On Greece

Greece is an incredible country with a rich history, beautiful culture and astounding
influence on the world. Jutting out into the Mediterranean Sea, Greece consists of a vast
archipelago of many different sized islands, ranging from the large protrusion of Peloponnesus
to the tiny speck that is Delos. So many facets of the many wonderful things make Greece what
it is today can be discussed, but so many words can not do justice to its myriad of wonders.
Only one of the amazing gifts that Greece has given the world is its stories. Greek
mythology, or the fanciful tales that the ancient people created to try to understand the world
around them and how to navigate through their lives, were worshipped devoutly in ancient times
and were thought to be the center of all life. Eventually these legends were replaced by the
study of science and other religions, but today are still fascinating and exciting to explore.
The very oldest myths are the tales of the time before the Olympians, who are the gods
and goddesses featured on most of the more renowned myths. The slightly more obscure myths
of the supposed creation of the universe begin with the primordial elements, the Earth, called
Gaea, and the Sky, Ouranos. The Earth was empty of all life except plants and trees and was
very lonely, but one day looked up into the vast starry expanse of Sky and soon fell in love with
him. The Sky looked down onto the Earth and also felt the same way for the beautiful young
earth. They had twelve children who were the first race of immortals, called the titans. Six sons,
called titans, and six daughters, who were called titanesses. Among the siblings was a son,
named Kronos. Kronos was the most power hungry of the titans and longed to overthrow his
father who was the ruler of the known universe. One day, he got his chance. His mother, Gaea,
who was now the Earth Mother of all living things, once again gave birth. But this time to a race
called the cyclops. Unfortunately their new children were not beautiful, nor strong, nor talented.
They were massive, clumsy and ugly, with one giant eye in the middle of their broad foreheads.
Ouranos was disgusted with them and imprisoned them in a dark void, deep in the Earth's body.
Gaea was enraged and gave Kronos a massive battle scythe and told him to use it and end his
father’s treason. Kronos succeeded in his goal and he took on his father’s role as supreme lord
of the universe.
Kronos chose his sister, the beautiful silver-tressed titaness Rhea, sometimes called
Rhea Silvia, as his bride and queen. When Rhea became pregnant with their first child, Kronos
became worried that the child would conquer him just as he had overpowered his father. Thus,
when the child, who was a daughter named Hestia, was born, he promptly swallowed her. This
is what he did with the following four children Rhea bore as well. After this had happened five
times, Rhea was getting rather tired of her husband swallowing her children, so when she was
expecting her sixth child, the desperate mother formed a plan. The day the baby was born,
Rhea swapped the infant with a large stone, which she swaddled in the fashion of her new son,
who she had named Zeus. The mother gave the stone to her husband who swallowed it without
a second thought, not noticing that his sixth son was a harder consistency than the previous five
that he had previously downed.
Meanwhile, Rhea smuggled her son to a secluded cave in the cliffs, where she turned
him over to the nymphs who dwelled there, then returned to her husband who had not noticed
she had gone. Zeus grew rapidly under the care of the gentle nymphs, fed on a heavy diet of
nectar and ambrosia, the food of immortals which flowed in copious amounts from the horns of
the immortal goat Amaltheia. Zeus soon emerged from the cave, a full grown god, ready to free
his siblings. He was reunited with his mother, who gave him a magic herb produced by his
grandmother Gaea. She told Zeus what to do and he set off. Disguised as a sage old man, Zeus
offered Kronos the herb, telling him it would make him even more powerful than he already was.
Kronos eagerly gulped the herb down, ravenous for more power and glory. The minute the herb
hit his stomach, Kronos began to retch, and a moment later he expelled his children from his
stomach.
Out came, Hestia, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, and Hera, who all thanked their little
brother for freeing them and turned on their father. A battle was fought, and eventually Kronos
was cornered. The godly children sliced their father into hundreds of tiny pieces with the same
scythe he himself had slew his father with and spread the fragments in the pit where he had
imprisoned the cyclopes.
