GREEK GODS CREATION MYTHS

It is difficult to trace the ancestry of the ancient Greek gods since there are several creation myths. A combination of the account put together by the Greek Poet Hesiod in the 8th century BC and an account written by myth teller Apollodrous would have been recognized by most ancient Greeks.

It was as follows: The god Chaos (gaping void) was the foundation of all creation. Out of this god arose Gaea (earth), Tartarus (underworld) and Eros (love). The god Eros was necessary to draw Chaos and Gaea together so that they would produce offspring. Chaos then created night and the first born of Gaea was Uranus (god of the heavens). The union of Chaos and Gaea also resulted in the creation of the mountains, seas, and gods known as Titans. The interaction of these early gods resulted in the creation of several other gods. These included well-known figures such as Aphrodite, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus. Zeus eventually waged war on his father (Cronus) and the Titans. As a result of this conflict, Zeus established a new regime on Mt. Olympus. Zeus ruled the sky, his bother Poseidon ruled the seas, and his brother Hades ruled the underworld. The creation of human beings is the result of conflicting myths. Many creation stories held that human beings sprang directly from the ground. In some cases, separate Greek societies had their own unique creation events. This is true for the Arcadians and Thebans, which both trace their beginnings to different earth-born men created in different areas. One myth states that humans were created out of earth and water, aided by the Titan, Prometheus, with his gift of fire.