Hesiod's origins of the Ancient Greek Gods

The main source that we can use today to determine the origins of the gods is found in the work of Homer. Homer lived around 750BC and his work is the most ancient source and was the most widely followed. This means that the oral traditions that were later written down that originated from Homer are the closest thing the Ancient Greeks had to a bible due to the lack of holy documents. Not long after Homer the poet Hesiod composed the origins of the Gods called the theogony. This tells the story of the mating of the goddess Gaia (earth) with Uranus (heavens) and the castration of Uranus by their son Cronos. From the severed genitals of Uranus came Aphrodite goddess of Love. To the ancient Greeks this story was a matter of faith and helped explain how and why the world works as it does. This came to be known as the origins of Greek mythology. The story continues with the freeing of his siblings from Gaia’s womb and these were known as the Titans. Cronos married Rhea but did not want children and ate every baby that was born due to his fear of being overthrown by them. Rhea hide one baby Zeus before he could be killed by his father. The image below depicts Rhea presenting a rock wrapped in a blanket disguised as their baby Zeus in order to trick Cronos into swallowing it. When Zeus had grown up he returned and killed his father cutting open his stomach.

 All of the children emerged from Cronos and this was the birth of the Olympian Gods. This theme of conflict between father and son was one that was very apparent in the lives of the Greeks. This is due to the close family life style many of them lead with a great concern over succession and the father and son fighting over power.