Facts About Greek Mythology
The Greek civilization was one of the most influential in the history of the world. They gave us democracy, mathematics, philosophy, and (of course) their detailed and mind-bending mythology, which has been portrayed in films such as Clash of the Titans, Heracles, and Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
To this day, many people relate to the Greek gods because of their surprisingly human attitudes. Where more traditional religious figures we might be more familiar with (see: Jesus) are repeatedly shown to be almost unattainably well-meaning...
the Greek gods never did seem to have that knock against them. Theirs are stories that feature sex, violence, revenge, and a whole manner of other undeified (and sometimes undignified) behavior.
Here are a few facts you may not have known about Greek mythology.
Greek Mythology Facts
31. Titans
The twelve Titans were understood by the Greeks as the 2nd generation of divine entities, having taken over control of the Earth from the primordial gods (who were apparently born out of nothing).
The Titans rose to power after Cronus overthrew their father, the primordial Uranus.
Later, though, that act would be replicated by Zeus and the other Olympians, who fought a ten-year-long battle against Cronus and the Titans to eventually become the prevailing gods of the Greek universe.
As we said at the beginning: Greek Myths were messy affairs.
30. Aww Hell
As Lord of the Underworld, Hades gets treated as the Greek equivalent of the devil. But, in actuality, he got the job because he and his brothers drew straws and he got stuck with the underworld.
Seriously, the story goes Hades drew lots with his brothers, Zeus and Poseidon, to decide which part of the world each would rule. Zeus received the sky, Poseidon the seas, and Hades the underworld.
29. Covered All the Bases
Hades is not considered to be the equivalent of death, he just rules over the dead in his kingdom (the underworld). Thanatos, the god of peaceful death, brings people to the underworld and in that sense acts as death.
Violent death was the domain of Thanatos' blood-craving sisters, the Keres, spirits of slaughter and disease.
