#Hesiod's Cosmos

[pink-lemonade-rose]

Along with their order to sing them first and last, the Muses endow Hesiod with a twofold gift: they give him a scepter of laurel, and they breathe into him thespis aude, a “divine human voice,” an expression that “approaches a paradox or oxymoron”. It is this human voice (aude), but one imbued with the divine (thespis), that allows Hesiod to fulfill the Muses’ demand that he celebrate [...] “the things that will be and those that were before” [....]

Jenny Strauss Clay, Hesiod's Cosmos

[foreignfuneral]

[divinationdrawings]

"Fair wreathed Kytherea"

-Hesiod's Theogony, Gany translation

Aphrodite of the golden crown

The lustrous hand mirror

Seafoam from the cosmos rains down

The mist grows clearer

Kytherea blew in

From warm Cyprus winds

Enchanting the Seamen and Seafarers

I hope you enjoyed today's tale of legend and lore, come back next week and there will be even more

[tylermileslockett]

Unlike Homer, we do have some record of the poet Hesiod, as he brought details of his personal life into his work. His epic poems are invaluable reference sources for the formation of the cosmos and the genealogies of the Greek Gods.

The first major extant (still existing) work of Hesiod’s is the epic poem and invocation hymn “Theogony,” (origin of the gods, 700 B.C.E.) In the poem, while shepherding sheep upon Mount Helicon, Hesiod tells of encountering the Muses who gift Hesiod a laurel staff, a symbol of poetic authority, and breathing into him the divine breath of inspiration. In this poem Hesiod gives us the forming of the universe from Uranus (sky) and Gaia (earth) and the cyclops, giants, and Titans to follow. In this work with have the triple succession motif of sons overthrowing fathers with Cronus overthrowing Uranus, and then Zeus overthrowing Cronus in the Titanomachy (war between Olympians and titans.)

His second work, “Works and Days” is a didactic collection of pastoral poetry tales used to illustrate for his ne’er-do-well brother, Perses, how to lead a more virtuous life through hard work, humility and justice. Here we get the tales of Prometheus stealing fire from Zeus and Pandora opening the jar and releasing evil upon mankind. Hesiod also lists the fascinating fives ages of man; the Golden age, the Silver age, the Bronze age, the Heroic age, and the Iron age. The poem ends with ruminations on seasons and agricultural wisdom.

In my illustration we see the sacred fountain of Hippocrene in the background, which was said to have poured forth when Pegasus struck his hoof into the ground. The sacred stream was said to give the drinker poetic inspiration.

One tale of Hesiod’s death is that the oracle of Delphi told him he would die at Nemea, so he fled to Locris, where he, unable to escape fate, eventually died at the temple to Nemean Zeus, fulfilling the prophecy in typical ironic fashion.

Thanks for looking and reading, and for rehashing/reblogging my works you fine Tumblr folks! Happy 2023! xoxo

If you want to see more of my art, please click my linktree: https://linktr.ee/tylermileslockett

[h0bg0blin-meat]

All the basics of Greek myth

The gods/godesses their roles,ther relationship etc etc

Okay. So first of all we all know about the 12 Olympians, i.e., Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Artemis, Apollo, Ares, Athena, Aphrodite, Hermes. Hephaestus and either Hestia or Dionysus, plus Hades.

Now before these Olympians there were the Titans, which included Kronos, Rhea, Oceanus, Coeus, Japetos, Crius, Hyperion, Theia, Themis, Tethys, Phoebe, and Mnemosyne, all of whom came from the Primordials, Ouranos and Gaia.

Along with them the other primordial gods included Khaos, Tartarus, Erebus, Eros, Nyx, Aether, Hemera, Pontus and Ourea.

Now this is an extremely brief explanation of these three generations of deities. I’mma get into a little more detail into their relations by whipping out Hesiod’s Theogony/the Greek Creation Myth (cuz his version is considered the standard creation myth for this pantheon till date), which sums about everything up pretty well actually so… Kudos to our fellar.

So according to this myth, in the very beginning, there was only chaos, from which we get the personified and deified version of it called Khaos. But soon after Gaia, Eros and Tartarus pop up, and then Khaos creates two more deities, namely Erebus and Nyx, who then, together, proceed to create Hemera and Aether, while Gaia creates Ouranos to partner up with, and they both, again together, whip out

The male titans, namely Kronos, Coeus, Japetus, Crius and Hyperion.

The female titans, namely Rhea, Themis, Tethys, Phoebe and Mnemosyne.

Three cyclopses, namely Brontes, Steropes and Arges.

Three Hekatonchieres (monstrous giants of immense strength and power, each having fifty heads and a hundred arms), namely Briareos, Kottos and Gyges.

Now all of these three sets of kids have one common thing, hating on Ouranos, for some reason that gets later uncovered. The reason is mostly him kidnapping his monstrous-looking kids and hiding them in secret places under the Earth (which, here, is Gaia).

Gaia got sick of this shit and produced a sickle out of adamant and asked her kids to teach Ouranos a lesson, but among these kids, only Kronos stood up to do it and so he did. Hid inside Gaia and when Ouranos came to lay with his wife, his lil kid popped up and castrated him, his two little thingies falling into the ocean, leading it to foam, and from that foam was born our beloved Aphrodite. Sensational. From his blood arose the Erinyes (chthonic goddesses of vengeance), the Giants and the Meliai (nymphs of the ash tree).

Now Kronos had full control over the cosmos from Ouranos, and was producing kids (i.e., Hestia, Poseidon, Demeter, Hera and Hades. Zeus wasn’t born yet) with Rhea. But his dad and Gaia had prophesized that one of his own kids would overthrow him, and from there we get the famous Kronos-swallowing-his-kids myth. And ofc, Zeus gets saved from the swallowing thingy with the help of his mom and grandparents, and then raised in seclusion in a cave below Mount Aigaion in the city of Lyktos of Crete. Also Kronos doesn’t know about this cuz Rhea wrapped up a huge stone in baby’s clothes and gave it to him saying it was the last kid, aka, Zeus.

