Significant Stories/Myths
The War of the Titans and Olympians
Following the birth of Zeus, Poseidon, and their other siblings, everyone urged Zeus to become the Olympian ruler. Cronos, his father, feared that his leadership would be threatened. Cronos attempted to gather the Titans together to help defeat the Olympians but he failed to get the Titan women on his side. Prometheus, the brother of Atlas, who was noted for his intelligence and was credited for giving the humans fire, and Epimetheus, brother of Prometheus, joined the Olympians. The remaining Titans gathered under Atlas' leadership to fight the war.
The war waged on for ten lengthy years. Both sides were stuck at a stalemate, until Gaia directed Zeus to free a Cyclopes and a hundred Giants. The Giants were imprisoned in the Underworld, specifically in Tartarus. Zeus killed the guard and freed the Giants. In return the Giants sided with Zeus and gave him an advantage in the war. After freeing the Cyclopes, he granted Zeus the power of lightning, a helm of darkness to Hades, and a trident to Poseidon. | Hades proceeded to make use of his helm and used it to steal Cronus' weapons. While he was distracted, Poseidon attacked Cronus with his trident. To finish him off, Zeus struck him with lightning.
Following their triumph, the Titans who fought against the Olympians were imprisoned in Tartarus. Zeus became the supreme leader of the Gods, Hades ruled over the Underworld, and Poseidon became the reigning God of the Sea and Earth. |
The Battle for Athens
The story goes that the city of Athens had caught the eye of a God and a Goddess. Athena and Poseidon wanted to claim this city as their own and win the love of the people that live there. But of course, only one God can own a city. After disagreeing, they would not speak or even look at eachother, so Zeus proposed a competition. The competition was which being could give a better present to the city.
Poseidon rose high and mighty out of the water, and struck his trident on a cliff creating a beautiful flowing waterfall and river. The catch was that the water was salty and useless to the people. The wise Athena gave the city an olive tree whcih she planted into the ground. The people thought it was just any other tree, but Athena let them know that they could use this tree for food, shelter, and decoration. The people loved this tree more than the useless salty water, so they chose Athena as the protectress of their city. From then on, Athena sat on her throne on top of her glorious city of Athens.
Poseidon rose high and mighty out of the water, and struck his trident on a cliff creating a beautiful flowing waterfall and river. The catch was that the water was salty and useless to the people. The wise Athena gave the city an olive tree whcih she planted into the ground. The people thought it was just any other tree, but Athena let them know that they could use this tree for food, shelter, and decoration. The people loved this tree more than the useless salty water, so they chose Athena as the protectress of their city. From then on, Athena sat on her throne on top of her glorious city of Athens.
(Left )Athena (Right) Poseidon