THEOGONY TITANS
Paleolithic beliefs
Titans: Also known as the elder gods they ruled the earth before the Olympians overthrew them.
In Theogony (=Genesis) Ancient Greek historian (Hesiod (8th - 7th century B.C.).
Theogony is a mythological
code of facts but not a religion, the pre-philosophic and
pre-scientific progress of the Paleolithic Greeks:
At the beginning existed the CHAOS, GAEA (=matter) and EROS (attractiveness=gravity), from Chaos begat Erebus and the Night and from those two begat the Ether (a substance permitting light to travel) and the day-light. At the same time begets the Gaea (Earth) including the Uranus (=sky+stars), and from those two begets the Ocean, Coeus, Hyperion (=Galaxy), Japetus, and Cronus including the Cyclopes Brontes, Steropes, and Arges (the TITANS). Thaea, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne (=memory), Phoebe, Tethys (the TITANESS).
The dark, silent abyss from which all things came into existence. According to the Theogony of Hesiod, Chaos generated the solid mass of Earth, the same time which arose the starry, cloud-filled Heaven. Mother Earth and Father Heaven, personified respectively as Gaea and her offspring Uranus, were the parents of the Titans. Other children of Chaos included Tartarus and Erebus. In a later theory, Chaos is the formless matter from which the cosmos, or harmonious order, was created.
The Chaotic passing and changing stage from the black night to the confliction of matter particles to unite into bright stars.
The myth: Erebus, where the dead pass as soon as they die, and Tartarus, the deeper region, where the Titans had been imprisoned. It was a dim and unhappy place, inhabited by vague forms and shadows and guarded by Cerberus, the three-headed, dragon-tailed dog. threatening rivers separated the underworld from the world above.
The son of Chaos, and the embodiment of the harmony and creative power in the universe, (the attractiveness (gravity) and the formation of the stars in the Universe). Soon, however, he was thought of as a handsome and intense young man, attended by Pothos (“longing”) or Himeros (“desire”). Later mythology made him the constant attendant of his mother, Aphrodite, goddess of love.
Gaea is the Earth goddess. She mated with her son Uranus =(sky) to create the remaining Titans.
Titan Cronus was the ruling Titan who came to power by castrating his Father Uranus. His wife was Rhea. Their offspring were the first of the Olympians. 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 Zeus. When he grew up Zeus would revolt against Cronus and the other Titans, defeat them, and banish them to Tartarus in the underworld. 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.
(In fact Cronus=(Χρόνος-chronos=time-age, those who are born, in time will dye)
Uranus is the sky god and first ruler. He is the son of Gaea, who created him without help. He then became the husband of Gaea and together they had many offsprings, including twelve of the Titans. His rule ended when Cronus, encouraged by Gaea, castrated him. He either died from the wound or withdrew from earth.
Titaness Rhea was the wife of Cronus. Cronus made it a practice to swallow their children. To avoid this, Rhea tricked Cronus into swallowing a rock, saving her son Zeus.
Titan Oceanus is the unending stream of water encircling the world. Together with his wife Tethys produced the rivers and the three thousand ocean nymphs.
Titaness Tethys is the wife of Oceanus. Together they produced the rivers and the three thousand ocean nymphs.
Titan Hyperion is the Titan of light, an early sun god. He is the son of Gaea and Uranus. He married his sister Theia. Their children Helius (the sun), Selene (the moon), and Eos (the dawn).
Titaness Mnemosyne was the Titan of memory the mother of the 9 Muses, to remind the past, the present, and the future (oracle) .
Titaness Themis was the Titan of justice and order. She was the mother of the Fates and the Seasons.
Titan Coeus is the Titan of Intelligence. Father of Leto.
Titan Phoebe is the Titan of the Moon. Mother of Leto.
Titans Giants with one enormous eye in the middle of the forehead. In Hesiod, the three sons - Arges (=thunderbolt), Brontes(=thunder), and Steropes(=lightening) - of Uranus and Gaea, the personifications of heaven and Earth, were Cyclops. They where thrown into the lower world by their brother Cronus, one of the Titans, after he dethroned Uranus. But Cronus's son, the god Zeus, released the Cyclops from the underworld, and they, in gratitude, gave him the gifts of thunder and lightning with which he defeated Cronus and the Titans and thus became lord of the universe.
Titan Japetus was the father of Prometheus, Epimetheus, Menoetius, and Atlas by Clymene.
Titan Prometheus was the wisest Titan. His name means "forethought" and he was able to foretell the future. He was the son of Japetus. When Zeus revolted against Cronus Prometheus deserted the other Titans and fought on Zeus side. By some accounts he and his brother Epimetheus were delegated by Zeus to create man. In all accounts, Prometheus is known as the protector and benefactor of man. He gave mankind a number of gifts including fire (the inspiration of technology). He also tricked Zeus into allowing man to keep the best part of the animals sacrificed to the gods and to give the gods the worst parts. For this Zeus punished Prometheus by having him chained to a rock with an eagle tearing at his liver. He was to be left there for all eternity or until he agreed to disclose to Zeus which of Zeus children would try to replace him. He was eventually rescued by Heracles without giving in to Zeus.
The elected ruler Uranus he doubted that one of his sons will overthrow him from power he imprisoned them at the Tartarus and placed Titan Hecatonchires to guard them. But Gaea conspired with Cronus her son, plus the rest of his brothers and sisters to subvert Uranus. Cronus succeeded cutting out his father's genitals and unable to have more children with Gaea lost his throne. From Uranus genitals thrown to the sea, Goddess Aphrodite was born from his sperm on the foamy-waves.
Titan Epimetheus was a stupid Titan, whose name means "afterthought". He was the son of Japetus. In some accounts he is delegated, along with his brother Prometheus by Zeus to create mankind. He also accepted the gift of Pandora from Zeus, which lead to the introduction of evil into the world.
Titan Atlas was the son of Japetus. Unlike his brothers Prometheus and Epimetheus, Atlas fought with the other Titans supporting Cronus against Zeus. Due to Cronus's advance age Atlas lead the Titan's in battle. As a result he was singled out by Zeus for a special punishment and made to hold up the world on his shoulders.
Titaness Metis was the Titaness of the forth day and the planet Mercury. She presided over all wisdom and knowledge. She was seduced by Zeus and became pregnant with Athena. Zeus became concerned over prophecies that her second child would replace Zeus. To avoid this Zeus ate her (symbolizing a very old belief by eating someone or his brain to acquisition his knowledge). It is said that she is the source for Zeus wisdom and that she still advises Zeus from his belly. It may seem odd for Metis to have been pregnant with Athena but, never mentioned as her mother. This is because the classic Greeks believed that children were generated solely from the fathers sperm. The women was thought to be nothing more than a vessel for the fetus to grow in. Since Metis was killed well before Athena's birth her role doesn't count.
The lowest region of the underworld. According to Hesiod and Virgil, Tartarus is as far below Hades as the Earth is below the heavens and is closed in by iron gates. In some accounts Zeus, the father of the gods, after leading the gods to victory over the Titans, banished his father, Cronus, and the other Titans to Tartarus. The name Tartarus was later employed sometimes as a synonym for Hades, or the underworld in general, but more frequently for the place of damnation where the wicked were punished after death. Such legendary sinners as Ixion, king of the Lapiths, Sisyphus, king of Corinth, and Tantalus, a mortal son of Zeus, were condemned to dwell in Tartarus.
Dione is, according to Homer in the Iliad, the mother of Aphrodite.