(Chiron is also one of Kronos’s kids, and hence Zeus’s half-brother, paternally cuz Kronos once turned himself into a horse to mate with the Oceanid nymph, and one of the daughters of Oceanus and Tethys, Philyra, who mated with him in the usual human-nymph form, and hence we get him as a centaur.)

After Zeus grew up fully, he forced Kronos (Gaia did something to help with this, like give him some kinda poison secretly to make him puke his kids out-) to release his siblings. He then released the Cyclopses (who were still trapped with the Hekatonchieres btw), and then gave him his signature thunderbolt. This is when the great war called the Titanomachy happened between the Titans and Zeus and his siblings, over the control of the cosmos. This war went on for years, and in the 10th year, Zeus even released the Hekatoncheires, who also helped him overthrow the titans. Zeus threw his thunderbolt at the previous generation of gods, hence defeating them and throwing them into Tartarus, thus ending the war.

There was another threat to him tho, and it was Typhon, son of Gaia and Tartarus. But Zeus defeated him too and threw him into Tartarus as well.

Then my mans got elected as the king of gods (as he should), and had his first wife Metis. But after knowing that he had the same fate as Kronos, i.e., a son of Metis would overthrow him, he swallowed his wife (while she was pregnant with Athena, and hence later on we see Zeus HIMSELF giving birth to a fully-grown Athena from his mind) and that’s how he ended the cycle of succession. Smart move but I need justice for Metis >:<

Now for the new generation of Olympians, i.e., Artemis, Apollo, Ares, Hermes, Dionysus and Hephaestus (also let’s add Persephone too), here’s how it goes. (Athena and Aphrodite were already covered above)

Apollo and Artemis were twin kids of Zeus’s 6th wife, Leto, who was the daughter of Coeus and Phoebe.

Persephone was born from the union of Zeus and Demeter. (there are other versions to this myth too)

Dionysus was born from the union of Zeus and Semele (a mortal woman), but he was again stitched to Zeus’s thigh to save him from Hera, who was deadlocked in killing him (cuz ofc Zeus cheated on her with another woman), and later births Dio himself. (there are other versions to this myth as well. For example, another myth says he was born from the union of Zeus and Persephone.)

Hermes was born from the union of Zeus and Maia (Atlas’s* daughter)

Ares, Hebe and Eileithyia were born from Zeus and Hera.

(*Atlas was one of the kids of Japetos and Clymene, who’s an Oceanid, and hence one of the daughters of Oceanus and Tethys.)

Now I haven’t mention what these deities are the gods of, because even though they are known for maybe one of two things they govern over (like Athena for wisdom and war, or Apollo for sun and music), their designations are actually pretty broad, and this post is long enough so ykw I’mma ask you to check out theoi.com and the theogony section of Wikipedia for further info :)

Thanks for the ask I had fun writing this lmao. (Might’ve made errors or stuff so correct me in case yall spot any)

[thatdeathwitch]

About King Hades (Haides)

Haides is the god of the dead and King of the Underworld. Even if He rules over the dead he is not death itself, that would be Thanatos as he is the god of non-violent death or gentle death. King Haides also presides over funeral rites and defends the right of the dead to due burial. Because of that and He’s connotations the the earth, he is also considered as the god of the hidden wealth of the earth, from the fertile soil with nourished the seed-grain, to the mined wealth of gold, silver and other metals.

King Haides is the son of Kronos, god of time and the King of the Titanes and Rhea, the Titaness mother of the gods and goddess of female fertility, motherhood and generation*. In the myths, Haides desired a bride and when He asked one to King Zeus, He offered Persephone to Him.

Symbols and Correspondences:

- Main symbol: Royal sceptre, cornucopia, keys, Kerberos

- Sacred plants/trees: Asphodel, mint, white poplar, cypress

- Colours: Black, maroon colours, white, earth colours (mostly greens and browns)

- Animals: Dogs, Screech-owl

- Crystals: Black tourmaline, black onyx, black obsidian, jade

Devotional acts:

Offerings ideas: flowers or herbs associated with him, skulls, pomegranate, art of Himself and things He’s associated with, candles, feathers, crystals, incenses (myrrh, franckincens, mint), milk, honey, red wine, black coffee.

Devotional acts: visit graveyards, honour the dead, meditate with Him, read His myths, write Him letters or notes, sing, dance, take walks on nature, appreciate the changes that the seasons bring us, wear jewellery on His honor, honouring Persephone.

Recommended readings for a better understanding:

- Hesiod, Theogony. It describes the entire cosmology and creation of the gods, including the birth of Haides.

- Homeric hymn to Demeter. It describes the rape of Persephone. It’s probably one of His most known episodes. It also describes the division of the cosmos between Haides, Zeus and Poseidon.

- Plato, Gorgias. Specifically 523a as it also describes the appointment of the judges of the dead and the division of the cosmos.

- Plato, Republic. Specifically 10.614–10.621 as it explains the myth of Er. This myth describes the path of the dead in the afterlife.

[whencyclopedia]

Theogony (Generations of the Gods) by Hesiod, c. 700 BCE

An infographic illustrating Hesiod's Theogony (literally meaning "Birth of the Gods") - the earliest known and the only complete account of the origins of the universe and the gods according to ancient Greek mythology and tradition. Traditionally, Theogony and other works by Hesiod are dated slightly after Homer's (although such relative placement is speculative), around the 8th century BCE. Consisting of about 900 hexametric verses, the poem starts at the very emergence of the cosmos and leads from more abstract entities and forces to anthropomorphic powers and then to a succession of gods locked in power struggles for domination, culminating with the victory of Zeus over the older generations of deities and the imposition of the "current" order of the universe.

Image by Simeon Netchev

[primordialsoundmeditation]

The Cosmic Egg is one of the most prominent symbols in comparative mythology, existing in numerous creation myths across different cultural traditions. While not mentioned in Hesiod’s Theogony, the egg is a distinct feature in the cosmogony of the Orphic tradition of Ancient Greece. The Orphic Egg, named after Orpheus, the mythical poet and founder of the Orphic Mysteries, was believed to be the first spark from which the universe was created.

