Greek Mythology
Essay by review • February 20, 2011 • Research Paper • 649 Words (3 Pages) • 1,774 Views
Death, Zeus, and Love all together are here. In the beginning there was Gaea (the earth), and Uranus (the heavens), which were lovers. Together they produced Cyclops, the three Hecatoncheires, and twelve titans. "But Uranus hated the Hecatoncheires so he imprisoned them into the womb of earth, Gaea. Gaea was furious so she tried to plot against Uranus. But only the youngest titan, Cronus, was unafraid to stand up to Uranus. Cronus chopped off Uranus's genitals which fell into the sea and Aphrodite was formed. Cronus became the next ruler." (Myth 1) Cronus married his sister Rhea and they had six children. Cronus was afraid that his children would take over his kingdom so Cronus ate all but the sixth child because Rhea hid the child. The child was raised by the Nymphs and his name was Zeus. Zeus took over the heavens, He saved the heavens, and all at the same time had love affairs with a lot of ladies.
Rhea eventually got Cronus to accept Zeus and Cronus let him back into Mount Olympus. "Cronus allowed Zeus to come back as his cupbearer, which was great because Rhea made a poison that would make Cronus vomit back out their children." (Myth 1) Zeus slipped Rhea's poison into Cronus' drink and he vomited out the five other children. "Cronus died after Zeus lead a revolt with his brothers and sisters and weakened their father and banished him to Tartarus, where the Hecatoncheires were." (Myth 1) Since he led the revolt to kill his father, Zeus became the ultimate ruler of Mount Olympus. Once Zeus had control over Mount Olympus he split the universe between his brothers. Zeus ruled over the heavens, Poseidon the sea, and Hades the underworld.
As ruler of the heavens, Zeus still had to defend his heavenly kingdom. "The three separate assaults were from the offspring of Gaia: they were the giants, Typhon (Zeus fought them with his thunder-bolt and aegis) and the twin brothers who were called the Aloadea." (Greek 2) The latter tried to gain access to the heavens by stacking Mount Ossa on top of Mount Olympus, and Mount Pelion on top of Mount Ossa, but the twins still failed in their attempt to overthrow Zeus. "As he did with Cronus, Zeus banished them all to Tartarus." (Greek 2)
Zeus had three wives through out his reign. His first wife was Metis and she gave him one daughter by the name of Athena. "His second wife was Themis and she gave him four children, Horea, Clothos,
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