Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The Greek Gods

Episode Date: February 22, 2025

The ancient Greeks had a polytheistic religion and a pantheon of gods.  They didn’t just have many gods; they had a LOT of gods. Gods that ruled over many different aspects of human endeavor and the natural world. These gods had a mythology that bound them up together in a very dysfunctional and often disturbing family tree. You’re probably familiar with some of them, but others are pretty obscure. Learn more about the Greek gods and their mythology on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Mint Mobile Cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com/eed Quince Go to quince.com/daily for 365-day returns, plus free shipping on your order! Stitch Fix Go to stitchfix.com/everywhere to have a stylist help you look your best Tourist Office of Spain Plan your next adventure at Spain.info  Stash Go to get.stash.com/EVERYTHING to see how you can receive $25 towards your first stock purchase and to view important disclosures. Subscribe to the podcast!  https://everything-everywhere.com/everything-everywhere-daily-podcast/ -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Austin Oetken & Cameron Kieffer   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Update your podcast app at newpodcastapps.com Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The ancient Greeks had a polytheistic religion and a pantheon of gods. They didn't just have many gods. They had a lot of gods. Gods that ruled over many different aspects of human endeavor and the natural world. These gods had a mythology that bound them up together in a very dysfunctional and often disturbing family tree. You're probably familiar with some of them, but others are more obscure. Learn more about the Greek gods and their mythology on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

What if your perceptions about the past were wrong? ThruLine is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story that may have gone unnoticed. It effectively turned day into night. And how it shaped the world now. Time travel with us every week on the ThruLine podcast from NPR. I've been working on doing some episodes on the religion and gods of several different ancient civilizations, including the Egyptians, Babylonians, Norse, Romans, and Greeks. And I figured I'd start by focusing on the Greeks because alongside with the Romans, most people are familiar with them and there are many references

to the Greek gods in Western culture. There's no way that I can go through every single Greek God. So what I hope to achieve in this episode is to go over the major gods and their mythology. Given the sheer number of gods, that means that I'm going to be leaving some of them out. I should also provide fair warning that many of the stories of the gods, while being totally mythological, are pretty disturbing. The stories of the Greek gods are a cross between a soap opera and a horror movie. There are some adult themes in these stories, and while I'll try to soften the language, the mythology is what it is.

So with that, we have to start with the primordial deities. These were the first gods that existed at times. the beginning of the cosmos. And it started with an entity known as chaos. Chaos was the void or formless state from which everything emerged. Chaos like most of the other primordial deities was a personification of an abstraction and wasn't worshipped like other gods. From chaos sprang the other primordial gods. And the first was Gaia, who was Earth, the first solid entity and the mother of many other gods. The third primordial god was Tartarus, the deep abyss, which was both a place and a deity. Fourth was Eros, the primordial force of attraction, not to be confused with the

Olympian god named Eros, which had the same name. Fifth was Erebus, the personification of darkness, followed by Nix, the personification of night. From this family tree, I'm going to focus on the descendants of Gaia, from which the most interesting and important gods come. Gaia by herself, with no father, because gods can do that, gave birth to Eurnus, the personification of the sky, Pontus the personification of the sea, and Eurea, the personification of the mountains. Eurna was not only her son, but also became her husband. And I warn you, this was going to be like a disturbing soap opera. Together, they created the the second generation of Greek gods, which were known as the Titans, as well as some other

deformed offspring that they literally threw into the cellar. There were 12 Titans that were the offspring of Gaia and Uranus. The leader of the Titans, and the youngest of the bunch, was Cronus, the god of time. The next was Rea, the Titanus of fertility, who later became the wife of Cronus. The third was Oceanus, the Titan of the World Encircling River. Fourth was Tethys, the tightness of fresh water, who became the wife of Oceanus. Fifth was Hyperion, the Titan of Light. Number six was Thea, the tightness of sight and vision, and the wife of Hyperion.

