Post by m***@gmail.comTo validate opinion, like opinion about what is beautiful,
requires 2 domains, creator and creation.
Pure logic dictates that The Bible was written by middle
eastern savages who wiped their butts with their hands after a
dump.
In the beginning there was only Chaos. Then out of the void
appeared Erebus, the unknowable place where death dwells, and
Night. All else was empty, silent, endless, dark. Then, Love
was born bringing along the beginning of order. From Love
emerged Light, followed by Gaea, the earth.
Erebus slept with Night, eventually giving birth to Ether, the
heavenly light, and to Day, the earthly light. Then, Night
alone created Doom, Fate, Death, Sleep, Dreams, Nemesis, and
all things that dwell in the darkness haunting mankind.
Meanwhile, Gaea alone gave birth to Uranus, the sky. Uranus
became Gaea's husband, surrounding her on all sides. Together,
they produced the three Cyclopes, the three Hecatoncheires, and
twelve Titans.
However, Uranus was a cruel father and husband. He hated the
Hecatoncheires and imprisoned them by pushing them into the
hidden places of the earth, Gaea's womb. This angered Gaea and
she plotted against Uranus. She made a flint sickle and tried
to get her children to attack Uranus. All were too afraid,
except the youngest Titan, Cronus.
Gaea and Cronus set up an ambush of Uranus as he lay with Gaea
at night. Cronus grabbed his father and castrated him with the
sickle, throwing the severed genitals into the ocean. It is
unclear as to what happened to Uranus afterwards; he either
died, withdrew from the earth, or exiled himself to Italy. As
he departed, he promised that Cronus and the Titans would be
punished. From the blood that was spilled on the earth due to
his castration, emerged the Giants, the Ash Tree Nymphs, and
the Erinnyes. From the sea foam that was produced when his
genitals fell in the ocean, emerged Aphrodite.
Cronus became the next ruler. He imprisoned the Cyclopes and
the Hecatoncheires in Tartarus. He married his sister Rhea, and
had many children. He ruled for many ages; however, Gaea and
Uranus both had prophesied that Cronus would be eventually
overthrown by a son. To avoid this, Cronus swallowed all of his
children as they were born. Rhea was angry at the treatment of
the children and plotted against Cronus. When it was time to
give birth to her sixth child, Rhea hid herself, then she left
the child to be raised by nymphs. To conceal her act she
wrapped a stone in swaddling cloths and passed it off as the
baby to Cronus, who swallowed it.
This child was Zeus. He grew into a handsome youth at the
island of Crete. He consulted Metis on how to defeat Cronus.
She prepared a drink for Cronus designed to make him vomit the
other children. Rhea convinced Cronus to accept his son and
Zeus was allowed to return to Mount Olympus as Cronus's
cupbearer, giving him the opportunity to serve Metis' potion to
Cronus. The plan work perfectly and the other five children
emerged out of Cronus. As gods, they were unharmed and thankful
to their youngest brother, they made him their leader.
Cronus was yet to be defeated though. He and the Titans, except
Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Oceanus, fought to retain their
power; this led to the War between the Titans and the Olympians
called Titanomachy. Atlas became their leader in battle and it
looked for some time as though they would win and put the young
gods down. However, Zeus was cunning; he went to Tartarus and
freed the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires. Prometheus joined
Zeus as well. He returned to battle with his new allies; the
Cyclopes provided Zeus with lightning bolts for weapons; the
Hecatoncheires were armed with boulders, waiting in an ambush.
At the right time, Zeus retreated drawing the Titans into the
Hecatoncheires's ambush, who rained down hundreds of boulders
with such a fury that the Titans thought the mountains were
falling on them. They ran away, leaving Zeus victorious.
Zeus exiled the Titans who had fought against him into
Tartarus, with the exception of Atlas, who being the leader of
the opposing force, was punished to hold the universe on his
shoulders.
However, even after this victory, Zeus was not safe. Gaea,
angry that her children had been imprisoned, gave birth to her
last child, Typhon. Typhon was the deadliest monster in Greek
mythology and was known as the "Father of All Monsters". He was
so fearsome that most of the gods fled; however, Zeus faced the
monster and flinging his lighting bolts was able to kill it.
Typhon was buried under Mount Etna in Sicily.
Much later, Zeus faced a final challenge set by the Giants.
They went so far as to attempt to invade Mount Olympus, piling
mountain upon mountain in an effort to reach the top.
Nevertheless, the gods had already grown strong, and with the
help of Heracles, the Giants were subdued and killed.