And so the rule of the Olympians began. The siblings ascended to the highest peak in
Greece, Mount Olympus and began their reign. As a council of twelve gods and goddesses, the
Olympians ruled Greece, rewarding those who had done good, and punishing the evil.
Together they fought many battles, slew many beasts and distributed quests to mortal heroes
who walked the earth.
The original children of Kronos each took to rule and represent their own things and
interests. Zeus became the king of Olympus, and the ruler of the sky, Poseidon was in control of
the ocean and everything in it, Hades was given free reign over the underworld and the
judgment of departed souls, Hestia became the goddess of the hearth, of fire, and the comfort
of home, Demeter was the queen of agriculture, grain and harvest, and the youngest daughter
of Kronos, Hera was Zeus’s queen and the goddess of marriage and childbirth.
Zeus was not a very faithful husband, for he took many wives, of mortal, nymph and
goddess alike. Unlike his father before him, Zeus freed the cyclops from Tartarus and
immediately recognized their talent at the forge. The giant craftsmen fashioned him a lightning
bolt to rule the skies with and from it he made all other lightning bolts, and he became also
known as the Wieder of Lightning.
Zeus’s brother Poseidon was a fickle, everchanging god of many moods. A neriad called
Amphrodite was his bride and the queen of his underwater palace. When the king of the ocean
was in a good mood, the sea would be a beautiful sparkling expanse with a surface as clear and
smooth as glass. However, if he was in a bad mood, there would be storms, hurricanes,
tsunamis, and all kinds of unpleasant occurrences. She bore him a son named Triton who was
born with a fishtail instead of legs. His weapon of choice, also made by the cyclops was a triple
pointed spear called a trident. With it, he struck rocks and the surface of the ocean to cause
waves, earthquakes and whirlpools. Because of this he became known as the Earthshaker.
Hades was cold, pitiless, and merciless god of death, shadow and justice. With a firm,
unchanging hand he dealt out reward and punishment, and none could move him. His realm
consisted of Elysium, a happy, warm paradise of comfort, the place for heroes who had done
good and brave deeds during their lives, the Fields of Asphodel, a field full of tall waving
grasses and grey mist, a place for the people who had not been particularly good or bad, and
Tarturus, the pit of fire, darkness and eternal damnation, where tyrants, villains and evildoers
went when their time was up. Hades became known as “The Rich One,” as he owned all the
riches under the earth, and “The Hospitable One, “ because he always welcomed another
departed soul into his realm. Hades also had a cyclops crafted item;a war helmet called the
helm of darkness. When he wore it, Hades could become pure shadow and sneak up on those
who had cheated death.The lord of the dead’s wife was Persephone, the daughter of Demeter,
although unwillingly so, for she had been hoodwinked into marriage and disliked her stony
husband.
Persephone’s mother Demeter, was the golden tressed goddess of grain, harvest, and
agriculture. It was believed to be her, not the tilt of the planet which made the seasons turn and
it was to her they prayed for a bountiful harvest. Her daughter Persephone was kidnapped by
Hades one day, when he had fallen in love with her and was tricked into marrying him and
staying in the underworld for the winter months of the year. This was supposedly the turn of the
seasons, as Demeter mourned for the loss of her daughter during the half of the year and made
the earth cold and barren, then rejoiced come spring when her daughter was allowed to reunite
with her and made the earth flourish in her joy.
The oldest child of Kronos, Hestia was the gentlest and quietest of the Olympians. When
young Diyonisus rose to Olympus, there was suddenly an uneven council of thirteen gods, and
one had to leave. Selfless Hestia quietly rose from her throne and passed it to Diyonisus, saying
that every hearth was her throne and that her place lay at the home. Since then she tended the
sacred eternal fire at Olympus, and every fire was lit in her honor. As time passed by, Hestia
faded into the background, her stories told less and less, and the noble deeds of gentle Hestia
were forgotton.
