus then cast the

bleeding genitals into the sea, where the fluids mixed with the sea foam, creating the goddess Aphrodite▫ Aphros is the Greek

word for sea foam This spirit of sexual

desire (Eros) is transformed into Aphrodite

This is a reasonable creation for Aphrodite, since she is the goddess of sexual desire

Departure of Uranus• At this point, Uranus retreats from

Gaea and becomes the dome of the sky▫ Since a god cannot be killed, the best

thing you can do is deprive him of his power, and in this case, denying him of his masculinity is denying him of his power

▫ This also leaves room for more children to be born – before this point the sky was literally pressing down on the earth; there was no separation between them This space of the dome allows the

children to spring forth and have room to live, grow, and for additional children to be born

• Here we have the mother “earth” figures (Gaea, Rhea, Hera all mean earth) being dominated by the male “sky” figures (Uranus, Cronus, Zeus)▫ Shift from a matriarchal society to a

patriarchal society

Cronus & Rhea• Cronus marries his sister Rhea

(the earth again), and then because he is concerned about his children overthrowing him, swallows each as soon as they are born▫ Zeus, the last born, is hidden in

a cave in Crete by Rhea, who substitutes a stone wrapped in blankets for her husband to swallow

▫ (some stories say she hides the rock in her bed and as she gives birth she swaps it for Zeus)

• Gaea helps Rhea because Cronus imprisons Cyclopes & Hecatonchires again

Upbringing of Zeus• The goat Amaltheia (also a

nymph) supplied him with milk to drink, and the bees provided honey▫ To reward her, Zeus later puts

her in the heavens as the constellation Capricorn (the goat)

▫ In some versions, this goat’s broken horn becomes the horn of plenty (not that of the river god Achelous)

• Minor deities called the Curetes protected Zeus, and when he cried, they rattled their spears against their shields so that Cronus wouldn’t hear the baby

• Another version has Zeus being raised by the nymph Adamanthea, who hung him in a rope from a tree so he was suspended between earth, sea and sky, because Cronus ruled all three

Olympians return• Zeus’ first wife, the Titan

Metis, gives Zeus a potion that he puts in Cronus’s drink, causing him to vomit up his children (in some versions it is Gaea that gives Cronus the potion)▫ The stone is vomited up

when Cronus vomits up the children, and lands in Delphi, where it becomes a sacred stone, and Delphi becomes the center of the earth Rock of Gibraltar

• Children of Rhea & Cronus are vomited up in reverse order▫ Zeus is thus considered

both the youngest (last born to Rhea) and the oldest god (all of his siblings were “born” from Cronus after he was already alive and fully grown)

▫ Original birth order: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, Zeus

Titanomachy (Battle of the Titans)

• Zeus leads his siblings in a revolt against Cronus▫ Three titans joined the

Olympians in the war: Prometheus, Epimetheus, & Oceanus Titan women did not

fight▫ Atlas led the male

Titans in the war against the Olympians Cronus was past his

prime

•War took 10 years

Help in the War• Zeus released the

Hecatonchires (hundred-handed ones) from beneath the earth, on the condition that they would fight alongside him, ▫ Great at throwing

boulders• Released the Cyclopes, on

the condition that they would forge a weapon that no monster, god or Titan could overcome

• Cyclopes gave Zeus the thunderbolt, Hades his helmet of invisibility, and Poseidon his trident▫ Hades used the helm to

steal Cronus’s weapons, Poseidon distracted him with the trident, which allowed Zeus to use the thunderbolt to defeat him

Punishment• Zeus overthrows Cronus, and

chains him up in Tartarus ▫ (in some stories, cuts him into

pieces, and then throws the pieces into Tartarus – remember, though, that the gods are immortal and cannot die, so Cronus is still alive in Tartarus)