“The egg is a germ of life with a lofty symbolical significance. It is not just a cosmogonic symbol — it is also a “philosophical one”. As the former it is the Orphic Egg, the world’s beginning; as the latter, the philosophical egg of the medieval natural philosophers, the vessel from which, at the end of the opus alchymicum, the homunculus emerges… the spiritual, inner, and complete man.”

- C. G. Jung, Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious

According to Orphism, in the beginning there was only darkness, and nothing existed except for two winged serpents, Chronos (the personification of time) and Ananke (the personification of inevitability and necessity), who together produced the Cosmic Egg. One of the serpents then wrapped around the egg until it hatched the brightly lit, golden-winged hermaphroditic deity Phanes, also called Protogonus which translates to ‘first-born’. Phanes created heaven from the top half of the shell and earth from the bottom half, assigning to the world the placement of the sun, moon and stars, and producing from himself all other Gods. He is representative of the Sun, “[bringing] light into the darkness and order out of chaos.” (Joscelyn, The Orphic Mysteries, p.25)

“The ancient symbol of the Orphic Mysteries was the serpent-entwined egg, which signified Cosmos as encircled by the fiery Creative Spirit. The egg also represents the soul of the philosopher; the serpent, the Mysteries. At the time of initiation, the shell is broke and man emerges from the embryonic state of physical existence wherein he had remained through the fetal period of philosophic regeneration.”

- Manly P. Hall

Jung, who studied and wrote about Orphism in his work Transformation and Symbols of the Libido would later come to incorporate this learning into his own ritualistic effort to revive the Orphic God Phanes, bringing into secular consciousness a renewed God image. Through his exploration of the human ego’s confrontation with scientific modernity, as detailed in the Red Book, Jung comes to view Phanes the light of a new consciousness and resplendent source of spiritual energy.

Carl Jung

[pink-lemonade-rose]

". . . when Zeus had newly completed the arrangement of the universe, he asked the gods if anything was lacking; and they in turn asked him to make for himself some divinities who could adorn with words and music his great works and the whole of his arrangement." Pindar, fr. 31 (Snell–Maehler) The tattered fragments of the Hymn to Zeus seem to outline that first cosmogony sung by the Muses. Zeus’s disposition of the cosmos is evidently not complete until it can be celebrated in song. That song can only be sung after the theogonic process has been completed; and its singing, in turn, brings it to completion. Zeus’ cosmos is mirrored in the cosmos of the Muses’ song, a cosmos of words.

Jenny Strauss Clay, Hesiod's Cosmos

[lionofchaeronea]

Reading a very interesting book, Hesiod's Cosmos by Jenny Strauss Clay. It's a reading of the Theogony and Works and Days as complementary works--even a diptych of sorts--that together present (so Clay argues) a coherent and unified theological schema, encompassing the story of how Zeus' victory and accession to the throne of the gods ended generations of cosmic instability, as well as how relations between gods and mortals are structured under his rule. I'm honestly unsure whether I accept Clay's central thesis, but she makes a strong case for it, and her command of past scholarship is without peer.

[deathlessathanasia]

I swear if I hear it said one more time that Hera must be the one who does all the hard work and the one who actually rules the cosmos because Zeus is too busy sleeping around and does not care for politics and is iresponsible and/or incompetent and and and... Imma start biting. Read the Iliad and Hesiod's Theogony if nothing else, FFS.

[tylermileslockett]

After the defeat and imprisonment of the Titans in Tartarus, Zeus and his sibling’s authority seem all but assured. But there comes another challenger. From the union of Gaia and Tartarus is born Typhon, a fearsome and powerful creature who seeks supremacy of the cosmos. As previously discussed, Typhon was the father many of the famous monsters from Greek myth. (*see Protogenoi 5: Echidna Mother of Monsters)

Hesiod describes the storm god as having a hundred snake heads with glowing fiery eyes, and crying out terrifying hisses and bellows of bulls, lions, and dogs. Apollodorus describes Typhon as having a human upper body, but coiled serpents below, with snakes for hands, great wings, and filthy hair, and being so enormous that his head touched the heavens. Zeus and Typhon clash in a battle that is described as primordial and cataclysmic with raging sea waves, lightning storms, and scorching winds. Olympus reels. But Zeus, with his lightning bolts, eventually thrashes the rebel god, sending Typhon down through a scorched earth, to join his other siblings in Tartarus.

          Apollodorus gives us a more complex and colorful version of the conflict, where the Olympian siblings transform into animals and flee to Egypt to escape the beast. Zeus, with adamantine sickle, grapples with Typhon, losing the weapon, then having the sinews of his hands and feet cut. The beast deposits Zeus in a cave and hides the sinews in a bear skin, with a she-dragon maiden Delphyne to guard him. But Hermes and Aegipan sneak in and return Zeus sinews, who then re-enters the battle on a winged horse chariot pummeling Typhon with lightning bolts. The creature flees to Mount Nysa, where the Morai (fates) trick Typhon into eating poisoned fruits. Now weakened, Typhon throws entire mountains at Zeus retaliation, but Zeus casts Mount Etna upon the beast, finally defeating him. 

Thanks for looking and reading! xoxo

[sabakos]

By a strange series of events, you are put in charge of a university's gen Ed "philosophy" program; what reading do you assign?

So the responsible thing to do here would be to make a well-balanced list of books that covers the "History of Ideas" in the West from Homer to Heidegger. But that's a well-travelled path and I'm assuming that this strange series of events does not presume any sort of responsibility on my part.

So instead, I'm taking the opportunity to recruit a bunch of unwitting "Great Books" undergrads to revive a philosophical movement that died out in the 6th century when Justinian effectively banned it.

Year 1

In the first year, students will develop a mastery of the ancient greek language, with a focus on texts that cover broad topics that do not require much prior knowledge or background, using Simplicius' commentaries as textbooks that can provide any needed context.

