Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video, we're going to discuss the Dark One, a cosmic manifestation of evil and the main antagonist from the Wheel of Time series. And just a quick disclaimer before we get going: there may be spoilers for those reading the series or watching the first season, so if that will be a problem for you, this may not be the best video to watch. Let's get into it. The Dark One's true name was Shai'tan, but to name him so was to invoke him and thus draw his eye to you. Those who fought him avoided using his true name to avoid notice. And so, every race and culture used their own alternatives, yielding an array of substitute titles, including: father of lies, sightblinder, heartsbane, soulsbane, father of storms, lighteater, soulbinder - the list goes on; you could say that he had as many titles as there were ways for someone to have their life snuffed out and put in the grave. Those who swore their souls to the Dark One also avoid using his true name, but for a very different reason. To them, saying the true name was to blaspheme, so instead, they favour titles that extolled the Dark One, as opposed to the pejorative variety used by those who lived in the light. The most favoured title used by those who forsook their immortal souls was Great Lord of the Dark. There's a duality to the dark one, much as there's a duality to the primordial deities in Greek mythology, simultaneously existing as gods and as the fundamental manifestations of creation as they pertain to life and the material world. On the one hand, the Dark One was a force of supreme malevolence that sought to remake the world - creation itself, even - in his own twisted image. However, his true nature was more profound and complicated than being an unfathomably powerful force with wicked world-dominating goals. He was the manifestation of evil, the wellspring from which all evil came. To have removed him from creation would have been to remove the capacity to perform evil, which is insidiously awful, for the elimination of the capacity to perpetrate evil, by extension, precludes people from rising above evil to bring true good into the world. Binaries are defined by their opposites, so evil cannot exist in a world devoid of the capacity for good anymore than good can exist in a world devoid of the capacity for evil. Because of this dynamic, it becomes apparent that forever imprisoning the Dark One, not killing him, is the best course of action, because killing him obliterates evil, which, in turn, sanitizes creation in a way that would leave it in a perpetual state of grey, utterly lacking in black or white. And perhaps worst of all, this grey world would ultimately rob people of their agency, destroying free will, which, we can all agree, isn't an eventuality we'd like for ourselves. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey everyone, welcome to another installment of Mythology Explained. In today's video, we're going to be covering the circus of mayhem that is Ragnarok. Here's a quick preview of some of the things this video will touch on: a giant ship fashioned by unclipped toenails, someone riding an eight-legged horse to Hel, someone being Chinese-water-tortured with snake venom, two wolves eating the sun and moon, an enormous serpent who floods the earth and spits venom on everything, a man who uses an ancient, indestructible leather shoe to rip apart a giant wolf's head, and, of course, an enormous being of fire who engulfs all of creation in flame. Let's get into it. By the contrivances of Loki, Balder, Odin's son, he who is loved by all and a shining beacon amongst the gods, is pierced and killed by a mistletoe dart. This is a moment of great portent, for it was prophesied that Balder's death meant Ragnarok was nigh. Following Balder's death, Hermod, another of Odin's sons, rides Sleipnir, Odin's eight-legged horse, to travel down the roots of the world tree, to Hel, which is ruled by the goddess Hel, who shares the same name. Hermod beseeches Hel to let Balder return to the land of the living. Hel agrees to do this, but only if everything in the world weeps for him. At the Gods' behest, everything and everyone weeps. That is, except for one giantess who is generally accepted to be Loki in disguise. So Balder stays dead and Loki goes on the run because, by this time, he's known to have Both orchestrated Balder's death and prevented Balder's resurrection. Eventually, Loki is caught and bound to three stones by the entrails of his son, and a serpent set above continuously drips its venom upon him, and in this perpetual torment Loki remains until his fetters are broken during the events of Ragnarok. