Greeks - Michael Isabella Brian Patrick

7/30/2019 Greeks - Michael Isabella Brian Patrick

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The Origin of Greek

Theology

Theology comes from the Greek words Theo,which means God, and logy, which means study

of.

The Latin writer Varro broke down

theology into three terms: mythical(myths of Greek gods), rational

(analysis of the gods) and civil

(the duties of public observance.)

The Greeks had a major god (Zeus)

and other patron gods such as

Poseidon, god of the sea.


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Who started it? Nobody was the official creator of Greek

Mythology, but they adopted ideas and myths fromthe Mycenaean's.

Agamemnon was the king of Mycenae according to

Greek mythology.

One major difference was that in Mycenaean belief,

Poseidon was their chief god

Also women were considered

punishment from Zeus


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Why was it started?

The Greeks obviously wanted their own cultureand religion, but without something to base it on,

they adopted beliefs of the Mycenaean culture.

Research has also shown influences from the

Minoan religion and religious practices in Egypt. The Greeks may have felt like an incomplete

society without a religion.

The Greeks also knew that there was some sortof higher power so they wanted thank them for

good tidings, and blame their problems on them.


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The First Gods

The first Greek gods were known as the

primordial deities.

They are also known as Protogenoi, which

means First Born. These deities formed the various components of

the universe, including: the Earth, Air, Sea, Sky,

Fresh Water, Underworld, Darkness, Night,

Light, Day, Procreation (Sex), and Time.


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Anake

Necessity

Nyx

NightHermera

Day

Thalassa

Sea

Oceanus

Water

Chronos

TimePontus

Sea

Gaea

Earth

O

ErosProcreation

UranusSky

OureaMountains

TethysNursing


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The Origin Story 1

There are two main theories as to how the primordial deitiescame to be.

One theory is that Chronos, Father Time, and Ananke,

Protogeono of Necessity were the only beings in existence.

They then created and shaped the universe, including the otherprimordial deities.

+ =


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The Origin Story 2

The other theory is that Chaos was the first deity to

exist. Chaos was like a black hole, a void. Shortly

after its existence, Gaea, Eros, and Tartarus came

into being.

= + +


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The Titans

During the reign of the primeval deities, Uranusand Gaea procreated, giving birth to the twelve

Uranides. Three of the children were Cyclopes,

three were Hekatonkheires, and eldest six were

Titans. These included Cronus, Koios, Krios,Lapetos, Hyperion, and Oceanus.

Typhon

(Hekatonkheire)

Cyclopes working in theforge of Hephaestus


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From Primeval to Titanic

After the birth of the Uranides, Uranusimprisoned his six giant children in the core of

the Earth. Gaea in anger asked her Titan sons

to rebel.

Led by Cronus, five of the six Titan brothers

ambushed and defeated their father when he

descended onto Earth.


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The First Olympians Following the castration of Uranus, Cronus seized control of

the cosmos and became the king of the Titans. Cronus married Rhea, his sister Titan, and had three children

with her, Poseidon, Hades, and Zeus. These children

belonged to the Olympian generation.

Gaea prophesized that one of Cronuss children would opposehim. Out of fear, Cronus decided to consume each of his

children. Rhea his wife however, took pity on Zeus hiding him

in a cave in Crete.


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Rise of the Olympians When he reached adulthood, Zeus returned with an

army of allies, fighting for the release of his siblings.

After defeating and imprisoning the Titans in

Tartarus, Zeus and his brothers established their city

on Mount Olympus where they ruled over the domainof mortals.


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The Olympians

The Olympians were the greatest gods of

the Greeks, and presided over every facet

of human life.

Unlike the Titans and Primordial Deities,the Olympians were more actively in affairs

of mortals.

The Olympians like the Titans had major

and minor gods, with the most important

gods being on the Olympian Council.


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Artemis

HuntingAres

War

Aphrodite

LoveApollo

Prophecy

Athena

Wisdom

Demeter

AgricultureDionysus

Wine

Hephaestus

Fire,

Metalworking

Hera

Women,

Marriage

Hermes

Roads,

Thieves

Poseidon

Sea, RiversZeus

Sky, Order


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There were really no minor primordial gods because theGreeks believed that nothing in creation was unimportant so

the primordial gods were either major or not mentioned in

Greek records

Also there was so many primordial gods because theGreeks wanted a explanation for everything around them so

they created gods that created certain things around them

however significant it was


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Some of the minor titans were Rhea, Atlas, Eos and

Ophion and Prometheus

I was surprised to know Rhea was a minor titan even

though she was the wife of Cronus

Also it was weird to know that Ophion was a minor titan

because he was the titan of the earth until Cronus

overthrew him

Prometheus was just a minor titan because he betrayed

the Zeus by giving mankind knowledge

The reason that there were so many titans is because the

Greeks thought that each god had a dark side so they

created some of these titans


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Eos

titan of

the sky

Rhea

Cronusswife

Atlas is always

seen carrying

the earth andthat was the

punishment from

Zeus for fighting

on the titans

side

Prometheus is

always seen with

crows eating his

flesh because itwas a punishment

from Zeus for

giving mankind

knowledge.


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Some minor Olympians were Pan, Iris, Asclepius and Nemesisand Nike

The reason there were so many minor Olympians is because

the major Olympians were all relatives of Zeus so the non

relatives of Zeus became minor gods

Also the Greeks wanted an explanation for everything around

them and also to create an excuse for them to do things like

take revenge since Nemesis is the goddess of revenge


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Asclepius

Medicine

Nemesisrevenge

Pan god of

the wild and

can changeinto any

animal

Thanatos

was also

known as

the angel of

death


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Why is it Important to us as historians?

Because it was areligion of not only

public religion but also

cult practices.

Many people followed

this religion and it

eventually spread to

other islands andareas.


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Many Greek practices can relate to those of Egypt.

They believed that there were many gods and

goddesses and we very religious that were like

humans and did human things. They were very concern with their afterlife. There

ideas on ghosts are similar to ours today.

The most important thing to them was morality.

They put athletics and intelligence equal to eachother.

They were very big on ceremonies and sacrifice


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By studying the religion of Greek Theology we cant

realize and understand what kind of people they

were and how they lived their lives.

By studying the past we can learn how people lived

as they did throughout the world and the changes

and what caused those changes. We study the past

to understand our world today and our place in it.


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Greeks were affected by Egyptian theology

This happened because Greece conquered Egypt but let Egypt

keep the hierarchy Both have polytheism

Greeks believed in the cycle of the sun by Apollo and the

Egyptians believed in the same thing except Ra did it

Both had similar ideas about the beginning of the world

Greeks believed that Kaos a gaping void encompassing the

entire universe

The Egyptians believed the same thing except the the name of

the first being is Nun


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Death is the same

Both believed that there is a reward and punishment in the

afterlife Both believed that the death gods Hades (Greek) and Osiris

(Egyptian) are the judges

The Greeks adopted the idea of death because they wanted

something to look for after death Also just like Anubis was Osiris watcher of death the Greeks

also adopted that idea and made Thanatos Hades watcher of

death

Vs.


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After roman empire conquered the Greek empire in 197 BC

and as result they adopted many of their theological ideals

All roman gods are the same as the Greek gods except they have

different names

Zeus = Jupiter etc

same priest toga

The Romans even adopted many of their democratic ideals as aresult of their respect for their religion

They also adopted the idea of the reward and punishment in the

afterlife


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Works Cited

theoi.com

ancienthistory.about.com

greek-gods.info

edweb.sdsu.edu

godchecker.com

greekmythology.com

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Greeks - Michael Isabella Brian Patrick