Welcome to the blog !

Welcome to the blog Greek Mythos Basics, a blog entirely dedicated to Greek mythology. You will come out of here with the basics to understand the functioning of those fables, stories and myths. To find your way around here, it is advisable to use the "flairs" corresponding to the several categories presented here:

-Introductions and quizzes : (No flair)
Pages that test your knowledge. They are either incorporated in the post it's trying to test, or seperated by being another post. Be prepared !

-The Creation of the world :
How the world was created ? Who were behind it ?

-The Olympian gods:
A summary of the 1st and 2nd generation Olympian gods, who rule the Greek world.

-Heroes of Olympia :
The brave often demigods who bravely, forcefully and cunningly confront the worst monsters and trials that men and gods send them.

-Men, and gods :
Here, we explore the link between the mortal and their divine rulers, the rites, the religion and beliefs ...

-The Underworld :
This explains what becomes of humans after death. Will they be thrown in the Tartarus, will they have happy days at the Elysian Fields ?

-Greek Monsters :
Deadly creatures classified by their form. They’re generally here to be beaten by gods or heroes.

-The Greek gods today :
What did the myths left behind them ? What modern cultural examples are inspired by epic tales from this ancient era?

-Webography :
We're maye thieves, but we indicate where we borrowed our images and knowledge!


Have fun!!

Webograhpy : Picture sources

INTRO :
http://media.web.britannica.com/eb-media/22/95622-050-269FC1E3.jpg

DRAGONS :

https://www.deviantart.com/njoo/art/Hydra-115030951

https://clan-du-dragon.com/blogs/blog-le-clan-du-dragon/ladon

http://img.over-blog.com/500x334/3/36/75/51/Kathiopa/Apollon.jpg

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/806316071/mythic-battles-pantheon/posts/1737139
(Colchis)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hendrick_Goltzius_Cadmus_Statens_Museum_for_Kunst_1183.jpg?uselang=fr

GIANTS :

https://mythologica.fr/grec/titan.htm

https://mythologiegrecque.pagesperso-orange.fr/MonstresEtCreatures/Hecatonchires.htm

http://www.greceantique.net/cyclopes.php

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pergamonmuseum_-_Antikensammlung_-_Pergamonaltar_22.jpg?uselang=fr

https://mythologie-grecoromaine.fandom.com/fr/wiki/Talos

https://www.deviantart.com/alessandrogazzoli/art/Campe-665658108

http://portal-dos-mitos.blogspot.com/2014/06/geriao.html

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-most-fearsome-monster-in-Greek-Mythology-and-why

WILD BEASTS :

https://www.deviantart.com/liamsharp/art/Minotaur-506318590

https://owlcation.com/humanities/mythological_creatures

https://monstermovies.fandom.com/wiki/Nemean_lion

http://greektitans.blogspot.com/2011_11_01_archive.html

https://monsieur-mythes-22.skyrock.com/3241287819-Orthos.html

https://owlcation.com/humanities/The-Story-of-Laelaps-and-the-Teumessian-Fox-in-Greek-Mythology

https://www.pinterest.fr/pin/310044755575387324/

https://www.deviantart.com/moonxels/art/Stymphalian-Birds-646764004

https://sandrakitson.wordpress.com/2016/05/21/maras-diary-entry-ten-finding-papa-gur/

https://lancekelly.co.uk/the-myth-of-prometheus/

http://creaturespotlight.blogspot.com/2015/02/peryton.html

FEMMES FATALES :

https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Creatures/Echidna/echidna.html

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_William_Waterhouse_-_Ulysses_and_the_Sirens_%281891%29.jpg

https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-awesome-beings-in-mythology

https://aminoapps.com/c/pagans-witches/page/blog/the-empusa/wKLe_VRWiouWDoXqQBQ2eRd1vKkNQGLYYjV

https://www.pinterest.fr/pin/423619908672073540/

http://image.wikifoundry.com/image/1/bhIPAS6MdYEvL43x3JBuZw1684907/GW315H457

https://mythology.net/greek/greek-creatures/lamia/

https://www.deviantart.com/guthrieartwork/art/The-Harpy-174061908

https://www.quora.com/What-animals-is-the-Sphinx-made-of

https://www.writersgang.com/2018/04/18/%CF%87%CE%B5%CE%AF%CF%81%CF%89%CE%BD%CE%B1%CF%82-%CE%BF%CE%B4%CE%B7%CE%B3%CF%8C%CF%82-%CE%BC%CE%B1%CF%82-%CE%B5%CE%AF%CE%BD%CE%B1%CE%B9-%CE%BF-%CF%80%CF%8C%CE%BD%CE%BF%CF%82-%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%82/

