Mythology-a site worth checking out.

I have found some extremely interesting videos on certain subjects dealing with the subjects of mythology. Check out the history channel. It's amazing the stuff you can find on there. Click on the TV Show tab and then click on Clash of the Gods. You can watch Hercules, Medusa and Odysseus. There is a search box that you can use to type in Zeus and it should bring up a video of Zeus also.

Right now the history channel is also running shows about Halloween and how it came to be. (Thank you Pagan's in Scotland). Very cool and interesting shows. Have fun and explore the site. You'll be sure to find something that interests you on there.

Brightest blessings.

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Mythology-the Legend of Zeus.

Are you ready, because here we go. Time to get a drink/snack, settle down in a comfy place and let’s explore. You may even find this fun, fascinating and even learn something. Okay, now who hasn’t heard of mythology? There is much of it out there. You have Greek mythology, Roman mythology, Egyptian mythology, etc.. There are many Gods/Goddess’s like Zeus, Neptune, Ares, Hera, Athena, Poseidon, the Sun God, the Moon Goddess, oracles, the God(s) of war, love, fertility, and many others. I have only touched on naming a few. We are going to do some exploration on how some of this mythology came about. First, we will touch on the Greek mythology, the history and folklore. Now what you must keep in mind and remember, is that centuries (more like millenniums ago), this is what ancient people believed. So if you believe in re-incarnation, it is possible that you could have lived during this time and believed in it and lived your life abiding by it, so don’t knock it, just keep an open mind.

It is also a good thing to keep in mind, that back in this era, the world was mysterious, had unexplained happenings and could be very terrifying because of these happenings, like death, eclipses and seasons. There were no scientists, computers, newspapers or journals - nothing. So you can best bet that wondering how the world was made, what the world consisted of, planets, universe, and if the world was round or flat, was maybe not even a thought back then. I am not even sure if writing was around as a way of communication. Pictures may have been the way to tell stories and they were carved and painted on walls in caves, monuments, etc.. So in order for people to understand why things happened (floods from a lot of rain, tornado’s, monsoon’s, hurricane’s, lightening, fire from lightening strikes, the reasoning on why ships may sail away and are never heard or seen from again, an abundance of bugs, unexplained sea creatures that may sting, stink or look horrifying and odd, and the list goes on and on), it is very possible that the gods were created to help make sense of it all and ease them into a way of life that they could comprehend. Seriously, take the sky for example, you look up at it and it is vast and blue, later on there are white puffy things in it (which we know as clouds), a little while later the white puffy things are no longer puffy, but are all joined together almost like waves and then the sky gets dark, angry and storms occur or perhaps a lunar or solar eclipse takes place or it becomes night with bursts of stars and so the world is blanketed with all these small twinkling lights above our heads. But then again, some nights could have been so cloudy that no stars were even seen. All these examples, could certainly prove to be frightening in one way or another.

History tells us that Zeus lived way before Jesus Christ was even thought of or before the Catholic/Christian religion was invented. So, let’s touch on some facts on what we know about Zeus.

For some, well, let me rephrase that, at one time Zeus was the god of gods. But how did his legend come about? How did Zeus become the mightiest of all Gods? Humankind is surmised as having a mother and a father, right? So if Zeus was the ruler of all gods, how did he come about? Who are (were) his mother and father? Did he have parents or was he just constructed and invented to help the ancient people of Greece make sense of a troubling and mysterious world? How did he get so powerful, so known, and so feared? Let’s explore how Zeus came about.

From what I understand, Zeus first came into existence before 500 BC. Somewhere around 700 BC, there was a man named Hesiod, whom I understand as being a Greek poet. (Well I guess writing symbols were around during that era -I stand corrected). From what history tells us of Hesiod, he wrote a book called the Theogony, which explains the traditions and lore surrounding the gods. In this book, Hesiod explains that he was pasturing sheep when Muses inspired him to compose this and tell of the creation. This book explains how a rivalry takes place within a family. By explaining this, it helps to make some sense of the world then and bring a certain type of order to all the mystery surrounding the gods.

Zeus was created much like us humans. He did have parents. His father was Cronus. Back in the day, Cronus was the most powerful of all gods. He was the creator. He could punish or he could reward and so it was of the utmost importance to abide to Cronus’s rule and keep it upheld. Cronus was produced by Gaia (Earth) and Uranus (Heaven/universe) who were the parents of the Titan gods. Cronus was the youngest of the Titans and was a king to the Titans, who are considered an older order of the Greek Gods and who were considered the most powerful gods in the universe. Now what comes to mind about Gods and a favorite past time of theirs? Procreation, right? Well, as a king and the most powerful god of all, Cronus was expected to mate and produce. Being a god, you didn’t have a variety of people to chose from. After all, it’s not like being human. Cronus looked to his family, the Titans, and he chose his sister (Rhea), a fellow Titan, to marry and have as his wife. Together, Cronus and Rhea had six children.