• Another version of the story puts Cronus in the Elysium Fields▫ Note: Although Cronus was

horrible to his children, he was a generous ruler over humankind, and the age he ruled was called the Age of Gold Age of Gold: when the earth

provided food without the need for labor, and murder was unknown to humans, who lived together peacefully

• Zeus chains up the Titans who helped Cronus in Tartarus as well, where the Hecatonchires guard them, all except Atlas.▫ Zeus punishes Atlas for his

leadership role by forcing him to hold up the sky

Cronus in Rome• According to Greek

mythology, Cronus (Roman named Saturn), when overthrown by Zeus and the other Olympians, was cut apart and the pieces were cast into a deep part of the underworld known as Tartarus ▫ According to Roman

mythology, when overthrown, Saturn fled Greece and took up residence in Rome

▫ Becomes the start of the Golden Age in Rome

• Connects the more brutal, war-like, and less imaginative Roman culture to the more cultured and sophisticated Greek culture

• Later, when we study the fall of Troy, we meet the Trojan warrior Aeneas (ah-nee-us), who is the only Trojan hero to escape Troy. He leaves Troy and ends up in the area that eventually becomes Rome. He is credited with the founding of Rome, and thus gives them a reason to take over the culture and mythology of Greece when the Romans conquer it.

Gaea Upset AGAIN• Gaea, who originally supported Zeus and the Olympians in

their war against the Titans, becomes angry when her children are imprisoned within her (chained in Tartarus)

▫ Gives birth to two giants, with serpent-like lower limbs, Typhon and Enceladus Could breathe

fire, and pile mountains on top of each other

Typhon had a hundred dragon-like heads, a human-like upper body that reached the stars, and wings

Olympians Run…

• Hades put on his helmet of invisibility to hide

• Typhon caught Dionysus by surprise on the banks of the Nile river, and he transformed himself into a creature that was part goat, part fish▫ Constellation of Capricorn

commemorates this event – typically shown as a goat with a fish’s tail Some stories say that the

constellation is actually Amaltheia

• Aphrodite and Eros disguised themselves as fish▫ Constellation Pisces

commemorates this, and is represented by two fish tied together with a string Tied themselves

together so they wouldn’t lose each other

• Zeus disguises himself as a ram, but later returns to fight each of the giants with his thunderbolt

Olympians were terrified, and began to run away to Egypt, turning themselves into animals

Mt. Etna• Enceladus was struck

down by a spear thrown by Athena, and buried under Mt. Etna on the island of Sicily

• This is why Mt. Etna is such an active volcano – when he tries to break free, the earth shakes, and when he breathes fire, lave erupts

Typhon• When he fought Zeus, Typhon

cut out the sinews (muscles) from Zeus’ hands and feet and left Zeus helpless

• Hermes goes and steals the sinews back, and Zeus replaces them, healing himself▫ Later Zeus subdues Typhon

with his thunderbolts, and either imprisons him in Tartarus, or buries him under Mt. Etna (and it is he, not Enceladus, that causes the volcanic eruptions)

Children of Typhon• Had many monstrous

children that show up in later myths▫ Cerberus▫ The Sphinx (killed by

Oedipus)▫ The Chimera (killed by

Bellerophon)▫ Several that Hercules faces:

The Nemean lion, the hydra, Orthus (Geyron’s two-headed wolf/dog) and the Ladon (the serpent that guarded the golden apples in the garden of the Hesperides)

A Final Battle• Giants rebel against the

Olympians• With the help of

Hercules, they are defeated and hurled into Tartarus

• Olympians are secure in their position

• Zeus, Poseidon & Hades cast lots for realms

Creation of HumansAges of Humanity, Prometheus & Epimetheus, Pandora, Deucalion & Pyrrha

