S4E1 - The Olympians and the Titans

The stories featured in Greaking Out are original adaptations of classic Greek myths.

This week's story features people with too many arms, getting locked inside the earth, primordial beings with anatomical names, baby eating, and some really bad parents.

When we talk about Greek gods, we usually think about the Olympians, meaning the gods who lived on Mount Olympus.

Although it is a mythological destination, Mount Olympus is also a real place.

It is a 10,000-foot-tall mountain on the northeastern coast of Greece, about 60 miles away from the city of Thessaloniki.

Right.

And even in real life, the mountain is always covered in mists and clouds, so it makes sense that the ancient Greeks thought of it as a mystical, magical place where only the gods themselves could live.

But how did they get there?

How did the gods become the gods?

Well, like everything here at Greaking Out, there's a story for that.

This is the story of the gods before the gods.

And we're going way back.

You see, the ancient Greeks believed that the first beings in existence were the Titans, and they were born from chaos, which, according to the Greeks, was the first thing ever.

The queen of the Titans was Gaia, and the king was named Uranus.

Some people pronounce that name differently.

Yeah, I know.

In Latin, it would be pronounced your anus.

I know.

But humans find it awkward because the anus is a body part involved in expelling solid waste.

And humans don't like to discuss that sort of thing.

Yeah, I know that too.

I just wanted to make it less awkward for you.

Well, thanks for that.

Anyway, Uranus, anyway, Uranus and his wife Gaia were basically in charge of the entire universe.

Gaia was considered to be the goddess of the earth, while her husband ruled over the heavens and sky.

Some say Gaia actually came first, creating the earth and then creating Uranus to cover her on all sides.

Either way, she had more than 15 children, and they didn't all get along.

In fact, Uranus was so upset with a few of her children that he actually locked them up.

And this is where the trouble begins.

Uranus didn't like the Cyclopes or the Hecatonkirays.

He thought they were all giants and vicious and angry beasts.

The Cyclopes, you might remember, were massive giants with only one eye.

And the Hecatonkirays were three even more massive giants with 50 heads and 100 arms each and incredible strength and ferocity.

I don't know, maybe uranus thought they were ugly or maybe he was afraid of them whatever his reasoning uranus cast the cyclopes and the hecatonchirays down into tartaris a prison deep below the earth well gaia didn't like that at all she loved all of her children even the ones that didn't look like the rest so she decided that uranus needed to be replaced She approached each of her children to see who would challenge Uranus for the throne, but they all refused.

All except the very youngest named Cronus.

Gaia gave Cronus a magic scythe, and he challenged his father with it.

A scythe is a sharp tool with a long curved blade at the end of a pole.

It is usually used to cut down crops like grass or wheat.

You might see one in images of the grim reaper.

Uranus almost laughed when he saw his youngest and smallest child confronting him with this large, heavy farming tool.

He didn't realize the blade was magic until it was too late.

And when Cronus swung the scythe, it cut deeply, wounding Irana so badly that it severed the bonds between Earth and the heavens, separating them forever.

Some of the blood from the wound dripped down into the sea, and from that blood, several sets of children were born.

New beings began to emerge from the oceans of Earth, including giants, the furies, and eventually even the goddess Aphrodite, but we'll get to that later.

As Iran slowly lay dying, he looked at his son and had a vision.

He saw that the same thing that had happened to him would happen one day to Cronus.

You will be betrayed, my son, he told him.

And like me, it will be by your own child.

Well, immediately Cronus became king of the Titans.

He built a mighty palace on Mount Othris and eventually married the Titan Rhea.

Mount Othrus is also real.

This mountain is in central Greece on the border between two regions, Theosis and Magnesia.

Cronus and Rhea eventually had six children, Hades, Hera, Poseidon, Hestia, Demeter, and Zeus.

But as time went by, the warning from his dying father continued to echo in Cronus' head, and his fear of losing power turned Cronus into an evil tyrant.

He again locked up the Cyclopes and the Hecatonchires, sending them back down to Tartarus, which made Gaia very unhappy again.

And he was so afraid of being overthrown that he actually swallowed each of his own children while they were still babies to keep them from eventually challenging him for the throne.

He swallowed them whole.

Chewing is an important part of the digestive process.

When you don't chew enough, your body may not produce enough enzymes to fully break down the food.

Experts recommend chewing your food 32 times before you swallow, unless you're a titan.

Not surprisingly, Rhea got tired of seeing her children get devoured every time.

So when the sixth baby was born, she tricked Cronus.

She wrapped a big rock in a blanket and gave it to him instead of the baby.

Cronus gulped it right down and didn't think anything of it.

But Rhea knew she had to get the child far away from Cronus or she would be discovered.

So she whisked him away to the island of Crete, where he grew up in secret.

And his name was Zeus.

On the island, Zeus was raised by a goat named Amalthea.

Goats are known to be excellent mothers.

Mother goats have a deep and instant bond with their babies.

Recent studies have shown that mother goats actually remember the calls of their individual babies even after a year of separation.