Hera was the wife of Zeus and the youngest daughter of Kronos. She was a very jealous
wife and tried to make life as miserable as possible for any other wife or child of Zeus. She was
the queen of olympus and became the goddess of marriage and childbirth, Her favored bird was
the peacock and most tales featuring her was depicting her cruelty towards the wives and
children of Zeus
Athena was a daughter of Zeus and his very first wife, the nymph Metis, the goddess of
prudence,council and fair judgement. When Metis became pregnant, Zeus began to fear the
coming child, for the Fates had whispered in his ear that a child of his would overthrow him, as
he did his father and his father before him. Zeus devised a clever scheme and as Metis became
closer and closer to giving birth, he put his plan into motion. Slyly, Zeus proposed a game of
changing shapes to his wife, who consented. Zeus and Metis changed into different animals
until Metis, who had let down her guard, turned into a fly and Zeus, in the shape of an eagle,
swallowed her. From the inside the dark space in her husband’s skull, Metis heard Zeus
apologize, but tell her that they would still always be together and that she could still guide and
advise him from his head. Several moons passed and eventually Metis gave birth to her child
inside Zeus’s skull. Sensing that she was dying, the mother began to weave a magnificent
garment for her child and craft a spear and shield with heavy blows.
Alas for Zeus! Metis’s hammering eventually turned from a nagging headache to a full, godly
sized migraine. Zeus, nearly begging in his agony, summoned his sons Hephaestus and Ares.
Hephaestus, with help from his brother, skillfully split open his father’s skull and out sprang
Athena, fully grown into a gorgeous young woman, her grey eyes flashing, clothed in the things
her mother made, with a battle cry which caused an earthquake to rival Poseidon’s. She
became the goddess of wisdom, strategic warfare, justice, and a patron to the arts. Ouranos
tried to imprison his children in their mother, his son Kronos tried to trap his children inside
himself, and his son Zeus tried to keep his child inside her mother, inside himself. Metis was no
more, but was immortalized in a tiny voice in Zeus’s head which still guided him long after the
owner’s death.
Hephaestus, one of the sons of Zeus and Hera, was not an attractive immortal. When
he was born, Hera was so horrified at his face she threw him off the top of Olympus when
Zeus’s back was turned. When Zeus discovered what had become of his son, he was furious
and immediately summoned Hephaestus back to Olympus, and he came back as a full grown
god. He forgave his mother although his legs were permanently feeble. To resolve this, he made
for himself strong gold crutches to help him heave himself about. He became the peace-loving
god of smiths, the forge and fire. He worked with the cyclops to craft many articles for the
Olympians, and especially his bride Aphrodite.
Beautiful Aphrodite was the only Olympian whose parents are unknown. No one knew
where she had come from, but her name translates as “risen or born from foam,” which is
appropriate as she rose from the water one dawn and floated on a cushion of sea foam. The
sun beamed at her beauty and the wind caught his breath when he saw her before blowing her
on her cushion to the island of Cythera where she was met by the Three Graces. The sisters
clothed the goddess in flowing robes and bedecked her in jewels until she was even more
breathtaking than before. They then put her in a golden chariot pulled by a flock of white doves
which pulled her up to Olympus where she was heralded by Zeus and welcomed as the newest
Olympian. The minute she passed through the golden gates, every male god saw her and
began fighting over her hand. Fearing violence, Zeus quickly paired Aphrodite with humble
Hephaestus, much to the bride’s distaste. As the goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite was a
vain and self-centered goddess, and preferred her husband’s brother Ares.
Ares was another son of Zeus and Hera. As the god of war, and discord, he was the
most violent of the Olympians and the most arrogant of them all. He was disliked by all who met
him, with the exception of Aphrodite who was fond of him for his good looks. He rode into battle,
with death and carnage in the wake of his chariot wheels, accompanied by his companion Eris,
the spirit of strife. She threw, with expert aim, a golden apple from the garden of Hesperides,
and wherever it fell, instant violence followed. Ares’s half-sister Athena hated him especially, as
she detested his senseless bloodshed and only believed in war justly waged.
