Greek Mythology Stories: The Rise of the Gods - See U in History

At the beginning of everything, there was only chaos. There were already the elements of what would form the universe, but they were completely mixed, in a massive absence of meaning. This original chaotic period lasted for many ages. Gaia, the Mother Earth, emerged from this primordial chaos, a goddess whose main characteristic was her extreme fertility. The goddess Gaia gave birth to our planet and personified all the Earth that covers the world. She gave birth to several primordial deities, such as Pontus, the god of the sea, and Aureus, the deity of the mountains. Gaia gave birth to the god Uranus, a supreme being who would personify heaven, reigning over all things. Uranus made Gaia his wife. During the night, Nyx, the goddess of the night, also emerged from chaos. She crossed the heavens every day, covering it with her black mountain. At dusk, Uranus and Gaia united. The fruits of this union quickly began to hatch. The goddess gave birth to creatures with dreadful features, including Hecatoncherus, monsters with a hundred arms and several heads, and the Cyclops, powerful one-eyed beings. Uranus and Gaia also gave birth to a new generation of gods, powerful beings who would become known as Titans. The celestial god, when he saw the powerful offspring he had begotten, began to fear being dethroned by them, so he took action. Uranus threw all his children into Tartarus, a dark place in the depths of the Earth. Appalled, the Titans beat the walls of Tartarus with violence, trying to escape. They were trapped in Gaia's womb. The revolt of creatures that were so powerful provoked an intense pain in their mother, who suffered terrible aches. Gaia couldn't stand that situation and decided to conspire against her husband. The goddess asked one of her children to destroy Uranus, but all the Titans rejected, except Kronos, the most ambitious, who thought he could perform that task. Kronos receives a scythe made of diamond and headed to the heavens wielding that weapon. In the celestial residence of Uranus, Kronos found the supreme god sleeping on a cloud. With a sharp stroke of his sickle, the Titan castrated his father. Uranus's cry of pain was heard throughout the universe. The skies were painted bright red, the blood of Uranus. Uranus's testicles were thrown into the ocean and giving their fertilizing abilities, several deities emerged in the waters. Kronos triumphantly returned and freed his imprisoned brothers. As the great hero of the revolt, he was hailed as the new supreme lord of the universe. Kronos didn't free the Hecatoncherous nor the Cyclops, because he considered them very dangerous. They remained in Tartarus. After the banquet, the new sovereign was visited by his father's specter, which revealed to him a terrible prophecy. He said that, like his father, who had been dethroned by an infamous descendant, Kronos would also lose the supreme throne, overthrown by his own son in a terrible fate. Kronos reigned supreme over the universe, after dethroning his father and liberating the Titans. Like his father, the god Uranus, Kronos began a tyrannical reign over the world. With the support of the Titans, he had no rival. But, despite having supreme power, the Titan lived tormented by the curse invoked by his father, who said that one of his sons would be responsible for his fall. Kronos was willing to do anything to prevent that outcome. The sovereign was married to Titanide Rhea, a divinity loved and adored by all. The queen of the Titans soon had her first daughter, awakening in Kronos his most monstrous side. Rhea gave birth to a new kind of divinity that seemed superior to the previous generation. The Titan asked to grab his first daughter, named Hestia, one of the most loving deities ever. But in the child's eyes, Kronos saw his terrible future. A hideous impulse caused the Titan to devour his daughter. Kronos would take the newborns from the arms of their mother, who helplessly tried to prevent the tyrant from devouring one more of her children. She begged in vain, but could not soften the hard heart of the Titan. The children were successively devoured. But Rhea promised herself she wouldn't allow that monster to devour another of her children. The queen got pregnant again, but had a plan to save her baby from her terrible husband. Rhea would hide in a cave on the island of Crete, where she intended to give birth away from Kronos. She gave birth to a beautiful child who had incredible power. Rhea felt that the women of destiny had woven a glorious future for her son, who received the name Zeus. Rhea left her son in the care of the nymphs and choribans, who beat their shields hard to muffle the sound of the powerful cry of the divine baby. The queen wrapped a stone in a cloak and took it to her husband. Kronos was waiting for her, ready to devour another child, and received the false baby delivered by Rhea. Kronos swallowed the stone without blinking while the queen cried on the ground. But this time, the tears were not of sadness, but of emotion in saving her son's life. On the island of Crete, Zeus was breastfed with the milk of the Amalfi goat, strengthening himself every day. Zeus was informed of all that was happening in the world by a powerful eagle, which would become his sacred bird. The god grew into a powerful deity, ready to fulfill his destiny. As an adult, Zeus was unexpectedly visited by Metis, a wise deity who gave him a decisive gift for his journey. Metis revealed to Zeus the terrible fate of his brothers, imprisoned in the stomach of the titan. But with a potion, Zeus could free the other gods. Zeus, in disguise, went to Mount Orthris, the fortress of the titans. There he offered the potion to Kronos, promising that the solution was a delightful delicacy. Kronos felt invincible and did not believe that anyone would dare to plan something against him, so he accepted the potion. The titan drank all of the solution that tasted different. But Kronos quickly began to feel nauseous. The mighty titan vomited all his children, Hestia, Hera, Demeter, Hades, and Poseidon. They were already adults and had a desire for revenge. Kronos also vomited the stone that deceived him. With his brothers at his side, Zeus led a revolt that would change the fate of the universe. After releasing his relatives from the stomach of titan Kronos, Zeus guided his brothers to the top of Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece. It was there that the headquarters of the rebel gods would be established, who would fight against the tyranny of the titans. This rebellion gave rise to the Titanomachy, better known as the War of the Titans. On his throne on Mount Orthris, Kronos summoned all his titan allies to the great battle. The general of Kronos' army was the titan Atlas, who would lead the attacks against the Olympic gods. The plains of the Thessaly region were the battlefield between the armies of the gods and the titans. The titans began to impose themselves on the gods because of their immense physical power. Zeus, aware of the power of the army of the titans, went looking for reinforcements in Tartarus. He freed the strange one-eyed creatures known as Cyclops. These, in a gesture of gratitude, forged formidable weapons for the gods. Zeus received his famous and powerful lightning bolt. Poseidon was gifted a majestic trident capable of creating earthquakes and tsunamis, and Hades the Helm of Terror, which gave him invisibility. With the new weapons, the gods managed to face the huge titans. Kronos' army threw whole mountains against the gods. The battle between the gods and the titans lasted almost ten years, full of intense hand-to-hand combat, and the scale seemed to tip to the side of the titans. Zeus decided to free the fearsome Hecatoncheries of Tartarus, giants with 100 arms and 50 heads. The horrendous creatures had a decisive impact on the war. The army of titans panicked when they came across those grotesque creatures. Zeus gathered all his power to give even more energy to his most powerful lightning bolt. This struck Kronos' head, and the impact of the blow shook the universe. The titans were subdued and punished exemplarily. Kronos and his allies were condemned to a perpetual existence in Tartarus, the Hecatoncheries assuming the role of jailers. Zeus reserved a special punishment for the titan Atlas, leader of the titanic troops. He was condemned to bear the weight of the celestial sphere on his shoulders for all eternity. The Olympic gods now reigned supreme. Under the command of Zeus, a new order began in the universe.