UNDERWORLD :

https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Underworld

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hades

https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plik:SNGCop_053.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Three_Fates_by_Paul_Thumann.jpg

https://greek-myth.fandom.com/wiki/Elysian_Fields

https://www.alex-bernardini.fr/mythologie/le-tartare.php

OLYMIAN GODS :

https://bedifferentbaby.com/shop/12-olympian-gods-poster-in-a3-and-a4-size/

CREATION OF THE WORLD :

http://zeus-et-compagnie.over-blog.com/2015/09/gaia-et-ouranos-un-couple-pas-tres-unis.html

MEN AND GODS :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Artemis

https://sites.google.com/site/greecegetaway/acropolis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle

https://www.penn.museum/sites/greek_world/votives.html

https://www.britannica.com/sports/Olympic-Games

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthesteria

HEROES :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odysseus

https://fr.vikidia.org/wiki/Ariane_(mythologie)

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Kratzenstein_orpheus.jpg

https://www.louvre.fr/routes/heracles



BIBLIOGRAPHY :

https://www.amazon.com/Mythology-Dummies-Christopher-W-Blackwell/dp/0764554328

Underwold : Quiz time

Once again, it's time to test what you've learned about the desolate landscapes of the Underworld :

1) What is absolutely necessary to cross the first river of the underworld ?
-A decent burial
-A coin
-A dignified death
-A lifeboat

2) Who is Cerberus closest brother?
-Geryon
-Aphrodite
-Orthos
-The Chimera

3) Who are sent in the Underworld ?
-The criminals
-All the mortals
-The heretics
-The monsters

4) What’s the name of the dead people resting here ?
-The specters
-The zombies
-The souls
-The shadows

5) What is the river on which the gods take an oath?
-The Archon
-The Loire
-The Styx
-The Cocyte

6) Who is the wife of Hades, god of the underworld?
-Nereus
-Angela Merkel
-Hera
-Persephone

7) Who is the intruder among these four names?
-Alecto
-Megaera
-Thetis
-Tisiphone

8) How do the three judges distribute their work?
-According to the schedules of each one
-According to the victims of the crime
-Depending on the gravity of the crime
-Depending on whether the crimes are hidden or slandered

9) What does the Elysian Fields look like?
-Like a cloudy paradise, near the gods
-Like an ideal version of the terrestrial world
-Like a new world to explore
-Like a famous French avenue

10) What remarkable character torture is not present in Tartarus?
-Forced feeding
-The wheel of fire
-The unreachable fruits and water
-The endless barrel

ANSWERS:

2 3 2 3 3 4 3 4 2 1

Greek Monsters : Quiz time

Now it's time to test your knowledge about greek monsters :

1) Who was the father of most Giants before the era of the Olympian gods?
-Chronos
-Ouranos
-Cronos
-Thanos

2) What’s the answer of the famous Sphinx riddle ?
-The Lion
-The man
-Time
-The regenerating Salamander

3) What monster(s) did Ulysses prefer to face in the Strait of Messina?
-Mermaids
-Charybdis
-Scylla
-Migrants

4) How do one kill the Nemean Lion?
-By strangling it
-By burning it
-By repelling his breath
-By ignoring it

5) How was the Minotaur born?
-By a man cursed by the gods
-By mad love between a bull and a woman
-By the spontaneous creation of Poseidon
-By the magic of King Minos

6) What is the weakness of the Stymphale Lake Birds?
-Salt
-Fire
-Noise
-Light

7) What is the main characteristic of dragons from Greek mythology?
-Their psychic ability
-Their serpentine body
-Their burning breath
-Their green color

8) Which monster gave the constellation of the dragon?
-Ladon
-Python
-The Learning Hydra
-The Theban Dragon

9) What is the first role of cyclops upon their release by Zeus?
-Pastors
-Guardians
-Uber drivers
-Blacksmiths

10) What is the power of the (only) deadly Gorgon?
-Shooting lasers
-Vomiting a powerful venom
-Spiting a scolding breath
-Changing people into stone

ANSWERS:

2 2 3 1 2 3 2 1 4 4

Greek monsters : Dragons

THE DRAGONS :
In Greek mythology, dragons are unique creatures, guardians of divine treasures, and they haven't, unlike Western dragons, wings and fire breath, they’re also more serpentine like than the other classical European dragons.