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's episode, we're going to explore whether Zeus, lord of the black cloud, wielder of the smoking bolt, he who sits highest in Olympus, ruler of the cosmos, the raging storm incarnate is, in fact, more powerful than all of the other Olympians combined, as he so proclaims to the other gods in the Iliad, trumpeting the terror of his own tempest. Let's get into it. In the Iliad, Zeus harangues the other gods, ordering them not to interfere in the Trojan war so that the war can be brought to a close more quickly. He demands their obedience, a demand delivered emphatically by Zeus expressing the extent of his true strength, which he claims is more than that of all the other Olympians combined. Here's the passage: "Hear me, all you gods and all goddesses too, as I proclaim what the heart inside me urges. Let no lovely goddess - and no god either - try to fight against my strict decree. . .then he will know how far my power tops all other gods'.Come, try me, immortals, so all of you can learn. Hang a great golden cable down from the heavens, lay hold of it, all you gods, all goddesses too: you can never drag me down from sky to earth, not Zeus, highest, mightiest king of kings, not even if you worked yourselves to death. But whenever I'd set my mind to drag you up, in deadly earnest, you and the sea, all together, then loop that golden cable round a horn of Olympus, bind it fast and leave the whole world dangling in mid-air - that is how far I tower over the gods, I tower over men" It's impossible to gauge for certain the depth of Zeus' conviction in these words. He could very well have been exaggerating or, alternatively, inflating inadvertently through overestimation. Was he speaking bombastically, just a blustering king trying to keep his subjects in line, or was there some substance to this threat? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video we're going to explore an interesting question, which is whether Hercules was stronger than the gods or, at the very least, possessed the strength of a god. Of course, Hercules did ascend to godhood at the end of his life. His accomplishments were so awe-inspiring and his suffering so profound that the gods granted him this honor. But we're not concerned with the version of Hercules that achieved immortality; our focus is Hercules as he was when he roamed the earth performing all manner of heroics while the frailty of mortality still permeated his flesh. We're going to unpack this question by looking at 5 times Hercules found himself at odds with gods or beings with god-like strength. You can expect a wrestling match against Thanatos, the god of death, a stint of holding the heavens aloft on one's shoulders, a scuffle with Apollo, a serious wound suffered by Hades, the lord of the underworld, and a war against the giants, a monstrous race boasting god-like power. Let's get into it. Starting us off is the time Hercules wounded Hades. This exchange doesn't quite illuminate Hercules' strength to the same degree as the subsequent entries do, but nonetheless, he does wound Hades, one of the most powerful gods in Greek mythology, even if it is at range with bow and arrow. In the Iliad, there's a passage that described Hades and Hercules pitted against each other because they supported opposing sides when the city of Pylos was besieged. Here's the passage: "the son of thunder-shielded Zeus. . .shot. . .[Hades] in Pylos - there with the troops of battle dead - and surrendered death to pain. But Hades made his way to craggy Olympus, climbed to the house of Zeus, stabbed with agony, grief-struck to the heart, the shaft driven into his massive shoulder grinding down his spirit ... But the healer applied his pain-killing drugs and sealed Hades' wound - he was not born to die. Following this, we have Hercules' involvement in the Gigantomachy, which was the war between the gods and the giants, a formidable race - though technically not immortal - possessing god-like power. Hercules was instrumental to the Gods defeating the giants. You see, none of the giants could die unless they suffered damage from a mortal, so each fight between one of the giants and one of the gods was punctuated by Hercules shooting a couple of arrows at them, much like you would pump a couple of extra silver bullets into a vampire or werewolf after they were brought down . Each fallen giant bristled with at least a couple of Hercules' arrow shafts. But beyond serving as a sort of Kryptonite used to deliver killing blows, Hercules also joined the fray, fighting in the thick of it, using his prodigious strength. Alcyoneus, one of the two most powerful giants, was even more resilient than the rest of his ilk. Not only did his death require grievous harm inflicted by a mortal, but he also could not die while his feet touched ground in his homeland. Hercules pincushioned him with arrows, but when the giant fell to earth, he was reinvigorated by the land of his birth; so Hercules used his incredible strength to manhandle the giant beyond the boundaries of Pallene, where death finally took him. