After the death of Uranus, the world was at peace again.Cronus, the king of the Titans, and Rhea, his most noblesister and wife, had matters well in hand. Unfortunately,the curse of his father, Uranus, haunted Cronus day andnight. Was it possible that one day he, too, would have achild who would overthrow him?One day, Rhea announced that she was going to havea baby, but her husband was not happy. Cronus was soafraid that history would repeat itself that he did, in fact,manage to repeat history. Like his father before him,Cronus reasoned that if he could keep his children fromgrowing up, none could ever become strong enough tooverpower him. So, when Rhea gave birth to her first child,Cronus quickly grabbed it and swallowed it whole. Rheawas both horrified and saddened at the loss of her firstbornchild. In a similar manner, Cronus swallowed all of thenext four children that she gave birth to, and Rhea vowedto get them back, any way she could.By the time Rhea discovered that she was pregnant forthe sixth time, she had figured out a plan to trick herhusband and save the newborn child from beingswallowed whole. So, when it was nearly time for her to give birth, Rhea pretended to have her baby. She took alarge stone and wrapped it in a baby’s blanket. WhenCronus came to gobble down the newborn child, Rheagave him the wrapped-up stone. Quickly, Cronusswallowed the stone, just as he had swallowed the otherchildren. In fact, Cronus’s focus on swallowing thenewborn god was so great that he did not even realize thathe had been tricked.Later, when the time came for Rhea actually to haveher child, she fled to the island of Crete. There, away fromthe glaring eyes of her husband, Rhea secretly gave birth toa son, whom she named Zeus. He was a beautiful andstrong baby, and Rhea knew that when he grew up, hewould be a truly powerful god. Rhea realized that shecould not return home to her husband with the child.Cronus would only try to destroy the newborn god, as hehad done with the others. Therefore, for his protection,Rhea left Zeus to grow up secretly on Crete where he wassuckled by a goat and raised by minor native deities callednymphs. While Zeus was a child, Cronus never suspectedthat he had been tricked and that he actually had a stoneresting solidly in his stomach.When he had grown into a young man, Zeus left Creteto join his mother. Rhea arranged for Zeus to become aservant to his father. Cronus did not know that his newservant was actually his son. One day, Zeus brought hisfather a cup of wine, which Cronus drank quickly. This cupof wine contained a special potion, which made Cronusthrow up. Cronus was so violently ill that he even threw upthe stone wrapped in a blanket. Then he threw up all of thechildren he had swallowed before. The children emergedfrom their father’s stomach as fully grown adults. Theirnames were Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia.These were Zeus’s brothers and sisters, and they were all glad to see each other in the light of day. Although theywere happy to be free, the six siblings knew they must dosomething immediately, or their father would swallowthem all over again. Quickly, they ran away while theirfather continued to moan and clutch his stomach.This young generation of gods fled to Mount Olympusto escape their irate father, and because they claimedMount Olympus as their home, the young gods were calledthe Olympians. After they had fled to safety, the Olympiansquickly formed a plan. At once, they declared war onCronus and many of the other Titans. The young godswanted to rule the world in their father’s place. Yet theirstruggle had a dual purpose: while they were fighting forcontrol over the earth, they were also fighting for theirlives, since they knew that Cronus would swallow themagain if he ever got the chance.And so a great war began. At first, it seemed likely thatthe Titans would be victorious and remain in control of theearth. The young Olympian gods felt outnumbered andoverpowered. The tide began to turn, however, when afew Titans changed sides and fought with Zeus andhis siblings. Prometheus, the son of the Titans Themisand Iapetus, was one who switched his allegiance.Prometheus’s name means “one who thinks ahead,” andwith his ability to see the future he could foresee that theTitans would lose the battle against the Olympian gods.Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus refused to fightagainst the Olympians because of this foresight.The Cyclopes and the Hundred-handed Ones alsojoined the Olympians in their fight against the Titans. Theydid not feel bound to the Titans, and they believed that theOlympian gods would rule with steadier hands. Zeusasked the one-eyed Cyclopes to make weapons for hisarmy, and these skilled craftsmen made a special weapon for each of the gods. For Zeus, the leader, the Cyclopesfashioned a special thunderbolt, which could be thrownlong distances with great force. For Poseidon, they createda magnificent trident, or three-pronged spear, which coulddefeat any enemy. Finally, knowing that resistance came inmany forms, the Cyclopes made Hades a magic helmetthat could make him invisible, even to the immortal eyesof Cronus and the other Titans. The war between the Titans and