Ages of Humanity• Humans were created by the

gods• 1st race – Golden Race

▫ Age during the reign of Cronus – it was eternally springtime

▫ Humans were created by the gods out of gold

▫ Mankind lived to a very old age, but with a youthful appearance

▫ When they died, they became pure spirits, who protected and helped mankind Dying was more like falling into

sleep In some versions, men even

aged backwards

Ages of Humanity, cont.• Age of Silver

▫ The four seasons appeared during this period, and humans learn art and agriculture

▫ Not very intelligent Lived as childlike beings for

over a hundred years Very short period as adults

▫ Constantly killed each other accidentally

▫ When they died, their spirits did not live on earth, but dwelt in the underworld

▫ This race was destroyed by Zeus because they refused to honor the gods

• Age of Bronze (or Brass)▫ Men were created out of ash trees

(trees used to make spears)▫ Called age of bronze because their

armor and homes were made of bronze

▫ Very warlike Ended up killing each other off

because of all of the wars

Ages of Humanity, cont.• Age of Heroes

▫ These were demi-gods, and were more honorable than the previous race

▫ Most of these heroes were killed in great wars such as Trojan war or war in Thebes Most of the heroes of Greek

mythology lived in this age When they died,

many went on to live in the Elysium Fields with Cronus,

Some became companions of the gods

Some were placed in the heavens as constellations

Ages of Humanity, cont.• Age of Iron

▫ Age of toil and injustice, crime and punishment

▫ This is the age humanity is still suffering through

▫ Many virtues have disappeared, and most of the gods remaining on Earth have abandoned it

▫ The goddess Justice (Astraea), who stayed on Earth for all of the previous four ages, fled to the heavens during this age, and is represented as the constellation Virgo (the virgin) She once carried a pair of

scales with which she weighed the rights and wrongs of any dispute. Now her scales shine close by Virgo, as the constellation Libra.

▫ Zeus will eventually destroy this age

Prometheus & Epimetheus• Prometheus & Epimetheus

assigned to create animals and humans, so there would be someone to worship the gods

• Epimetheus, whose name means afterthought, gave all the good gifts to the animals when he created them▫ Fur▫ Claws▫ Fangs▫ Wings▫ Strength▫ Speed

• Epimetheus asked his brother, Prometheus (whose name means forethought) for help▫ Prometheus molded

humans out of clay, causing them to stand upright like the gods

▫ He brought them fire from the sun

• Prometheus is depicted of the great benefactor of humanity

Sacrificial Ritual in Ancient Greece• Importance of sacrifice

shown through a story of Prometheus

• Greeks only ate meat about once a month, and did so as a part of a great religious celebration▫ They were very aware of

the significance of the taking of a life, and equated it with sacrificing the animal for the gods They created a ritual

known as the comedy of innocence, in which they appeared to get the animal’s permission before killing it

▫ Lead it to the altar, sprinkle water on the bull’s head, and as the bull shook its head to shake off the water, they would take this as a sign that the bull was shaking his head in permission to kill him Another way was to lead

several bulls to the altar, then put honey-cakes on the altar, and the first bull that stretched its head towards the cake to eat it was seen as stretching towards the altar in an offer to be sacrificed

Sacrificial Ritual, cont.• Blood of the

sacrificed animal was caught in a dish and burned, and the rising smoke was seen as an offering to the gods on high▫ If the blood was

allowed to spill on the ground, it was seen as an offering to the gods of the underworld

▫ All the meat was distributed to the people, and the innards (the spagmata in Greek) were wrapped up in the animal’s hide and resurrected (made to look like the whole animal again), and burned in honor of the gods

▫ Myth of Prometheus explains this

Prometheus Tricks Zeus• In retaliation, Zeus took

away fire, which Prometheus had to steal for mortals

• The gods live off of the smoke

• Prometheus arranges that humans should get the best part of any animal sacrificed, and the gods would get the unusable parts

• He cut up an ox, and piled all of the meat under the hide, and topping it with the disgusting-looking entrails

• He made a second pile, which was bigger than the first, of the bones, covered by shining fat