-Lernaean Hydra:
A monstrous snake with 7 or 9 heads, living in the swamps of the lake of the same name. The Hydra is capable of poisoning the surrounding nature with its foul breath, polluting the water and air around it. But even more incredible is its ability to regenerate its heads, making it almost invincible. It was Heracles, during these 12 works, who had the idea of burning the stumps to cauterize the wounds, then buried the golden master head, immortal even when cut.

-Ladon:
A serpent with a thousand heads, each speaking a different language. Heracles killed him to recover the golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides. Hera, the goddess who sent him here, placed him as the constellation of the dragon in the sky.
Another legend said that Heracles knew this beast was too dangerous, so he sent the world-bearing titan Atlas to do the dirty work.

-Python:
A giant snake that protected an oracle at Delphi. Apollo killed him and seized his oracle. However, to avoid Gaia's anger, he created the Pythian games in honor of the serpent.

-The Colchian Dragon:
This is the snake guardian of the golden fleece that Jason must catch. He has several tongues, a shell crest and eyes that are always open. Since he never sleeps, Medea put him to sleep using a drug thrown in his eyes.

-The Theban Dragon:
This gigantic snake guards the fountain of Ares, god of war.
Cadmos killed him with a rock, then sowed the monster's teeth to give birth to the first inhabitants of the city of Thebes, the Spartans, whom he had to weaken before hiring them as masons.

Greek monsters : Wild beasts

WILD BEASTS:
Monsters represent men's instinctive fear of the wild world around them. It’s only natural that most monsters borrow their physique from animals that did exist.

-The Minotaur:
The fruit of the mad love between King Minos wife and a sacred white bull, this beast-like monster haunts the labyrinth built by Daedalus and regularly devours 14 young Athenians, since their city is subjected to the King of Crete. Theseus defeated the beast using a string to keep him from getting lost, then killed the monster with his sword.

 

-The Chimera:
A thing with the front body of a lion, to which is added the rear body of a goat and a snake-tail. The three heads are capable of spitting burning flames. The Chimera terrorized Cairo for years, before Bellerophon and Pegasus succeeded in putting an end to its reign of terror thanks to his arrows, or a lead lance having melted in its mouth.

 

-The Nemean Lion:
This imposing wildcat has a impenetrable skin that cannot be pierced by blades or stones, and his claws are very sharp. Heracles first had the idea of blocking the entrance of its cave to trap the beast, then shooting his arrows, without success. He then stunned the monster with his club to climb on the lion and strangle him, killing the lion without piercing his skin !

He made his invincible adornment by cutting the leather of the lion with its own claws.

 

-The Erymanthian Boar:
A huge wild boar thatravaged the crops of the snow-capped mountain it inhabited. It was an endurance test for both characters : Heracles pursued him and harassed him with stones until they reached the top, where the beast was finally caught by a trap in the snow. He then brought back the living beast to prove his victory.

-The Crommyonian Sow:
A female wild boar similar to that of Erymanthus. She terrorized the inhabitants of Crommyon before being killed by Theseus. A legend says that this beast is in fact a prostitute nicknamed “Sow” because of her brigand practices, and that she was killed by the hero.

-The Calydonian Boar:
A third boar! Son of the previous one, he was sent to the region by Artemis, vexed by the lack of offer during the feast. He's huge, has needle-like hairs, his tusks are like an elephant's, and his breath is hot, according to Ovid.
Many hunters were following him, including many Argonauts, during an epic hunt.

 

-Orthos:
A two-headed dog and brother of Cerberus, it’s the sheepdog of the giant Geryon, who keeps a herd of cattle. He was killed by Heracles with two blows of his club, before his master arrived.

 

-The Teumessian Fox:
A big fox sent to Thebes to eat the children of the inhabitants, following an abject crime.
The characteristic of this fox is that it is impossible to catch up. So Amphitrion asked Cephalus for help, Cephalus left his legendary dog Laelaps, a racing dog capable of catching any other being. In view of the paradox caused by the two animals, Zeus transformed them into stone.

