Great Books Week 5

GEC ELEC II: GREAT
BOOKS
Vanessa S. Benet, LPT.
THE TWELVE
OLYMPIANS

From Mythology:
Timeless Tales of Gods
and Heroes
By Edith Hamilton
THE TWELVE OLYMPIANS
 The twelve great
Olympians were supreme
among the gods who
succeeded to the Titans.
 Olympus is their home

(Mountain, Mt. Olympus
or a place above clouds)
Titanomachy
 The Titanomachy is a series of wars in Greek mythology.
 These wars took place in Thessaly, and were also called the War of the
Titans, the Battle of the TITANS, the Battle of the Gods or just the Titan
War.
 These wars were between the Titans, the older gods, and the OLYMPIANS,
a newer generation of gods.
 The Titans ruled Mount Othrys, and the Olympians would rule Mount
Olympus. The Titans and the Olympians fought to decide who would rule
the universe.
Titanomachy
 Before the war started the Titans were in power, and Uranus was in
charge of the universe.
 Uranus made his wife, Gaea was angry because he locked up some of her
children. These children were the Cyclopes and the Hecatonchires. He
locked them up in the Tartarus, which was a prison deep below the earth.
 Gaea and Cronus which is their son, overthrown Uranus.
 Uranus made a prediction that Cronus would be overthrown by his sons.

Because Cronus was afraid of losing the kingdom, he made the same
mistakes his father did and turned into a terrible, angry king and did lots
of horrible things to stay in power. He put his brothers back into prison
and ate his children, just to keep them from overthrowing him.
Titanomachy
 But Rhea, his wife, managed to fool Cronus and keep one of his
children safe.
 Once Zeus grew up, he went to his father’s mountain and served him
as a cupbearer. Zeus fool his father into drinking a mixture of
mustard in his wine. his caused Cronus to feel sick, and he threw up
all of his children that he had eaten, one by one.
 This starts another Titanomachy. Zues and his brothers and Sisters
rebelled against his father, Cronus. Zeaus set Cyclopes and
Hecatonchires free for them to help.
 The only titans that fought beside Zeus are Themis and Prometheus.
Titanomachy
 Atlas was a major leader on the side of the Titans and Cronus.
 After the war he imprisoned all of the Titans, and Hecatonchires

guarded the prison.
 Zeus punished Atlas differently by holding up the world.
 Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon decided to divide the universe into three
parts. They drew straws to see who would rule over which part. Zeus
drew the longest straw, so he was given the title of king of the sky.
This also meant that he was the head of mortals and all the gods, too.
Poseidon got the middle straw, so he became king of the sea. Hades
drew the shortest straw, so he became the ruler of the Underworld.
Titanomachy
 Zeus gave task to Prometheus and Themis, Themis is the one who'll
create animals and Prometheus will create the man.
 Themis took his job very seriously and finished all of the animals before
Prometheus had even decided what gifts to give mankind. By the time
Prometheus was ready to give mankind the gifts, Themis had already
used them all on the animals!
 Prometheus was so angry that he stole the godly fire back from Zeus, and
gave it to man. Zeus was so angry that he chained Prometheus to a
mountain forever.
Titanomachy
 Zeus was still so angry that he wanted to punish mankind. He did this by
creating a beautiful woman, named Pandora. Pandora was given a box with a
little bit of each of the gods’ powers. Pandora then married, and lived a very
happy life, until one day she got very curious. Pandora and her husband
decided to open the box.
 When they opened this box, all the evils of the world came spilling out.
 Zeus’ name is thought to have
originated from the Ancient
Greek word for “bright.” The
word has a close connection
with dies, which is the Latin
word for “day” and has a very
ancient history.
 He was Lord of the Sky, the

Rain-god and the Cloud-
gatherer, who wielded the
awful thunderbolt.
 His power was greater than
that of all the other divinities
together.
 Usually, Zeus is portrayed

with a scepter in one hand and
a thunderbolt in the other –
both symbols of his authority.
Sometimes he wears a crown
of oak leaves – the oak was
deemed to be his sacred tree.
The names of the Lovers of