• He told Zeus to choose▫ Zeus chose the bigger pile,

only to discover it was inedible

▫ Only bones & fat are burned

Importance of Fire• Fire is the basic elemental force of

civilization▫ Cook food, purify water, harden metal

implements• Prometheus stole fire and hid it in a

fennel stick, then gave it back to humans▫ Fennel is the way hunter-gatherer

societies carried embers of fire from place to place Outer stalk of fennel doesn’t burn, but

the interior is flammable, so the embers can be carried within

• Humans get to keep the fire, but are punished, because now fire is also dangerous, and dirty (smoke) and hot▫ Idea of eternal toil

Prometheus Punished• Prometheus is

punished for going against Zeus▫ He is chained to a

great rock Caucasus

▫ A great eagle (in some stories a vulture) tears out his liver

▫ Because he is a god (Titan), his liver regenerates each night, and the eagle returns each day Torture continued

for 30,000 years

Prometheus Punished, cont.• He is also punished because he

heard a prophecy ▫ Thetis would give birth to a son

conceived with Zeus, who was destined to overthrow his father.

▫ Zeus knew part of the prophecy, but not the name of the goddess. Prometheus refused to tell Zeus which goddess.

• He knew that he would only be released if one of the other immortals went to Hades of his own free will, to stay forever.▫ Hercules, during his 12 labors,

shot the eagle that was feeding on his liver

▫ Hercules had also accidentally shot his friend, the wise centaur Chiron, with a poisoned arrow, leaving a wound that could not be healed. Chiron volunteered to go to

the Underworld. Prometheus took pity on his unending pain, and gave Zeus the name of Thetis. Chiron went to the underworld, Prometheus’s chains immediately fell off, and Zeus promptly married off Thetis to a mortal man.

Humanity Punished -- Pandora• Zeus had Hephaestus

mold a beautiful maiden from clay▫ Up to this point, there

had only been men on the earth

• Each of the Olympians gave her gifts▫ She was called Pandora,

which means “Gift of All” Athena clothed her Aphrodite gave her

beauty

• She was also given a jar, and each god put something harmful into it▫ Pandora was told never to

open the jar• She was sent to marry

Epimetheus▫ Prometheus warned

against taking gifts from the gods, but Epimetheus didn’t listen, and fell in love with Pandora

▫ Epimetheus locked the jar in the closet so Pandora wouldn’t open it

Pandora, cont.• Pandora’s curiosity got the

better of her, and she took the key to the closet when Epimetheus was gone and opened the jar▫ Later stories make it a box

• All the evils escaped into the world▫ She tried to close the lid but

was too late• The only thing that remained

in the jar was hope, which never leaves mankind▫ In some stories, it is

hopelessness that she traps

Deucalion & Pyrrha• Humans had become so

wicked that Zeus decided to destroy mankind

• He sent a great flood that covered the entire world except the very top of Mount Parnassus▫ He unleashed torrential

rains▫ Poseidon stirred up the

rivers and seas, and sent earthquakes

• Almost everyone died, either by drowning or by starvation

• Constant rain lasted for 9 days

• Two people survived, floating in a wooden chest, which landed after those 9 days at Mt. Parnassus▫ Deucalion - husband

He was the son of Prometheus

▫ Pyrrha - wife She was the daughter of

Epimetheus & Pandora• Deucalion & Pyrrha were

honest, moral people, and faithful worshippers of the gods

• Prometheus had warned his family, and had them build the chest and fill it with supplies

Deucalion & Pyrrha, cont.• Zeus drew away the waters,

and they were the only living creatures on earth

• They found a temple and gave thanks for being alive▫ A voice told them to cover

their heads and throw the bones of their mother behind them Horrified – disrespecting

the remains of an ancestor was horrible sacrilege

Realized the bones of their mother were rocks (mother earth)

• Deucalion’s stones became men

• Pyhrra’s stones became women

• Parallel story to Noah’s Ark