 

-The Cretan Bull:
A sacred white bull offered by Poseidon to sacrifice it. He’s the father of the Minotaur (And "lover" of Mino's wife, Pasiphaë). However, Minos, not wanting to sacrifice such a beautiful beast, provoked the anger of the sea god who made the bull mad. Heracles was charged with capturing the bull, which he transported to Argolis. The bull found himself much later at Marathon, and was finally killed by Theseus.

 

-The Stymphalian Birds:
Anthropophagous birds created by Ares. Their feathers, beaks and talons are said to be made of bronze; and they killed by raining their feathers on their terrified preys.
These birds are very sensitive to metallic noises, which Heracles used in his fight against them using his shield and magic rattles.

 

-The Ceryneian Hind:
A very fast hind with brass (or bronze) hooves and golden horns. There are 5 of them, all female despite their male attributes.
One of them was chased by Heracles, he had to tire her out, then capture her without injuring her. He shot an arrow just between the bone and the tendon, stopping her without hurting her.

 

-The Caucasian Eagle:
Prometheus is the titan who brought fire to humanity. To punish him, Zeus sent him this bird.
He devoured his liver every day. Heracles, during his quest, killed the eagle and delivered the titan.

-Peryton:
Those half-birds half-deer hybrids were said to be the reincarnations of the surviving souls following the destruction of the mythic city Atlantis.
Is it said that in order to be free, they had to kill one human being.
They approached their victims, unaware of their monstrous nature du to the Peryton's human-like shadow, a vestige of their once human form.
The monster then killed its poor victim with brute strength.

Greek monsters : Femmes fatales

FEMMES FATALES :
In both senses of the word. For one part of them, "femme fatale" is to be taken as an expression: the charm of men is paramount for what they are.
And for 100% of them, this term is to be taken literally!

-Echidna:
A monster with the bust of a woman, but the pelvis and tail of a snake. She is known to attract men by its charms in its cave to devour them. But she is even more known for the monstrous descent she had with Typhon:
Cerberus, Orthos, the Theban Sphinx, the Teumessian fox, the Lernaean Hydra, the Chimera, Ladon, the Nemean lion, the Colchian dragon and finally the Caucasian eagle.

-Sirens :
These magnificent bird women have the particularity of attracting sailors by the beauty of their face and voice. The charmed sailors steer their boats towards the sharp reefs covered with human bones, remains of the previous victims of these deceptive monsters.
Nota bene, the Sirens of Greek mythology are very different from mermaids, since the latter have a human bust with a fish tail; while these sirens only have the head of a woman, the rest being avian.
The sirens were defeated twice:
By Ulysses, under the guidance of Circe, covered the ears of his companions and attached himself to the mast of the ship to hear every bit of their song; and Orpheus, covering their song with his mastery of the lyre.

-Charybdis and Scylla:
These two monsters live in the Strait of Messina, near Italy. Scylla is a half-dog, half-snake creature that always has 6 long heads emerging from its cave; who devour the unfortunate sailors who venture into the strait.
Charybdis is even more dangerous: We do not know its true appearance, but it manifests itself as a giant maelstrom swallowing and vomiting 3 times a day the water above it. Ulysses was right to prefer to go through Scylla which cost him only 6 men, instead of his entire fleet.

-Empusa:
A sort of demon serving Hecate, a hellish deity, emerging from the underworld to seduce young men to suck their blood. It is said to have a donkey leg and a bronze leg, and transform into a fiery spirit to reach her prey.

-Mormo:
The mind of a mad woman who devoured her own children. It’s actually a Greek equivalent of the Boogeyman. Its existence is vague because it is confused with Lamia and Empusa.

-Lamia:
One of the many lovers of Zeus, who was forced to eat her own children by the jealous Hera. Her madness due to her monstrous act transformed her into a horrible monster, with paws of a lion and a goat, a body full of scales and eyes unable to close. Afterwards, she eats other children so that other women share her suffering. Zeus, to appease her, gave her the power to remove her eyes to rest from the horrors she witnessed.
Some myths give her the lower body of a snake, and made her drink the blood of the young men she seduces, like the Empusa. Sometimes, mythology is not crystal clear unfortunately...