The immortal archer twins Artemis and Apollo were the children of Zeus and the titaness
Leto. Leto was only one of the many wives of Zeus to suffer at the hands of jealous Hera. When
Leto was very close to giving birth, Hera forbade any land to offer Leto shelter. Leto wandered
for days, exhausted and desperate, unable to take refuge anywhere to give birth. Poseidon took
pity on the wandering mother and secretly raised a tiny island out of the depths of the sea. Not
yet fixed to the floor of the vast ocean, it was not officially land and so it escaped Hera’s
command. Here Leto collapsed under the shade of the island’s single tree, in great pain.
However, this was not the end of poor Leto’s suffering, for Hera had also forbade the goddess
Illithyia, the goddess of labor and childbirth from going to Leto, and without her assistance, no
child could be born. The rest of the Olympians tried to sway Hera by bribing her with many
treasures and jewels. Finally, with the offer of a nine yard long necklace made of amber and
gold, Hera gave in and the messenger spirit Iris swept Ilithyia down the rainbow to the island
where the twins were born easily.
Artemis was born first. She had hair as dark as night and a face as pale and cold as the
moon. When she was just a newborn goddess she swore never to marry, but stay a maiden
forever. She became the haughty goddess of the hunt, newborn creatures, the moon and
archery. With her fleet of wood nymphs she constantly roamed the woods, hunting and bathing
in streams, forever an innocent maiden, and wary of men. Her brother Apollo on the other hand,
took many wives and had many children with goddesses, nymphs and mortals, including
Aesculapius, who was the god of doctors. Apollo became the god of healing, prophecy, the sun,
music, and archery, among other things. Zeus, who was immensely proud of the twins, gave
both a bow and quiver full of arrows. Artemis’s things were silver, and her arrows brought death
soft and painless as moonbeams, While Apollo’s golden arrows were golden and brought death
as painful and intense as the rays of the sun.
Hermes was the child of Zeus and a nymph named Maia. Zeus, knowing Hera, hid Maia
in a secluded cave when she was with child and there Hermes was born. Even as a babe
Hermes was a mischievous god. Only a few hours old, he crawled out of his basket and
wandered into the field where Apollo kept a herd of one hundred sacred red cows. Selecting
fifty, Hermes took them out of the field with brooms attached to their tails to sweep away their
tracks and bunches of bark and twigs attached to his own feet. After sacrificing two of the cows
in honor of the Olympians, Hermes took the entrails and spun them into strings, which he
fastened into an empty shell. When strummed, the instrument, which Hermes named a lyre,
emitted a powerful and enchanting melody. When Apollo realized that fifty of his sacred cows
were missing he immediately suspected the small baby Hermes and rushed to the cave where
Hermes was pretending to be sleeping in his basket. When accused, he retorted saying,”How
do you expect me to have stolen your cows, I do not know what a cow is!” Apollo tucked
Hermes firmly under his arm and sprinted all the way up to Olympus where their father sat on
his great throne. Eventually, Zeus made Hermes take Apollo to the grove where he had hidden
the cows and return them to Apollo. However when Apollo realized he was missing the two
cows that had been sacrificed he was upon his brother again. To soothe Apollo’s rage, Hermes
took out the lyre, pouring out a song so strong it calmed his brother. Apollo, being the god of
music said he would trade the entire herd of sacred animals for the instrument, but Hermes also
made him give him his magic wand. Hermes became the god of thieves, merchants, travelers,
and anyone else who lived by their wits and used the roads. He wore a pair of winged sandals
and travelled, delivering messages for the Olympians and was the cleverest of the gods.
Diyonisus was the youngest of the gods. He was the son of Zeus and Semele, yet
another wife who suffered the consequence of loving Zeus from Hera. Semele was very proud
of the fact that Zeus had chosen her as a bride and often boasted loudly about it. When Semele
was pregnant, Hera, disguised as an old woman asked her, “Are you sure your husband is really
Zeus? Has he ever shown himself to you in his true form?” Semele became very suspicious and
next time she saw Zeus, she begged him to grant her a wish. Zeus, who loved Semele very
much, rashly promised her anything she wanted. Semele promptly asked him to show himself
as the supreme lord of the sky. Zeus begged her to change her wish, for mortals could not see
the gods in their true form without dying, but Semele was unmoved. Bound by his promise, Zeus
unleashed himself so Semele could see him, even if it would be the last thing she saw. Alas for
Semele! All that was left of her was a small pile of silver ashes, from which Zeus rescued their
unborn child, whom he hid in his own thigh until time for him to be born. When the child, a son
named Diyonisus ascended to Olympus, Hestia quietly moved from her grand golden throne to
the small silver chair near the hearth and Diyonisus took her place. Diyonisus became the god
of wine, parties, and theater and was fond of frolics and fun.
