• First there was CHAOS.• AFTER Chaos, five divinities came into

being. These divinities began to shape the world.

• GAIA-mother earth• TARTARUS-underworld• EREBUS-darkness covering underworld• NIGHT-darkness covering earth• EROS-love

Night and Erebus got together and had some children.

HEMERA-dayPHOS-lightAnd the happy quintuplets…DOOM, DEATH, MISERY, DECEIT, AND

DISCORD

DISCORD gave birth to the following forces:MurderSlaughterBattleCrime

GAIA(mother earth) and her child

OURANOUS (sky) They had a bunch of kids.

First were the Hekatoncheires, or 100 handed ones.

Next were the three Cyclopes children: Brontes (Thunerere)

Steropes (Lightning Flash) Arges (Shining Guy)

OCEANUS-god of the seaTHETIS-sister and wife of OceanusHYPERION-sun godTHEIA-sister and wife of HyperionTHEMIS-an earth goddessRHEA-another earth goddessMNEMOSYNE-goddess of memoryIAPETUS-no real responsibilitiesCOEUS-another slackerPHOEBE-dittoCRIUS-same as aboveCRONOS-The brightest, strongest, and cleverest of

them all

Gaia asked her children-who weren’t allowed to be born- to help her out. Cronos agreed to attack his father.

REMEMBER THIS: He was still in the womb when he attacked his father with a sickle. Let’s just say he chopped what was nearest at hand and threw the “parts” into the sea.

The blood from the parts gave rise to the Erinyes or Furies (Tisiphone, Alecto, and Megaera: punishers of anyone who killed relatives, people in temples, or hosts) and the Giants.

The Furies would not leave the earth until

there was no sin in the world

The foam from the “landing area” produced Aphrodite, goddess of love.

Do you see any irony in Aphrodite’s origin???

After Cronos “fixed” his father he made himself king of Heaven.

He settled down with Rhea (his sister) and had a bunch of kids. Just like his dad, he didn’t want his kids to live. Every time Rhea had a baby Cronos ate it.

Hera Poseidon Hades Hestia Demeter

Gaia and Uranus, Rhea’s parents, helped her come up with a plan.

Remember the rock that Cronos ate thinking it was Zeus???

What is odd about Rhea’s FATHER helping her rescue her children?

During the fight with Cronos, Zeus copied one of his father’s moves. After the unfortunate “de-manizaton” of Cronos (more man-stuff falls into the sea), Zeus binds the Titans to Tartarus and sentences Atlas to hold the sky on his shoulders.

GAIA gave birth to one more baby-monster and named him Typhon. He had 100 heads and was covered in flames. Zeus stopped him with a thunderbolt.

Zeus also received a prophesy that he would father a child who would become King of the Gods. Rather than wait around for this child to be born, Zeus swallowed his wife (Metis). The child was born out of Zeus’ head which allowed the birth not to meet details of the prophesy.

This child was named Athena.

Prometheus was wise, and his name means “forethought.”

Epimetheus was scattered, and his name means “afterthought.”

One created creatures out of mud, the other gave out gifts of skills, abilities, and protection. Guess who got which job?!

Prometheus gets the good part of the sacrifice.

Prometheus takes care of man’s heating needs

Prometheus keeps a secret

Prometheus cut up an ox and divided it into two parts. He put the meat inside the skin and piled the guts on top of it.

Then he took the bones and wrapped them in the delectable fat and asked Zeus to pick the pile he wanted.

Zeus picked the fat (it was very valuable-calories keep you warm), but he was aggravated at the loss of the meat.

From this point on whenever people made a sacrifice to the gods, they burned the bones and fat for the gods and kept the meat for themselves.

This way you could have a feast after every sacrifice.

When the human race was young, the gods tried to the use of fire a secret. Prometheus did not agree to the secrecy and gave men the gift of fire.

He went to heaven, lit his torch in the sun, hid the burning torch, and smuggled it down to earth.

Fire gave a great advantage to the men. They could cook food, warm their homes, make metal tools and weapons, and coin money.

It also allowed them to have control over the animals which threatened them.

Zeus had heard a prophesy that a son of his would overthrow him. Prometheus was the only one who could tell him which of women Zeus “knew” would be the mother of the fated son.

This crime and the crime of stealing fire prompted Prometheus’s captivity.

What was the woman’s name?

It was said that Prometheus made humans in the image of gods. Too bad we didn’t get any cool powers!

Force and Violence bind Prometheus to a rock in the Caucasus Mountains.

Each day an eagle comes and tears out his liver

Her name means “the gift of all.” She was a created as a vengeful curse

against humanity, as well as a bride for Epimetheus.

Her gift-and her curse- was her curiosity.

In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman on earth. Zeus ordered Hephaestus, the god of craftsmanship, to create her and he did, using water and earth. The gods endowed her with many talents; Aphrodite gave her beauty, Apollo music, Hermes persuasion, and so forth

Imagine I had left a delicious, beautiful, aromatic dessert on your desk. It is your FAVORITE!

Now imagine that you are forbidden to touch it. You can only look and wonder how good it might be.

This is what life was like for Pandora.

Eventually her curiosity won out: she opened the gift.

There are two possible outcomes to this disaster. It depends on whether you are an optimist or a pessimist.

“Pandora’s Box” has come to mean anything which is best left untouched and alone.