theog 1-507

THEOGONY

The word theogony means birth of the gods, and in this poem Hesiod tells how the gods came
into being (unlike God in the Judeo-Christian tradition, the Greek gods did not always exist).
Hesiod also describes the creation of the physical world as well. Somewhat surprisingly, he
doesn't address the creation of the human race here in any detail (that issue is addressed in
another of his poems called The Works and Days).

Lines 1-115: In this section Hesiod calls upon the Muses (the Muses were 9 goddesses who inspired
artists of all sorts, including poets) and asks them to inspire him to tell the story of the creation of the
gods. In this section of the poem Hesiod tells a little bit about the Muses and their activities, how
they actually appeared to him and gave him instructions about being a poet, and how the Muses
themselves came into being. In this section of the poem Hesiod also praises the rulers of the Greek world.

Lines 116-210: This section of the poem deals with the earliest group of gods. Who came first? What
gods followed immediately afterwards? This section of the poem tells the story of Gaia and Ouranos
as well. They are two of the earliest gods. Gaia is the earth and Ouranos is the sky. What exactly is
the relationship between the two? In what does Ouranos prove to be a bad father? What does Gaia
do about it? What goddess is born as the result of Gaia's plan to punish Ouranos?

Lines 211-452: The Greeks had many minor gods and goddesses; this section of the poem describes
how many of them came into being.

Lines 453-507: This section tells the story of Kronos andRheia (both children of Gaia and Ouranos).
In what way did Kronos prove to be a bad father? What does Rheia do about it? Who is their
most important child?

The second half of the Theogony discusses how Zeus becomes king of the gods.
What two gods were kings before Zeus? Zeus becomes king by overcoming various
gods and monsters.

Lines 508-616: This section of the poem is about Zeus' problems with Prometheus, who was a Titan (the Titans were the generation of gods who ruled before Zeus; Prometheus is actually Zeus' cousin; Prometheus' brother is named Epimetheus). Why is Zeus angry with Prometheus, and what does he do to punish him? Prometheus' greatest claim to fame is that he is the inventor of the human race (or at least of men; the human race was originally all male). What gift does Prometheus give to men? Zeus didn't care much for this invention. What does he do to make their lives miserable?

Lines 629-819: This section of the poem describes how the Zeus battles the Titans for supremacy.

Lines 820-881 Zeus fights the monster Typhoeus.

Lines 881-900 Who was Zeus' first wife? What did Zeus do to her? Why?

Lines 963-end (we're not
reading this section--it was
probably written by some-
one other than Hesiod and
doesn't have much to do
with the rest of the poem) Hesiod ends with a list of gods and goddesses who fell in love with mortals.

The Theogony has two major themes; what do you think they are?

Lines 508-616:	This section of the poem is about Zeus' problems with Prometheus, who was a Titan (the Titans were the generation of gods who ruled before Zeus; Prometheus is actually Zeus' cousin; Prometheus' brother is named Epimetheus). Why is Zeus angry with Prometheus, and what does he do to punish him? Prometheus' greatest claim to fame is that he is the inventor of the human race (or at least of men; the human race was originally all male). What gift does Prometheus give to men? Zeus didn't care much for this invention. What does he do to make their lives miserable?
Lines 629-819:	This section of the poem describes how the Zeus battles the Titans for supremacy.
Lines 820-881	Zeus fights the monster Typhoeus.
Lines 881-900	Who was Zeus' first wife? What did Zeus do to her? Why?
Lines 963-end (we're not reading this section--it was probably written by some- one other than Hesiod and doesn't have much to do with the rest of the poem)	Hesiod ends with a list of gods and goddesses who fell in love with mortals.