Gemcel Joy T.

Cariaso
BSEd English 2A

Creation of the World

In the begining there was only chaos. Then out of the void appeared Erebus, the unknowable
place where death dwells, and Night. All else was empty, silent, endless, darkness. Then
somehow Love was born bringing a start of order. From Love came Light and Day. Once there
was Light and Day, Gaea, the earth appeared.

Then Erebus slept with Night, who gave birth to Ether, the heavenly light, and to Day the earthly
light. Then Night alone produced Doom, Fate, Death, Sleep, Dreams, Nemesis, and others that
come to man out of darkness.

Meanwhile Gaea alone gave birth to Uranus, the heavens. Uranus became Gaea's mate covering
her on all sides. Together they produced the three Cyclopes, the three Hecatoncheires, and
twelve Titans.

However, Uranus was a bad father and husband. He hated the Hecatoncheires. He imprisoned
them by pushing them into the hidden places of the earth, Gaea's womb. This angered Gaea and
she ploted against Uranus. She made a flint sickle and tried to get her children to attack Uranus.
All were too afraid except, the youngest Titan, Cronus.

Gaea and Cronus set up an ambush of Uranus as he lay with Gaea at night. Cronus grabed his
father and castrated him, with the stone sickle, throwing the severed genitales into the ocean. The
fate of Uranus is not clear. He either died, withdrew from the earth, or exiled himself to Italy. As
he departed he promised that Cronus and the Titans would be punished. From his spilt blood
came the Giants, the Ash Tree Nymphs, and the Erinnyes. From the sea foam where his genitales
fell came Aphrodite.

Cronus became the next ruler. He imprisoned the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires in Tartarus.
He married his sister Rhea, under his rule the Titans had many offspring. He ruled for many
ages. However, Gaea and Uranus both had prophesied that he would be overthrown by a son. To
avoid this Cronus swallowed each of his children as they were born. Rhea was angry at the
treatment of the children and ploted against Cronus. When it came time to give birth to her sixth
child, Rhea hid herself, then she left the child to be raised by nymphs. To concel her act she
wrapped a stone in swaddling cloths and passed it off as the baby to Cronus, who swallowed it.

This child was Zeus. He grew into a handsome youth on Crete. He consulted Metis on how to
defeat Cronus. She prepaired a drink for Cronus design to make him vomit up the other children.
Rhea convinced Cronus to accept his son and Zeus was allowed to return to Mount Olympus as
Cronus's cupbearer. This gave Zeus the opertunity to slip Cronus the specially prepaired drink.
This worked as planned and the other five children were vomitted up. Being gods they were
unharmed. They were thankful to Zeus and made him their leader.

Cronus was yet to be defeated. He and the Titans, except Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Oceanus,
fought to retain their power. Atlas became their leader in battle and it looked for some time as
though they would win and put the young gods down. However, Zeus was cunning. He went
down to Tartarus and freed the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires. Prometheus joined Zeus as
well. He returned to battle with his new allies. The Cyclopes provided Zeus with lighting bolts
for weapons. The Hecatoncheires he set in ambush armed with boulders. With the time right,
Zeus retreated drawing the Titans into the Hecatoncheires's ambush. The Hecatoncheires rained
down hundreds of boulders with such a fury the Titans thought the mountains were falling on
them. They broke and ran giving Zeus victory.

Zeus exiled the Titans who had fought against him into Tartarus. Except for Atlas, who was
singled out for the special punishment of holding the world on his shoulders.
However, even after this victory Zeus was not safe. Gaea angry that her children had been
imprisoned gave birth to a last offspring, Typhoeus. Typhoeus was so fearsome that most of the
gods fled. However, Zeus faced the monster and flinging his lighting bolts was able to kill it.
Typhoeus was burried under Mount Etna in Sicily.

Much later a final challenge to Zeus rule was made by the Giants. They went so far as to attempt
to invade Mount Olympus, piling mountain upon mountain in an effort to reach the top. But, the
gods had grown strong and with the help of Heracles the Giants were subdued or killed.

The Children of Chaos and Gaea

Chaos gave birth to Erebus (Darkness) and Nyx (Night). Erebus slept with his sister Nyx, and out
of this union Aether, the bright upper air, and Hemera, the Day, emerged. Afterward, feared by
everyone but her brother, Night fashioned a family of haunting forces all by herself. Among others,
her children included the hateful Moros (Fate), the
black Ker (Doom), Thanatos (Death), Hypnos (Sleep), Oneiroi (Dreams), Geras (Old Age),
Oizus (Pain), Nemesis (Revenge), Eris (Strife), Apate (Deceit), Philotes (Sexual
Pleasure), Momos (Blame), and the Hesperides (the Daughters of the Evening).
Meanwhile, Gaea gave birth to Uranus, the Starry Sky. Uranus became Gaea's husband,
surrounding her from all sides. Together, they produced three sets of children: the three one-
eyed Cyclopes, the three Hundred-Handed Hecatoncheires, and the twelve Titans.

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 into the hidden places 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.
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 Meliae (the Ash Tree Nymphs), and the Erinyes (the Furies). From the sea foam
that was produced when his genitals fell into the ocean, arose Aphrodite, the Goddess of Beauty.

Cronus Devouring His Children

Cronus became the next ruler. He imprisoned the Cyclopes and
the Hecatoncheires in Tartarus and set the dragoness Campe to guard them. 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 new-born 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

The child was Zeus. Raised by the nymphs Adrasteia and Ida, and the she-goat Amalthea, he
quickly grew into a handsome youth in a cave on the Cretan Mount Ida. When the time came, he
left Crete to ask his future wife, the Titaness Metis (Wisdom), for an advice on how to
defeat Cronus. She answered by preparing a drink indistinguishable from Cronus’ favorite wine
but designed to make him vomit for ages. Zeus disguised himself as the gods’ cupbearer and, after
a while, successfully slipped Metis’ drink to Cronus. The plan worked perfectly: Cronus started
vomiting and spilled out all of Zeus’ five siblings, but only after throwing up the stone. Called
Omphalos, or the Navel, the stone was later set up at Delphi by two eagles Zeus sent to meet at the
center of the world. Overwhelmed with gratitude, Rhea’s children
– Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon – recognized Zeus as their leader.

The Titanomachy
However, Cronus was still in command – and yet to be defeated. He was too old to protect himself
from the attacks of his progeny, 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. 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.
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. 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.
Zeus exiled the Titans who had fought against him into Tartarus. He made an exception
with Atlas, though: being the leader of the opposing force, he was punished to hold the universe
on his shoulders.

Zeus and Typhon

Zeus’ power would be challenged on 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. 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.
Olympians:
Zeus
Poseidon
Hades
Athena
Ares
Artemis
Apollo
Aphrodite
Hera
Hermes
Hephaestus
(Heracles)

Sources/References:
http://www.desy.de/gna/interpedia/greek_myth/creation.html

https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/The_Myths/The_Creation/the_creation.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_mythology