I am sure the thought of incest appalls you, as it does me, but remember they didn’t have much of a choice back then. They were gods and gods could do what they wanted, when they pleased to do so. There were not many families within the gods’ realm so they tended to choose from their own. They did not have the worry of cross breeding, deformalities or disease within their bloodlines. Throughout history, there are many stories concerning incest from the Egyptians to the Romans. We will touch on those stories at another time. Let’s get back to Cronus and Rhea.

Around the time where Rhea first conceived, there was a prophecy going around about how a son will dethrone Cronus and seize it for himself. This story did not set well will Cronus. The gods did not believe in handing down certain titles, responsibilities or legacies. The gods did not just ‘retire.’ So what Cronus opted to do was to eat his offspring after Rhea gave birth to them. As you can imagine, this was quite appalling to Rhea (as it was to humankind-mortals). Each time Rhea gave birth, she had to present the child to her husband (Cronus) and he swallowed the child down whole. Yes, this is on the lines of cannibalism, but in the reality of Cronus’s thinking, he was preventing his being dethroned by any of his children and at the same time, since they were not mortals and didn’t die, he was controlling their destinies and using their specialities/gifts/wisdom as his own and making himself more powerful and wise in all aspects. The offspring that Cronus and Rhea produced are known in history as the Olympians. They are the parents of Hades (god of the dead, god of the underworld, ruler of the world of the dead, damned or also known as hell), Poseidon (god of the sea, god of earthquakes), Hestia (virgin goddess of hearth, family, hospitality and the first born of Cronus and Rhea), Demeter (goddess of the harvest, nourisher of mankind), Hera (queen of the gods, also known as the goddess of marriage and weddings), and Zeus (known as the supreme god). We will touch more on the siblings of Zeus later. (Add some links for people to read).

As with most mortal families, things are passed down from generation to generation. Father’s pass businesses down to sons, pass names down (like Jr., II, III and so forth), houses, property, farms, etc.. However, for the gods, if you stood a risk of losing something meaningful and worthwhile, like a throne, you would watch the children. At times throughout history, children were even killed or abolished in order to keep from gaining the throne. This is present in the Egyptian period and the Roman period. There was much jealousy and rivalry when it comes to the thrones or any type of ruling power.

However, Cronus was fearful of losing his reign of power and would do what he must to protect it at all costs. Rhea, on the other hand was quite smart and delved a plan to save her sixth child (Zeus) from the same fate as her other five children. She snuck away to give birth. It is said that Zeus was whisked away to a cave and was protected until he came of age, where he could fulfill his prophecy by freeing his siblings and taking over his father’s thrown. The risks were incredibly high. If Zeus succeeded, he would be the most powerful ruler of the gods and mortal men, but if he lost, he would spend all eternity being damned in Tartarus, compliments of his father (Cronus) for committing an offense against the gods, Meanwhile, Cronus was expecting to swallow another child once Rhea gave birth. So what she did was wrap up a stone with a blanket and presented it to her husband to swallow, which he did.

Zeus ended up being raised in a cave supposedly on Crete. Now, could this really be true? Archeologists who have excavated caves on Crete, have found one in particular that bear signs that this story could be true. Many objects were found, but those objects could have been left there by people who went to that cave to worship Zeus or perform rituals for his looking upon them favorably and as a result, they left the offerings to him which were found by the excavators. Anyway, Zeus grows and prepares for his destiny. When Zeus is finally ready to start his plan in action, the story goes that he made a concoction of some sort, a potion, and ended up putting the concoction in a chalice that his father would usually drink from and as a result, Cronus would regurgitate the five siblings. Zeus’s hope was that his siblings would be grateful to him for freeing them and would want to join him in his quest to take over the universe from their father. But Zeus knew that he and his siblings were still no match to take on their father and the titans. Zeus would need more help in order to take down his father from the kingdom he ruled.

(Now, there is a second story saying that Rhea freed the siblings. According to other exploration, I came across a story that states when Rhea fed her husband, Cronus, the blanketed stone in place of baby Zeus, Cronus became ill and threw up the stone and all the siblings. I used the first story because of how it ties in better with Zeus mixing a concoction and due to it allowing him the time needed to mature and grow to adulthood first. I do not know how the mixture was administered, whether Zeus snuck in and put it in the chalice or if he gave it to his mother, Rhea, to do so).

