Greek Origin Story PDF 850L

Learn more at www.oerproject.com Greek Origin Story Compiled by Cynthia Stokes Brown This origin story of Titans and the Gods of Olympus comes from some of the earliest Greek writings that have survived. 850L Greek Origin Story Compiled by Cynthia Stokes Brown We know the Greek creation story o...

Learn more at www.oerproject.com Greek Origin Story Compiled by Cynthia Stokes Brown This origin story of Titans and the Gods of Olympus comes from some of the earliest Greek writings that have survived. 850L Greek Origin Story Compiled by Cynthia Stokes Brown We know the Greek creation story of how the world began from two poems: The Theogony and Works and Days. A poet named Hesiod wrote these two works. He is thought to have been active sometime between 750 and 650 BCE. Hesiod’s version of the Greek creation story reveals that the first mortal woman, Pandora, is the cause of much trouble. But before that version of the creation story came out, Pandora was known as a generous Earth goddess in oral tradition. Her name means “gift giver.” In the beginning, there was Chaos, endless nothingness. From this nothingness came Gaia (Earth) and other godlike beings. These godlike beings included Eros (love), Tartarus (the underworld), Erebus (darkness), and Nyx (night). Then, Gaia birthed Uranus (sky/the heavens), who was her equal. She also created the mountains and seas. After that, Eros brought Gaia and Uranus together. This union created the Titans, the first beings that could live forever. The Titans were six boys and six girls. They included Cronos (time/harvest) and Rhea (fertility). Uranus made the 12 Titans stay hidden inside Gaia until she made a plan for them to get out. Cronos split Uranus and Gaia. Then, he threw a part of Uranus’s body into the sea. That’s how Aphrodite (love/beauty) came to be. However, after Cronos tricked Uranus, he was told that one of his children would trick him one day, too. Cronus became the leader of the gods with his sister Rhea, who was also his wife. The other Titans became his helpers. But because he was scared of what Uranus had warned, Cronus ate every baby Rhea had. Rhea hated this. So, with help from her parents, Gaia and Uranus, she tricked Cronus when Zeus (sky/ Ancient Greek red-figure pottery depicting Zeus and the weather) was born. Rhea gave Cronus a rock Olympians, c. fourth century BCE. © Getty Images. wrapped like a baby. This way, Cronus ate the rock instead of the baby. When Zeus grew up, he saved Rhea’s other children and the rock. Zeus then challenged Cronus to fight for the leadership of the gods. Zeus and his siblings (the Olympians) won, and the Titans were locked up in the underworld. 2 Greek Origin Story Compiled by Cynthia Stokes Brown But Zeus was scared of the same thing as Cronus—that his child would trick him one day. So, Zeus ate his first wife, Metis, when she was about to have their baby Athena (wisdom/justice). However, Metis and Athena made Zeus miserable until Athena burst from his head—fully grown and dressed for war. Zeus fought off all challenges to his power. He remained the ruler of Mount Olympus, the home of the gods. Zeus’s cousin Prometheus is known for making man out of mud, while Zeus’s daughter Athena gave life to the mud figure. For a while, man lived on Earth without work and sickness. But Prometheus was also known as a smart trickster. After Prometheus tricked Zeus by stealing fire for man, Zeus created Pandora, the first woman, to punish Prometheus’s man. Zeus also gave Pandora a box she was told never to open. But her curiosity made her open the box. When she opened it, all kinds of evil were released on people and the world. When Zeus told her to, Pandora quickly closed the box, and hope was the only thing that stayed in the box. Pandora was intensely curious about the contents of a box. © Getty Images. 3 Greek Origin Story Compiled by Cynthia Stokes Brown Sources Caldwell, Richard S., ed. Hesiod’s Theogony. Cambridge, MA: Focus Information Group, Inc., 1987. Hesiod. Theogony, Works and Days. Translated by M.L. West. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988. Hesiod. Theogony, Works and Days, Testimonia. Edited and translated by Glenn W. Most. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006. Cynthia Stokes Brown Cynthia Stokes Brown was an American educator-historian. Stokes Brown wrote Big History: From the Big Bang to the Present. Using the term big history, coined by David Christian at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, Stokes Brown told the whole story from the Big Bang to the present in simple, non-academic language to convey our common humanity and our connection to every other part of the natural world. Image credits This work is licensed under CC BY 4.0 except for the following: Cover: Fall of the Titans by Jan de Bisschop and Giulio Romano, 1665. © Indianapolis Museum of Art / Getty Images. Ancient Greek red-figure pottery depicting Zeus and the Olympians, c. fourth century BCE. © DEA/G. DAGLI ORTI / De Agostini via Getty Images. 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