GREEK MYTHS AND GODS

According to Hesiod there were five ages.

The world started with Chaos, Gaea and Eros. Gaea bore Uranus, then joined with him to produce twelve Titans (honored as the ancestors of men and the inventors of the arts and of magic), three one-eyed Cyclops, three monsters and her last-born, Cronus.

The first or GOLDEN AGE was the time of the reign of Cronus (right), when the gods and races were created. Gaea induced Cronus to mutilate her other son, Uranus, and cast the pieces into the sea. These grew into the race of giants, and from the sea-foam sprang the goddess, Aphrodite. (The bones of many large, prehistoric animals have been found in Greece and may have contributed to the stories of Giants.) Cronus married his sister, Rhea, who gave him three daughters, Hestia, Demeter and Hera, and three sons, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus. Since it had been prophesied that one of his children would destroy him, Cronus swallowed each as it was born. Gaea saved Zeus, who was born on Crete, by replacing the baby with a stone which Cronus swallowed. Zeus arranged for his father to be given a drink which would make him vomit the stone. When he did, the other children came up also, and Cronus was driven from the sky.

The gods Zeus (left), Poseidon, Hephaestus, Hermes, Ares, Apollo, Hera, Athene, Artemis, Hestia, Aphrodite and Demeter, were the twelve great gods of Mount Olympus. Hades, a brother of Zeus, lived with Persephone and Hecate under the earth. The Linear B tablets of Crete specifically mentioned the names of Zeus, Poseidon and Hera. See the separate article on Poseidon, the Nettuno of the opera.

The men who lived in the Golden Age never grew old, were free from toil, and passed their time in enjoyment and feasting. Zeus was sovereign and controlled the other gods. He coupled with many goddesses but married his sister Hera. He violated another sister Demeter and she bore Persephone. Among those he fathered with mortal women were Minos, King of Crete, by Europa when he was disguised as a bull, and Helen (of Troy) by Leda when he was disguised as a swan.

Hesiod disposes of the SILVER AGE as one of feeble, inept men who obeyed their mothers. During the BRONZE AGE lived men of violence who perished by mutual destruction. “After the Bronze Age, Zeus the son of Cronus made yet another [age], upon the fruitful earth, which was nobler and more righteous, with a god-like race of hero-men who are called demi-gods”. Hesiod called this the AGE OF HEROES. It was an age of superhuman achievement based on superior prowess and physical strength; people of Hesiod’s own time could not have competed with them. It was the age during which the Trojan War took place and Idomeneus, one of its Greek heroes, lived. This age lasted for four generations. Finally, the IRON AGE was the time in which Hesiod and Homer lived.

The religion of early Greece had neither priestly caste, dogma, missions, martyrs, nor sacred books. There was no sense of sin by men, just bad judgment. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, man was created in the image of God, but the Greek gods were created in the image of men. They lived in a society resembling that on earth; their daily life was like that of men. In fact, men and gods often ate together. The bodies of the gods were like mortal bodies but superior in strength and size. They had ichor instead of blood so, even if wounded, they always healed. Gods were susceptible to all the human emotions and appetites, capable of being teased, flattered, enraged, seduced and chastised. They could also change form as Zeus did when he was with mortal women. The gods could manipulate humans but could not change their fundamental nature. Only Zeus had a position without an earthly parallel; his power was overwhelming. He never intervened with humans directly, except to beget children, but with messages carried by other gods.

On Crete, Minos, the son of Zeus and Europa, became king with the help of Poseidon. The later Greek historian, Thucydides, claimed Minos was an historic person and the first king to create a fleet. With it, he extended his control over many of the islands in the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas. Minos was renowned as a law-giver and, when he died, he was made the judge of the lower regions. There he heard the pleadings of the dead, consulted the fatal urn for judgments, and determined their final destinations. While still king, he earned the wrath of Poseidon by refusing to sacrifice a bull to him. In revenge, Poseidon caused Minos’s wife, Pasiphae, to become enamored of the bull, and she bore the Minotaur, half man and half bull. It was kept in the labyrinth, where Ariadne helped Theseus slay him. When Theseus sacrificed the Minotaur to Poseidon, the sea god was finally satisfied. Bulls were very important in the art of Crete. Murals remain which seem to show men and women jumping over bulls, so-called “bull leaping”. This may have had religious significance; many doubt that anyone actually jumped over a bull. Idomeneus was the grandson of Minos and thus the great-grandson of Zeus.

Note: Some believe that there were two kings called Minos, one in the fifteenth century and one in the thirteenth. In this case, the genealogy of Idomeneus would be: Minos 1, his son Lycastus 1, Minos 2, Idomeneus. Minos 1 was the one of the Minotaur and labyrinth and of Daedalus and Icarus. However, according to Homer, there was only one Minos. Idomeneus himself says: “[I am] Zeus’s seed, come here to face you. Since Zeus first got by Crete Minos, who cared for his people, and to Minos in turn was born a blameless son, Deukalion, and Deukalion sired me to be lord over many people in wide Crete”.

The Greek gods have their Roman counterparts. It is by their Roman names we know them best. Nettuno (Neptune) in the opera is the Greek Poseidon.

Greek -- Roman -- Special Concern
Zeus -- Jupiter -- Sky, thunder and lightning
Hera -- Juno -- Marriage
Poseidon -- Neptune -- Sea, earthquakes
Demeter -- Ceres -- Grain
Apollon -- Apollo -- Law
Artemis -- Diana -- Hunting
Hermes -- Mercury -- Commerce
Athene -- Minerva -- Learning
Hephaistos -- Vulcan -- Manufacturing
Aphrodite -- Venus -- Fertility
Ares -- Mars -- War
Dionysos -- Bacchus -- Wine
Eros -- Amor -- Love
Hades -- Pluto -- Underworld
Cronus (Kronos) -- Saturn -- Father of Jupiter/Zeus