Saturday, February 20, 2010

Before the GREEK GODS & GODDESSES...

Gaia - Titan Goddess of Nature
Gaia was the Mother Earth, born from Chaos, the great void of space. She gave birth without male intervention to Oranos (the sky) and Pontus (the sea), and took Oranos as her mate. Together they produced the Titans and other gods and creatures. After the emasculation of Oranos, she mated with Pontus and protected Zeus prior to his overthrow of the Titans. As the Goddess Mother Earth, she was worshipped as the force behind all things in the world, living and inanimate.

Oranos - Titan God of the Sky
Oranos was the solid dome of the sky and one of the ancient element gods from which all life proceeded. He was the first son of Gaia and became her husband. Together they produced the 12 Titans and other offspring that included the Cyclops. Shocked by some of his hideous offspring, he attempted to hide them deep in the bowels of Gaia, causing her increasingly intense pain. To relieve her suffering, she encouraged her son Kronos to castrate Oranos. Following this emasculation, Oranos separated from Gaia and Kronos took over the Kingdom of Gods.

Kronos - Titan God of Time

The youngest of the Titans, his name meant time. Kronos became King of the Gods after he castrated his father, Oranos, with the help of his mother, Gaia who wished to free her children whom Oranos had imprisoned. Kronos ruled over a time of prosperity known as the Golden Age. Kronos and his wife/sister Rheia produced six children, including Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. Fearing a revolt similar to his own, Kronos attempted to swallow all of his children at their birth, but Zeus avoided that fate and ultimately freed his siblings and banished the Titans to Tartarus.

Rheia - Titan Goddess of Fertility
Rheia was a Titan married to her brother Kronos, by whom she gave birth to Zeus and his sibling gods. By rescuing Zeus from her husband, she set in motion the dethroning of Kronos and the ascendance of Zeus to Olympus. In Asia Minor, she was known as an Earth Goddess and worshiped with orgiastic rites. Her name means flow apparently in reference to female menstruation and ease perhaps in reference to easy childbirth. Following the rise of her son Zeus to status as King of the Gods, she disputed her portion of the world and ended up retreating to the mountains where she surrounded herself with wild creatures. She is usually associated with lions or with a chariot pulled by lions.

Theia - Titan Goddess of Sight
A Titan, Theia was married to her brother Hyperion, by whom she gave birth to three gods: Helios (the sun), Eos (the dawn), and Selene (the moon). She was the goddess of sight. Since the ancient Greeks believed that sight was a beam emitted by the eyes in a manner similar to the sun's rays or the moon's rays, she was thought to endow gold, silver and gems with their luster and beauty. Her children were all associated with light.

Helios - Titan God of the SunThe God of the Sun, he rose from the ocean at dawn to drive his chariot across the sky, carrying the sun and descending at night into the west. He saw all and knew all, and was often called upon by other gods to be a witness. He was the god of the measurement of time, and goddesses of the day, month, seasons and year waited upon him. Two of his mortal lovers were converted into the plant Heliotrope (whose head always turn towards the sun) and frankincense. These plants were sacred to Helios. He is portrayed usually in a chariot with a whip and surrounded by a halo. Animals sacred to him were the rooster and eagle. The great Colossus of Rhodes was built in his honor, as he was married to Rhode, a daughter of Poseidon.

Atlas - Titan God of Brave Thoughts
The son of the Titan Lapetus and the nymph Clymene, Atlas was thought to be King of the legendary Atlantis. His attack on Olympus during a failed attempt by the Titans to overthrow Zeus resulted in being condemned to forever carry the heavens upon his shoulders. He is usually portrayed, however, bearing a globe on his shoulders. He was relieved of his burden temporarily by Hercules during one of the hero's 12 labors, but Atlas was tricked into taking the heavens back onto his shoulders. According to some, he was later released of his burden and make Guardian of the Pillars of Hercules, upon which the heavens were set in his stead, and which also was the gateway to the ocean home of Atlantis. His name has come to mean bearer or endurer.

Oceanus - Titan God of Water
Oceanus was the personification of all oceans, or a great river that flowed in a circle around the Earth. He was a source of all fresh water. In later time, he personified the seas outside the Pillars of Hercules (the Straights of Gibraltar), or what we know today as the Atlantic Ocean. The oldest of the Titans, he fathered other gods who personified all rivers, lakes and ponds with his sister/wife Tethys. Oceanus is portrayed as a horned god with the tail of a serpentine fish. He was not involved in the battle against Kronos in the Titanomachy.

Leto - Goddess of the Unseen
The daughter of Titans Phoebe and Coeus, Leto was known as the Hidden One and her name came to be used for the Moon. She bestowed her qualities of being unnoticed or unobserved upon the beasts of Earth. Her beauty caught the eye of Zeus, however, by whom she gave birth to the twin gods, Artemis and Apollo. This act made her an enemy of Hera, Zeus' wife. She was principally worshiped in Greek Asia Minor, and usually together with her twin children.

Hekate - Titan Goddess of Witchcraft

Hekate was a goddess of the night, ghosts and magic and she was associated with crossroads. A three-faced statue of Hekate, showing a dog, a lion and a mare was placed where three roads met. She was said to appear when the Moon went into eclipse and was accompanied by 2 ghost dogs. From her parents, the Titans Perses and Asteria, she inherited powers over the earth, sea and heavens. Her 3 heads were thought to represent Luna in Heaven, Artemis on Earth and Persephone in the Underworld. She assisted Demeter in her search for Persephone and after their reunion became Persephone's companion in Hades. She is often portrayed carrying 2 torches.

Hyperion - Titan God of ObservationA Titan and god of observation, he fathered Helios (the sun), Eos (the dawn) and Selene (the moon). His name means he who goes before the sun, related possibly to being the father of Helios or the visibility of precedes the sun's approach.

Prometheus - Titan God of Forethought
The son of the Titan Lapetus, Prometheus was born a mortal. He shaped humankind out of water and clay and Athena breathed life into the form. After siding with Zeus against the Titans, he tricked the King of the Gods into taking animal bones sacrifices, leaving the good meat for humans. In spite, Zeus removes fire from the world, bringing great suffering to all. To relieve the people he had created, Prometheus stole fire from the Sun and gave it back to the world. In retaliation, a furious Zeus sentenced Prometheus to be chained to a rock for 30,000 years, while an eagle daily tore out his liver (which grew back each night). By giving warning to Zeus of a prophecy of his downfall, he won a reprieve and was allowed to trade his mortality to Chiron (doomed to an eternity of agony) and thereafter joined the immortals on Olympus.

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