Faraz Farange
9/9/14
Period 6
Greek God and Goddess Presentations: Titans To begin with, the Greeks believed that our world started with the emergence of three immortal beings from an emptiness that they referred to as Chaos. Gaea, known as Mother Earth, Tartarus, and Eros were the names of these three individuals. Gaea gave birth to Uranus, known as Father Sky, by herself and later married him. These two immortals gave birth to the Cyclops and the three Hundred-Handed Giants. Uranus later threw his children into Tartarus for fear of their strength. After this terrible event befell, Gaea and Uranus had twelve more children, referred to as the titans. Uranus’s action of throwing his children into Tartarus still enraged Gaea, so she asked the…show more content… As it happens to be, these amazing immortals possessed powers that were unimaginable. Cronus, the leader of the Titans, was the god of time and the ages. He is also known to have ruled the Earth during a time period referred to as the “Golden Age.” Rhea, Cronus’s wife, was the goddess of female fertility, motherhood, generation, comfort and ease. Oceanus was known as the god of the Earth-encircling river Okeanos, making him the only source of fresh water. Ironically, Oceanus’s wife, Tethys, happened to be the goddess of all sources of fresh water, which nourish the Earth. Hyperion was the god of the light that illuminate our sky. The Greeks regarded Theia as the goddess of sight. Our next goddess, Mnemosyne, invented language, as well as being known as the goddess of memory. Leader of the oracle at Delphi, Themis was in control of law and order. Being the god of intelligence, Coeus constantly tested knowledge and the limits set forth by the power. Coeus’s wife, Phoebe, the Greeks knew as the goddess of wise counsel. Next is the god of heavenly constellations and measure of the year, who we know as Crius from ancient Greek writing. Finally, the god of morality was none other than Iapetus. Similar to a couple of his other siblings, Iapetus was a god of time. Together, the Titans used their powers to defend themselves against any…show more content… Often, these scuffles ended in the victory of the powerful Titans. However, one war in particular that they gravely lost was the battle called the Titanomachy. After marrying Rhea, Cronus received a prophecy that told him he would be overthrown by one of his own sons. In fear of the prophecy becoming true, whenever Rhea gave birth to a new child, Cronus would swallow his babies’ whole. Depressed from the loss of five of her children, Rhea sought out help from Gaea. Gaea informed Rhea that the next time she has a child, she must travel to the island of Crete and hide in a cave on Mount Dicte. To fool Cronus into eating his own child, Rhea wrapped a rock in cloth to make it seem that it was a baby. So, after swallowing the rock whole, Cronus remained satisfied and free of fear for many years. One day, Cronus was thirsty and asked for a drink which Rhea delivered. Tasting the deliciousness of the drink, Cronus wanted more and was delivered more by a young stranger. When he finished the drink, Cronus realized that he didn’t recognize the individual and burst out in outrage because he feared that the drink could have been poisoned. Hearing Cronus’s complaining, Rhea walked into the room with her now grown up son Zeus, explaining that his prophecy was upon him. Feeling sick to his stomach, Cronus vomited his five children, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hades and Hestia, back