Greek Mythology - the Greek Gods and Their Attributes

By kevin tembouret

Greek mythology is equally unknown as well as known to all. Zeus, Athena, Cronos,... What are the links between these Gods? Who is the father of whom and to what do these deities correspond?

Although incest is a common practice in the lives of the Gods, genealogy can be easily understood if it is examined from a chronological point of view.

In this book, you will discover the characteristics of each god, each Titan and each mythological creature. We will detail the physical assets of the deities and what they represent.

We will see who created the Cyclops, how the womb of the goddess Hera made the Milky Way appear or why Cronos devours his children after having castrated his father.

Understand the works of art that evoke the Greek and Roman Gods (Renaissance paintings, statues, vases,...) from the knowledge you will acquire.

• Language: English
• Publisher: kevin tembouret
• Release date: Aug 21, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393342557

Book preview

Preface to the book

Greek mythology is equally unknown as well as known to all. Zeus, Athena, Cronos,... What are the links between these Gods? Who is the father of whom and to what do these deities correspond?

Although incest is a common practice in the lives of the Gods, genealogy can be easily understood if it is examined from a chronological point of view.

In this book, you will discover the characteristics of each god, each Titan and each mythological creature. We will detail the physical assets of the deities and what they represent.

We will see who created the Cyclops, how the womb of the goddess Hera made the Milky Way appear or why Cronos devours his children after having castrated his father.

Understand the works of art that evoke the Greek and Roman Gods (Renaissance paintings, statues, vases,...) from the knowledge you will acquire.

The appearance of the first Gods

Chaos: the primordial entity

Chaos

Before the existence of the Gods, there was Chaos. Before Chaos, there is nothing. It is the opposite of the organized Cosmos, that is, it is the disorder. He is not a God, only the first element of Greek mythology defined. Considered by Ovid as a formless and incomprehensible element, this inert mass includes all that forms without creating any link between its components.

It is said that even before the appearance of the Earth, there was already an infinite abyss into which one could fall in any direction.

Chaos is therefore a space, a medium, in which the possible is frozen in the state of the impossible. This primordial entity is what generates all the deities of Greek mythology. From Chaos appears the 1st generation of primordial divinities: Tartarus, Gaia, Eros, Nyx and Erebe.

The first primordial deities

Gaia

Considered as the mother goddess and guardian of divine power, Gaia forms the Earth by giving birth to 3 Gods who sculpt the world: Ouranos, Pontos and Ouréa.

The nature it represents is sometimes magnificent and harmonious, sometimes monstrous and chaotic. His descendants are varied thanks to his various creative unions: deities, Titans, Giants, monsters, kings,...

Roman mythology refers to Mother Earth as Gaia under another name: Tellus. In Art, she is represented by a gigantic, majestic woman with an imposing chest.

Erebia

God of darkness and darkness reigning in the underworld, he is at the origin of many deities through his union with his divine sister Nyx. When a being dies, he finds himself in Erebe, then transformed into a region of the Underworld where the dead are only a crowd of shadows.

Nyx

Nyx lives in the underworld as well as beyond the Atlas country. Wife and sister of Erebe, she is the goddess of the night.

Often depicted naked, black dominates her: either with a sheet falling down along her body or with dark wings. Fog appears above his head. She is sometimes found driving a tank in the starry night.

Eros

God of creative power and love, he is the one who allows Ouranos and Gaia to generate life. This wise and thoughtful divinity generates no other God and no other creature. He has no descendants although he represents the love that he is also known to be the God of pederasty. Sometimes seen as a God who makes man good and virtuous until his death, he is sometimes recognized as the one who lives for jouissance. His image balances between innocence and virility according to the writings. Eros finds love above