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey Everyone, Welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video we're going to explore whether, despite losing the war, it was the titans who were actually more powerful than the gods. Let's get into it. The Greek creation myth was one defined by great conflicts. The primordial deities were succeeded by the Titans, and subsequently, the Titans were then superseded by the gods, who went on to trounce the giants in the Gigantomachy and to defeat Typhon, unequivocally the most powerful monster in all of Greek mythology. Yes, the titans were defeated by the gods, and yes, all of the belligerent titans - with the exception of Atlas - were forever imprisoned in the great abyss beneath the earth, forever banished in the infernal depths of Tartarus. At the same time, though, it must be conceded that the strength of the gods was augmented by weapons and reinforcements brought into the mix by way of outside forces. Sometime after Zeus made his existence known and rescued his five brothers and sisters trapped within Cronus, they took a trip down to Tartarus, slayed the dragon Campe, the jailor, and freed the three Cyclopes and the three Hecatonchires. Both of these trios sided with the gods and joined the war effort, but contributed in very different ways. The cyclopes were great craftsmen, and so, they made three awesome weapons for the gods: Zeus received the lightning bolt, the most powerful weapon in all of Greek mythology; Poseidon received the trident, which could shake and sunder the earth; and Hades received the helm of darkness, which granted the wearer perfect invisibility. These weapons outclassed any the Titans had enhancing their forces. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. Today we're going to take a quick pause from Greek mythology to spend this episode discussing one of the most interesting villains from pop culture mythology, the Ogdru Jahad, known as the Dragons of Revelation, a group of monsters so powerful that they're destined to bring about Ragnarok in the Hellboy universe. Let's get into it. The Ogdru Jahad were a group of seven dragons. Their appearance was an amalgam of crustacean and serpentine inspirations, only on a colossal scale. They were behemoths. Incarnations of chaos, mercilessness, and cruelty, once, they were the overlords of earth, and the mere sight of them was said to be so horrific that even the briefest glance could drive a person mad. Confident in their overwhelming power, they seem to be indifferent to humanity, much as we are indifferent to ants frantically labouring about, and they claim to harbor no particular hatred for humanity, which suggests a loathing and deep disdain for all life. At the dawn of creation, God created a hierarchy of greater spirits, and many of these were tasked with overseeing earth, posted as its guardians. One of these spirits, Anum was the grand-architect responsible for the genesis of the Ogdru Jahad. He wrought them of fire and mud, but life would not quicken within them, even after other of the great spirits joined in, imbuing them with spells and infusing them with fire a second time. But then night fell and in the darkness the Ogdru Jahad awoke, immediately filled with terrible purpose, which was to spread its will, initially through propagation, birthing the Ogdru Hem, 369 children, all of them abominations, all of them immensely powerful. The greater spirits waged war against this foul brood, and the Ogdru Hem were eventually crushed, not killed though, but imprisoned, much as the Titans were imprisoned in Greek mythology. The Ogdru Jahad, while immeasurably more powerful than their progeny, were also dealt with, imprisoned, sealed away in crystal and banished in the heart of the abyss. Following this, the greater spirits no longer trusted Anum, whom they blamed for the catastrophe that just transpired. Through a concerted attack, they struck him down, going so far as to destroy the individual pieces of his broken body; only his right hand, the hand of Anum, later called the right hand of doom, survived. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey Everyone, welcome to Mythology explained. In today's video, we're going to explore whether Zeus was, in fact, the most evil god in all of Greek mythology. We're going to take a look at the many confrontations between Zeus and Prometheus; we're going to look at how Zeus tried to prevent humanity from enjoying meat and at how Zeus stole fire; we'll dive into how Zeus committed genocide, nearly eradicating every last human; and lastly, we're going to examine Zeus' conduct towards women Let's get into it. Zeus didn't have a conventionally nurturing upbringing in a stable household. His dad, instead of loving him unconditionally, saw him as a future rival, so he tried to swallow him, thereby imprisoning Zeus inside himself so as to stay king forever. Following this, neither of Zeus' parents were in the picture, and the location of his upbringing - not the splendid palatial abode one would expect for the son of the king of the cosmos - was a secluded cave. In the beginning, it looked like Zeus, despite his early years, which were harrowing and fraught with mortal danger - became a good guy, a strong leader of men driven by a