Creation

Gaia became very upset when her son/husband locked up the more monstrous of her children (the Hecatonchires and the cyclops) in Tartarus. Gaia convinced Cronus, one of her titan sons to overthrow Uranus and take up the mantle of ruling the universe. Cronus did so by castrating Uranus and casting the severed parts into the ocean. From the ocean sprang:

The Furies

and Aphrodite

Cronus wins, takes over ruler position, and leaves the monsters in Tartarus. Gaia is ticked!

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The Titans

Cronus and Rhea
Cronus is the youngest of the original twelve titans and the ruler. He married his sister Rhea and had an unhappy prophecy about their children. The prophecy stated that his children would overthrow him and take over ruling for the titans. His solution? He swallowed his children as soon as they were born. By the time Rhea was pregnant with her 6th child, she began to catch on to his style (she wasn't the brightest crayon in the box) and went to Gaia for help. Gaia, still upset over her children not being set free, advised her to hide the baby (which was Zeus) and instead hold a rock wrapped up like a baby. Sure enough, Cronus comes in and swallows the rock. Cronus is known in Italy as Saturn.

Oceanus and Tethys
Oceanus is a river of water that circles the world. He married his sister, Tethys, and together they had many children (all the rivers and 3,000 ocean nymphs).

Hyperion and Theia
Hyperion a titan of light. He married his sister Theia. Their children are Helios (the sun), Selene (the moon), and Eos (the dawn).

Mnemosyne
Mnemosyne means "memory." She gave birth to the nine muses (they inspire art, music, literature, etc.) with Zeus as their father.

Themis
Themis is justice and order. She is the mother of the Fates (some say that the Fates may have existed separately) and the Seasons with Zeus as their father.

Iapetus
He married Clymene, one of the daughters of Oceanus. They gave birth to some famous titans: Prometheus, Epimetheus, Menoetius, and Atlas.

Coeus and Phoebe
Coeus is the titan of intelligence, Phoebe is the moon titan. Their daughter is Leto.

Crius
Grandfather of Hecate (goddess of witches mentioned in Macbeth). Played a major role in the Titanomachy, the war between the gods and the titans, but no specific role was ever mentioned. He must have been against the gods since he was punished with the others.

Prometheus and Epimetheus
A very wise Titan, Prometheus's name means "forethought" and he had the gift of prophecy. He fought on Zeus side. Some say he created man. His brother, Epimetheus, is not as smart and his name means afterthought. Prometheus gave man fire against Zeus's wishes and Zeus in turn gave Epimetheus Pandora, the woman who opened the box that released all evils into the world. Zeus punished Prometheus by having him chained to a rock with an eagle or a vulture eating liver every day. Zeus was willing to release him if he told which of Zeus's children would try to replace him, but Prometheus wouldn't talk. Hercules later released him.
Epimetheus

Atlas
Unlike his brothers, Prometheus and Epimetheus, Atlas fought with the other Titans against Zeus. Since Cronus was old, he relied on Atlas to lead the battle. For this, Zeus punishes Atlas by making him hold the sky upon his shoulders. The Atlantic ocean is named after him.

Metis
She is a titan of wisdom. She became pregnant with Zeus's child, but when Zeus learned of a prophecy that Metis's child would overthrow him, he swallowed Metis whole. The result was that Athena sprang from his head. Since Athena was not born of Metis, Metis is not credited with being the mother. Some say that Metis still advises Zeus from his belly.

Dione
Homer states that Dione was the mother of Aphrodite instead of her coming from Uranus's blood in the ocean.

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The Gods

Here are some of the class handouts:

• The Gods and Goddesses Powerpoint
  
• Map of Hades Handout
  
• Gods of the Waters Handout
  
• Other Gods Handout
  
• The Ages of Man Handout
  
• Selene Handout
  
• The Gods and Goddesses in Art
  
• Space and Mythology Powerpoint
• "The Charioteer" - Athena's Child
  
• The Gods and Goddesses Crossword
  
• Listen to Holst's "Mars, Bringer of War"
  

Can you name them?

