Greek Creation Story

In the beginning, there was nothing but an empty space. The Greeks called
it Chaos.

The First Order

Chaos gave birth to Erebus (darkness) and Nyx (night).
Erebus and Nyx gave birth to Hemera (day) and
Aether (light). Chaos created two more entities: Gaia
and Tartarus. Gaia was earth and Tartarus was the
place beneath the earth. From Gaia appeared Pontus
(sea) and Ouranos (sky).

The Second Order

Gaia married her son Ouranos. Back then, it was normal
for members of the same family to marry each other as
there was no one else to marry. Gaia and Ouranos had three sets of children: three
Cyclopes, three Hecatonchires and twelve Titans.

The Cyclopes were giants with one eye on their forehead. The Hecatonchires were
terrible creatures with a hundred arms and fifty heads. Their incredible strength
and ferocity surpassed that of all the Titans. It’s said that when the Cyclopes and
the Hecatonchires were born, Ouranos, shocked by their hideous appearance, buried
them deep in the earth.

The Titans were six males and six females who didn’t share the monstrous appearance
of their siblings.

The Defeat of Ouranos

Ouranos was a cruel father. Gaia could never
forget what he had done to their children: the
Cyclopes and the Hecatonchires. So, she came
up with a plan. Together with her Titan son,
Kronos, who hated and envied his father, they
set a trap.

Kronos wounded Ouranos, punishing him for

his cruel behaviour. Ouranos cursed Kronos
with the words: “May your children destroy
you as you destroyed me.” Kronos buried his
father deep in the earth and became the ruler
of the world.

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He then married his sister Rhea and they
had six children. Kronos, remembering
his father’s curse, was afraid of his
children. So, every time Rhea gave birth
to a child, he swallowed it.
First, Hestia was born. Kronos swallowed
her. Then Hades, Demeter, Poseidon
and Hera. They all had the same fate.
However, Rhea didn’t want to lose her
sixth child too. So, she walked all the way
to Crete and gave birth to Zeus. As she
didn’t want Kronos to suspect anything,
she let Zeus be raised by the nymphs of
the island and the she-goat Amalthea.
She then returned to Kronos, wrapped
a stone in clothes and gave it to him in
place of their child. Kronos swallowed
the stone, sure that it was their
sixth child.
The Titanomachy
A terrible ten-year war came next
where the six gods fought against the
Titans. The Titans were very strong
but the gods had the Cyclopes and
the Hecatonchires on their side. The
war was so ferocious that it caused
the ground to crack, islands to form
and continents to move and reshape.
When everyone believed that the
Titans would win, the Hecatonchires
threw boulders over them, forcing
them to retreat and run away. Zeus
exiled them.
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Greek Creation Story
The Return of Zeus
Zeus grew up and learnt to hate his
father for all the bad things he had
done. One day, he went to the place
where Kronos and Rhea lived, dressed
like a servant. He poured a magic potion
into Kronos’ drink that made him spit
out his five children when he drank it.
Hestia, Hades, Demeter, Poseidon and
Hera recognised Zeus as their leader.
Together, they would overthrow Kronos
and the Titans.
Did You Know...?
Hades doesn’t belong to the
Dodekatheon because he is the ruler
of the Underworld.
Kronos’ children didn’t call themselves
The Olympians
A new era began with Zeus
as the ruler. Zeus, Hera,
Hestia, Hades, Poseidon and
Demeter were the first gods,
but soon more followed.
Aphrodite, Ares, Hephaestus,
Apollo, Artemis, Hermes and
Athena followed. They called
themselves the Olympians
because they lived on Mount
Olympus.
 Greek Creation Story

The Creation of Humans

Zeus was happy living among his fellow gods and
ruling the world but he felt that something was
missing. He wanted to have someone to protect, teach
and to live happily in the world the gods had created.
So, he had an idea.

With the help of his beloved friend Prometheus, he

created the first humans out of clay. Zeus conceived
the plan, Prometheus created their bodies and Athena
brought them to life, giving them her wisdom and
sense. Zeus named them ‘Anthropos’, a word that is
still used in Greece today meaning ‘human’.

Glossary
Hecatonchires: the name of the
mythical creatures with a hundred
arms and fifty heads. ‘Hecatonchires’
means ‘a hundred arms’ in Greek.
forests, lakes or the sea
exiled: when a person is banned
from his native country

hideous: extremely ugly Dodekatheon: the Twelve Gods

of Olympus were called the
nymphs: young female mythical Dodekatheon because they were
creatures that lived near mountains, twelve. ‘Dodekatheon’ means ‘twelve
gods’ in Greek.

conceive: form a plan or idea in the

mind

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