Gods, Titans and Heroes

Primoridial Gods

Primordial Gods were the first Gods in existence. They don't just represent something, they are that physical body of it. For example, Gaia doesn't represent the earth, she is the earth to the ancient Greeks. They thought of the earth as a large flat disk. Uranus is the sky. They thought of the sky as a huge dome over the earth. Chaos (the gap) is the atmosphere - the gap between Gaia and Uranus. Tartaros (the pit). The Pit is a large dome under the earth that was full of monsters.

Titans

The first twelve children of Uranus and Gaia were the first Titans. The Titans were powerful beings that are very similar to Gods. Two the original twelve Titans were Cronos and Rhea. Cronos was the Titan of time. He overthrew his father Uranus for the title 'King of the Universe'. Rhea was the 'Great Mother' and her name means 'ease' or 'flow'.

Titans in this first generation, married and had lots of children including Metis and Prometheus. Metis was the Titan of thought. Prometheus was the Titan of forethought, which means thinking before you act. He was also the Titan of crafty council, which means clever and tricky advice. All the children of the first generation of Titans are also Titans apart from the children of Chronos and Rhea.

Olympians

The children of Cronos and Rhea were the first six Olympians Gods. Four of these Olympian Gods where part of the Olympic Pantheon and lived on mount Olympus. They were called Demeter, Hera, Poseidon and Zeus. Demeter was goddess of farming. Hera was the queen of the Gods, the goddess of marriage and was the wife of Zeus who was the king of the Gods and God of the sky. Hestia was not in the Olympic pantheon. She was the goddess of the hearth. The hearth is the fire at the centre of the home. The ancient Greeks also had a fire at the centre of their towns that was called the hearth. Hades was also not part of the Pantheon as he lived in the underworld. The underworld was a space under the disk of the earth where all the dead go. There were twelve figures in total in the Olympic Pantheon. The other eight members of the Olympic pantheon (Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Athena, Hephaestus, Ares, Dionysus and Athrodite) were all children of Zeus apart form Athrodite. Athrodite was the goddess of love but she born from the sea when Uranus was killed.

Heroes

Heroes were incredible people that the Greeks told tales about. They were mortal which meant that they could be killed. They are talked about in the myths as having fantastical adventures involving the Gods and monsters. The heroes were usually children of Gods and humans but sometimes they were just humans with extrodinary abilities and skills. Jason was an ordinary man who had an went on a great adventure to find the Golden Fleece. Theseus was a prince who killed the Minatour in the Labyrinth. Heracles was a son of Zeus and the most famous Hero. He is best known for the twelve tasks given to him as punishment for accidentally killing his wife Deianira and his children after being driven mad by Hera. Atalanta was raised by bears. She was a heroine who is best known for the story of her strange way of chosing a husband.