-The Gorgons:
Three sisters cursed by the gods, Euryale, Stheno and Medusa (the only one mortal.) They are represented like women with hair of snakes, sometimes with a snake tail, a fat tongue as well as tusks of a wild boar. Medusa and her sisters have the frightening power of petrifying their terrified victims by simply looking at them. Medusa was defeated by Perseus, seeing her indirectly thanks to his bronze shield. Her head was attached to the Aegis, the shield of Athena, and still serves as a formidable weapon.

-The Harpies:
Resembling the sirens previously mentioned, by their female heads and avion (here, vultur)) bodies, they are however ugly, stinky (the stench of a corps) and aggressive. These messengers from the Underworld catch souls and children; and punish those cursed by the gods by defecating and stealing their food.

-The Theban Sphinx :
It has a lion body, a woman's head, sometimes an eagle's wings and a snake's tail. She kept the path leading to Thebes and tackled the travelers on the ground, then posed her famous riddle :

“What goes on four feet in the morning, two feet at noon, and three feet in the evening? »
She devoured those who did not answer the riddle correctly.
Only Oedipus succeeds : The answer was the man :

As a toddler, walking on all four; as a mature man, walking normally; and as an old man, walking with a cane.

This filled the Sphinx with spite, so she committed suicide.

It’s said that there is another version of the riddle :

"There are two sisters: one gives birth to the other and she, in turn, gives birth to the first. Who are the two sisters?"

The answer ? Day and night.

 

-The Centaurs:
A group of men have slipped into this female only category !
They are a race of creatures with human bust grafted directly on the neck of a horse.
In fact, the horse form is the most common, called "Hippocentaure". There are also centaurs with bull, donkey, or fish bodies. Aside from their physical peculiarity, they are rather rough, mastering the use of bows and clubs; drunkards, their drunkenness leading them to fight violently against those who irritated them, and also women lovers, to the point of trying to rape them.

Greek monsters : Giants

MONSTERS OF THE GREEK MYTHOLOGY:

The world of Greek mythology is filled with creatures more vile than the other, and we’ll take a look at some of them. For our fist category, the giants :

GIANTS :
These creatures are, as their name suggests, gigantic. Their birth dates back before the existence of the Olympian gods; and most were born from Ouranos, the Sky, and Gaia, the Earth.

-Titans and Titanides:
The 1st generation of Ouranos and Gaïa's children. Cronos, the Titan leader, cut Ouranos' penis to free his brothers and sisters. Then, after having freed the Cyclops and the Hecatoncheires from Tartarus, all of them waged war against their father. But the vile Titan then betrayed the cyclops and the Hecatoncheires, and sent them back to the Tartarus.

After an epic fight, called "Titanomachy"; were they confronted the betrayed weird-eyed giants, the Olympian gods and some others beings, some titans were locked in this hellish place.
Other Titans, being neutral or having helped the gods, were rewarded by the gods.

-Hecatoncheires:
Humanoids beings with 100 arms and 50 heads. They were precious allies of the Olympians during the Titanomachy: in fact, enraged that the Titan Cronos betrayed them once Ouranos was defeated, they joined the camp of Olympians and cyclops to lock up the Titans traitors in Tartarus. Today, they are the guardians of this sinister place, seeing everything down here.

-Cyclops:
Gigantic characters with a single eye, also locked in Tartarus by Cronos, like their brothers with 100 arms. Cyclops are very good at forging legendary weapons, in fact they are the one behind the weapons of the Olympians during the Titanomachy, like the lightning of Zeus!
Their children will work as blacksmiths, builders; and less honorably, pastors who eat humans and sheep.

-Giants :
They are the only ones born not from the union of Gaia and Ouranos, but from the latter's blood after Cronos cut his penis.
These monsters, sent by Gaia, faced the Olympian gods and their allies after the Titanomachy, and were massacred despite their strength and resistance greater than that of the gods, during the Gigantomachy. Ruse is the key to defeat the one stronger than you !
As depicted by the picture, they sometimes have snake tail legs.

