In the beginning there was only Chaos. Out of Chaos, Gaea, also known as the mother earth, grew out of the dark, empty space. Soon, Gaea had a child, Uranus, the sky. Uranus gave rain to Gaea and out of that grew all the trees, grass and flowers we have today. Gaea and Uranus had many children together. Their first children were the mighty twelve Titans; six girls and six boys. Later on they had the Cyclopes, the enormous, one-eyed giants, and the Hectoncheires, which were monsters each with fifty heads and one hundred arms.
Uranus banished the Cyclopes and Hectoncheires to the underworld because he thought they were ugly. This act made Gaea furious. She asked her sons and daughters, the Titans, to overthrow their father and free her other children. None of the titans were brave enough- except for the youngest, Cronus.
Cronus defeated his father and replaced him as Lord of the Universe. But Cronus did not free the Cyclopes and Hectoncheires. He married his sister, Rhea. Together they had many children, except Cronus was afraid of being over thrown by them so he swallowed all his children right after they were born.
Rhea was enraged. When she had her sixth child, Zeus, she hid him in a distant cave to be raised by nymphs. Instead, she wrapped a rock in a blanket and gave it to Cronus telling him that it was the baby. Not thinking about it twice, Cronus swallowed the rock without hesitation.
Zeus grew up to be a large, strong God. With Zeus’s help, Rhea gave Cronus a drink that she promised would make him undefeatable. Instead, it made Cronus sick and one by one, Cronus threw up each of his children, starting with the rock. Unharmed and fully grown, Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon joined their brother Zeus to fight the Titans.
Zeus released Gaea’s other children from the underworld and they also joined Zeus and his siblings. The Cyclopses built great weapons. They armed Zeus with his infamous thunderbolt that shook the grounds each time fired. Poseidon was provided with a magical trident that could split the seas. Hades was given the helmet of darkness which would make him invisible whenever upon his head.
The great war between the Titans and Gods stretched on for ten years. In the end, Cronus and the other Titans were defeated and were thrown into the underworld for eternity.
Now that Mother Earth was at peace again, the newly found Gods began to rebuild the world. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades drew to see who would be in charge of what. Zeus was declared the all mighty King of all Gods. Poseidon became the God of the Sea and Hades the God of the Underworld. The Gods made Mt. Olympus their main home. Zeus, shared power with all his brothers and sisters therefore he made twelve thrones on Mt. Olympus.
Zeus was known as the King of Gods, and the God of Heaven and Earth. Zeus could change his shape and form whenever he wanted, just like he could change the weather. His mighty thunderbolt was used to punish those who deserved it. He was the protector of all, mortals and immortals and Zeus lived a glamorous life atop Mt. Olympus, the permanent home of the Gods. All were ordered to worship and obey him. Across his chest, Zeus wore a breastplate made for him by Hephaestos, called the aegis. To create a horrific storm, he simply had to shake the aegis and the entire earth would become disastrous.
Since Zeus was the God of all, it was up to him to create life on earth. It is said that there were five ages of humanity.
The First Age
The First Age was known as the Golden age, when all people lived in complete happiness and were made out of gold. But there was no reproduction and they soon all died and became extinct.
The Second Age
In the Second Age, Zeus created the Silver age, a time when sneaky people made of silver fought. Zeus grew tired of their quarreling and destroyed them all.
The Third Age
In the Third Age, also known as the Bronze Age, warriors made of pure bronze fought until they had killed each other off.
The Fourth Age
Zeus had become tired of having to recreate humanity over and over again so he handed the job to Prometheus. Prometheus was a titan who had helped Zeus during the Titan/Gods war. The Fourth age was known as the Heroic age, and the members of this age were known as the true first members of the human race. Prometheus carefully shaped his humans out of mud. The Goddess, Athena, breathed life into his clay figures. Epimetheus, brother of Prometheus, was given the task of assigning characteristics to the newly formed animals and humans. By the time Prometheus finished his creations and went to Epimetheus for qualities, Epimetheus had already given all his greatest qualities away. So Prometheus decided to have Man stand up on two legs, like the Gods did. He also wanted to give them fire so their civilization could advance. He crept into the chambers of Hephaestos, the God of Fire, and stole a few precious flames and gave them to his humans.
Zeus was furious for he didn’t want humans to progress and develop. Zeus ordered that all mortals were to sacrifice to the Gods on a regular basis. Prometheus, angry with Zeus, presented him with a sacrifice of Ox. He placed two vessels before the God: one with just bone wrapped in juicy fat, and another with good meat. Zeus was to decide which portion the Gods would receive. Zeus was deceived by Prometheus and he quickly took away all fire from the humans. Prometheus once again crept into the chamber of the fires and stole more flames. Zeus severely punished Prometheus by chaining him to the mountains between the Black and Caspian seas. During the day, his liver would be painfully devoured by one of Zeus’s eagles. At night, it would miraculously grow back only too be eaten the next day again.
The Fifth Age
This is the age that we live in today. This age is our punishment from the Gods for Prometheus giving humans fire. In the beginning of this age, Zeus and the other Gods created Pandora, the first woman. Each God gave her a certain gift, or feeling. Hera gave her curiosity. She was wed to Epimetheus and then she was presented with a box (some say it was a chest or a jar). She was specifically told never to open this box. In the end, her curiosity got the best of her and she opened the box, releasing all the evil we have in the world today. She also released, hope, for without that, everything would have been lost.
Love and Lovers
Zeus was known for his many love affairs and mingles. Even though he was married to the goddess, Hera, he still had many flings with other maidens. No woman could resist Zeus, especially since he was the god of all. Hera, being the extremely jealous woman she was, wanted Zeus all to herself. Hera would make sure to punish every woman that Zeus had been with. In fact, Zeus and Hera had only two children together: Ares and Hephaestos. The rest of Zeus’s children were those of other women.
One of Zeus’s famous lovers was Io. Io, the daughter of the river god Inachaos, attracted Zeus’s attention. The pair could only meet when Hera was asleep. To protect his lover, Zeus ordered a cloud to cover the entire area where he and Io were. One day, Hera awoke early and noticed the cloud that never moved. She quickly sent down a creature, Argos, to investigate. Zeus asked the help of his son, Hermes. Hermes killed the creature and cut off its 100 eyes. Hera, upset to see her creature dead, picked up every single eye and placed it on the tail of her favorite bird, the peacock. Hera then sent horse flies down to harass Io. Io ran faster and faster and escaped to Egypt, where Zeus changed her back into human form. A little while later, Epaphos, was born.
Another one of Zeus’s famous affairs is that of him and Europa. In that myth, Zeus changed himself into a form of a Bull and snatched Europa and took her to the continent that is now named after her, Europe.
**Ares**
**Hera**
**Poseidon**
**Hades**
**Athena**
**Apollo**
**Artemis**
**Dionysus**
**Aphrodite**
**Hephaestus**
**Hermes**
**Demeter**
**Hestia**
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