INTRODUCTION
WELCOME READER! Today you will be embarking on a fantastic journey of
discovery and wonder. You will be hearkening back to the beginning of
the universe. The account of the beginning will be taken from a
wonderful piece of ancient writing by the Greek poet Hesiod. His work
is called The Theogony. This means "Creation of the Gods". Theogony was
composed around the same time as the
Iliad and the Odyssey, during the 6th century B.C.E. It even uses the
same poetic rhythm called iambic pentameter as does the Iliad and the
Odyssey. Like the Iliad and the Odyssey, Hesiod's Theogony was not the
original work of the author rather a written collection of stories
that had been passed down from generation to generation by word of
mouth, until it was written down.The Theogony contains one of the few
complete, elaborate creation accounts we have from the ancient Greeks.
The tale tells of the origin of not only the
universe but also the gods and divine beings that inhabit it as well.
Strangely enough, it does not mention where humans came from. It is a
rich story filled with all sorts of twists and turns as well as some
very odd situations (you'll understand after reading a few of the
stories).
It is
this story of creation that will be the focus of this storybook. To
tell the story of how the universe came into being and all that went on
immediately after, Wisdom (whose name is Metis in the Theogony) will be
recounting the story to you. Metis finds herself in quite an odd
predicament. She will be telling us the story from inside the belly of
Zeus, the supreme Olympian god; don't worry she'll tell how she wound
up
there. Her story will be broken up into two
parts. The first part will "set up the story" by telling the origin of
the universe as well as the creation of the first set of gods. The next
part will tell of the subsequent generations of Gods until Zeus finally
takes his throne on Olympus. And so our story begins...
Well, greetings,
merry mortals. My name is Metis, though some call me Wisdom or Sophia
or any of several other names. You can just call me Metis. Now, I'm
sure
the question that is on all of your minds right now is why we are in
Zeus's belly. Well, you see, he swallowed me some time ago and...
perhaps I should start back at the beginning, and I mean the very
beginning. I think that will put things in perspective for you. Sure,
you'll still find my predicament odd, but at least you will know how I
ended up here!
COVER
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