MYTHOLOGY

Myth or Religion?

by Alex Hutchins

In Greek mythology, the Titans (Greek: Τιτάν—Ti-tan; plural: Τιτᾶνες—Ti-tânes) were a race of powerful deities, descendants of Gaia and Uranus, that ruled during the legendary Golden Age. In the first generation of twelve Titans, the males were Oceanus, Hyperion, Coeus, Cronus, Crius and Iapetus and the females were Mnemosyne, Tethys, Theia, Phoebe, Rhea and Themis. The Titans were overthrown by a race of younger gods, the Olympians, in the Titanomachy ("War of the Titans"). This represented a mythological paradigm shift that the Greeks may have borrowed from the Ancient Near East.
The Olympians, with whom we are more familiar and are named after their dwelling place Mount Olympus.

• Zeus
• Poseidon
• Hades
• Hestia
• Hera
• Ares
• Athena
• Apollo
• Aphrodite
• Hermes
• Artemis
• Hephaestus

For ten years, the Titans and the Olympians fought with neither side able to gain a lasting advantage. Gaia advised Zeus to free the Cyclopes and the hundred headed Giants from Tartarus (a place in the underworld) and persuade them to join his side. Zeus went down to Tartarus, killed the monster which guarded the prisoners, and released them. In return for their freedom, the Cyclopes and the Giants became allies with Zeus tipping the scale of power to the Olympians. 

The number 12 is very important in many religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, but some uses are to be found in pagan times.  Throughout history, there are numerous magical/religious uses of twelves. Ancient Greek religion, the Twelve Olympians were the principal gods of the pantheon. The chief Norse god, Odin, had 12 sons. Several sets of twelve cities are identified in history as a dodecapolis, the most familiar being the Etruscan League. In the King Arthur Legend, Arthur is said to have subdued 12 rebel princes and to have won 12 great battles against Saxon invaders.  

There were/are:

12 Apostles

12 Tribes of Israel

12 Signs of Zodiac

12 Signs of the Chinese Zodiac

12 Pearson-Marr Archetypes

12 Months in a calendar year

Horus and the 12 gods in Egypt

Significance of the number 12 

All of physical reality is constrained and restrained (as in government) by the 12 lines that mark the edges of the physical world.  Draw a square and number those lines (which are 4).  Then, draw another square just a little to the right of your first square so that the 2 squares overlap and number those lines (which are 4). Then, draw straight lines connecting all corners of the 2 squares (which are 4).  Count the total number of lines and you should have 12.  The cube that you just drew is our universe and represents its 3 dimensions.

Flood legends from around the world.  

Creation myths from around the world 

Comparative mythology is the comparison of myths from different cultures in an attempt to identify shared themes and characteristics.  Comparative mythology has served a variety of academic purposes. For example, scholars have used the relationships between different myths to trace the development of religions and cultures, to propose common origins for myths from different cultures, and to support various psychological theories.