Greek Mythology Series The Story of Creation 22

Greek Mythology Series: The Story of Creation 22 Slide Presentation An Original & Dramatic Interpretation

Chaos • In the beginning there was Chaos. A black and omnipresent void, absent of all light and immune to time.

Gaea (Terra): Mother Earth • But a faint flicker appeared in the blackness and began to grow. An enormous rock, cold and barren, emerged. • Gaea, Mother Earth as she came to be known, was born.

Gaea’s Longing • Surrounded in the nothingness of Chaos’ dark grip, bathed in utter blackness, Gaea grew weary. Loneliness it was, yes… a human flaw. • Great Mother Earth desired nothing more than a companion—someone to spend eternity beside.

Uranus (Caelus) • She prayed. She wished. And from the core of her being a golden essence seeped, rose up into the darkness and took form. • Uranus was born. Father Universe—Lord of the Heavens itself. In all his divine glory he rained down upon Mother Earth. He filled her deep recesses with life giving water.

Pontus • By mixing their primordial essences the world’s ocean was given life. Pontus was born. With the help of Uranus’ godly rain, he encircled the world and his veins rose up into the mountains and filled the rivers and lakes and streams. • Life began. Grass grew. Vines sprouted. Great trees rose up and towered into the sky. Pontus fathered many divine children who were water spirits and nymphs.

The Twelve Titans • Still Gaea longed. She wanted children to love and protect and soon the Titans were born. Human in all ways but size. They were built like mountains and hovered over all the land. • Six brothers and six sisters who formed six sister-brother pairs—some of whom even wed one another. For there was no one else as powerful as them to ensure the survival of their race.

The Union of the Titans Male Female Ruler of Water and the Seas < Oceanus Tethys > Titaness of Life-giving Water Titan of Light & Observation < Hyperion Theia > Titaness of Sight & Aether Titan of Intelligence < Coeus Phoebe > Titaness of Light & the Moon Titan of Time and the Ages < Cronus Rhea > Titaness of Fertility & Motherhood Iapetus > Titan of Mortality & Death Crius > Titan of Leadership & Animals Titaness of Law, Justice & Order > Themis Titaness of Memory > Mnemosyne

The Cyclopes • Mother Earth loved the Titans more than she did herself but she was not content. She wanted more and her next children came in two sets of three. • Full of rage and passion were the Cyclopes, “The Circle-Eyed Ones”: Brontes “The Thunderer, ” great and bellowing; Steropes, swift as lightning; and Arges, bright and radiant. All three fierce, master forgers and builders.

The Hecatoncheires • Next, there were the 100 Handed, 50 -Headed, 100 -Eyed Hecatoncheires: Briareus “The Vigorous”; Cottus “The Furious Striker”; and Gyges “The Large. Limbed”. Monstrous and infantile yet more powerful than the Titans. • They were like the forces of nature causing earthquakes and tidal waves at a whim.

Gaea’s Other Children The Cyclopes Brontes: “The Thunderer” Steropes: “Lightning” Arges: “Brightness” The Hecatoncheires “The Vigorous” : Briareus “The Furious Striker” : Cottus “The Large-Limbed” : Gyges

Only a Mother Could Love • And Gaea loved them all unconditionally because the bond between a mother and her children is the strongest of them all; however, her joy was soon destroyed. • Uranus only loved the Titans who were made in his own image. He did not recognize the younger monstrosities as his own.

Exiled • In a violent and omnipotent rage, Uranus cast his children down and flung them into the deepest bowels of Mother Earth… Tartarus—the eternal chasm that is the Underworld. • Shocked at her husband’s actions Gaea fell into despair but patience was one of virtues. She waited. She plotted.

The Passing of Time • The Titans grew to adulthood and had children of their own who in turn had children. Life on Earth was paradise. A Golden Age of plenty and Uranus still ruled. • Nevertheless, Gaea could never forget the youngest of her children as she felt their riotous desperation from deep within her being.

Children of the Titans 1 ST Generation of Titan (Parents) 2 ND Generation of Titans (Children) Hyperion’s & Theia’s Children Eos > Titaness of the Dawn Helios > Titan of the Sun Selene > Titaness of the Moon Coeus’s & Phoebe’s Daughters Leto > Titaness of ? Asteria > Titaness of Dreams, Oracles, & Falling Stars Iapetus’s Sons Atlas > Titan of Excessive Daring & Endurance Prometheus > Titan of Cunning Foresight; “The Fore-thinker “ Epimetheus > Titan of After-sight ; “The After-thinker” Menoetius > Titan of Mortality, Anger, & Rash Action Oceanus’ & Tethys’ Daughter Metis > Titaness of Prudence, Wisdom, the Conscience Crius’s Sons Astraeus > Titan of the Stars Pallas > Titan of War Perses > Titan of Destruction—The Destroyer

A Mother’s Bidding • It was time for action. Mother Earth whispered into the ear of the youngest of her Titan progeny. Cronus (Saturn) answered his mother’s desperate pleas. • He would lead his brothers and rise up against their father and free his uncles from their imprisonment.

The Defeat of Uranus • In secret Gaea conjured a great adamantine sickle. A powerful and skillfully sharpened weapon forged from deep within. She infused it with her very essence and gifted it to Cronus, the only Titan brave enough to strike a killing blow against his father. • Cronus lifted the weapon, lunged forward, and tore his father asunder. Uranus cursed Cronus and prophesized that his children too would be betray him as he had betrayed his own father! • Nevertheless, as Uranus’ blood oozed from his divine form, Cronus took in most of his celestial energies as his father slowly dispersed into the cosmos.

At War with the Universe • The Titans and their children answered their great mother’s plea. The battled raged and blows struck repeatedly on both sides. But Uranus was supreme and clashed down upon them with the weight of the Universe. • The Titans were seemingly no match, but through the years Gaea had prepared well.

A New Reign • Cronus was now the Divine Ruler of the Heavens, Earth, and Time. With his Sister-wife Rhea (Cybele) at his side, a new age was at hand.

From the Blood Rose… • Perplexingly, as Uranus’ blood poured out and fell to the Earth, more children were born. • The Furies, three vengeful sisters, sprang up from Gaea’s caverns. • Some even say that because the blood spilled in the ocean, Aphrodite Goddess of Love rose from the sea foam. • This was also the prelude to an even more monstrous set of children—The Giants!

The Avenging Sisters The Furies (Erinyes): “The Avengers” Alecto: “The Unnameable” > Goddess of Relentless Anger Sought Punishment for Moral Crimes Megaera: “The Grudging” > Goddess of Jealousy and Envy Sought Punishment for Crimes of Marital Infidelity Tisiphone: “Vengeful Destruction” > Goddess of Vengeance Sought Punishment for Crimes of Murder—Parricide, Fratricide, Homicide

A Mother’s Regret • Gaea poured all her hope faith into her son Cronus, and he did her proud in undertaking the task to destroy Uranus; however, he too betrayed her trust and broke his promise. • He did not free his brothers from the bowels of Tartarus. He kept them imprisoned so he could reign supreme. Truly he was his father’s son! • Again, Gaea waited… and planned…