Zeus included;
Antiope, Niobe,
Callisto, Io,
Danae, Semele,
Europa, Themis,
Electra, Mnemosyne,
Leda, Demeter and
Leto, Alcmene.
Taygete,
 Poseidon was the ruler of the sea, Zeus’
brother and second only to him in
eminence.
 His wife was Amphitrite, a granddaughter

of the Titan, Ocean. Poseidon had a
splendid palace beneath the sea, but he was
oftener found in the Olympus.
 He was commonly called “Earth -shaker”

and was always shown carrying his trident,
a three-pronged spear, with which he would
shake and shatter whenever he pleased.
 Hades was the third brother among the
Olympians, who drew for his share the
underworld and the rule over the dead.
 It was rare that he left his dark realm to

visit Olympus or the earth, nor he was
urged to do so. He was not a welcome
visitor. He was unpitying, inexorable, but
just; a terrible, not an evil god.
 His wife was Persephone (Proserpine),

whom he carried away from the earthand
made Queen of the Lower World.
 He was King of the Dead, not
Death himself, whom the Greeks
called Thanatos.
 The underworld is guarded by a

three headed dog named
Cerberus.
 Hestia was Zeus’ sister and like
Athena and Artemis, a virgin
goddess. She has no distinct
personality and she plays no part
in the myths. She was the
Goddess of the Hearth, the
symbol of the home, around
which the newborn child must be
carried before it could be received
into the family.
 Hera was Zeus’ wife and sister.
She was the protector of
marriage, and married women
were her peculiar care.
 The God of War Ares, son of Zeus
and Hera.
 He murderous, bloodstained, the

incarnate curse of mortals and
strangely, a coward, too, who
bellows his pain , and runs away
when he is wounded. Yet he has a
train of attendants on the battle
field which should inspire anyone
with confidence.
 Athena was the daughter of Zeus
alone. No mother bore her. Full -
grown and full armor, she sprang
from his head.
 She was Zeus’ favorite child. He

trusted her to carry the awful
aegis, his buckler, and his
devastating weapon, the
thunderbolt.
 Apollo the son of Zeus and Leto.
He had been called “ the most
Greek of all gods.” He is a beautiful
figure in Greek poetry, the master
musician who delights Olympus as
he plays on his golden lyre.
 He is God of Light, in whom no

darkness at all, and so he is God of
Truth. No false word ever falls
from his lips.
 Artemis is also called Cynthia, from her
birthplace, Mount Cynthus in Delos, Apollo’s
twin sister, daughter of Zeus and Leto. She
was one of the three maiden goddesses of
Olympus.
 She was the Lady of Wild Things, Huntsman-

in- chief to the gods, an odd office for a
woman.
 She is “the goddess with three forms, Selene

in the sky, Artemis on earth, Hecate in the
lower world and in the world above when it is
wrapped in darkness.
 Aphrodite is the daughter of
Zeus and Dione in the Iliad but in
the later poems she is said to have
sprung from the foam of the sea,
and her name was explained as
meaning “the foam risen.
 The Goddess of love, beauty

sexual pleasure, and fertility.
 Hermes is the winged herald and
messenger of the Olympian gods.
In addition, he is also a divine
trickster, and the god of roads,
flocks, commerce, and thieves.
 Hermes was the only Olympian

capable of crossing the border
between the living and the dead.
 Hephaestus is the god of Fire and
blacksmiths, Hephaestus sometimes
said to be the son of Zeus and Hera,
sometimes of Hera alone.
 Among the perfectly beautiful

immortals he was the only ugly but he
is kind hearted.
 Her significant other is non other than

Aphrodite, the Goddess of Beauty.
PERFORMANCE TASK
Direction: Pick a God or Goddess in the Twelve
Olympians and choose a well known personality
either locally and internationally that symbolizes
the God or Goddess that you picked. Site an
instance or similarities that you’ve noticed to be the
reason why you picked that certain personality. (5
sentences only)
Criteria

Content 4 points
Development 4 points
Organization of Ideas 4 points
Style 4 points
Grammar and Mechanics 4 points
Total 20 points
PERFORMANCE TASK
Directions: Identify the Olympian Gods/Goddess
being describe in each statement. (15points)

Great Books Week 5

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Great Books Week 5

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Great Books Week 5

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

GEC ELEC II: GREAT

 Olympus is their home

 Gaea and Cronus which is their son, overthrown Uranus.

 Uranus made a prediction that Cronus would be overthrown by his sons.

 After the war he imprisoned all of the Titans, and Hecatonchires

 Zeus punished Atlas differently by holding up the world.

 He was Lord of the Sky, the

 Usually, Zeus is portrayed

The names of the Lovers of

 His wife was Amphitrite, a granddaughter

 He was commonly called “Earth -shaker”

 It was rare that he left his dark realm to

 His wife was Persephone (Proserpine),

 The underworld is guarded by a

 He murderous, bloodstained, the

 She was Zeus’ favorite child. He

 He is God of Light, in whom no

 She was the Lady of Wild Things, Huntsman-

 She is “the goddess with three forms, Selene

 The Goddess of love, beauty

 Hermes was the only Olympian

 Among the perfectly beautiful

 Her significant other is non other than

You might also like