MYTHS AND LEGENDS

GREEK MYTHOLOGY
THE TITANOMACHY WAR
AND
THE TRAGIC END OF ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE
.

-Prabavathy.M
. BA English 3 rd year
THE TITANOMACHY WAR
• The Titanomachy was a ten-year war between the new generation
of Greek gods and older gods known as the Titans. The new
Olympian gods defeated and imprisoned the Titans. Zeus and his
allies assumed power over the cosmos.
THE CREATOR AND THE
CREATION
• CHAOS:Chaos was the void state before the creation of the universe,
and the first primordial goddess to emerge ,representing the chasm
between heaven and earth.
• GAEA:The personification of the Earth, who emerged from Chaos.
She is considered the supreme goddess by both mortals and
immortals.
• TARTARUS:A primordial deity and the name of a region of the
Underworld
• NYX:The goddess of night, who was the daughter of Chaos and the
mother of Hypnos, Thanatos, and Erebus.
• EROS:The god of love and fertility, who was born of Chaos. In later
traditions, he is the son of Aphrodite.
• EREBUS:The god of darkness, who also came out of Chaos. He was
the twin of Nyx.
THE CHILDREN OF URANUS AND GAEA:
Uranus was the sky god and Gaea was the Earth goddess. Uranus was the son of Gaea,
who created him without help. He then became the husband of Gaea.In Greek mythology,
Uranus and Gaea had 18 children, including:

The Titans:
The 12 Titans were Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus, Theia, Rhea, Themis,
Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Tethys, and Cronus.

The Cyclopes:
The three Cyclopes were Brontes, Steropes, and Arges. The name “Cyclopes” means
“circle-eyed” because each Cyclops had one large eye in the middle of his forehead.

The Hecatoncheires:
The three Hecatoncheires were Cottus, Briareos, and Gyges. The name “Hecatoncheires”
means “Hundred-Handed Ones” because each Hecatoncheires had fifty heads and fifty
arms.
THE TITANS:
• The Titans were the children of Uranus (Sky) and Gaia
(Earth). They ruled from Mount Orthys, and each Titan
had their own realm. The Titans rebelled against their
father, Uranus, after he imprisoned them in the
underworld (Tartarus) at the instigation of Gaia. The
Olympians eventually overthrew the TitansIn Greek
mythology, the Titans were the first generation of
gods and the pre-Olympian rulers of the cosmos. The
12 Titans were:
 •Oceanus: The Titan of the sea
•
•Coeus: The Titan of intellect
•
•Crius: The Titan of constellations
•
•Hyperion: The Titan of light and father of the sun, moon, and dawn
•
•Iapetus: The Titan of craftsmanship and morality, and father of Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Atlas
•
•Cronus: The Titan of time
•
•Thea: A Titaness
•
•Rhea: An earth goddess and the goddess of “the way of things”
•
•Themis: The Titan of justice and order
•
•Mnemosyne: The Titan of memory and mother of the Muses
•
•Phoebe: The goddess of prophecy
• Tethys:The godess of sea
 THE OLYMPIANS:
• In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the twelve
Olympians are the major deities of the Greek
pantheon, commonly considered to be Zeus,
Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, Aphrodite, Athena,
Artemis, Apollo, Ares, Hephaestus, Hermes, and
either Hestia or Dionysus.
• The Olympians were the major deities in the Greek
pantheon and lived on Mount Olympus. The name
“Olympians” comes from Mount Olympus.
• Hades, Zeus’s brother, is not included in the
Olympians because he lived in the underworld.
• The Olympians came into power after defeating the
Titans in the Titanomachy, a great war between the
Olympians and the Titans.
WAR BETWEEN THE TITANS AND THE
OLYMPIANS:
• Uranus drew the enmity of Gaia when he imprisoned six of her children — the three
Hecatonchires (giants with 50 heads and 100 arms) and the three Cyclopes (also
giants, each with a single eye in the middle of its forehead) — within her womb. Gaia
created a great sickle, forged from adamantine, and hid it in a crevice on Mount
Othrys
• When Uranus met to consort with Gaia on Mount Othrys, Cronus ambushed Uranus,
and with the adamantine sickle, sliced off his genitals, casting them across the
Mediterranean.
• After doing so, Cronus freed the imprisoned Hecatonchires and Cyclopes, by slicing
open Gaia’s womb and promptly imprisoned them in Tartarus. Cronus also quickly
imprisoned Uranus deep below Tartarus. In doing this, he became the Ruler of the
Titans. But Uranus cursed Cronus so that Cronus’s own children would rebel against
his rule, just as Cronus had rebelled against his own father. Uranus’ blood that had
spilled upon the earth gave rise to the Gigantes, Erinyes, and Meliae. From the
mixture of blood and semen from his mutilated genitalia, Aphrodite arose from the
sea where they landed in Cyprus.
THE CLASH AMONG THE FAMILY FOR
THE THRONE
• Cronus took his father’s title of ruler of land, sky, and sea. He then secured
his power by forcing his siblings to bow down to his will.
• Cronos, paranoid of Uranus’s curse and fearing the end of his rule, now
turned into the tyrant his father Uranus had once been, swallowing each of
his children whole as they were born from his sister-wife Rhea.
• Rhea, who began to resent Cronus, managed to hide her youngest newborn
child Zeus, by tricking Cronus into swallowing a magnetite rock, given to her
by her mother Gaia, wrapped in a blanket instead. Rhea brought Zeus to a
cave in Crete, where he was raised by Amalthea and the Meliae.
• Zeus masqueraded as Cronus’ cupbearer. Once he had been established as
a servant of Cronus, the Oceanid Metis gave Zeus a mixture of mustard and
wine [citation needed] which would cause Cronus to vomit out his swallowed
children, now grown. After freeing his siblings as well as the Hecatonchires
and Cyclopes, Zeus led them in rebellion against the Titans.
THE ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE
• ORPHEUS:
Orpheus, ancient Greek legendary hero endowed
with superhuman musical skills. He became the patron
of a religious movement based on sacred writings said to
be his own

