Greek Mythology

Today almost 90% of the Greek population is Greek Orthodox.  But they have a rich history of mythical deities that are still known around the world.

Greek mythology is thousands of years old, going back possibly as far as 3000 BC. It developed as oral stories which were eventually written down by Homer and Hesiod about 800 BC.  Greek mythology is at least a thousand years older than Roman mythology, and the Romans "borrowed" and adapted Greek figures to fit their own history and society.

Below is a VERY brief summary of just a few stories from Greek mythology.  

How many Greek gods were there? So so many!!!  There are basically three "sets" of gods.  First there were the Primordial Greek gods, the ones who created the world.  A few examples you may have heard of are Erabus, the god of darkness, and Tartarus, the god of the underworld.  Basically, any natural phenomena was given a god.

imagecredit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qOWFIbnBxE

After the Primordial Greek gods came the Titans. A few examples are Cronos, the leader of the Titans, and Rhea the goddess of fertility.

imagecredit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML8v5wNQDOE

imagecredit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMP0F94vqzc

What happened to the Titans?  In order to gain power, Cronus had overthrown his father Uranus.  Now Uranus prophesized that Cronus would be overthrown by his own children.  Cronus' solution?  Every time his wife Rhea gave birth, Cronus ate the child.  He did this to five children.  The only child to survive was the youngest, Zeus, because Rhea hid Zeus on the island of Crete and tricked Cronus into swallowing a rock instead. Zeus grew stronger and managed to free his swallowed siblings.  The Titans lost an epic battle, which led to the rise of the Olympians.

imagecredit https://englishpluspodcast.com/clash-of-the-titans-and-gods-unraveling-the-epic-titanomachy/

They are called the Olympian gods because they lived at the top of Mt Olympus (except for Hades, the god of the underworld).  The Olympians looked like humans except perhaps stronger.  They also had the same inclinations and flaws as humans, including jealousy, spite, arrogance, pettiness, lust, anger, and selfishness.  That is very different from the Christian God who declares:  "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," Isaiah 55:8.

Thanks to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Olympians for this list:

Greek	Roman	Image	Functions and attributes
Zeus	Jupiter		King of the gods and ruler of Mount Olympus; god of the sky, lightning, thunder, law, order and justice. He had many affairs with goddesses and mortals.
Hera	Juno		Queen of the gods and the goddess of marriage, women, childbirth and family. Being the goddess of marriage, she frequently tried to get revenge on Zeus' lovers and their children.
Poseidon	Neptune		God of the seas, water, storms, hurricanes, earthquakes and horses.
Demeter	Ceres		Goddess of the harvest, fertility, agriculture, nature and the seasons. She presided over grains and the fertility of the earth.
Apollo	Apollo		God of Sun, light, prophecy, philosophy, archery, truth, inspiration, poetry, music, arts, manly beauty, medicine, healing, and plague.
Artemis	Diana		Goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, virginity, the Moon, archery, childbirth, protection and plague.
Ares	Mars		God of war, violence, bloodshed and manly virtues. The son of Zeus and Hera, all the other gods despised him except Aphrodite. His Latin name, Mars, gave us the word "martial".
Athena	Minerva		Goddess of wisdom, handicraft, and warfare.[28] The daughter of Zeus and the Oceanid Metis, she rose from her father's head fully grown and in full battle armor.
Hephaestus	Vulcan		Master blacksmith and craftsman of the gods; god of the forge, craftsmanship, invention, fire and volcanoes. His Latin name, Vulcan, gave us the word "volcano".
Aphrodite	Venus		Goddess of love, pleasure, passion, procreation, fertility, beauty and desire.
Hermes	Mercury		Messenger of the gods; god of travel, commerce, communication, borders, eloquence, diplomacy, thieves, and games. He was also the guide of dead souls.
Most lists of the "twelve Olympians" consist of the above eleven plus either Hestia or Dionysus
Hestia	Vesta		Goddess of the hearth, fire and of the right ordering of domesticity and the family.
Dionysus	Liber		God of wine, the grapevine, fertility, festivity, ecstasy, madness and resurrection. Patron god of the art of theatre.

And how do Anton and Frankie feel about all these gods?  While being entertaining stories, Isaiah 45:5 gives us a clear message from the One True God: "I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides me there is no god."