Semester 1

Language

Hansen and Quinn - Greek: An Intensive Course

Liddell, Scott, and Jones - A Greek-English Lexicon

Xenophon - Anabasis, Hellenica, Cyropaedeia, Memorabilia

Herodotus - Histories

An Introduction to Logic

Porphyry - Isagoge

Aristotle - Categories, On Interpretation

Simplicius - Commentary on Aristotle's Categories

An Introduction to Ethics

Pythagoras - Golden Verses

Hierocles - Commentary on the Golden Verses

Epictetus - Enchiridion

Simplicius - Commentary on the Enchiridion of Epictetus

Semester 2

Language

Georg Autenreith - A Homeric Dictionary

Homer - Odyssey, Iliad

An Introduction to Platonism

Theon of Alexandria - Mathematics Useful for the Reading of Plato

Anonymous Prolegomena to Platonic Philosophy

Plato - Alcibiades I, Gorgias, Phaedo

Porphyry - Sententiae

An Introduction to Physics

Aristotle - Physics, On the Heavens

Simplicius - Commentary on Physics, Commentary on the Heavens

Year 2

In the second year, students will translate the major works of Euripides and Aristophanes and work their way through the majority of the Iamblichean curriculum. Readings may be supplemented by Plotinus' Enneads where relevant as time permits.

Semester 1

Language

Hesiod - Works and Days, Theogony

Homeric Hymns to Demeter, Apollo, Aphrodite, Hermes

Euripides - Alcestis, Medea, Hippolytus, Andromache, Hecuba

Aristophanes - The Acharnians, The Knights, The Clouds, The Wasps, Peace

Platonic Logic

Heraclitus - Fragments

Anonymous Commentary on the Theaetetus

Parmenides - The Way of Truth

Plato - Cratylus, Theatetus, Sophist, Statesman

An Introduction to Theology

Damascius - On First Principles

Aristotle - Metaphysics

Alexander - Commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics

Syrianus - Commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics

Semester 2

Language

Pindar - Odes

Euripides - Trojan Women, Phoenician Women, Orestes, The Bacchae

Aristophanes - Thesmophoriazusae, Lysistrata, The Birds, The Frogs

Menander - Dyskolos

Platonic Ethics

Plato - Philebus, Symposium, Phaedrus

Damascius - Lectures on the Philebus

Introduction to Pythagoreanism

Iamblichus - On Pythagoreanism

Nicomachus - Introduction to Arithmetic

Sallustius - On the Nature of the World and the Cosmos

Year 3

The third year focuses on the "Perfect" Dialogues - each semester consists of a single course focusing on a single major Platonic dialogue. Students will work their way through the Proclean commentaries on each and write their own commentary on the Parmenides.

Semester 1

Plato's Timaeus

Plutarch - On the Generation of the World-Soul in the Timaeus

Alcinous - Handbook of Platonism

Proclus - Elements of Physics

Plato - Timaeus

Anonymous - Timaeus of Locri

Proclus - Commentary on Timaeus

Semester 2

Plato's Parmenides

Proclus - Elements of Theology

Plato - Parmenides

Proclus - Commentary on Parmenides

Proclus - Platonic Theology

Year 4

Students will learn the basics of allegorical interpretation from Porphyry, Philo, and Cornutus, and then apply this knowledge to the plays of Aeschylus and Sophocles, using Proclus' Hymns, and work on the Republic as a model. This year also provides a brief background into the historical practice of theurgy.

Semester 1

Introduction to Allegorical Commentary

Porphyry - On the Cave of the Nymphs, Homeric Questions

Philo of Alexandria - Questions and Answers on Genesis

Cornutus - Compendium of Greek Theology

Introduction to Theurgy

Plutarch - On Isis and Osiris

Hermes Trismegistus - The Perfect Discourse, The Pupil of the Cosmos

Porphyry - Letter to Anebo

Iamblichus - On the Mysteries

Julian - Hymn to the Mother of the Gods

Semester 2

Political Philosophy

Plato - Republic

Proclus - Commentary on the Republic

Drama, Theurgy, and Allegory

Proclus - Hymns

Orphic Hymns

Aeschylus - Oresteia, Persians, Seven Against Thebes, Suppliants

Sophocles - Ajax, Antigone, Oedipus Rex, Philoctetes

[loemius]

i hope it’s alright to ask you this, but i have no idea who to ask. my english teacher is making us do a project, where we have to pick a hellenic god to ‘replace’ zeus + dress up as them. i am very very new to hellenism, so i am not very knowledgeable. is there a way to do this in a respectful manner? i don’t think i can opt out of this since it is a school project for a core class. i apologize if this is a very random ask

khaire anon! thank you for this ask! i'd love to try to help, although i will state outright that i am by no means an expert on hellenism and this is my opinion to the best of my knowledge at the moment. i don't really think there's a way to do this respectfully. the idea of replacing Zeus as king is so heretical to Hellenist beliefs. Zeus is the rightful king by conquest. if you're not familiar with the story, here are the bare bones, according to Hesiod's Theogony: Kronus, the titan, takes over as the ruler of the cosmos after castrating his father, Ouranos. he marries his sister, Rhea, and they have some kids: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Haides, Poseidon, and finally, Zeus. Kronus was prophesied by his parents, Gaia and Ouranos, that one of his children would overthrow him just as he did to Ouranos, so he swallows them all one by one. rhea, pregnant with Zeus, is very upset about this, so she goes to her parents who tell her to give birth in secret, give the baby to Gaia to raise, and then give Kronus a stone to swallow. she does this, Kronus swallows the stone, and Zeus is raised apart from his family in Krete. other sources vary on this, as they always do with Hellenism because it is such a vast religion. anyway, Zeus grows up and forces his father to vomit back out his siblings and the stone he swallowed. Zeus sets up the stone at Delphi (this stone is called omphalos) and then frees the cyclopes and starts a war with the Titans. this goes on for about 10 years until Zeus gets some advice from Gaia to free the hecatoncheires (hundred-handers in English) and they help him in the war. by hurling thunderbolts alongside the hecatoncheires, Zeus ends the war with the titans and establishes himself as the rightful king of the cosmos. his rule is then challenged, but sources on this vary. Apollodorus says that there was a war between the gods and the giants next, but Hesiod says Zeus was challenged by the monster Typhon. really, the story you find to be true is up to you and your worship, but it's a commonality that Zeus's rule is challenged after being established and he still comes out on top. there is a possibility that your teacher is taking issue with Zeus's long history of conquest of women, which is understandable but i find to lack cultural context. it's not that Zeus is some womanizer or rapist -- he reflects the dominant attitude about men and marriage at the time, which was that men could go out and have a few different partners and kids but the women had to stay at home and watch over the household and be very faithful. this is part of why Hera's mythology is the way it is; she is his other half in this regard. nevertheless, to insinuate that one of the other gods should replace Zeus is so blasphemous to Hellenistic belief. certainly not everyone is super tight with Zeus; i’m not, i’m much closer to Apollon, but i respect and honor and praise Zeus as the king of the gods, as does... literally just about everyone. it’s an established thing that he is the king, he earned that right by conquest, and there’s a ton of good things that the Greeks had to say about Zeus. he’s the king of xenia (hospitality) and presides over civil justice and democracy along with his daughter Athena. Zeus and his son Apollon are both identified with the agathos daimon (good spirit) who invokes good luck, health, and protection onto the household. Zeus is often seen as a father figure or a protector. trying to insinuate that he should not be the king completely ignores the actual worship of Zeus and what he’s known for, as well as the cultural context surrounding him and his escapades. now i’m petty so if i were you i’d just write a paper on why Zeus is the rightful king and show up as him anyway, but that’s just me. nevertheless, i wish you well on your academic adventures and hope my answer helped. may the Theoi bless you!