The children of Hyperion and Thea were Helios, God of the Sun, Selene goddess of the moon, and Eos God of the Dawn. The seventh Titan was Coyus, the Titan of Intellect. The eighth was Phoebe, the tightness of prophecy and the wife of Coyas. The children of Coyus and Phoeus were Leto and. and Asteria, Leto became the mother of Apollo and Artemis. The ninth was Iappitus, the Titan of Morality, the Tenth with Themis, the Tightness of Divine Law and Order.

11th was Nemazine, the Titan's of Memory, and the final Titan was Creus, the Titan associated with constellations. Collectively, the 12 Titans were known as the Titanomarchy. I also mentioned that Uranus and Gaia had some children that they threw into the cellar. They had three cyclopses, which were giant one-eyed craftmen, and they also had three Hecatonkeries. The Hecatonkeres were three giant beings in Greek mythology with 100 hands and 50 heads, known for their immense strength.

Evidently, when Gaia and Uranus were making children, they ordered way too many hands and heads and not enough torsos. Uranus so hated the Hecatonkeres and the Cyclopses that he had them thrown into the abyss Tartarus. The twelve Titans overthrew the primordial gods when Cronus led a rebellion against his father, Uranus. With Gaias help, Cronus ambushed Eurnus and castrated him with a sickle, Gaia made with a substance called Adamant, seizing power and establishing the rule of the

Titans. After Cronus castrated Eurinus, the severed genitals fell into the sea, creating a white foam from which Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, was born. Meanwhile, from Uranus's spilled blood, Gaia gave birth to the Furies, the giants, and the Mili, who were the nymphs of the ash trees. Yerunus, however, before he went away, gave a prophecy to Cronus that he, too, would be overthrown by one of his own children. The golden age of the Greek gods refers to the period of Titan rule under Cronus, following

his overthrow of Uranus. It was considered an era of peace, prosperity, and abundance, where humans lived in the Greek, harmony with nature, free from toil, suffering, or aging. According to Greek mythology, mortals did not need to farm or work as the earth provided everything they needed, and there were no wars or conflicts. Cronus married his sister Rhea. Together they had five children, Demeter, Hesdea, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon. Because Cronus feared his children usurping him, immediately after each child was born, he ate them, which, to be fair, would technically solve that problem.

Why Rea continued to have children after the father ate, the first one is not explained to mythology, but having more children she did. After five children being eaten, she sought out the help of her mother Gaia. Together, they devised a plan to get back at Kronus for what he did to his father and to his children. She gave birth to a sixth child,

but this time she fled to the Isle of Crete, where she gave birth to Zeus, away from Kronus. When Kronus came looking for the baby to eat, Raya gave him a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes. The stone became known as the Amphalas. Kronos asked Rhea to nurse the child one last time before he was to eat it, and she pressed the stone against her breast trying to fool him.

The milk that came out became the milky way. Having successfully deceived Kronos, and Kronos not knowing the difference between a rock and a child, Zeus was raised to. in secret. Zeus was hidden away raised by nymphs and protected by the Coretus, warrior figures who clashed their weapons to drown out his cries. In some versions of the story, the nymph amalthia, either as a goat or a caretaker, nursed him and a divine eagle would bring him nectar and Ambrosia. Gaya, still resentful of Kronus for imprisoning her monstrous children in some

versions of the story, supported Zeus's survival, seeing him as a tool to end the Titans' rule. Once fully grown, Zeus returned to challenge Kronus. His first move was to liberate his swallowed siblings who remained alive but trapped inside their father's stomach. I'm not an expert on the physiology of the Greek gods, but I'm guessing having five living children in your stomach for that long would eventually cause problems. To do this, Zeus needed help. In some versions of the story, he partnered with Medis, his first wife and the daughter