Athens, one of the most prominent cities in Greece, is one of the many places of the
world that has been named and honored with Greek mythology. The story of the claiming of
Athens has been told and retold for generations as a competition between two gods who
desired it. The tale goes something like this.
When Athens was nothing but a new, nameless city, both Poseidon and his niece Athena
both set their sights on it and desired to become the patron of the beautiful place. When this
caused strife and neither would yield, Cecrops, the first mythological king of Athens, who had a
snake tail in place of legs, proposed a competition to decide who would claim the position. Each
was to present a gift to the city and he would deem which was most worthy. Poseidon struck a
boulder with his trident and a white marble well appeared. Cecrops examined it and praised the
wave designs carved into the snow white marble, but when the water was tasted he spit it out
and declared that it was as salty as the seas the god ruled. Athena in turn, stuck another stone
and there sprung the first olive tree. Cecrops immediately chose Athena’s gift as it provided
food, wood, oil, and shade. Athena was made the patron of the city and in honor of her, the
people became learned in the ways of the arts, architecture, philosophy, and the pursuit of
wisdom. Another king after Cecrops named the city Athens after their patron goddess and
emblazoned their main currency with the owl, her favored bird.
Athens has remained one of the most influential cities in Greece and has been the
birthplace of many customs found in all of Europe. Athenian life was orderly and repetitive for
men, women and children alike and was socially impactful in many ways.
An Athenian man would rise early and eat a breakfast usually consisting of a few pieces
soaked in wine. A house servant would then assist him in dressing himself in his garment, which
was a short tunic called a chiton, in artistic folds and drapes. Upon leaving the house, he would
then proceed to the Agora, the forum where politics among other topics were discussed, and
immerse himself in discussions.
Meanwhile, his wife, the Athenian woman would stay at home most of the time, educate
the children, clean the house, sew, weave, prepare food, and care for people if anyone in the
house was ill. An Athenian woman would usually wear a longer garment like a dress, which
would fall in graceful folds to her ankles, with a flap which covered the top of the head.
An Athenian boy would be educated at home by his mother until the age of seven, where
he would be taught to read, write, and do simple arithmetic. At the age of seven he would begin
to attend a proper school until the age of around eighteen. At a school he would learn reading
and writing, music, and athletic activity. Usually, a boy would be taught to write using a shallow
tray full of soft wax and a sharp tipped stylus. After learning to inscribe letters in this forgiving
fashion, the boy would be allowed to proceed to using ink and parchment, which was much
more advanced as well as expensive. The boy would also learn to play on at least one
instrument, the lyre, or the harp or the flute. Gymnastics were taught to boys at school in the
hopes that some of the boys may someday compete in the Olympic games. Even more than the
pursuit of wisdom, schools were for building character and forming strong beliefs and morals. In
Athens, you would learn to love things of beauty and know right from wrong.
An Athenian girl would also gain education from her mother, until the age of fifteen,
which was the average age of marriage in Athens. After learning reading, writing and very
simple arithmetic, an Athenian girl was strongly discouraged from pursuing any other academic
activities, as a respectable wife was supposed to be quiet, serviceable and extremely docile.
Girls and women alike were supposed to be “seen and not heard” in many domestic settings
and were not supposed to inquire about politics or any other activity associated with the man.
However, and Athenian mother would have an opportunity to become a fantastic storyteller, as it
was common for the mother to tell the stories of the gods and the heroes to her children in the
evenings before taking to their beds, which is only one example of how mythology affected the
everyday life of the Greek people.