[my-reference-notes]

The Greek Gods - Full List and Background

The Primordial Greek Gods

Greek mythology starts at the beginning of the world! The Greek Gods that existed then were the Primordial Gods. The famous work of Hesiod, called Theogony (meaning “birth of the Gods” in Greek), presents a complete cosmogony. Natural forces are personified and the most basic components of the cosmos are Gods.

According to Hesiod, in the beginning there was Chaos. Chaos was the personification of the absolute nothingness - an immerse, dark void from which all of the existence sprang. Out of Chaos came Eros, the god of love and procreation. We can see that ancient Greeks considered love as one of the most fundamental powers in the world. Then Tartarus was born, a dark place like the abyss and the original god of the Underworld. Goddess Gaia then followed, the personification of Earth. Erebus, the god of darkness, and Nyx, the goddess of the night, were also born from Chaos. From Gaia came Ourea, the god of the mountains, Pontus, the god of the sea, and Uranus, the god of the heavens.

The full list of the Primordial Greek Gods:

Achlys: the goddess of the eternal night. The first creature that some say existed even before Chaos himself. According to Hesiod, she is the demon of death.

Αether: the god of light. The spark of life for every creature. Etymologically, Aether means the highest and purest layer of air.

Αion: the god of eternity. He was a ghostly primordial deity who personified the meaning of time (sometimes he is confused with god Chronos). In Greek, Aion means “century”. Although incorporeal, he was also portrayed as a monster with a snake body and three heads: one human (male), one bull and one lion. According to a myth, Aion and his companion, Ananke (also with a snake body), wrapped themselves around the cosmic egg and broke it to form the "sorted" Universe (earth - sky - sea).

Ananke: the goddess of inevitability, compulsion, and necessity. She was an inevitable divine force.

Chaos: the god of the void. He was the beginning of all life. According to most versions of Greek myths, Chaos pre-existed all.

Chronos: the god of time. Not to be confused with Aion (god of eternity) or Cronus (the Titan that we will meet later).

Erebus: the god of darkness and shadow. He symbolizes the silence and the depth of the night together with his sister, the goddess Nyx. He is usually represented as a winged, dark and huge being, a duo with Nyx.

Eros: the god of love and procreation. Not to be confused with Eros, the winged god of desire that we will meet later.

Gaia: the goddess of the earth (Mother Earth). She is the mother of all - the primeval mother. At a cosmogenic level, she symbolizes the material side of the Universe whereas Chaos symbolizes the space of the Universe. Eros symbolizes the driving force that unites everything, giving birth to the rest.

Hemera: the goddess of day.

Hypnos: the god of sleep and father of Morpheus.

Nemesis: the goddess of retribution.

Nesoi: the goddesses of islands.

Nyx: the goddess of night. She was a sovereign, primordial and cosmogenic entity, respected and feared by most gods. She is the sister of Erebus, the god of darkness and shadow.

Ourea: the gods of mountains.

Pontus: the god of the sea and father of the sea creatures.

Tartarus: the god of the darkest and deepest part of the Underworld - the original god of the Underworld. The Underworld was the place where the wicked are imprisoned and tortured eternally after their death.

Thalassa: the goddess of the sea and consort of god Pontus.

Thanatos: the god of death. He is the twin brother of Hypnos (god of sleep) and lives in the dark Tartarus.

Uranus: the god of the heavens. He soon became ruler of the world and father of the Titans.

The Titan Gods

According to Greek mythology and the ancient Greek religion, the Titans were the pre-Olympian gods. Their parents were Gaia (Mother Earth) and Uranus (god of heavens). They had two other species as siblings, born also from the union between Gaia and Uranus: the Hecatoncheires (meaning "hundred-handed ones") and the Cyclops (meaning “circle-eyed”).

How did the Titans become rulers of the world

The first Titans were twelve; six male and six female. The youngest one was Cronus. At some point, Uranus decided that he did not like the Cyclops and the Hecatoncheires at all. He considered them too ugly and too powerful, so he imprisoned them in Tartarus, the depths of the Underworld. Gaia, the mother of the Cyclops and Hecatoncheires, did not like how Uranus treated her children. She became furious with Uranus and decided to take revenge. She asked her other children, the Titans, to cut Uranus’s genitals and overthrow him… The Titans were too afraid to do that, except one: the youngest of the twelve, Cronus. When Uranus approached Gaia, Cronus surprised Uranus and cut his genitals with a scythe. Cronus with his action had separated Uranus (the heavens) and Gaia (the Earth).

From the drops of Uranus’ blood that fell on Gaia, the Erinyes (Furies), the Meliai and the Giants were born. The Erinyes were deities of vengeance. If you broke an oath or wronged someone, they would hunt you forever. The Meliai were nymphs of the trees, beautiful and gentle deities. The Giants were creatures of immerse strength and very aggressive.

