The stories begin to multiply and expand as the gods, especially the lecherous Zeus, copulate with humans and give birth to both heroes and tales of tragic love. They then create humans, who populate the earth along with other supernatural creatures. The gods, who are children of the Titan Cronus, overthrow their father (led by Zeus) and rule the universe. Next comes Love, and with it Heaven and Earth, and then monsters and the godlike Titans.
The Greek creation story begins with only Chaos, Night, and Death. Lesser gods and supernatural creatures include Eros, nymphs of all kinds, and personifications of abstract concepts like Justice and Memory. Other important gods are Demeter, goddess of corn, and Dionysus, the god of wine, both of whom live on earth. Hamilton then introduces the major Greek gods, who live on Mount Olympus: Zeus, the chief and god of thunder and sky, Hera, his sister and jealous wife, his fierce, independent daughters Athena and Artemis, his sons cruel Ares and poetic, prophetic Apollo, his brothers, Poseidon the sea god and Hades the god of the dead, Hestia, his sister and the protector of the hearth, the clever messenger Hermes, the craftsman Hephaestus, and Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty. In her introduction, she gives her reason for studying these myths, as she sees them as precursors to Western thought and useful to modern Americans. The book holds only a loose chronological order, as the mythological world is so huge and entangled that Hamilton must often reference characters and stories that are explained much earlier or later. Edith Hamilton’s Mythology is like a huge study guide itself, as it overviews the principle Greek and Roman myths and briefly delves into Norse mythology.
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