Another gift that Greece has bestowed to the world is the Olympic games. As the
national festival, the games consisted of many smaller sessions leading up to the final
tournament. The games at Ionia for Poseidon, the games at Delos in honor of Apollo and his
sacred oracle, and the crowning jewel, the Olympic games at Olympia for almighty Zeus.
These games pulled all kinds of people from all city states from across Greece. Not only
does this show the Greeks unwavering devotion to the gods, but also how much they
appreciated the importance of a well trained body. In Greece, it was a common belief that the
body should be exercised and refined just as much as the mind, which explains why gymnastics
was taught to boys at most Greek schools.
When the Olympic games came around, scores of hopeful boys and young men would
flock to Olympia after being rigorously trained in many athletic areas. The games consisted of
first footraces, ranging from two hundred yards to three miles, which was considered
agonizingly long. The marathon race (nearly twenty-seven miles long) was not created until the
Battle of Marathon, where a soldier was sent to alert the city of their victory. The soldier sprinted
the entire way and after gasping ”We’ve won,”collapsed and died. Thus the marathon race was
born, although due to the advancement of human endurance, people usually don’t die after
completing them.
After the foot races came the popular pentathlon, a five part tournament consisting of
short distance running, jumping, spear throwing, discus throwing and wrestling. A contender had
to win three out of five to win. Lastly came the terribly exciting, if not extremely dangerous,
chariot race, which came with the guarantee of edge-of-your-seat excitement. A small basket
big enough to hold two people, drawn by a team of horses was rocketed around the oval
shaped track until a victor was crowned and everyone was thoroughly dizzy.
There were great ceremonies for the victors,a procession to the place where a coveted
laurel wreath sat on a small pedestal wrought of gold and ivory. It has been said that the
proudest moment of the victor’s life would be the moment his brow was crowned with the wreath
of Apollo’s sacred tree.
Some of the world’s most amazing thinkers who have influenced the world we live in
today have emerged from Greece. For example, Archimedes, who was born in Syracuse,
Greece. As one of the most revered inventors of this world, he invented genius war machines,
such as a giant grabber arm which could pluck enemy ships from the water and smash them
against surrounding rocks. This particular contraption came in very handy during naval
engagements. Among these people was also the brilliant mathematician, Pythagoras.
Pythagoras, most well known for his creation of the Pythagorean theorem, a formula for
discovering unknown sides of triangles, was also a talented philosopher. Hailing from the island
Samos, he was the first to apply the term “cosmos” to the universe. The three generations of
teachers and students, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle are another example of some of the best
thinkers who came from Greece.
Socrates was the philosopher that changed the way many other scholars think. While
most philosophers at the time made theories about how the universe and the world as we know
it came to be, Socrates thought more of the virtues and morals of humans and many everyday
practices. This new way of thinking became known as the Socratic Method, and is now widely
practiced by scholars for centuries.
Socrates’s apprentice Plato was taught Socrates’s ways and committed them to written
form, as Socrates himself never bothered to write any of his theories down. Plato, like
Pythagoras, strongly associated philosophy with mathematics and once said, concerning his
school, “Let no man enter here who is ignorant of mathematics.” He was also one of the most
honored writers whose rich dialogues have been pronounced some of the best Greek prose
ever written.
Aristotle who was, in turn, taught by Plato and was also learned in the Socratic method.
The father of logic, Aristotle valued the pursuit of truth and sound thinking and once said
concerning his tutor, “Plato is dear to me, but dearer still is truth.” One of his most well-known
students was Alexander the Great, who ruthlessly conquered the entire known world.
In conclusion, Greece has inspired and given so much to the rest of the world and all
that inhabit it. In many places in America it seems you can always find some whisper or echo of
Greece. From the renowned statue of Prometheus the mortal in Rockefeller Center, to the
graceful pillars and columns of the white house, Greece has infused itself into countries of the
world, America being only a small example. This just shows how one beautiful country, one
culture and one people can be forever immortalized in flavors, styles, sounds and stories that
spread much farther than the country itself, but every corner of the globe.
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