desire to do good and rule justly. Perhaps more accurately, though, would be to say that the darkness within him had yet to bubble to the surface, like the once-trapped noxious gas that dislodges from the muck at the bottom of some ancient, fetid swamp. Zeus grew up, freed his siblings, waged a successful war against the titans, slaughtered the giants, and finally, defeated Typhon, and with this last great conflict won, ushered in a perennial era of peace and prosperity - at least, that's what could have happened - but sadly, for humanity, this was far from the case. Instead, what we got was a series of altercations with Prometheus, all of which culminated into unearthing and revealing the dark nature that lay - for a time - hidden beneath the surface. First was the matter of sacrifice. Zeus decided, when it came to sacrifice, it was the meat that needed to be offered up, leaving only the bones for humanity, which makes a lot of sense because, as we all know, our bodies are at their healthiest and function optimally when restricted to a bone-only diet. Thankfully, Prometheus successfully executed a ruse that tricked Zeus into choosing the less favourable of the two sacrificial piles, duping the king of the gods into choosing the bones, which were dressed up in glistening fat to seem more appealing, rather than the meat, which was made unappetizing by having organs draped over it. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey everyone, Welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video, we're going to discuss five of the most powerful goddesses in Greek mythology, goddesses so powerful that their powers often dwarfed those of their male counterparts. And just a quick comment before we get started: this list isn't ranked and is by no means comprehensive, so let us know in the comments who you think deserved to be included next to these legendary ladies. Let's get into it. Starting off our list is Gaia. Gaia was the personification of the earth, and along with Tartarus, Eros, Erebus, and Nyx, was one of the five first-generation primordial deities. Beyond being the manifestation of the earth, she also independently produced the observable features of the material world. Uranus, the sky, Ourea, the mountains, and Pontus, the sea, were her progeny, and she took Uranus as her consort. Together they made the Hecatonchires, the Cyclopes, and the 12 first-generation Titans. She was the preeminent force of creation in Greek mythology, and while she couldn't exert her power or impose her will in a combative sense, she could function as a sort of divine brood mother, producing powerful children that could act destructively on her behalf. Per apollodorus account, she created the giants to wage war against the Gods in retaliation for the Titans being imprisoned in Tartarus, and afterwards, she created Typhon, the most powerful monster in the Greek mythos, who would challenge Zeus for supremacy over the cosmos. Next we have Athena. Athena had an unconventional start in life. She was born out the side of a man's skull, instead of emerging from a woman's womb. Her mother, Metis, was prophesied to bear incredibly powerful children, first a daughter, then a son mighty enough to overthrow his father, Zeus, who forestalled such an eventuality by swallowing Metis, who was already pregnant with Athena when she entered Zeus' belly. This is all to say that Athena being extraordinarily powerful, even when compared to other gods, was written in prophecy. And she did not disappoint. She emerged fully grown, clad in armor, battle ready. She was one of the only gods to be described as killing more than one giant in the Gigantomachy, crushing Enceladus when she hurled the island of Sicily on him, and killing Pallas, flaying him, and using his skin to protect her during the war. Her great strength was matched by her deep wisdom, an attribute which made her far superior to her brother Ares. The two of them supported opposite sides in the Trojan war. Athena was for the Greeks, and Ares for the Trojans. Towards the end of the war they engaged in a one-on-one fight in which Ares was humbled. Athena backed away from Ares' spear thrust and then counterattacked by launching a boulder at his head, crumpling him to the ground in a heap. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey Everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video, we're going to discuss the Aloads, Otus and Ephilates, giant twins and strong contenders for the most reckless and arrogant characters in all of Greek mythology. They abducted Ares, the god of war, and imprisoned him for 13 months. They stacked mountains so that they could climb to the heavens and attack Mount Olympus, and they even tried to abduct a couple of goddesses, Hera and Artemis, and claim them for their own. Let's get into it. Otus and Ephialtes were twin brothers, the largest and most handsome the world had ever seen. Only the great hunter Orion was said to be more perfect of form and more handsome of face. Their mother was