Theogony reading notes

Introduction: Theogony is a Greek poem that explains the beginning of the universe and the origins of Gods in Greek mythology.

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I just learned the origins of the terms “Hellenic” and “Hellenistic”. Greeks consider themselves descendents of Hellen, the son of Deucalion and Pyrrha, who repopulated the earth by throwing rocks after the great flood. Deucalion in turn is the son of the famous hero Prometheus, who brought fire to mankind.

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Remember the painting “the birth of Venus” by Botticelli? The Goddess floating on the ocean, pink roses falling from the sky… well, that serene feeling is totally ruined when I learned how Aphrodite (Venus) was born. She was born from the blood and --- get this --- testicles --- when Cronos the father of Zeus cut off his own father Heaven’s private parts – Ouch! – and threw them into the ocean. Yuck! Yuck! Yuck! Now it makes you wonder what Botticelli’s masterpiece would look like if he is faithful to the original mythology…

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On the other hand, some artists choose to turn the not-so-gross episode of the legends into a totally gross-you-out one. Take Goya and Peter Paul Ruben’s “Saturn (Cronos) eating his children”. I don’t care how famous you are, you are two sick guys, man. Saturn (Cronos) couldn’t possibly eat his children pieces by pieces, or he would recognize that Zeus was replaced by a rock, wouldn’t it?

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It makes me wonder why the first two generations of Greek Gods are so barbaric. Maybe at the time the religion was still so primitive and men were still awed by the beasts: they saw a lion devouring a deer and thought this must be what Gods look like.

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I didn’t understand why in Metamorphoses the hell’s watchdog Cerberus is described as “the three-headed monster Medusa bore”. Medusa was responsible for the horse Pegasus, but I couldn’t find any linkages to Cerberus. Turns out it is like this: Medusa bare Chrysaor along with Pegasus when her head was chopped off. Then Chrysaor had a son Geryones with Callirrhoe. Geryones is three-headed and Ovid probably confused him with Cerberus. Callirrhoe later bare Cerberus with another guy Typhaon, and get this: Cerberus is fifty-headed. Medusa was Cerberus’ step-grandmother to say the most. Medusa’s family is so screwed up.

I told you we need some Chinese as well.

Good grief!  Quite an undertaking for Susan to clarify all this mess!

I have book here that says, in short:

Ouranos was given birth by Gaia (Earth).  He later married his mother Gaia and together they produced the twelve Titans.  Ouranos refused to give his power to his offspring and this pissed off Gaia.  Gaia decided to take his strength away.  She armed the youngest son, Kronos, with a sickle, and arranged the best time for the son to cut off his father's genitals.

When it was Kronos' turn to relinquish power, he too refused.  He was worse than his father Ouranos:  Kronos ate his children!  

Does all this sounds too familiar to us Chinese who lived in the later half of the 20th century?

Isn't the following a better painting of "The birth of Venus"?

William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) - The Birth of Venus (1879)