But as he grew older and learned more about his family, Zeus became determined to set things right.

He knew it would be foolish to confront his father face to face, but he wanted to save his family.

Fortunately, he had help.

A young Titan goddess, Matis, who was known for her keen intellect and cunning, took pity on Zeus and decided to help him.

She got him a job as a servant in the palace, as a cupbearer for the king.

It was Zeus's job to bring Cronus wine whenever he asked.

But of course, the king had no idea that it was his son who was serving him.

After a few weeks, Matis and Zeus devised a plan.

They poured mustard and other herbs into the wine before they served it, and this caused the great king to feel sick to his stomach.

Before long, the Titan King was throwing up all over the place.

He became so sick, in fact, that he expelled all five of Zeus' brothers and sisters one by one.

Zeus grabbed his smelly siblings, now practically full-grown, and helped them escape from the palace.

They sprinted down the side of Mount Othris, fleeing the screams of outrage from Cronus above.

Zeus had rescued his siblings and they had escaped to safety.

But this was just the beginning.

How about a commercial break?

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The six siblings made a plan to overthrow the tyrant Cronus.

They were gods, after all, and had great power.

But let's face it, they were no match for the might of the gigantic Titans.

They needed help, and it came from an unexpected source.

Gaia, the mother of Cronus, visited Zeus one evening and told him how to reach Tartarus, the deepest region of the underworld where Cronus had imprisoned her other children, the Cyclopes and the Hecatonkirase.

The word Hecatonkirays actually means hundred-handed ones, and there were three of them.

Their names were Catis, Briaraeus, and Gyges.

Cool.

And what about the Cyclopes?

In addition to their strength and brutality, and singular eye, these three giants were known for their craftsmanship working with metal and building things.

Their names were Arges, Brontes, and Steve.

So Zoo- Wait, Steve?

Not like Stavros or...

Just making sure you were paying attention.

The other Cyclops was named Steropes.

Yeah, okay, that sounds better.

Zeus immediately realized what Gaia was trying to give him.

They would need some serious muscle if they were ever to defeat the Titans, and her children below the earth were definitely muscle.

Plus, maybe these guys would want some revenge against the evil king who imprisoned them for so long.

For her part, Gaia didn't really care much about the Olympians.

She just wanted her children free from prison, and sending Zeus to the underworld seemed like the best way to do it.

Following the instructions from Gaia, Zeus made his way through the oppressive darkness of the underworld.

He climbed through caverns, squeezed through narrow tunnels, scaled down slimy walls of stone past rivers of lava, and finally made it to the edge of the pits of Tartarus.

He stared down into the darkness where he could make out a few figures.

He called them by name.

Cotus, Brearaeus, Dyges, Arges, Rontes,

and Steve, um, sorry, Steropes.

I am Zeus, son of Cronus and rightful ruler of the heavens.

I will free you from this prison if you agree to join me in battle against my father and the other Titans.

Their time has come to an end.

Well, the giants immediately agreed.

I mean, really, what was there to think about?

It's not like they were going to get a better offer from someone else.

So Zeus lowered a long, thick chain that they could use to climb out of the pit to freedom.

When Zeus and the giants returned to the others, his siblings were overjoyed.

The Hecatonkirays were so imposing that the future Olympians couldn't see how they would lose.

But Hera counseled caution.

Like Zeus, she knew that more help would still be needed.

The Olympians snuck back up to Mount Othris and tried to recruit more help.

Most of the Titans refused, but two of them agreed to side with Zeus and company, the brothers Prometheus and Epimetheus.

We'll talk about them in a future episode.

Right, we'll come back to Prometheus.

The Hecatonchirais were ready to attack right away.

They grabbed a bunch of boulders.

They were ready to start crushing stuff, but still, the Olympians knew they weren't ready yet.

They needed weapons if they were going to fight battles, so they asked the Cyclopes for help.

The giants went to work right away, heating and melting metal, pounding and shaping steel, even grabbing bits of clouds and sky to work into their creations.

It seemed to take forever, and the Olympians grew impatient, but when at last the fires cooled, the Cyclopes presented the Olympians with armor and weapons, swords, spears, bows, and some enchanted gifts as well.

For Poseidon, a mighty triton.

For Hades, a magic helmet.

And for Zeus, thunderbolts.

They felt invincible and they were ready to take on anybody, including the Titans.

Well, by this time, Cronus had heard of the Olympians' plans.

He was furious, but also scared because he remembered his father's prophecy.

Determined to protect his power, he immediately launched an attack, and the two forces met in Thessaly to do battle.

In ancient times, the region of Thessaly stretched from Mount Olympus in the north all the way down to Mount Othris in the south.

So it makes sense that our war would be fought there.

And what a war it was.

Some call it the Battle of the Gods.

Others know it as the War of the Titans or the Titanomachi.

Hades, Hera, Poseidon, Hestia, Demeter, and Zeus all fought for the Olympians alongside the Cyclopes and the Hecatonchirace.

There were many mighty battles and the Olympians proved themselves to be great heroes.

Zeus and Poseidon were powerful warriors.

