Greek Mythology

1

Utilizing the legends and stories from which Greek Mythology derive, I will attempt to inform and stimulate the mind of an eight year old child as to the pleasures of reading and knowing such fascinating mythology.

What exactly is Greek Mythology? The following was taken directly from the Encyclopedia Britannica. "Greek Mythology is a body of stories concerning the gods, heroes, and rituals of the ancient Greeks. Greek mythology has subsequently had extensive influence on the arts and literature of Western civilization, which fell heir to much of Greek culture. Although people of all countries, eras, and stages of civilization have developed myths that explain the existence and workings of natural phenomena, recount the deeds of gods or heroes, or seek to justify social or political institutions, the myths of the Greeks have remained unrivaled in the Western world as sources of imaginative and appealing ideas. Poets and artists from ancient times to the present have derived inspiration from Greek mythology and have discovered contemporary significance and relevance in classical mythological themes" (http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9110628/Greek-mythology).

Although this covers the scope of what Greek Mythology means. What does it mean to young people? It means great stories with wonderful insights into morals and ideals. They are stories of good versus evil, truth versus lies and love versus fear.

All of the Greek stories that involve mythological creatures and beings come from a beginning. There are many variations and different translations of the beginning. Since every story must have a beginning. All of them say basically the following.

In the beginning, there was Chaos, a void that stretched the entire universe. This was the domain of a goddess named Eurynome, which means "far-ruling" or "wide-wandering".

She was the Goddess of All Things, and through her need to make order from the chaos she chose to create great lands upon which she might wander, populating it with exotic creatures such as Nymphs, Dryads, and Sprites as well as with countless other beasts and monsters.

Also born out of Chaos were Gaia, called Earth, or Mother Earth(also known as Mother Nature), and Uranus, the embodiment of the Sky and the Heavens.

Gaia and Uranus married and gave birth to the Titans, a race of formidable giants, which included a particularly restless and motivated giant named Cronus.

Gaia and Uranus warned Cronus that a son of his would one day overpower him. Cronus therefore swallowed his numerous children by his wife Rhea, to keep that vision from taking place.

This made Gaia and Rhea very angry, so when the youngest son, Zeus, was born, Rhea took a stone, wrapped it in baby clothes and offered it to her husband to swallow. This satisfied Cronus, and Gaia was able to spirit the baby Zeus away to be raised in Crete, far from his hungry father.

When Zeus was old enough, he went home and got into immediate trouble with the tyrant that was his father. Zeus could not overthrow his father by himself. He needed his brothers and

sisters help in slaying the tyrant. Zeus's first wife, found a way of administering a potion to Cronus, who then threw up the other five kids he ate, who were Demeter, Hestia, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon. Led by Zeus, he and his siblings vanquished Cronus forever into the Dark World under the Earth.

So, Zeus triumphed over his father, and his father's family of Giants as well as his brothers and sisters. Thus, dividing up the universe as he fancied, in short, bringing order out of Chaos.

Zeus made himself God of the Sky and all that lives in it, including the clouds as well as the thunderbolts. Hestia became goddess of the Hearth. To his brother Poseidon, he gave the rule of the Sea. Demeter became a goddess of Fertility, Hera, was goddess of Marriage and Childbirth, while Hades, was made god of the Underworld.

Now that you know the basis for all Greek Mythology stories you need to know who the main players are and some of the greatest stories that came from them. In the following genealogy chart you will find most of the major key players in all Greek Mythology. Each of them has a unique story all their own and as you can see, they all tie back to Zeus in some fashion.

You can find more information about Zeus and his offspring at: http://www.pantheon.org/

The facts that are available about Greek Mythology are not critically important for the topic of this paper. What factor is important is how interesting the topic is and how I can relate it to my eight year old