And the youngest of the children of Heaven and Earth was named Cronos: the youngest, but the most terrible of them all. He was the father of Eos, the Dawn, and Helios, the Sun, and Selênê, the Moon. I will not tell you the names of all these now, but one was Oceanos, the ocean-stream, which runs like a great river all round the earth and one was Hyperion, who took charge of the light by night and day.

There were others, some of whom we shall meet later and then came a superior brood of children. Three others were named the Cyclôpês Cyclops means Goggleeye, and each Cyclops had one huge eye in the middle of his forehead, with one huge and bushy eyebrow above it. Among the monsters were three, with fifty heads apiece, and a hundred hands their names were Cottos, Gyas, and Briareos. The brood began with monsters, but they improved as they went on. These were called, in general, the Titans. Heaven and Earth were parents of a great brood of children. From Chaos came forth also Erebos, and black Night and their child was the Day.įrom Chaos, lastly, came into being Father Uranos, or Heaven and Pontos, the Sea and Mother Earth.

In the heavens, the sun, moon, and stars appeared one by one on earth, the land separated from the sea rain fell, and the rivers ran down from the hills trees grew up, and the world became something like what we know, and it had the shape of a great round ball, or a disk, like a large plate.įrom Chaos, the great Void, came forth many and strange children but first and most wonderful of all was Eros, or Love, who came no one knows how, and was quite different from all the others he outlived them all, and still lives, the most mighty of all divine powers. By degrees these beginnings slowly sorted themselves out the heavier parts gathered together, and became Earth the lighter parts flew up, and became the sky, with air between and under the earth was a dark place called Tartaros. In the beginning there was Chaos, a great hollow Void, in which the seeds or beginnings of all things were mixed up together in a shapeless mass, all moving about in all directions. He derived his knowledge of the Greeks not only from his wide studies of classical literature, but also by travelling extensively in Greece. Under his leadership the school became widely known for the successful teaching of Greek and Latin as spoken languages. Rouse was one of the great 20th century experts on Ancient Greece, and headmaster of the Perse School, Cambridge, England, for 26 years. 'synopsis' may belong to another edition of this title. But while the ancient Greeks may be long gone, their fables and morals, their heroes and heroines, live on today. From the strong-arm heroics of Heracles, to the trickery of the Trojan Horse, from the seductions of Circe the sorceress, to the terrors of the Cyclops and Minotaur, these legends have outlived the culture that bore them. Many of the characters in this book are familiar to us-Helen of Troy, Icarus, Zeus, Athena, to name just a few-but rarely have their stories of war and adventure, bravery and romance, been so simply and thrillingly told. Rouse delighted his students at the Perse School in Cambridge, England, with a conversational style and childlike wonder that made the legends come alive-a rare storytelling gift that continues to engage young and old alike. Recognizing the sheer entertainment value of these timeless adventures, world renowned classical scholar W.H.D.

The Adventures that Shaped the Western Worldįirst published in 1934, Gods, Heroes and Men of Ancient Greece has become one of the most popular, enduring-and captivating-retellings of the ancient myths for modern readers.

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