With Uranus defeated, Cronus freed his siblings from the dark Tartarus and the Titans became the new Greek gods. They immediately recognized Cronus as their leader and ruler of the cosmos and helped him consolidate his power. After becoming the undisputed ruler of the world, Cronus, fearing the power of the Hecatoncheires and the Cyclops like his father did before him, imprisoned them once again in Tartarus.

The full list of the Titans:

The first Titans, children of Uranus and Gaia, were twelve; six males and six females.

Cronus: the Titan god of the harvest. Cronus, although the youngest of the first twelve Titans, became the ruler of the world after overthrowing his father, Uranus. He then married his older sister, Rhea.

Rhea: the Titan goddess of fertility and generation. She determines the flow of things and her name literally means “the one that flows” in Greek.

Oceanus: the Titan god of the oceans. He was the eldest son of Uranus and Gaia. His dominion extended in every corner of the Earth and all parts of the horizon. Oceanus was the personification of water and he paired with his sister, the Titaness Tethys.  

Tethys: the Titan goddess of the rivers and fresh water. She was the wife of Oceanus and the mother of more than 3000 River gods (rivers personified by the Ancient Greeks), the Oceanids (nymphs of springs, streams and fountains) and the Nephelai (nymphs of clouds).

Hyperion: the Titan god of light. His dazzling light shone in all directions. His name means “the one who goes above the earth” in Greek. He symbolized eternal splendor. He fell in love with his sister, the Titan goddess Theia.

Theia: the Titan goddess of the aether. Theia bore the Titan Hyperion three shining children: Helios (the Sun), Eos (the Dawn), and Selene (the Moon).

Iapetus: the Titan god of mortal life. He was symbolizing mortality and the mortal life-span. He fathered the Titans Atlas (who was responsible for bearing the weight of the heavens on his shoulders), Prometheus (who gifted fire to men) and Epimetheus (who married Pandora, the first mortal woman). Iapetus was also considered the personification of one of the four pillars that hold the heavens and the earth apart. He represented the pillar of the west, the other three being represented by his brothers Crius, Coeus and Hyperion. The four brothers actively played a role in the dethroning of their father Uranus; as they were all in the four corners of the earth, they held Uranus firmly in place while their brother Cronus castrated him with a sickle.

Crius: the Titan god of constellations. His name in Greek means “ram” and it shows his connection with the constellation Aries.  

Coeus: the Titan god of intellect. He was also considered the embodiment of the celestial axis around which the heavens revolve. He married his sister, Phoebe.

Phoebe: the Titan goddess of prophecy and oracular intellect. Phoebe bore the Titan Coeus two children, Leto and Asteria. The Titaness Leto later copulated with the Olympian god Zeus and bore the Olympians Artemis and Apollo. Given that Phoebe symbolized prophetic wisdom just as Coeus represented rational intelligence, the couple may have possibly functioned together as the primal font of all knowledge in the cosmos.

Themis: the Titan goddess of divine law and order. She also had the ability to predict the future and thus, she later became one of the Oracles in Delphi.

Mnemosyne: the Titan goddess of memory. Mnemosyne was generally regarded as the personification of memory and remembrance. Later, Zeus slept with Mnemosyne for nine consecutive days, eventually leading to the birth of the nine Muses. In Hesiod's Theogony, the kings and poets were inspired by Mnemosyne and the Muses, thus getting their extraordinary abilities in speech and using powerful words. All the ancient writers appeal to the Muses at the beginning of their work. Homer asks the Muses both in the Iliad and Odyssey to help him tell the story in the most proper way, and even until today the Muses are symbols of inspiration and artistic creation.

The Titans represented for the Ancients the forces of nature as well as natural phenomena. These forces ruled the world from the earliest times of creation. Only Themis and Mnemosyne represented more mental states, justice and memory. During the battle of the gods that followed (the so-called “Titanomachy"), Themis and Mnemosyne were the only two of the first Titans that did not side with their siblings in their war against the Olympians, and continued their course alongside the Olympian gods.

When Rhea became pregnant with the 1st child of Cronus, Uranus prophesized that Cronus’ children will overthrow him as he overthrew Uranus. When Rhea gave birth to their first child, Hestia, Cronus could not get Uranus’ prophecy out of his mind. Overcome with fear and madness, and trying to avoid the fate his father had, he swallowed the newborn! The same happened to their next four children; Cronus devoured all five of his newborns! The only one who survived was the sixth and youngest child, Zeus. Rhea tricked Cronus into eating a rock instead of the baby and left Zeus to the island of Crete, to be raised away from his mad father. Zeus grew older and stronger and eventually sought to free his siblings, leading to the epic battle between the Titans and the Olympians who the latter eventually won thus, overthrowing the previous generation of Greek gods.

It is worth noting that there were many more Titans than the aforementioned, descendants of the first twelve.

The Olympian Gods

The Gods of Olympus were the main Greek gods who lived on the top of mount Olympus. The Olympian gods rose to power by defeating the Titans in the War of the Titans (also called the Titanomachy). They were the children of Cronus and Rhea. Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Hestia and Demeter, Hades, and later on Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Athena, Hephaestus, Aphrodite and Ares. Over the years, the Demi-god Dionysus became part of their group on Olympus.

It is very common to refer to the Greek pantheon as “the 12 Olympian Gods”. However, the ancient Greeks did not worship specific twelve gods. Instead, there were many more, major and lesser - but nonetheless important - gods and others that were worshiped locally.

The rule of Zeus was not absolute. To obtain it, Zeus and his kind had to wrestle with the Titans and then with the Giants. The Battle of the Giants was more formidable and lasted more years. The greatest Olympians took part in the battle. The Giants were not as immortal as the Titans. But they had tremendous power and a monstrous form. After a long and ferocious war, the Greek gods managed to defeat all Giants with the help of Zeus’ demi-god son, the hero Hercules.

