Birth of Athena:
After Zeus' successful victory over the Titans, he ruled the universe for many ages and was known as the king of all the gods. He had married his sister Hera with whom he gave birth to Ares (God of War).
But before marring Hera, his first wife was Metis who was an Oceanid(one of the three thousand sea nymphs born from the Titan Oceanus and his sister Tethys).
Zeus engaged in sexual intercourse with her but when she became pregnant, he became afraid because Ouranos and Gaia had prophesied that Metis would bear children wiser than their father.
In order to prevent this, Zeus swallowed her. Metis had died but her child was still alive and growing inside of him.
After this, Zeus took six more wives and when he married his seventh wife Hera, he had an enormous headache. Zeus was in so much pain that he ordered Ares to open up his head.
Ares used his labrys( double headed axe) to cut open his head. Athena(Goddess of wisdom) leaped from his head, fully grown. All the gods were awestruck by her appearance.
Hera was so annoyed at Zeus for having given birth to a child on his own that she alone conceived and bore Hephaestus( the deformed blacksmith of the gods ).
Birth of Apollo:
Leto(Goddess of Motherhood) was the daughter of the Titan Coeus and his sister Phoebe. She was one of the seven wives of Zeus. Together they gave birth to Apollo(God of Sun) and Artemis(Goddess of the Hunt).
Hera became jealous of her and sent the Python( Serpent Dragon/ Child of Gaia ) after her which ended in her death.
When Apollo grew up, he faced the Python to avenge his mother's death and finally slayed the dragon by using his golden flame arrows which had been made by Hephaestus.
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Tales from Greek Myths
Historical FictionLearn stories of various Gods, Goddesses and the creation of the world from Greek Mythology.