of Oceanus and Tethys, who provided him with a special potion. In other versions of the story, Gaia or Rea supplied him the mixture. Either way, Zeus tricked Kronus into drinking it, perhaps disguised as wine, causing him to vomit violently. First, Kronus spewed up the stone, which landed at Delphi and became a sacred relic. And then came the siblings in reverse order of their swallowing, beside in Hades, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia. Now freed these gods, both grateful and vengeful, joined Zeus, forming the nucleus of the Olympian rebellion. They declared war on chronos and the Titans. Of Zeus's regurgitated siblings, Poseidon became the god of the sea, earthquakes and horses. Demeter

became the goddess of agriculture and the harvest. Herod became the queen of the gods, and the goddess of marriage and childbirth, and later became Zeus's wife. Hesda became the goddess of the hearth and home, and Hades became the god of the underworld and the dead. Zeus and his siblings, minus Hades, who really had no concern for such events, recruited several more gods to challenge Cronus. And here I should note that Zeus really got around. While he was married to Hera, he did not limit himself to her. He had children with many other goddesses, even mortals,

many of whom would be punished by a jealous Hera. The gods he recruited for his rebellion came from his primary children. The other gods he recruited for the Olympian Rebellion were the aforementioned Aphrodite, Athena, the goddess of wisdom, whom he sired without a wife after eating the head of Medus. Artemis, goddess of the hunt,

her brother Apollo, God of the Son. His child with Hera, Ares, the god of war and violence. Hephaestus, the god of fire and blacksmithing and the son of Hera and Zeus. And finally Hermes, the messenger of the gods, and the son of Zeus and the nymph Maya.

These gods became known as the Olympians, named after their base on Mount Olympus, the highest peak in Greece. Kronos rallied most of the Titans to defend their reign, basing themselves on Mount Athras in central Greece. Zeus, however, had a trick up his sleeve. Zeus descended into Tartarus where Kronos had imprisoned Gaia's monstrous offspring from Uranus. He freed the three Cyclopses and the three hectories in exchange for their loyalty.

The Cyclopses then forged weapons. Zeus's Thunderbolt, Poseidon's. Trident and Hades helm of invisibility. The heck the Tonkarees, the hundred-handed, 50-headed giants, provided their raw power and would prove decisive. The War of the Olympians versus the Titans lasted ten years, a cosmic clash that shook the universe. The Greek poet Hesiod described it vividly by saying, quote, the boundless sea roared,

the earth resounded, and the heavens trembled. After ten grueling years, the Olympians. Olympians gained the upper hand. The Hectotonkeries relentless bombardment and Zeus's lightning barrage broke the Titans' resistance. Cronus, once the sickle-wielding usurper, was overpowered himself and defeated alongside his loyal siblings. The victorious Olympians then cast Cronus and the rebellious Titans into Tartarus, the same abyss where the Cyclopses and the Hectotonkeries had been held. In a poetic twist, Zeus appointed the Hectotonkary's as their eternal guard. ensuring there would be no escape.

Some titans like Oceania or Rhea faced lighter fates or remained free due to neutrality or family ties. With Kronos disposed, Zeus divided the cosmos amongst his brothers by drawing lots. Zeus took the sky, becoming king of the gods, Poseidon claimed the sea, and Hades ruled the underworld. If this seems really complicated, it kind of is. And it actually gets much more complicated than this once you get into it. into some of the lesser gods and other deities. You've probably noticed that the Greek mythology is kind of messed up and disturbing,

with a fair amount of cannibalism and incest. Yet, these stories were the basis for the entire Greek religion and Greek civilization. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Austin Oaken and Cameron Kiefer. Today's review comes from listener Jamie Pfeffer over on Apple Podcasts in the United States. States. They write, tremendous. I adore everything everywhere, and I learn something every podcast. Even if the topic is something that I know reasonably well, I still benefit because Gary prepares thoroughly, and he always has an original perspective. Well, thanks, Jamie. I'm glad you enjoyed the

show and that you're learning something at every episode. And that is why the motto of this program is learn something new every day. Remember, if you leave a reviewer on me a boostagram, you two can have it read on the show.