The Start of all Things
Gaea, the Earth, came into being so long ago that nobody knows when she came from or how. Young Earth was sad and very lonely, for nothing lived on her yet. But above her rose Uranus, the mighty sky, shining and set all over with shining stars. Earth gazed up at his shimmering form and soon fell in love with him.
(D'aulaires' book of Greek Myths)
Sky looked down at Earth with his countless stars twinkling. They were soon joined in love, and Earth became Mother Earth, the mother of all living things.
All of their children loved their warm and beautiful mother, and respected their mighty father, lord of the Universe.
Mother Earth's Children
The Titans were the first children of Mother Earth. They were the first gods, taller then the mountains that served as their thrones, and their parents, Earth and Sky were very proud of them. There were six Titans, six glorious gods, and those six gods had six sisters, the Titanesses, whom they took for their wives.
When Gaea gave birth again, Uranus was not proud. Their new children were also huge, but instead of being glorious gods, they were very ugly with one big eye set into the middle of their foreheads. These were the three Cyclops and they were named Lightning, Thunder and Thunderbolt. Although these creatures were not handsome gods, they were tremendously strong smiths and their heavy hammers spanked off of their work with such a tremendous noise and flash that even their father's stars faded.
After a short while, Mother Earth again gave birth to three more sons. Uranus looked at them with utter repulsion. Each of them had fifty heads and a hundred string arms. Uranus hated to see such ugly creatures walk across pretty Earth, so he seized them and flung them into the endless, darkest pit under the earth called: Tartarus.
Mother Earth loved all of her children dearly, and could not forgive her husband for treating them with such cruelty, so she fashioned a sickle out of the hardest flint and spoke to her sons, the Titans.
"Take this weapon, make an end to your father's cruelty and set your brothers free."
Five of the Titan's trembled with fright and refused. Only Cronus, the youngest, but the strongest dared to take the sickle. He fell upon his father who could not withstand such a weapon wielded by his strong son. He fled, giving up his powers.
Gaea made Pontus, the boundless seas, her second husband, and from this union sprang the gods of the sea's watery depths. From Earth's rich ground sprang trees and plants and from her crevices sprang creatures with wings and tails emerged. Sprites grew and early man crept forth.
The Ages of Zeus
The Titan Cronus now ruled the universe. He sat on the highest mountain and ruled Heaven and Earth with a firm and mighty hand. This was man's golden age. Men worshiped Cronus and gods obeyed his will. Crops flourished and theft had not yet been invented. Peace reined and no one killed or hurt one another.
But Titan Lord, Cronus had not set his brothers free and Gaea was angry.
She waited, for she knew that one of Cronus' sons would become stronger then he was, just like Cronus had been with his father. Cronus knew this too, so every time his Titaness-wife Rhea gave birth, he took the newborn god and swallowed it. Cronus thought that with all of his offspring inside him, no man or god could harm him.
But Rhea was grief-stricken. Her other five sisters who had married their brothers, were surrounded by their Titan children, while she was all alone. When Rhea was expected her six child, she asked Mother Earth to protect the child from his father. This was exactly what Mother Earth had been waiting for.
As soon as Rhea had borne her child, the god Zeus, she hid him. Then she wrapped a stone in baby clothes and gave it to her husband to swallow instead of her son. Cronus was fooled and swallowed the stone, and the little god Zeus was taken to a cave on the island of Crete with noisy earth sprites outside to block Zeus' cries from Cronus' ears.
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