Ancient history tells us that the gods/goddess’s lived and dwelled on Mt. Olympus. We all know that Mt. Olympus is a real place and it does exist. This is located in Greece and it is the tallest place within Greece, which is most likely why it is associated with the gods of that day. Mankind needed and felt compelled to have a place to see so they could relate to where heaven was. Mt. Olympus served that purpose. Mankind could envision the majestically rich surroundings, lushness of nature, plentiful feasts and endless wine, not to mention the extravagant homes and dwellings of the gods/goddesses.

According to the Greek myths, Cronus ended up drinking this potion, and feeling ill, up came the rock that was swallowed in place of Zeus. The rock, as legend has it, rests today at the Temple of Delphi, known as a very sacred place and home of the oracle. It still exists today after all these thousands of years. After vomiting the rock, Cronus vomits each of the five siblings, who, after being freed and are now full grown adults like Zeus, they are ready to join Zeus and help in his revolution. Zeus is found to be extremely intelligent. After all, he had the idea to free his siblings and get them on his side, but he needed more to fight in this cause. He had years to plan and he knew of other family members being mistreated, poorly treated, damned and banished by Cronus. Yes, even the gods had family fights and feuds. Zeus went on a mission to find the estranged and banished family members, hoping they would be out for revenge and would fathom to join him in this crusade. If he could free them and show that he knows how to treat others, this could be just what he needs to help him. Search he did and so he found the cyclops and what is known as the 100 hands (100 handers). The cyclops, for those of you who aren’t familiar, have one big eye in the center of the forehead and can be considered as giants. The 100 hands (handers) are beings that have many, many arms and hands (almost like and very similar in a few ways to the Indian Goddess Kali who has the four arms and represents love and mothering). Cronus feared them because of their powers and so they were banished and placed in a prison where Cronus didn’t have to worry that they would one day cause harm to him or take over his dictatorship. But just as Zeus had planned, he found them and freed them and the result of this gesture is that the 100 hands and the cyclops’s were happy to be freed from their prison and would fight on his side.

The cyclops showed gratitude to Zeus by presenting him with a power that he became extremely well known for. The power of lightening, yep, he was awarded the lightning bolt, which is capable of mass destruction. Now, the battle lines are set and the battle begins between father and son for the control of the universe. For the mortals on earth, this must have been so terrifying and earth shattering or earth quaking. Did this battle really happen? There is a place in Greece along the islands (Santorini) that could certainly be appropriate for such a battle force to take place. Mythology uses this island as the place of battle, which Zeus emerges as the victor and the legend states that the Titans are banned to spend eternity in Tartarus which is a region in the underworld much like hell. Zeus is the grand ruler of all the universe and master of mankind.

Many of the gods/goddesses had humanlike characteristics. They were in the forms of humans and even had certain qualities of humans, example, Hera with jealousy and Zeus enjoyed conquering females (whether goddesses or mortals) and forming unions. According to legend, with every coupling that Zeus had (goddess or mortal), a child was always the outcome.

Now, when we continue on the part two, we'll discuss how zeus eats his first wife over fear of his children taking over his reign (like his father) and how he marries his sister Hera, how Hera gets upset over zeus’s affairs with other women. We'll touch on how Zeus had his brother and son (by Hera) construct the walls of Troy and of the flood concocted as a punishment for cannibalism that Zeus witnessed humans doing. Pretty neat stuff, hunh?



Footnote:
Hesiod’s book Theogony is almost on the lines of the Book of Genesis to us in terms of young Zeus being whisked away and protected from harm until he can fulfill his destiny. It is very similar to the story of Jesus Christ and Moses who were hidden in Egypt.

Update on mythology blog.

Greetings, everyone! A few weeks ago I did a post about upcoming blogs on mythology. Well, school-wise, I only have a few short weeks left in my class, but I have found some really exciting stuff that ties in with what I wanted to blog about. I am going to get some of these listed so if you are interested in mythology, you will absolutely love what I will put up.

My one and only posting on mythology was about Zeus and how his legend came into being. That seems so long ago. I found more info on Zeus that is even better than anything I could have written about. It's a video that mentions much of what I wrote about, yet it includes much more detail-all very interesting. It also includes info that I wanted to write about in part two of Zeus's posting, but this video will hit on those things which will save me time in writing about it.

I am so far behind with all my blogs. I have been so busy these last few weeks, so I do apologize for taking so long in getting it 'together.' So stay tuned because I am working on this today and will have some info up today for sure.

Thank you for your patience and brightest blessings to all!