• EURYDICE:
Eurydice was the Auloniad wife of musician
Orpheus, who loved her dearly; on their wedding day, he
played joyful songs as his bride danced through the
meadow. One day, Aristaeus saw and pursued Eurydice,
who stepped on a viper, was bitten, and died thereafter.
THE LOVE:
• Apollo gave Orpheus a lyre and taught him how to play. It had
been said that “nothing could resist Orpheus’s beautiful
melodies, neither enemies nor beasts.” Orpheus fell in love
with Eurydice, a woman of beauty and grace, whom he married
and lived with happily for a short time. However, when Hymen
was called to bless the marriage, he predicted that their
perfection was not meant to last.
• A short time after this prophecy, Eurydice was wandering in the
forest with the Nymphs. In some versions of the story, the
shepherd Aristaeus saw her, and beguiled by her beauty, made
advances towards her and began to chase her. Other versions
of the story relate that Eurydice was merely dancing with the
Nymphs. While fleeing or dancing, she was bitten by a snake
and died instantly. Orpheus sang his grief with his lyre and
managed to move everything, living or not, in the world; both
humans and gods learnt about his sorrow and grief.
THE SORROW:
• Orpheus played with his lyre a song so heartbreaking that
even Hades himself was moved to compassion. The god told
Orpheus that he could take Eurydice back with him, but under
one condition: she would have to follow behind him while
walking out from the caves of the underworld, and he could
not turn to look at her as they walked.
• Thinking it a simple task for a patient man like himself,
Orpheus was delighted; he thanked Hades and left to ascend
back into the living world. Unable to hear Eurydice’s
footsteps, however, he began to fear the gods had fooled him.
Eurydice might have been behind him, but as a shade, having
to come back into the light to become a full woman again.
Only a few feet away from the exit, Orpheus lost his faith and
turned to see Eurydice behind him, sending her back to be
trapped in Hades’s reign forever.
THE TRAGIC END:
• Orpheus tried to return to the underworld but was unable to,
possibly because a person cannot enter the realm of Hades
twice while alive. According to various versions of the myth,
he played a mourning song with his lyre, calling for death so
that he could be united with Eurydice forever. He was killed
either by beasts tearing him apart or by the Maenads in a
frenzied mood. His head remained fully intact and still sang
as it floated in the water before washing up on the island of
Lesbos. According to another version, Zeus decided to strike
him with lightning, knowing Orpheus might reveal the secrets
of the underworld to humans. In this telling, the Muses
decided to save his head and keep it among the living people
to sing forever, enchanting everyone with his melodies. They
additionally cast his lyre into the sky as a constellation.
Why I choose this topic:
• Because even though there are many stories where Zeus had
many affairs which he can’t be truthful and also his ancestors
would married their own sisters or mothers whatever.
• But,this story of Orpheus and eurydice:After the loss of his love,he
would never fallen for any other women.
• Even some myth says that he was cursed by many women for
rejecting them.Because till his last breath he only loved eurydice.
• Other myths also says that Orpheus committed suicide due to the
loneliness.
Conclusion
• So,this is about the basic greek mythology and my favourite love
story of Orpheus and eurydice.

• When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a

treasure: This quote is about how memories of loved ones can become
treasures.

The pain of missing you is a beautiful reminder of the joy of loving

you.” ...”