The Theogony

***Miscellaneous Myths: The Theogony (Greek Creation Myth)*** is the thirty-eighth episode of the *Miscellaneous Myths* by Red. *The Theogony* is Hesiod's account of the world creation myth as told by the Greeks, as well as the fullest account of the family tree of the Greek gods (all gods, not just the twelve Olympians). Along with the extensive Greek god family tree, Hesiod's *Theogony* also narrates the power struggle between the gods, how each divine ruler came to win kingship and was in turn overthrown by his successor, starting with Ouranos and ending with Zeus.

## Summary

Hesiod, a contemporary of Homer, and one of the earliest sources on Greek mythology that we have, attempted to outline the genealogy of every Greek god (all of them, not just the twelve Olympians) which resulted in his work titled 'The Theogony'. While Red, in terms of prose, doesn't find it a very interesting read, it's nonetheless useful.

The Theogony begins with Chaos, the primordial deity of the gap that existed in the beginning, which isn't alone for long as soon enough Gaia, Tartarus and Eros all pop into existence. Chaos then produces two deities of its own; Erebus and Nyx (and then vanishes off the narrative forever), while Gaia crafts a partner for herself; Ouranos, the sky to her earth. Gaia and Ouranos have three sets of children; first the Titans (Mnemosyne, Tethys, Theia, Phoebe, Rhea, Themis, Crius, Oceanus, Hyperion, Coeus, Cronus and Iapetus), then the Cyclopes (Steropes, Brontes and Arges) and lastly the Hecatoncheires (Briareos, Kottos and Gyges). All those children dislike their sire, and he responds by imprisoning his more monstrous-looking children (the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires) deep into the earth.

Gaia, annoyed at Ouranos, gathers her Titan children, and offering them a diamond sickle, asks them to help her take down Ouranos; only Cronus, the youngest, is brave enough and accepts. So the next time Ouranos comes close, Cronus ambushes him and castrates him, and supplants him as role of the universe. This is when Ouranos dubs Cronus and his siblings 'Titans', meaning 'stretchers'. As for his balls, the fall into the sea, and from the foam rises Aphrodite.

This marks the beginning of the Titan age, with Cronus as the ruler. Cronus takes his sister Rhea to wife, and they start having children, only for Gaia and Ouranos to warn him that he is fated to be cast down by one of his children. So Cronus resorts to eating each of his offspring as soon as they are born; first Hestia, then Demeter, then Hades, then Poseidon. Rhea gets fed up with this, and asks Gaia and Ouranos for help saving her sixth child, Zeus. Gaia raises Zeus in secret while Rhea gives Cronus a rock to eat.

When Zeus grows up, he decides the thing to do is to become lord of the universe. With the help of Metis, an Oceanid nymph, he slips Cronus a poison that makes him throw up the children he ate (plus the rock), now all grown up. Zeus, with his siblings and the Cyclopes he freed (who craft his lightning bolts) as his allies, declares war on Cronus and his allies which lasts for ten years, until Gaia suggests Zeus free the Hecatoncheires too, which turns the tide against Cronus.

Zeus, now king of the world, takes Metis to wife and she falls pregnant. Zeus, warned by Gaia and Ouranos that Metis is fated to have a girl and then a son stronger than Zeus, reacts by eating Metis, in a subsuming her essence and becoming wiser sort of way. This is roughly when Zeus decides to grow a beard, on Metis' suggestion.

   Zeus then marries Hera, and she has Ares and Hephaestus, while a fling with Leto produces Artemis and Apollo. And then one day Zeus has a headache so bad he literally splits his head open, allowing Athena, the daughter of Metis, to emerge fully-grown and armed. Then Zeus has Hermes by Maia and lastly Dionysus by Semele. Having successfully avoided the fate his father and grandfather suffered, Zeus then declares that he shall have sex with anything that has less than six legs (except for that one time he specifically had to avoid sleeping with Thetis, as she was fated to have a son stronger than his father) which is probably not the wisest move in a world where divine rulers are regularly overthrown by their children.

## Credits

In the credits, Red sings *Everybody Wants to Rule the World* by Tears for Fears.

## Characters appearing

Chaos

Gaia

Eros

Tartarus

Erebus

Nyx

Aether

Hemera

Ouranos

Mnemosyne

Tethys

Theia

Phoebe

Rhea

Themis

Crius

Oceanus

Hyperion

Coeus

Cronus

Iapetus

Steropes

Brontes

Arges

Briareos

Kottos

Gyges

Aphrodite

Hestia

Demeter

Hera

Hades

Poseidon

Zeus

Metis

Ares

Hephaestus

Apollo

Artemis

Athena

Hermes

Dionysus

Thetis

## Trivia

* This is the episode with the single largest number of Greek gods appearing, as, other than the twelve, a great number of minor gods appear as well.
	+ However, it is not the episode with the single largest number of *total* characters, beaten by *The Trojan War* with 44 characters against *The Theogony'*s 43.
* And this despite this video including less than half the gods mentioned by Hesiod.

## Notes

1. ↑ Hesiod writes that Gaia *gave birth to*, not created, Ouranos.
2. ↑ The author that has Ouranos imprison his less than pleasant-looking children is Apollodorus; Hesiod has him imprison them **all**, including the Titans.
3. ↑ Though Hesiod actually says that he put her in his belly.
4. ↑ The order presented here doesn't match Hesiod's, who has Zeus first have Artemis and Apollo by Leto, and \*then\* marry Hera.