-Talos:
A giant made entirely of bronze. It is not known if he is the last survivor of the Bronze race (a race of Bronze Age men); or an automaton created by Hephaestus.
He protects the island of Crete and its king Minos.
This immense colossus threw rocks at the boats or scalded the intruders by pressing them on his bronze body heated by the sun.
His only weakness is his heel, which has a nail blocking his unique vein.
Medea enchanted his mind to drive him mad. In his frenzy, he tore off the nail on a rock and emptied himself of his ichor, the divine equivalent of blood, which each god possesses.
Hephaestus is known to build several automatons, most of them being inoffensive dogs, servants or even silly tripods, serving the meal at Olympus ! 

-Campe:
A hideous creature who watched cyclops and Hecatoncheires under the orders of Cronos.
She appears as a winged woman with bat wings, fish scales and snake hair; the bottom is also made of many vipers, its neck is decorated with many heads of ferocious beasts (wild boars, lions, dogs ...), it has sharp claws. Finally, a monstrous scorpion roams its body freely.
Zeus killed her when he delivered the cyclops and the Hecatoncheires

-Geryon:
A giant with three torsos attached to his pelvis. It is therefore a triple threat for herd thieves! Heracles confronted him after killing his two-headed dog, Orthos. Despite the giant’s 3 helmets, 3 spears and 3 shields, an arrow poisoned with Hydra’s venom struck him down.

-Typhon:
The ultimate threat from the Olympian gods. Its origin would be due to the union of Gaia and Tartarus.
This destructive monster represented as a donkey (yes) with bat wings, fingers and legs made of snakes and eyes filled with lava is a destructive, violent and beastly deity.
He is also the father of many deadly creatures, which he had by uniting with Echidna.
Typhoon grew in one day, until it reached the sky; the gods then fled to hide from him. Zeus, armed with the sickle used to cut the penis of Ouranos, tried to defeat the beast, but he lost; was then locked up in a cave without his tendons, under the supervision of Delphyny, an half woman half snake creature.
Hermes put the woman to sleep and stitched up the god, who then recovered his lightning.
The Moirais, meanwhile, deceived Typhon by offering him fruits supposed to make him stronger but, in reality, to make him weaker.
Zeus finished the monster and buried it under Etna, a volcano still active today.

The Underworld

But where do the men go once they died ?

Underworld awaits them, a kingdom ruled by Hades, an Olympian god. One important thing :

Greek Hell is not like the Christian one, a fiery place filled with tortured torturers, reserved for criminals and heretics.
No, the Greek Underworld is a place for all humans who have passed away, and the precise destination of a soul depends of its life. We will see the stages of progression in this dismal world :

The funeral:
The first crucial step to access the Underworld is a correct burial. It is necessary to bury the deceased and place a coin in his mouth (obolus). Those who are not buried properly are condemned to wander on Earth for decades, or to be stranded in front of the Archeron river.
Indeed, to cross this river, Charon, an old ferryman, must take them (at the cost of an obolus) to the gates of the Underworld.

The gates of the Underworld :
Once at the gates, the dead can no longer retreat, at the risk of being attacked by Cerberus, a terrible giant black dog with three heads, scolding breath and snakes around the neck.
Once you get trough the gate, you can “admire” the landscape of this desolate place :
Everything is the opposite of life on the surface: The night is eternal, it's cold, humid, dark. Only withered trees decorate the ground. The shadows of most people wail as they wander this place, frustrated with their ghastly condition...

The Rivers :
The underworld is crossed by 5 magical rivers: Archeron, Charon’s river; Phlegeton, river of fire; Cocyte, rivers of lamentation; the Lethe, river of Forgetfulness and finally the famous cold Styx.
It is on this river that the gods take an oath. If they break their word, they lose their divine privileges for a decade !

The suzerains of the Underworld :
Sinister deities are installed in the heart of this grim place.
There is Hades, god of the Underworld, considering shadows as his subjects; and his wife Persephone, who’s also the daughter of the goddess of agriculture.
There are the Furies, three old women, Alecto, Tisiphone and Megaera, called the Eumenides (benevolent) so as not to attract their anger. They torture some convicts by whipping them with snakes.
The harpies, a mix between old hags and vultures, also live here. These monsters sometimes take souls or children straight to the Underworld, and punish men by stealing or defecating on their food.
The Moirai fix the fate of each person: Clotho spins the thread on her distaff, Lachesis reels it to give them their lifespan and Atropos cut it to complete the life of the person.

