Greek Mythology
Major Gods
Zeus was the king of the gods. His symbols were the thunderbolt, eagle, bull, and oak tree. He was the god of the sky and lightning. His father Kronos ate his siblings Hestia, Demeter, Poseidon, Hera, and Hades after learning that one of his sons would overthrow him. Later, Zeus was born in Crete, Greece. His mother, Rhea, gave Kronos a rock in a bundle. Kronos ate the rock, thinking he had eaten Zeus. He was then raised by Kronos' wife, Gaea.
After he grew up, he forced Kronos to disgorge the stone and then his siblings in the reverse order of swallowing. He released Kronos' brothers, the Hecatonchires, Cyclopes, and Giants by killing their guard, Kampe (Hecatonchires were 100-handed giants and Cyclopes were small one-eyed giants). The Cyclopes gave him lightning as a token of gratitude. Zeus and the gods fought Gaea's other children, the Titans, and won. Most of the Titans were cast into a bottomless pit called Tartarus. Atlas was the exception. He was punished by having to hold up the sky forever. After that, Zeus was the god of the sky and lightnng, Posiedon was the god of the sea, and Hades was the god of the dead and the
Underworld. Gaea was angry that Zeus had fought the Titans. She sent her other children, Typhon and Echidna, after the gods. The gods let Echidna and her children live, but they trapped Typhon under Mount Etna. Later, Zeus married Hera and had three godly children: Ares, the god of war, Hephaestus, the god of machines and crafts, and Hebe, the minor goddess of youth and cupbearer to the gods. Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war, sprung from Zeus' head in full battle armour.
Zeus
Poseidon
Poseidon,the god of the sea, was the second child of Kronos and Rhea. His symbols were the trident, dolphin, bull, horse, and the fish.Like his siblings, he was swallowed at birth by Kronos and rescued by Zeus. He was raised on Rhodes, an island in Greece, by Telkhines. Telkhines were sea creatures who had flippers instead of hands and dog heads. He entered a competition with Athena to see who would become Athens' patron god. They each gave one gift to the people of Athens and the people would choose which gift they liked the most. Poseidon gave them a salt water spring and Athena gave them an olive tree. Athena was chosen because the salt water was undrinkable and an olive tree gave oil, wood, and food. Poseidon was mad that he was not chosen and sent a flood to Athens, offending Zeus. Poseidon and Apollo, who had also offended Zeus at the time, were punished by having to do King Laomedon of Troy's orders. Laomedon promised to reward them if they built walls around the city. They built the walls and they were not rewarded. Poseidon sent a sea monster to attack Troy. The monster was killed by Heracles, better known as Hercules.
A statue of Poseidon
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