Zeus/Jupiter

• King of the gods
• God of air
• Uses Thunderbolts as his weapon
• Womanizer – married his own sister
• Son of Cronos and Rhea
• Most powerful

Poseidon/Neptune

• God of the sea and earthquakes
• Made horses
• Trident is weapon
• Amphitrite is his wife
• Zeus’ brother
• Son of Cronos and Rhea
• 2nd most powerful

Hera/Juno

• Queen of the gods
• Protector of marriage
• Wife/sister of Zeus
• The peacock is her symbol (because of the eye-look)
• Cows are sacred to her (ox-eyed Hera)
• Jealous
  

Phoebus Apollo

• God of truth, light, archery, and healing
• Sun god in some myths (Helios is the sun god in other myths)
• Son of Zeus and Leto
• Wolves, dolphins, and crows are sacred to him
• Has the Oracle of Delphi
  

Artemis/Diana

• Apollo’s Twin sister
• Goddess of the hunt, wild things, and crossways
• She is the moon goddess sometimes
• Virgin goddess
• As Diana, she is also a goddess of light
• Stags are sacred
  

Athen/Minerva

• Goddess of wisdom and defensive war
• Daughter of Zeus and Metis (titan) – she popped out of his head after he swallowed the pregnant Metis
• She carries a shield with Medusa’s head on it
  

Ares/Mars

• God of War
• Son of Zeus and Hera, but both hate him
• The Romans glorify him, but the Greeks make him out to be a coward
• He has three children with Aphrodite: Phobos (panic) and Deimos (fear) are twins

Hermes/Aphrodite

• Messenger god and the god of thieves
• Greek Trickster figure
• Very fast
• Son of Zeus and Maia
• Loves Aphrodite
• Greeks believed he guided souls to Hades
  

Aphrodite/Venus

• Goddess of beauty and love
• Mother of Eros/Cupid
• Wife of Hephaestus/Vulcan but lover of Ares/Mars and other guys
• Born from the Uranus/Cronus fight or from Zeus and Dione

Hepheastus/Vulcan

• God of fire and the forge
• Son of Zeus and Hera
• Ugly
• Lame because he was thrown off Mt. Olympus for interfering with a fight between Hera and Zeus
• Husband to Aphrodite
• Once caught Ares and Aphrodite in a net to embarrass them, but the gods just laughed at him for not controlling his wife
  

Hestia/Vesta

• Zeus’ sister – Oldest of the original gods
• Goddess of the hearth and home
• Gave up her spot on Mt. Olympus for Dionysus
• Worshipped daily
• A virgin priestesses served her for 30 year time periods
• Does pretty much nothing in mythology
  

Dionysus/Bacchus

• Son of Zeus and Semele
• God of wine and happiness
• In some areas of Greece, his worship was outlawed (too dirty)
  

Demeter/Ceres

• Daughter of Cronos and Rhea
• Goddess of vegetation
• Had powers of growth and resurrection
• Her daughter is Persephone
  

Eros/Cupid

• God of love
• Son of Ares and Aphrodite
• Often portrayed as a child, but not always.
• He has wings
• Uses a bow and arrow – arrows (often called darts) cause one to fall in love
• Momma’s boy
  

Heroes

Joseph Campbell discovered that there are several archetypal figures in mythologies around the world. His most famous research was in the book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. He found that heroes tend to follow the same path on their heroic quest. In class we watched Star Wars and traced Luke Skywalker as the hero. Here are the handouts:

• Star Wars & Matrix Hero
• Hero Sheet for Jason and Perseus
• Hero Quest Homework
• Other Heroic Archetypes

Some of the stories that we read in class:

• Jason and the Argonauts
• Theseus
• Herakles (Pop Up Version!)
• Perseus (not the one we read in class - but should do for study purposes)
• Atalanta (not the one we read in class - but should do for study purposes)

Try the Maze of Theseus! This is not mine and the original (along with several others) can be found at: http://www.astrolog.org/labyrnth/maze.htm

Click the maze to see it bigger and printable (on long paper) and see if you can defeat it!

O.K., Clash of the Titans is not exactly accurate.......but click on the picture to watch the movie trailer.

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First Trojan horse virus warning

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
If you receive a gift in the shape of a large Wooden horse, do not download it!! It is extremely destructive. It will overwrite your entire city!

The “gift” is disguised as a large wooden horse about two stories tall. It tends to show up outside the city gates and appears to be abandoned. DO NOT let it through the gates!

It contains hardware that is incompatible with Trojan programming, including a crowd of heavily armed Greek warriors that will destroy your army, sack your town, and kill your women and children.

If you have already received such a “gift,” DO NOT OPEN IT! Wheel it back out of the city unopened and set fire to it by the beach.

Forward this message to everyone you don’t know!