the Olympians wasterrible. With the help of the Hundred-handed Ones, whofought bravely without ever tiring, the Olympians soonforced the Titans to surrender. After the Titans had givenup, Zeus challenged Cronus to a wrestling match. Thewinner would control Mount Olympus, to which the Titanswere still laying claim. After beating Cronus three times,Zeus declared the Olympian gods to be the winners.After the war, the Olympians sent most of the Titans toTartarus to be locked up for eternity. The victors built abronze gate over the mouth of the cavern, and theHundred-handed Ones were placed outside as guards.Atlas, another child of Iapetus and Themis, who had ledthe Titans into battle, received a special punishment. Hewas forced to hold the world on his back for all eternity.This turned out to be a far more challenging task thanimprisonment in Tartarus.Cronus, the former ruler of the universe, was not sentto Tartarus with his siblings. Though Cronus hadswallowed his children whole, Zeus and the otherOlympians did not want to destroy him in revenge. Instead,Cronus was sent away to live on the Island of the Dead,where he stayed forever. Although originally he hadwanted to destroy the Olympian gods, Cronus, oncedefeated and exiled, sent dreams to his son Zeus to guidehim from afar.After all the punishments were handed out, Zeus,Hades, and Poseidon made a bet to determine who wouldrule each part of the world. Hades became the lord of thedead and the Underworld, which was sometimes calledHades in his honor. Poseidon gained control of the seasand all the waters on earth. Zeus became the lord of thesky; and since the sky covers everything on earth, hebecame the king, or father, of the gods. After these important decisions were made, the otherOlympian gods were also given jobs. Demeter became thegoddess of agriculture and of all growing things. Hestiabecame the goddess of the hearth, or fireplace, and thehome. Hera, too, protected the home and became thegoddess of marriage and childbirth after she married herbrother, Zeus.Once the Olympians had defeated the Titans and takenon their new roles, they, too, had children. Some of thesegods were born under rather extraordinary circumstances.Athena, for example, was born out of the side of Zeus’shead. She became the goddess of wisdom and theprotector of Athens. Hera became pregnant on her ownand gave birth to Hephaestus. Hephaestus was the god offire and became the blacksmith of the gods. Ares was thechild of Hera and Zeus, and he became the god of war.Apollo, the god of light and music, and his twin sister,Artemis, the maiden goddess of the hunt, were thechildren of Leto, who was the daughter of the TitansPhoebe and Coeus. The goddess of love and beauty,Aphrodite, had an unusual birth: she was born out of thewaves of the sea.Hermes was another son of Zeus. His mother wasMaia, one of the daughters of Atlas. Hermes grew veryquickly, and he was swift-footed, even as a baby. Later, hebecame the official messenger of the gods because hewas so fast. He was often depicted with wings on his hatand sandals, and because he was always moving about, hewas a particular protector of travelers.These gods and others lived on Mount Olympus aftertheir victory over the Titans. From the height of this greatmountain, the new rulers could look down on all of Greeceand keep watch over the world, for the control of whichthey had fought so hard.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q: Why was Cronus afraid of his children?
A: Cronus feared that one of his children would rise upand overthrow him, just as he had done to his ownfather. Uranus had cursed Cronus, predicting thathistory would repeat itself.
Q: How did Cronus get rid of his children?
A: He swallowed them whole.
Q: Why and how did Rhea trick her husband?
A: Rhea was angry and upset at Cronus’s practice ofdevouring their children, so she planned a trick forhim. When it came time for Cronus to grab the sixthnewborn child, Rhea gave him a large stone wrappedin a baby’s blanket. Because he did not expect thetrick, Cronus swallowed the stone, blanket and all.
Q: What kind of weapons did the Cyclopes make for theOlympian gods?
A: Some of the weapons that the Cyclopes made were athunderbolt for Zeus, a trident for Poseidon, and amagic helmet for Hades.
Q: How did the Olympian gods punish the Titans?
A: The Olympian gods locked most of them away in thecavern called Tartarus. The Hundred-handed Onesstood guard over this prison. The Olympians also set Atlas to work holding the world on his shoulders. Hereceived this punishment because he had led theTitans in battle.
Q: What happened to Cronus?
A: The Olympians did not utterly destroy Cronus. Instead,they sent him to the Island of the Dead where he livedfor eternity.
Q: How did Cronus wind up helping his son Zeus?
A: From his exile on the Island of the Dead, Cronus sentdreams of advice to his son.
Q: How did Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon divide up thecontrol of the universe?
A: Zeus became the king, or father, of the gods and ruledthe sky. Hades became the ruler of the Underworld, orthe land of the dead. Poseidon gained control of theseas and all the waters on the earth. They determinedthese roles through a bet.
