The first four deities were Chaos, Earth (Gaia), Hell (Tartarus), and Love (Eros). Earth began the process of creation by giving birth (without a father) to Sky (Ouranos), with whom she mated through Love to produce the race of immortals. One of their sons—Kronos—castrated and overthrew father Sky at the behest of his mother, and then Kronos became king of the gods. His siblings, the children of Earth and Sky, were the Titans, the Cyclopes, and the HundredHanded Ones. Later, Kronos was overthrown by his son Zeus at the behest of Zeus's mother Rhea, a Titan. Zeus made sure no sons born to him could overthrow him, and thus the era of conflicts and succession (called the Succession Myth) was ended. Zeus's siblings, the children of Kronos and Rhea, were Hera, Hades, Demeter, Poseidon, and Hestia. These mated with each other and with the Titans to create the youngest generation of deities, including Apollo, Artemis, Athena, Hermes, Ares, Hephaistos, and possibly Aphrodite. Dionysos, the final Olympian god, was born of the union between Zeus and the mortal princess Semele. Once this last generation of deities was born, the immortals turned their attention to mortals, from whom was born the race of heroes, such as Theseus, son of Poseidon, and Heracles, son of Zeus. Thus, the deities were kept to a "manageable" number.
Concerning mortals, in the earliest generations only men existed, and these lived in close contact and harmony with the gods. Unfortunately, Prometheus, a Titan, attempting to benefit mankind, caused a rift between the mortals and immortals at the Feast of Mekone (see below). Henceforth, humans were held apart from the gods, and, if that weren't bad enough, mankind was punished with the creation of womankind. Pandora, the first woman, was presented as a "beautiful evil" gift to Prometheus's dim-witted brother Epimetheus, and from her the race of women came forth.
World History