Finally, the deceased will have to confront the three judges of the Underworld:
Minos, King of Crete, judges the false defendants. Aeacus, son of Zeus, judges the criminals known for their crimes, and finally Rhadamantus, son of Zeus too, takes care of those who have hidden their misdeeds.
Their terrible judgment fixes the fate of the dead, being sent to the Elysian Fields if he behaved well or was heroic;or in Tartarus if he was a terrible criminal, and staying here in the Asphodel Meadow otherwise.

The Elysian Fields :
The Greek equivalent of paradise. Valorous warriors, city founders, pious priests, and talented artists are gathered here, their dedication mankinds allow them to stay here. These fields resemble an improved version of the terrestrial grass fields, with fresh springs, beautiful vegetation, a mild and perfect climate ...
Residents know neither work nor the pain. They can play sports, dance or sing, or just rest.
However, this world is quite illusory, it is a non-real and material world, and for some characters like Achilles, reality, although sometimes cruel, remains preferable to this tasteless illusion. He will rather be a living enslaved peasant than the king of the Elysian residents.

The Tartarus:
The Greek equivalent of Hell. Convicts undergo torture or endless labor to punish them for their atrocious crimes.
It’s a dry, windy and dark desert surrounded by bronze grids. The tortured are tormented there for eternity: Traitors, tyrants and vile criminals will end here sooner or later.
Tantalus, for having served his son at the table of the gods, is condemned to eternal hunger and thirst while the water and the fruits are constantly retreating when he tries to approach them.
Sisyphus, for having deceived death twice, is condemned to push a rock at the top of a mountain, while this rock descends after each climb.
Ixion, for his perjury, his murder and his affront to Zeus, is condemned to the flaming wheel that never stop its race.
The giant Tityos, after attacking Apollo and Diane’s mother, is forced to lye on the ground, while is liver being eaten by vultures. His liver is obviously reconstituted after each bird meal !
The Danaïdes, 49 sisters who killed their husbands together, are condemned to fill a bottomless barrel for eternity.

The Olmypian gods

The Olympian are the gods currently ruling the world. Unlike the previous Titans, and other monstrous gigantic beings, each god represent an aspect of the nature and life of the Greek world, and minor divinities are often under their control; like Eros being serving his mother Aphrodite.

Now the first generation of Olympians they are born to the union between Cronos and Rhea. This union is very important because the gods come after will constitute a central cornerstone of the mythology Greek. Cronus later married his sister Rhea but became as bad a father as his father by swallowing each of his children. The only survivor of this terrible family murder: Zeus. He will grow up removed from his country without his father knowing about it. Once he grew up he ended up taking revenge by making his father vomit, which thus released his brothers and sisters the Olympians. You can imagine that this first generation of God is not really thrilled with their father’s behavior. Thus Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Poseidon, Hades and Zeus decide to rise up against their father. Many gods are famous had to the marriage between Cronos and Rhea, these gods are:

-Hestia is the goddess of home

-Demeter is the goddess of grain, agriculture, nourishment. She is the Persephone’s mother

-Hera is the goddess of marriage and she is the legitimate wife of Zeus

-Hades is the of hell and the dead persons. He is married to Persephone

-Poseidon is the god the sea and the oceans. He is often represented with his trident and where he triggered earthquakes. He is the brother of Zeus and Hades

-Zeus is king of gods. He is often represented with a lightning on this hand

Then Zeus had many relations with different goddess and humans. Zeus and the others gods create the next generation. The relations with goddess are most important here

Child with Metis

-Athena is the goddess of intelligence

Child with Demeter

-Persephone is the goddess of the hell like Hades and she is married with

Child with Maia (goddess of growth)

-Hermes is the messenger of gods and especially Zeus. He is the god of travel communication and thieves

Children with Hera

-Hephaestus is the god of blacksmith

-Ares is the god of war

-Hebe is the goddess of youth

-Heileithyia is the goddess of childbirth

Children with Leto

-Apollo is the god of beauty and medicine

-Artemis is the goddess of hunt

Child with Semele

-Dionysus is the god of wine and festivals

This is the case with Zeus' bonds and divine births. It should be noted that Zeus also had many relations with Mortals who therefore begot demigods.

 

QUIZ

-How many entities create the Chaos ?

-Why Gaia demand to Cronus to take the father’s place on the throne ?

-What did Rhea do to protect the last son to Cronus ?

-Poseidon and Hades, who are they ?

(Author : Aaaaa )