In the beginning, there was Chaos. Everything was confused; nothing was organized. All the elements, the Earth, the water and the colours were mixed together. At a certain point Gaea was born from the Chaos.ΓÇóHer name means Earth and this goddess was considered the mother of all beings, of the whole creation, and also of the gods. Her name means Earth. The ancients worshipped her, as human beings knew that she gave life to animals and fruits which were essential to human beings' nourishment and survival. ΓÇóGaea got married to Uranus, (the Sky). She gave birth to the Titans, Cyclops, Giants, and to the monster, Typhon. Uranus feared to be dethroned by his children. For this reason he pushed them back in their mother's body. But one of his children, Cronus, helped Gaea to avenge herself and mutilated his father. Aphrodite was born from the blood-drops which fell into the sea. Cronus seized the power.ΓÇóHis name means "Time" in Greek. The time which swallows everything. The idea to be dethroned by one of his children, like his father, obsessed him. This is the reason why as soon as his wife's Rhea (Cybele) gave birth to a baby, he swallowed him. Rhea was angry to lose her children. When she bore Zeus, she hid him in a cave on Mount Ida in Crete. Rhea wrapped a big stone in baby-clothes, and she gave it to Cronus. He swallowed it, without chewing and not realizing the truth.ΓÇóZeus was suckled by a goat, Amalthea, and he was looked after by two Nymphs. Their companions danced and made a noise to keep the baby's crying from Cronus' ears. At last, when Zeus was grown, he forced his father to disgorge all his brothers, together with the big stone. There followed a long war between Cronus, helped by some Titans, against Zeus, helped by Poseidon, Hades, the Cyclops, and three Giants. Zeus won, and his brothers accepted his authority.ΓÇóZeus tied Hera to the vault of heaven with an anvil bound to her ankles, when she persecuted Heracles, his son. While he threw Hephaestus, Hera's son, down the Olympus, when he tried to defend her. He punished Tantalus, with the famous torment, because he had served human flesh to the gods; Prometheus was punished, because he had created mankind, and then he had stolen the fire to give it to human beings as a present; Sisyphos tried to blackmail Zeus, for this reason he was sent to push a boulder up an hill in the Tartarus for ever. Moreover Zeus compelled Apollo and Poseidon to serve mortals, as they rebelled against him.ΓÇóAs king of all gods, he kept for himself the kingdom of the Sky. While he gave the Sea's kingdom to Poseidon, and the Underworld to Hades. As god of the Sky, Zeus was armed with thunderbolts and he threw them with a thunder to make his anger heard. Unlike the other gods, he did not take any side when mortals quarrelled, but he was impartial. Nevertheless, his wrath struck whoever offended him: he punished hard the gods and the mortals who opposed to his will.ΓÇóWomen were the only Zeus' weak point; he loved a large number of goddesses and mortal women, and he changed himself in many ways to win all their hearts. He had many wives among the goddesses, but at last he got married to Hera. Nevertheless he went on to be unfaithful to Hera, this aroused her terrible wrath, as she was very jealous. Her jealousy and their quarrels often caused many troubles to gods and to human beings, and even wars. Poets have always considered the change between the good and the bad weather as the consequence of Zeus' and Hera's squabbles and reconciliations.The first wife of Zeus was Meti (= Wisdom).ΓÇóAccording to a prophecy Meti's son would have been more powerful than Zeus, for this reason he decided to swallow his pregnant wife to prevent the birth of their child. Nevertheless the baby continued to grow inside his body, and when Hephaestus gave him a blow with an axe to cure his headache, Athena sprang from Zeus' head, full-grown and in full armour. He was called "the father of gods ", as he had given birth to almost all gods of the Olympus with a large number of goddesses. In Greece, there is a mountain, the Olympus. It is the highest of the peninsula, even if it is not very high. Moreover its top is always covered by storm clouds, with thunderbolts and thunders.