The Olympian gods had the same inclinations and the same desires, the same flaws and strengths as the mortals, even sometimes living in similar conditions. They looked like humans, but they were, almost always, prettier and stronger than humans. The gods could be transformed as they wished or teleported to any place they wished to. This was also a motivation for the famous Greek hospitality, which was a very important institution in ancient Greece. The Greeks would always welcome with special joy any foreigner, who could, after all, be a god in disguise!

As can be seen from many myths, the gods of the Greeks were not indifferent to humans. On the contrary, they often came in contact with them, traveling secretly, transforming themselves into ordinary people, rewarding the good and punishing the unjust. The gods did not find a better way to be happy than to live as humans. But they were freed from two great sufferings of mankind: the fear of deprivation and the fear of death. Indeed, the privilege of the gods is carefree. They never think about illness, old age, death. The nectar, the wine of the gods, and the ambrosia, the divine food of Olympus, ensure beauty, health and happiness for the immortals.

The immortal Greek gods settled on the peak of Olympus. There, they built their divine palaces and from there they looked upon the whole world. The ancient Greek religion is based on wisdom. People admired the gods immensely, without envying them. Famous temples were built for them and famous works of art were inspired by them. The gods reflected the ideals of the ancient Greek people.

The full list of the Olympian Greek Gods:

Zeus

Zeus was recognized as the father of gods and humans. He regulated the celestial phenomena and defined the laws that govern people. He held the lightning bolt with one hand and the scepter with the other, which had an eagle at the top. He was known as the ‘Lord of Justice’. People respected and feared him at the same time. He was taking care of the families, keeping vigil in the home of every mortal and protecting strangers and passers-by from evil. Zeus' wife was the goddess Hera, to whom he was not always faithful. Greek mythology is full of love stories about Zeus, who liked to transform himself into anything he could think of and mingle with other goddesses or mortals.

Demeter

Demeter was the Greek goddess of agriculture and protected the trees, plants and grains. She was the first to make the earth fruitful and taught people how to grow wheat, barley and other plants. Demeter is somewhat isolated from the twelve gods in ancient myths and this is because she is an even more ancient goddess herself. The Greeks received her cult from the Pelasgians, who originally lived in Greece. According to Greek mythology, Demeter’s daughter is mentioned as Persephone, who was once abducted by God Hades and became his wife. The most sacred and secret religious rites of ancient Greece, the Eleusinian Mysteries, were held in honor of Demeter.

Poseidon

Poseidon was one of the six children of Cronus and Rhea and brother of Zeus. He was allotted the kingdom of the sea but he was also considered the god of horses and earthquakes. This is why he was called “the earth-shaker”. He rarely lived on Olympus, preferring the depths of the ocean. He was sitting on a famous chariot drawn by immortal horses and holding in his hand the famous trident, forged by the Cyclops. When Poseidon was angry, he plunged the trident into the sea and shook it whole from end to end. The sailors prayed to Poseidon so that he spares them from his wrath.

Hades

Hades was the brother of Zeus and Poseidon and the god of the Underworld. He was allotted this kingdom when the three brothers took a draw to decide who will take each of three (heavens, sea and the Underworld). He liked to live in the dark and shadowed world of the dead and was rarely seen on Olympus. This is why, although he is one of the most important gods, some lists do not include him in the 12 Olympians. He was also known as Pluto. “Plutos” in Greek means wealth. The Earth is giving us a lot of treasures and since Hades’ kingdom is underneath it, the ancient Greeks believed that he was the one delivering the wealth to them. They actually preferred to call him Pluto because the name Hades was another name for the Underworld and they did not like the idea of death. The entrance to the Underworld is guarded by a monstrous dog, Hades’ favorite pet, the three-headed Cerberus. In order for your soul to cross the silent river, you need to pay the ferryman, Charon, to carry you to the other side on his boat.

Hera

Goddess Hera was the sister of Zeus, daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, and at the same time Zeus’ wife. Hera symbolized and protected the sacred institution of marriage. She blessed and helped the women in labor. Greek mythology presents Hera as a modest, measured and faithful woman, but at the same time very jealous. There are almost no myths that refer exclusively to Hera. Her name is almost always associated with the myths about Zeus. However, Hera does not present herself as a goddess submissive to her sovereign husband. She had a strong female personality and she was the only one that dared to object to him.

Apollo

Apollo and Artemis were siblings, twins actually, children of Zeus and Leto, a Titan goddess. According to tradition, the two children were born on the island of Delos. Apollo is one of the most important and complex Greek gods. He is the god of light, music and poetry, healing and prophecy. He was the one that established the great Oracle of Delphi, which was considered the center of the ancient world. He was the teacher of the nine Muses and when they sang he accompanied them with his famous lyre.

Artemis

Artemis, Apollo's twin sister, was the goddess of hunting, wild animals and the wilderness. She spent her time in the woods, accompanied by the Nymphs, hunting, with her bow and arrows. She was a virgin goddess and protector of young girls. She was also worshipped as one of the primary goddesses of childbirth and midwifery, relieving the women in labor from diseases. She was sometimes associated with the goddess of the moon.

Aphrodite

Aphrodite, the most beautiful among mortals and immortals, was born from the foam of the sea when Uranus’ blood fell on it after his defeat by Cronus. This fact makes her the eldest among the Olympian Gods. Her name literally means “risen from the foam”. Aphrodite was worshipped as the goddess of beauty and passion. She could inspire love in the hearts of men and women. Most myths generally present Aphrodite as a vengeful woman. Aphrodite was worshiped in all parts of Greece and many priestesses were serving her. According to Greek mythology, she married the god of fire and blacksmiths, Hephaestus, but she was in love with the god of war, Ares, with whom she bared many children among which the winged god of love, Eros.

Ares

Ares, the god of war, was the son of the Greek gods Zeus and Hera. He was always followed by two of his faithful sons and followers, the gods Deimos and Phobos. Ares was handsome and strong, young and well-armed. He loved war and battles so he was hated by people and his worship was limited. Only in Sparta he was particularly worshipped and had a statue dedicated to him. Ares was tried, according to tradition, for his many war crimes, in one of Athens’ hills, the Areopagus Hill, which later became the seat of the criminal court of ancient Athens.

