While various myths surround the origins of the Greek Gods, the most widely accepted and renowned account comes from Hesiod’s Theogony.
Chaos and the Titans
The very first stirrings of existence began with Chaos, the initial force, being or source of energy that was present at the dawn of creation. Along with Chaos emerged three impressive deities – Gaia, of Earth; Tartarus, the Underworld, and Eros, the force of love. But how did the other gods come to be?
Chaos’ first children were Erebos (Shadow) and Nyx (Night). Their love and union in turn gave rise to Aether, (Sky), and Hemera, (Day).
Gaia conceived Uranus (Heaven), and Pontos (Sea). As time unfolded, Uranus would become Gaia’s husband, and together they would usher in many extraordinary children.
- OCEANUS
Father of the Oceanids and personification of the Ocean
- COEUS
Titan of the axis of heaven, associated with intellect and cosmic intelligence, ultimately was imprisoned in Tartarus with the other Titans at the hands of Zeus
- CRIUS
Mastery and leadership
- HYPERION
Associated with the sun
- IAPETOS
Father of Prometheus, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to humanity and faced eternal suffering as his punishment
- THEIA
The consort of her brother Hyperion, gave birth to Helios (Sun), Selene (Moon) and Eos (Dawn)
- RHEA
The wife of Kronos, who bore five Olympian gods
- THEMIS
Goddess of justice, law and order in the divine world, as well as prophecy. She was the second wife of Zeus and mothered the seasons (the Horae) and the three fates; Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos
- MNEMOSYNE
Goddess of memory, gave birth to the Muses as a result of an affair with Zeus
- PHOEBE
Goddess of the Moon, also identified with Selene
- TETHYS
Wife of Oceanus and mother of the Oceanids (water nymphs)
- KRONOS
The youngest son who would overthrow his father
Gaia then went on to bear the three Cyclopes; Brontes, Steropes and Arges. These one eyed beasts possessed strength rivaling that of the gods themselves.
The Hecatonchires were also Gaia and Uranus’ children, or the Hundred handed Ones; Kottos, Briareos and Gyges, towering giants with fifty heads and one hundred arms on each mighty shoulder. Their strength was bottomless, and they were deemed the most fearsome.
Though he fathered many children with Gaia, Uranus harbored a cold heart towards both his wife and offspring. Cruelty led him to imprison each child in Gaia’s womb upon birth, causing her immense pain and fuelling the desire for revenge. So Gaia went to her sons, urging them to punish Uranus. While fear stopped the hearts of her other children, the youngest, Kronos, agreed to aid his mother in an ambush.
Kronos’ reign
One night, when Uranus approached his wife with the intent to sleep with her, Kronos castrated his father. As the blood that gushed from Uranus’ wound fell to the floor, it produced the Furies, the Nymphs and the Giants. Meanwhile, the genitals that Kronos had cast away landed off the shores of Cyprus, and Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, emerged from the sea foam it had created.
Once he had seized his father’s power, Kronos sent the Hecatoncheires and the Cyclops down to the depths of Tartarus. With his wife and sister Rhea, Kronos fathered Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades and Zeus. However, driven by the fear of a prophecy foretelling his downfall at the hands of one of his sons, Kronos swallowed each child at birth in a desperate attempt to thwart his destiny.
To save her youngest son, Rhea went to her mother seeking guidance. Gaia advised her to journey to Crete, where she bore Zeus and hid him in a cave on Mount Ida. Zeus grew up there, nurtured by the nymph Adrasteia, preparing for the day he would come and take his father’s place. Rhea returned to her husband, presenting him with a stone wrapped in clothes, claiming it to be their son Zeus. Kronos swallowed the false child just as he had swallowed all the others. His work was done, the threat of his downfall removed. Or so he thought.
Zeus’ rise to power
As the years passed, Zeus matured into a handsome and formidable man. Determined to liberate his siblings, he set off to face his father. Some accounts suggest Zeus and Kronos had a physical battle at Olympia, while others claim that Zeus came to Kronos in disguise, giving him a drink that possessed emetic properties. By tricking his father into consuming this, Zeus caused Kronos to regurgitate everything he had swallowed in reverse.
In an enduring conflict known as the Titanomachy, Zeus fought with his father and the other Titans for ten long years in order to secure his position as the new king. It was during this time that he released the Hecatonchires and Cyclops from Tartarus, gaining their support and receiving powerful thunderbolts as gifts. Ultimately, Kronos was defeated, and he was thrown into Tartarus along with the rest of the Titans, marking the commencement of Zeus’ reign as the king of the gods.
REFERENCES
Ethereal Chronicles 
Leave a comment