The Story


It all begins with Gaea. Gaea is the Earth Goddess. Only chaos came before her. Chaos is the void which came into being before anything else. But some say that Chaos was born from Mist and that Mist was the first to exist. Others say that Chaos is not a void but a rough unordered mass of things. It is also said that Chaos existed from the beginning together with Nyx, Erebus (Darkness of the Underworld) and Tartarus and that is why some consider Chaos to be as Nyx and Erebus: one of "the powers below the ground". Anyway, back to Gaea. So there she is, all by her lonesome. Apparently, being the almighty Earth Goddess and all, Gaea can create gods. So she created Uranus, sky god and first ruler. Gaea and Uranus are married, since there's no one else around, and have many, many children.

Uranus was the first ruler of the universe. He wedded Gaia, and had by her the HECATONCHEIRES, who were of great size and might, each of them having a hundred hands and fifty heads.

Hecatoncheires means "hundred handed". They were gigantic and had fifty heads and one hundred arms each of great strength. There were three of them: Briareus also called Aegaeon, Cottus, and Gyges also called Gyes. They were born to Gaea and Uranus. Their mutual hatered of Uranus caused him to force the Hecatoncheires back into Gaea's womb. This parcipatated Gaea's rebellion against Uranus. When Cronus came to power he imprisoned the Cyclopes in Tartarus. The were released by Zeus and fought with him against the Titans. They were able to hurl huge boulders as many as a hundred at a time against their opponents. One of them, Briareus, served as Zeus's bodygaurd.

But Uranus hated this terrible offspring and used to hide them away in a secret place of earth as soon as each was born, and they say Uranus rejoiced in his evil doing.

After the HECATONCHEIRES, Gaia gave birth to the CYCLOPES, who are known for having one eye on their foreheads.

The Cyclopes were gigantic one eyed monsters. The most famous is Polyphemus, the Cyclops blinded by Odysseus. Hesiod mentions only three (not a race or tribe): Arges (thunderbolt), Steropes (lightning), and Brontes (thunder), obviously storm gods.They were born to Gaea and Uranus. They were also the first smiths. When Cronus came to power he imprisoned the Cyclopes in Tartarus. The were released by Zeus and fought with him against the Titans. As a reward for their release the Cyclopes gave Zeus his weapons of lighting and thunder. They continued as his workers at Mount Olympus forging his thunerbolts Arges was killed by Hermes while he guarded Io for Hera Apollo killed at least one of the Cyclopes to retribution for Zeus killing his son Aesculapius.

Though they were strong like gods Uranus bound them and cast them into Tartarus, which is a gloomy place in the Underworld, as far distant from earth as earth is distant from heaven.

Tartarus lies far beneth the disk of the world. Deeper then Hades kingdom of the underworld. It is used as the ultimate of prisons, unpleasent and inaccessable.
The underworld is hidden in the earth. It is the kingdom of the dead and ruled over by Hades. Hades is a greedy god who is greatly concerned with increasing his subjects. Those whose calling increase the number of dead are seen favorably. The Erinnyes are welcomed guests. He is exceedingly disinclined to allow any of his subjects leave. For most, life in the underworld is not particularly unpleasent. It is rather like a miserable dream, full of shadows, without sunlight or hope. A joyless place where the dead slowly fade into nothingness. Geographically, the underworld is surrounded by a series of rivers: The Acheron (river of woe), The Cocytus (river of lamentation), The Phlegethon (river of fire), The Styx (river of unbreakable oath by which the gods swear), and The Lethe (river of forgetfulness). Once across the rivers an adamantine gate, guarded by Cerberus, forms the entrance to the kingdom. Deep withen the kingdom is Hades vast palace, complete with many guests. Upon death a soul is lead by Hermes to the entrance of the underworld and the ferry across the Acheron. There is a single ferry run by Charon to take the souls across the river. Only those who can pay the fare, with coins placed on their lips when buried, receive passage. The rest are trapped between two worlds. The souls then enter through the gates. Cerberus will allow all to enter but, none to leave. The souls then appear before a panel of three judges, Rhadamanthus, Minos, and Aeacus, who pass sentence. The very good go to the Elysian Fields. Others are singled out for special treatment. Sisyphus and Tantalus being prime examples of the later.

And then Uranus had more children by Gaia, the TITANS.

The Titans, also known as the elder gods, ruled the earth before the Olympians overthew them. The ruler of the Titans was Cronus who was de-throned by his son Zeus. Most of the Titans fought with Cronus against Zeus and were punished by being banished to Tartarus. During their rule the Titans were associated with the various planets.

But Gaia, who could not forget the fate of her former children, prisoners in Tartarus, persuaded the TITANS to attack their father Uranus, and for that purpose she armed Cronos with an adamantine sickle. So the TITANS, all except Oceanus, attacked him, and Cronos cut off his father's genitals and threw them into the sea behind his back, some say at cape Drepanum in Achaea.

From the drops of Uranus' flowing blood which fell upon earth were born the ERINYES and the GIANTS and those NYMPHS called MELIADS. However, the genitals which Cronos threw away were first swept away over the sea a long time, but finally from the white foam which spread around them Aphrodite was born.

Cronus was the ruling Titan who came to power by castrating his Father Uranus. His wife was Rhea. There offspring were the first of the Olympians. Cronus had been told that he would be overthrown and replaced by one of his children. To insure his safety Cronus ate each of the children as they were born. This worked until Rhea, unhappy at the loss of her children, tricked Cronus into swallowing a rock, instead of her son, Zeus. She took Zeus into a cave to be born, and other creatures raised him. When he grew up Zeus would revolt against Cronus and the other Titans, defeat them, and banish them to Tartarus in the underworld. Cronus was forced to take a poisen (supplied by none other than Rhea) which forced him to spit out all of his children. They then helped in the fight agaisnt Cronus. Cronus managed to escape to Italy, where he ruled as Saturn. The period of his rule was said to be a golden age on earth, honored by the Saturnalia feast.

Zeus was the god of the sky and ruler of the Olympian gods. He then drew lots with his brothers Poseidon and Hades. Zeus won the draw and became the supreme ruler of the gods. He is lord of the sky, the rain god. His weapon is a thunderbolt which he hurls at those who displease him. He is married to Hera but, is famous for his many affairs. He is also known to punish those that lie or break oaths.He was the rain god, and the cloud gatherer, who wielded the terrible thunderbolt. His breastplate was the aegis, his bird the eagle, his tree the oak. He is represented as the god of justice and mercy, the protector of the weak, and the punisher of the wicked.