Hephaestus

Hephaestus was the god of fire and blacksmiths. He was born ugly and that is why his mother, the goddess Hera, unable to nourish him, threw him out of Olympus. Since then he has been limping. Hephaestus fell into the sea, where he was picked up by the Nereids and raised by them. Growing up, he became a famous craftsman and set up his workshop on Mount Etna in Sicily. With his various metals, he made works of art of incomparable beauty. He once made a golden throne and sent it to his mother Hera. As soon as Hera sat down, invisible chains bound her without anyone being able to untie them. They tried to persuade Hephaestus, but they only succeeded after they got him drunk first. Hephaestus, the god of fire, gave his name to the volcanoes in the Greek language. It was from him, that the Titan Prometheus took the fire and gave it to the people. Hephaestus was also the one who built the brass and gold palaces of Olympus.

Hermes

Hermes was the god of wealth, trade, thieves and travelers. He was also known as the Messenger God, being the herald of the Olympians and carrying messages between them. He was the son of Zeus and Maia, daughter of Titan Atlas. He was a clever, inventive and arrogant god. As soon as he was born, Hermes saw a turtle. He took her shell, placed seven strings in it and invented the lyre. He once stole the oxen guarded by god Apollo and locked them in a cave. He wouldn’t admit the theft, but in the end, he confessed. To avoid punishment, he gifted the lyre to Apollo. Hermes wore winged sandals and held the caduceus, his wand which had two serpents twined around it. He was the one who accompanied the souls of the dead to Hades and for that, he was known as the “soul-bearer”.

Athena

Athena, according to Greek mythology, was the goddess of wisdom and strategic warfare. Athena was the beloved daughter of Zeus. Her mother was the Titaness Metis, the first wife of Zeus. Zeus received a prophecy informing him that Metis would give birth to the child who would overthrow his father. To escape the prophecy, Zeus swallowed Metis while she was pregnant in Athena. Later, Zeus began to suffer from headaches and called on Hephaestus to help him. Hephaestus hit the head of Zeus with his hammer and Athena sprang out in full armor. She is always pictured to be armed, never as a child, always a virgin. She won the battle for the patronage of Athens over Poseidon. The Parthenon in Athens is the most famous temple dedicated to her. Protector of heroes and wisest among the Gods, Athena was considered one of the most powerful and important Olympian Gods.

Dionysus

Although a demi-god, Dionysus managed to win the heart of the gods and his place on Mount Olympus! As a god of wine, viticulture ritual madness and religious ecstasy, he was very beloved among the people and was considered a very important god. He was the son of god Zeus and the mortal Semele. He was the patron god of theater and taught people how to make wine. The Athenians, to honor Dionysus, held a famous celebration, characteristic of his merriment. Any use of force was prohibited during such holidays.

Goddess Hestia

Hestia was the goddess of domestic life, home and hearth, the flame that kept a family’s home warm. She was the eldest daughter of Cronus and Rhea, and the eldest sister of Zeus. In the middle of the ancient Greeks’ home, there was an altar in her honor. The women of the house had as a responsibility to keep Hestia’s flame burning. The worship of Hestia was connected with the worship of Zeus who protected the strangers-travelers. Goddess Hestia was the first to invent the construction of houses, taught it to people and became the protector of family peace and happiness. She was always staying on Mount Olympus, keeping the sacred flame going.

Other Greek Gods

In addition to the above, there were other, lesser gods that people also honored and respected. The Greeks often offered sacrifices to request their help or gain their favor and built beautiful temples to honor them. Some honorary mentions are:

Hecate: the goddess of magic and necromancy. She was the one that helped the goddess Demeter in search of her daughter. Dogs were closely associated with her. The ancient Greeks believed that when dogs suddenly barked at night, Hecate was passing by.

Aeolus: the god of the winds. He was supervising the eight Wind Gods (each wind direction was personified by ancient Greeks).

Asclepius: the god of medicine. He was the son of god Apollo who taught him the science of medicine.

Eris: the goddess of jealousy and discord. She was the one that threw the golden apple at the wedding of Thetis and Peleus because they did not invite her. Her action was the starting point that would later lead to the epic Trojan war.

Pan: the god of wild, shepherds and rustic music. He is considered to be one of the oldest Greek gods and was especially beloved among the people.

But there are so many other Greek gods! There are of course deities who, although great, remained secondary or never exceeded their local character. Eileithyia, goddess of childbirth; the war god Enyalios and his companion Enyos; Lefkothea and Evrynomi, Mothers and Ladies of the Sea Animals, Lords of the Sea Animals by the names Glaucus, Proteus, Nireus, Forkis; and so many more.

Other deities are organized in groups according to their gender and age. The youthful forms are considered more important because they are always in motion, dancing, singing. The Graces, the Muses, the Nereids, the Oceanids are some of the most popular groups of deities.

Many of these lesser Greek gods and goddesses are forces of nature. Cities honor their rivers and springs with a special altar or temple, personifying them. The cult of the winds and the sun were also very popular. The Moon and Eos, the goddess of dawn, also appear in some myths, while the worship of the Earth in the traditional religion never stopped existing.

The existence of such deities has led to the idea that gods are personifications of natural phenomena and nature itself. The Greeks, for example, considered the rivers gods, children of the great gods. The Nymphs could be found in springs and fountains that were considered sacred places; waters from certain springs were considered fertile, therefore they were related to the ritual bath of the groom before the wedding; newborns were thrown into the water of a specific sacred source to be blessed and have a good life.

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https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/gods/

https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/goddesses/

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Theogony's Elder Titans

An infographic illustrating the family tree of Greek mythology's 12 Elder Titans, offsprings of primordial deities Gaia (Earth) and Ouranos (Sky), a golden race of immortal, pre-Olympian gods and their descendants. It is broadly accepted that the ancient Greeks had several poems about the origins and evolution of the cosmos. However, Hesiod's Theogony (literally meaning "Birth of the Gods" from around the 8th century BCE) seems to have been the dominant (and the only surviving) one. It tells about how the universe sprang into existence, the relationships of its parts, and how Zeus came to rule over it.

Image by Simeon Netchev