Monday, January 13, 2020

Greek Mythology Gods, Goddesses | The City of Athens and Greek Goddess Athena


Athens is a wonderful city in Greece. It is an ancient city and always inhabited. Dating back to 5th century BC, it is a city of one of the world’s most important civilizations. Its name has a story involving Greek goddess Athena in Greek Mythology. The myth behind the name of the Read the full post: city of Athens is the story of a Greek goddess. This goddess is Athena. Athens is named after goddess Athena in Greek Mythology. She was the daughter of the king of gods, Zeus. 

She was strong, fair and merciful, and also goddess of wisdom. Her birth has a legend which was unusual. It is an amazing story.
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Zeus’s first wife Metis was pregnant. After knowing this Zeus, the king of the gods, swallowed her wife. This is because he heard from someone whose prophecy told that her child would be greater than her father.

It seems Zeus swallowed more than he can. Very soon he developed a terrible headache. Later his head split open and his child appeared in a fully grown form as goddess Athena.

There is another myth about the goddess Athena and the name of city of Athens in Greek Mythology. One time goddess Athena and god of the sea, Poseidon, have fought. They quarreled over who should be the patron of the city of Athens.

It was decided that the name will be given after whoever gives the best gift to the city.

Poseidon gave a gift of salt water spring near the city. Athena gave the gift of olive tree. The people of Athens were clever.
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They decided that Athena’s gift was the better of the two gifts. The olive tree’s oil can be used for lighting, cooking and trading. They appreciated her gift of olive tree by naming the city of Athens of her, Athena.
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Saturday, January 11, 2020

Greek Mythology Gods, Goddesses | Almighty Zeus the Greek God is the King of the Gods


Zeus is the king of the Gods in Greek Mythology. He was the son of Cronos and Rhea who were Titans. There are amazing stories about almighty Zeus in Greek Mythology. Zeus is the ruler of Mount Olympus which is the home of the gods. He is the god of the sky, air and thunder. His symbols are the Read the full post: thunderbolt, eagle, bull and the oak. He hurls his thunderbolt at anyone who displeases him.


Zeus was the son of Cronos and Rhea who were the Titans in Greek Mythology. If you didn’t know the Titans were the giants who appear in human form. The titans were children of the ancient Earth, Gaia.

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Zeus became the king of the gods and the ruler of the Mount Olympus which is the home of the gods after overthrowing his father, Cronos. Cronos became the father of the gods by murdering his own father, Uranus. Uranus while dying cursed his son Kronos that his own son will dethrone him.

Because of this curse, Cronos started swallowing all of his children when they were born. Kronos’ wife tricked him cleverly when she gave birth to the son, Zeus. She wrapped up a stone in a baby’s clothes and gave to Kronos to swallow. Kronos swallowed the stone baby while the real baby, Zeus, was hidden with a shepherd’s family.




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Zeus grew up with that shepherd’s family. After growing up like a man, Zeus started disgorging from his father. He first disgorged the stone which was the last one to be swallowed. He continued in the reverse order in which the children were swallowed. He brought back all his siblings. Thus Zeus was the last of the siblings.

Zeus also released the brothers of Cronos from his stomach. They were Gigantes, Hecatonchires and the Cyclopes. The Cyclopes gifted Zeus with thunder and thunderbolt, which became his weapon, to appreciate him for releasing.

Now Zeus, together with his siblings, and brothers of Cronos, dethroned Cronos and other Titans in a great battle called Titanomachy. After this battle Zeus shared the world with his brothers, Poseidon and Hades. Zeus got the sky and air and thus became the god of the sky and thunder. Poseidon got waters and thus became god of the seas. Hades got the underworld which is the world of the dead.

Thus Zeus who got sky and thunder, who also dethroned Kronos, who was the father of gods, became the king of the gods and ruled Mount Olympus!

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Greek Mythology Gods, Goddesses | Mount Olympus Home of the Gods

In Greek Mythology the important gods dwelled in a special location called Mount Olympus. Even today it is the highest mountain in Greece which suits the storyline of Greek Mythology to be the main home of the gods. Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece. Its base is at the sea level. So its height from base to top or just the height of the mountain is 2919 meters or 9577 feet. That is quite a height! Because of this height it is also known to be one of the highest mountains in Europe. Read the full post:



Mount Olympus has a very important role in Greek Mythology. The most important Greek gods dwelled on this mountain. There were palaces of the major gods on its summit. Those major gods were known as Olympians. There was also an entrance to the great mountain Olympus through a gate of clouds, which were protected by the goddesses known as the Seasons.


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In Greek Mythology, Zeus who is the king of the gods, had his throne on the top of the Mount Olympus. The other gods who stay on this mountain were closely related to him. They were his wife Hera, his brothers Poseidon and Hades, his sisters Demeter and Hestia, and his children, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Athena, Hermes and Hephaestus.

All these gods were representations of some aspect of human life and nature. Zeus, the king of the gods, was the god of mind and intellect. Hera, his wife, was the goddess of a woman’s life and marriage. Apollo, his son, was the god of law and order. Aphrodite of love, Hermes of travelers, sleep, dreams and prophecy, Athena was the goddess of wisdom and Hephaestus was the god of the arts and fire. Ares was the god of the dark side of human nature. Hades was the god of the underworld and Poseidon was the god of the seas. Demeter was the goddess of the crops and fertility. Hermes was the Messenger of the gods.

All these make up twelve in number including Zeus. These twelve principal gods of the ancient world were known as Twelve Olympians. The twelve Olympians dwelled in Mount Olympus.

Mount Olympus is located in Macedonia, which is 100km away from Thessaloniki, a city second largest in Greece.

Mount Olympus has rich flora with endemic species. Endemic species means that they are species specific to a region. You cannot find them elsewhere as much as at this place. In the mountains of Mount Olympus, the highest peak is Mytikas at a height of 2919 meters or 9577 feet. Mytikas means nose in Greek.



Image resource (from Litochoro)

Today we need to start from the town of Litochoro to climb the Mount Olympus. This town got its name as the city of the gods because it is located at the root of the mountains. Today you can find many mountains across the world with the same name as Mount Olympus.
Image resource (there are many Mountains with this name, this snowy one is in Turkey)



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