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Greek Mythology

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Greek Mythology
I INTRODUCTION

Temple of Apollo at Didyma The Greeks built the Temple of Apollo at Didyma, Turkey (about 300 bc). The temple supposedly housed an oracle who foretold the future to those seeking knowledge. The predictions of the oracles, delivered in the form of riddles, often brought unexpected results to the seeker. With Ionic columns reaching 19.5 m (64 ft) high, these ruins suggest the former grandeur of the ancient temple. Bernard Cox/Bridgeman Art Library, London/New York

Greek Mythology, set of diverse traditional tales told by the ancient Greeks about the exploits of gods and heroes and their relations with ordinary mortals. The ancient Greeks worshiped many gods within a culture that tolerated …show more content…

Here, his wife Rhea hands him a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes in place of their son, Zeus. The portrayal, created between the 1st and 3rd centuries, is on the base of a stone statue at the Museo Capitolino in Rome, Italy. Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY

Uranus tried to block any successors from taking over his supreme position by forcing back into Gaea the children she bore. But the youngest child, Cronus, thwarted his father, cutting off his genitals and tossing them into the sea. From the bloody foam in the sea Aphrodite, goddess of sexual love, was born. After wounding his father and taking away his power, Cronus became ruler of the universe. But Cronus, in turn, feared that his own son would supplant him. When his sister and wife Rhea gave birth to offspring—Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon—Cronus swallowed them. Only the youngest, Zeus, escaped this fate, because Rhea tricked Cronus. She gave him a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes to swallow in place of the baby.

A3 Zeus and the Olympian Gods

Bust of Zeus In Greek mythology Zeus was ruler of both the Olympian gods and the human race. Sometimes he is portrayed as a just and merciful defender of the weak. At other times he appears to be passionate, inconstant, and vengeful. This ancient Greek bust of Zeus is in the National Museum in Naples, Italy. THE BETTMANN ARCHIVE/Corbis

When fully grown, Zeus forced his father, Cronus, to

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