The ancient Greek state lasted several thousand years, the history of this world is rich in fateful events, inventions and discoveries for humanity. Much of what is now customary for us was invented in this country: the foundations of medicine, politics, astrology, philosophy and literature. And the images of the gods, the history of their lives and the struggle for power, and now in one way or another present in the culture of all countries. Most people can easily answer which gods lived on Olympus, who are the titans or cyclops.
First ideas about the world
The whole mythology of the ancient Greeks is a desire to realize and explain the phenomena of nature. The gods of Mount Olympus, known to most of us - Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Ares, Artemis, Apollo and others - were already the embodiment of representations of the later period of the existence of Greece. At that time, when the statehood had already formed among the people, comfortable cities appeared, science and thought developed.
But in the so-called dark times, during the Aegean civilization, a person was still completely dependent on the vagaries of nature, they worshiped her, tried to appease her with offerings and sacrifices. According to researchers, it was at this time that myths about the origin of the world were born. The basis of belief is stories about Chaos, the universe from which everything came out: both light and darkness, and the first goddess of the land of Gaia, and the ruler of the sky - Uranus. Some here begin to get confused in history, forgetting who the titans are, and identifying them with the rest of the gods of Olympus.
Six brothers
In fact, this is not the case. The Titans are the children of Uranus and Gaia, the gods of the second generation. The images of these first monsters were far from the aesthetic perfection that we used to see in the literature of Ancient Greece. The six giant brothers were the embodiment of human fears that inspire terror.
In fact, who are the titans from ancient Greek mythology is difficult to understand clearly. Thanks to the writings of Homer, Hesiod, the tragedies of Aeschylus, we know their names and sphere of activity.
- The ocean is the ruler of world rivers, personifying the element of water.
- Kay (Coy) - a god who embodies the axis of heaven.
- Krios is the father of Astrea.
- Iapetus - according to one version, the ancestor of the Aryan tribe, his sons were Atlas and Prometheus.
- Hyperion - the god of the sun, the father of Helios.
- Kronos is the main titan. Greece is an ancient country, its history cannot be understood without knowledge of traditions, customs, culture, and a huge layer of the latter is mythology, legends and legends, including about this character. There are several options for identifying it. Most likely, he is identified with time - chronos. Father of the first Olympians.
Six sisters
In addition to the male gods, Gaia and Uranus gave birth to the same number of titanides who were destined to become the wives of their brothers:
- Tefida. In their marriage with the Ocean, three thousand sons were born - these are rivers, and as many daughters. Later in literature, it acquired the significance of one of the epithets of the ocean.
- Rhea is the mother of the Olympian gods, at the same time both the sister and wife of Kronos.
- Theia - wife of Hyperion, ruler of the night luminary. In the union of the sun and moon appeared Helios, Eos and Selena.
- Themis - traditionally considered the patroness of truth, justice and law enforcement.
- Mnemosyne - memory, personified with a universal understanding of being, the parent of nine Muses.
- Phoebe is the wife of Koya, the mother of Summer and Asteria.
War
All gods were distinguished by one essential feature - the struggle for power. The great Uranus saw in offspring a threat to himself and his one-man rule, and therefore decided to overthrow the offspring back into the earth. What their mother, Gaia, opposed. To protect the children, she persuaded the youngest son of Kronos to take a sickle and insult the killer father.
From this story it is easy to understand who the titans are for Greek mythology: this is a symbol of the victory of the new over the old, in a word, the triumph of progress.
Moreover, this practice of world inheritance continued with the third-generation gods. As already noted, the host of Olympic rulers is already a more mature attempt at understanding the surrounding reality among the Greeks.
Like his father Uranus, Kronos, becoming king, did not want anyone to give up the government, because he swallowed all the children born by his sister Rhea immediately after they were born. Mother managed to save one of the sons - Zeus. He was secretly raised from his parent on the island of Crete. Having entered into force, the new god intended to curtail the cruel king.
Knowing who the titans are and how dangerous they are, Zeus called for help from all his brothers and sisters, whom he freed from the womb of Kronos. For ten years there has been a battle for power over the world, the future head of Olympus emerged victorious, and overthrew the old titan in Tartarus.
Embodiment in art
The history of the struggle of three generations of ancient gods is described in the epic of the unknown author "Titanomachy", this work itself has not survived, but according to some sources its content has been partially restored. In the classical period of the development of Greece, many famous writers and poets reproduced certain traditions in their books.
In the Middle Ages in Europe, a whole cult of worship of ancient Greek history and mythology was formed. Hundreds of authors around the world were looking for inspiration in the traditions of this country, there are an infinite number of options for fulfillment, assumptions about who the gods, cyclops, giants, and titans are.
Now the legends of ancient Greece are experiencing a new round of popularity. Dozens of films on this subject are made annually around the world.
The wealth of images and paintings of the special beliefs of the Greek people is somewhat overshadowed by more ancient myths, perhaps now far from everyone knows who the titans are, and it is they who are the beginning of the history of this amazing imaginary world.