Zeus was hurling thunderbolts and Poseidon swung his mighty triton, causing the Titans to retreat time and time again.

Demeter could control the plants and the trees, so she would slow the Titan army with vines and branches, grabbing at them as they tried to attack.

She was even able to control the weather a bit, making the Titans march through the wind and driving rain.

Demeter is actually known as the goddess of agriculture and farming, but as such, she also has dominion over plants and the seasons.

Hades, meanwhile, had a magic helmet that turned him invisible.

He could sneak up behind unsuspecting enemies and strike them down when they were vulnerable.

Hera was a mighty warrior, too.

She had godlike strength and power, but she could also put whispers in the minds of her enemies, making them unsure of themselves and what to do next, which was not very helpful on the battlefield, obviously.

The Hecatonke rays didn't use any weapons.

They just grabbed rocks and boulders and tree limbs with their many arms and charged into the fray, swinging and roaring like giant whirlwinds.

The Cyclopes with their clubs and axes fought alongside Zeus, Hera, and Poseidon.

Only Hestia stayed out of the fray.

She knew that war and battle were not for her, but she used her powers to tend the wounded and help the warriors rest and recover.

With a team like this, you'd think victory was certain, right?

I mean, we're practically talking superhero-level talent here.

It's a slam dunk, am I right?

Wrong.

The War of the Titans lasted 10 years.

That's 3,652 days.

Yikes.

You see, we have to remember that Kronos was mighty too, and he had enchanted weapons, including a sword that could cut and even kill a god.

He was an immortal, and his army of Titans were more than able to stand up to giants and thunderbolts, especially with their hero, the mighty Titan Atlas, sweeping aside dozens of enemies with each powerful swing of his club.

Some stories tell of a last hope battle, with Cronus and his titans surrounding the Olympians, pushing them to the brink of defeat.

But Hera thought quickly.

She told Hades to use his helmet to turn invisible, sneak behind the enemies, and steal the magic scythe from Cronus.

Without his magic weapon, Cronus was already vulnerable.

Prometheus and Epimetheus held back the giant Atlas while Poseidon and Zeus charged the Titan king.

He parried the attack from Poseidon's trident, but he couldn't stop the thunderbolt from Zeus.

And with that, the war was over.

Hera, Zeus, and the Olympians were victorious.

The Greek god of war is Aries.

He is the son of Zeus and probably disappointed that he missed this one.

You're probably right about that.

After a few days' rest, the Olympians got together to decide what should happen next.

They imprisoned the Titans in Tartarus and, with a bit of irony, made the Hecatonchiris their guardians.

The mighty Atlas was given the special punishment of holding up the heavens for all eternity, and they also decided upon Mount Olympus as their home instead of Mount Othris.

But those were the easy decisions.

The hard part was deciding who would be in charge.

All three brothers, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus, wanted to be king.

And for a few days, there was nothing but arguing.

They each tried to take the most credit for the victory in the battles.

Hades claimed that he should be king because he stole the scythe.

Poseidon wanted the throne because it was his attack that left Cronus vulnerable.

And of course, Zeus believed it was his thunderbolt that won the war.

The boys were angry and they bickered and fought with each other non-stop.

Well, the sisters let this go on for a few days before deciding to get involved.

Demeter produced three pieces of straw, one long, one medium-sized, and one short.

Hestia held them in her fist so that no one knew which was which.

And Hera explained that each of the three brothers would choose a straw.

The short straw would rule the underworld.

The medium would rule the sea.

And whoever picked the long straw would rule the sky and all below.

and

be king of the gods.

Well, you know how it worked out, right?

Hades became ruler of the underworld, Poseidon got the sea, and Zeus became head honcho and ruler of the heavens and sky.

The three sisters each became deities of whatever they were inclined to.

Hestia, the home and hearth, Demeter, nature and agriculture, and Hera, queen of the gods and protector of marriage and families.

It was decided that no one would have specific dominion over the earth and that the gods could come and go there as they pleased.

But to make it more interesting, Zeus had Prometheus and Epimetheus create humans and animals.

But that is another story.

Yes, it is.

Literally, it is a separate tale in Greek mythology, and it's going to be another episode of Greaking Out.

Yeah, I got that.

So now you know how it all began.

How the gods became the gods and wound wound up ruling from Mount Olympus.

There are a lot of important names in Greek mythology, but it's always good to remember the big six.

Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hestia, Hades, and Demeter.

The children of Kronos, the OG Olympians, and the first of what we commonly call the Greek gods.

We hope you enjoyed the first of this longer season of Greaking Out.

We have eight episodes for you this time, so get ready.

Don't forget to tune in next week for a story about curiosity and lack of foresight.

National Geographic Kids Greaking Out is written by Kenny Curtis and Jillian Hughes and hosted by Kenny Curtis, with Tori Kerr as the Oracle of Wi-Fi, audio production and sound design by Scotty Beam, and our theme song was composed by Perry Gripp.

Dr.

Diane Klein is our subject matter expert and Emily Everhart is our producer.