The Olympians, The Titans, and The Creation of Man… Greek mythology is an amazing, magical subject. Most of us wonder about what is true and what is not, however all of us are always eager to learn more about it.
The ancient Greeks had a time in the world, where everything being believed in, came from their stories and myths.
The ancient Greeks believed that at first, the world as we know it didn’t exist, that everything was in chaos. Then, out of nowhere, Erebus, which is where death dwells, appeared. With it, came the Night. Then, when order was still at its peak, Love was created, helping the order develop. From Love, came the light, and the day, and from the two of them, came Gaia, also known as the Earth. Erebus then slept with the Night, creating Ether, the heavenly light, and Day, the earthly light. The Night was presumably the producer of Death, Doom, Fate, Sleep, Dreams and Nemesis, amongst other creations.
Their beliefs are very complicated, and that’s not even the start of it. If you were able to keep up so far, and are interested in more, then read on.
Everything was created from the bases, which are mentioned above. Then, eventually, Zeus was born. Rhea, his mother sent him to Crete to be raised because her husband and brother, Cronus, ate all of his born offspring, which adds up to five. It is said that she got tired of her children being treated that way, so she decided that Zeus’s fate would be different. When he grew up, he killed his father, Cronus, and when he died, he threw up all of his children that were gobbled up by him. Seeing as they were all gods, they were unharmed. The ruling of certain parts of the world was divided between The Olympian gods, and The Titans.
The creation of man comes next. There were many myths and beliefs about this subject. Most saying that Zeus created man and loved him so, however, as always, there is a larger point of view.
Prometheus and Epimetheus were not imprisoned due to the fact that they stood aside while their fellow 
Titans during the war with the Olympians. After the war, they were given the task of creating man. Prometheus first created man simply out of mud, and then, Athena breathed life into its clay figure. The task of giving the creatures that inhabited the earth their qualities was left for Epithemeus. He gave all the creatures various qualities such as: swiftness, fur, wings, cunningness, etc. But when he came to man, he was out of good qualities, so Prometheus decided to give man the gift of standing upright, like the Gods did, and also the secret of fire.
Not long after the creation of man, Zeus declared that he wanted animal sacrifices to be made by the humans to the gods. Prometheus decided to trick Zeus, and so he created two piles of sacrifices: one with the bones of the animals wrapped in juicy fat, and another with good meat. He made Zeus pick one of the two piles. Zeus got the bones, and since Prometheus had given his word to Zeus for accepting future sacrifices, he always got the meaty flesh. Zeus was so mad that he took away man’s fire, but since Prometheus loved man so much, he lit a torch from the sun and brought it back to man.
Zeus was now beyond flaming, and so he decided to create an unbearable punishment for both man and Prometheus. For man’s punishment, he ordered Hephasteus to create a beautiful, mortal woman. After her creation, he had Hermes give her a deceptive heart and a lying nature. Her name was Pandora, and she was the first woman ever created. Then, she was given a jar which she was forbidden to open, and after that, she was sent to stay with Epimetheus, who was living amongst the humans. Pandora resisted the urge to open the jar for a mighty long time, however, at the end, her curiosity took over, and she opened it. All sorts of bad things introduced to man were released upon the humans as she opened the jar. But in between all the sorrow, plagues, and the evil held within was one good thing. Hope.
Prometheus’s punishment was more severe than the humans. So Zeus had his servants, Force and Violence, take Prometheus away and bind him up in the Caucasus Mountains. They chained him to a rock with unbreakable adamantine chains. Over there, he was tortured every hour of the day and night by a giant eagle eating and tearing at his liver. Zeus then gave Prometheus two ways out: Either he would tell Zeus who the mother of the child that was to dethrone him was. Or, first, an immortal had to sacrifice his life for Prometheus, and a mortal would have to kill the giant eagle.Eventually, the second condition was applied. The only immortal centaur, Chiron, offered to die for Prometheus, and Heracles ended up killing the giant eagle.
Marmara El-Masri
