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The Origins of Greek Gods and Legends
by Lucas Paros
http://www.fromgreek.com
Greek mythology with all its fascinating legends and myths
has peaked our interest for centuries. A great deal of it is
incorporated into modern life as we know it. It also exists
worldwide and many of the myths of other cultures are based
on the Greek stories.
Many centuries ago Greek myths were the only religion for
the people living in those times. While passage of time have
resulted in blurred images and details, the core elements of
all these myths have continued to survive in one form or
other. In earlier times it was the Olympians that were
prayed to and now these have been replaced by gods.
Homer and the Homeric Hymns are among the oldest of Greek
myths. These stories are so ancient and they were also the
first words written about Greek myths, so it's probably safe
to assume that they changed before actually being written
down. The legends and stories as we know them today are
probably not complete.
No matter what that source, or how distorted the information
is, Greek myths continue to interest us and capture our
imagination. One of the more well known Greek mythical
creatures is the Cyclopes. The Cyclopes was a monster that
had just one eye in the center of its forehead. There were
three main Cyclopes: Arges, Steropes, and Brontes. These
three creatures each represented the lighting bolt,
lightning itself, and thunder. The Cyclopes were the sons of
two other Greek mythological characters, Uranus and Gaea
(Gaea being the mother earth).
Uranus the god of skies is also known as the very first
ruler of the Olympians. Many historians have been a
disturbed that Greek mythology does not pay heed to the
lineage of mothers and sons. Many people find this
information difficult to understand that Uranus was the son
of Gaea, with whom he also produced the well known Titans.
One of popular Titans, son of Iapetus, was Prometheus.
Prometheus became known as the wisest and smartest Titan
(his name means "forethought"). He was also able to predict
the future making him one of the most revered Titans. Of all
the Titans he was the only one to fight with Zeus in the
battle against Cronus.
Who was Cronus? Cornus was a Titan that killed his father,
Uranus, to gain power. This made him one amongst the most
feared Titans. He married Rhea and had several children with
her. However, he always wanted to retain power and that's
why he ate each of his children while they were being born.
Eventually Rhea once managed to fool Cronus into eating a
stone instead of one of her children. This child that she
saved was later known as Zeus. In later years, Zeus fought
teamed up with Prometheus to fight Cronus. Cronus was
vanquished and was banished to the underworld.
Another Greek mythological creature is Typhoeus. Typhoeus
was a dragon who breathed fire with his one hundred heads.
This mythical creature has become the basis for much Greek
art and sculpture. Typhoeus was eventually slain by Zeus and
his resting place is said to be under Mount Etna.
You could spend hours learning about Greek mythology. The
legends seem to ho on forever and are very interesting. The
Romans had their own mythology complete with monsters and
heroes. These two cultures are immensely interesting and the
legends help give them life. Even today mythology
contributes to art and music.
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