mortal, a princess of Thessaly. Iphimedeia was her name, and she was so infatuated with Poseidon that each day she would wander down to the shore and fill her lap with water. One day, Poseidon came to her daily place of yearning and bedded her, and though it was his seed that made these mighty twins, the god himself did not raise them. Another of Poseidon's sons, Aloeus, Lord of the Winds, was the stepfather, and he was the namesake for the moniker Aloadae, which meant son of Aloeus, that the twins were called. Otus and Ephialtes were of colossal size and were blessed with prodigious strength. They were behemoths. At just nine years old, they were about 22.5 feet, or 7 meters, wide, and about 54 feet, or 16 meters, tall. They were giants, though not of the ilk of giants born from the droplets of blood that fell to the earth from Uranus' severed genitals, but giants because of their towering statures. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video, we're going to discuss, in no particular order, five of the most powerful sea monsters in Greek mythology. Before we jump into our first entry, I'd like to quickly preface with a short disclaimer, which is that neither the Hippokampoi, half-horse, half-fish creatures, nor the Ichthyocentaurs, centaurs with lobster claws and fish tails, are going to feature on this list. So, apologies in advance if you were hoping for a spotlight on either of those. This video is going to focus on the variety bent on shedding blood and extinguishing life. Let's get into it. Starting us off are the Sirens. The Sirens were female monsters of hybrid appearance, possessing human heads and the bodies of giant birds. Other descriptions gave them human arms that played musical instruments. They were originally the handmaidens of the goddess Persephone, but when she was abducted by Hades, Demeter gave them bird bodies so that they could cover more ground in the search. The sirens' song was so beautiful and enchanting that it utterly bewitched and entranced any who heard it, so that those caught in its spell could not see the thorns beneath the petals. Sailors brought their ships ever closer, desperate to hear the song as loudly and clearly as possible, but their minds were so taken that the jagged rocks their ships rapidly approached went unnoticed. Ultimately, sailors were reduced to bloated corpses, and ships were reduced to sunken wrecks that littered the ocean floor. The two most famous encounters with the Sirens were Jason and the Argonauts and Odysseus and his crew. Orpheus saved the first group by drowning out the siren's song with his own music, and Odysseus survived by lashing himself to the mast and having his crew plug their ears with beeswax. Next we have Cetus. Sired by the sea god Phorkys, Cetus was the sea-monster sent by Poseidon to bring death and destruction to the land of Troy after King Laomedon reneged on his promise to pay Poseidon, who worked at building the walls of Troy for an entire year. An oracle revealed that the only way Laomedon could extricate his kingdom from the plight his avarice and lack of integrity embroiled it in was by chaining his daughter to a cliff and sacrificing her to the monster. Fortunately, she didn't end up dying, for a bargain was struck in which Hercules agreed to kill the monster in exchange for Laomedon's immortal horses. But again, true to form, Laomedon reneged on his promise, giving nothing after his daughter was saved. This second slight would be tantamount to signing his own death warrant, though, for it was not wise to make yourself an enemy of Hercules, who delivered the King's comeuppance when he returned with six ships, sacked Troy, and killed Laomedon. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey everyone, welcome to another installment of Mythology Explained. In today's video, we're going to be discussing Zagreus, the first incarnation of the god Dionysus, a god whom Zeus bestowed with the lightning bolt, intending him to be his heir, a god who was torn to pieces when Hera set the titans on him. Let's get into it. To understand Zagreus' story, we have to start by unpacking Orphism, which was, essentially, an offshoot of mainstream ancient Greek religious beliefs. It was promulgated by travelling priests who preached and initiated based on the songs and teachings of the hero Orpheus - more on him later. Those who followed the Orphic teachings believed that humans were constituent of two parts: the spark of the divine, the soul, and mortal flesh. It was believed that a person's ultimate task was to liberate their soul from the fetters of flesh, something that could only be accomplished by living a life consistent with the Orphic edicts - many of which were abstemious and ascetic, calling for people to refrain from indulgence, avoiding such pleasures as meat, wine, and sexual intercourse. Following death was the judgment of the soul. If a person led a righteous life, their soul would pass on to the paradise of Elysium, but if a person lived a wicked life, then for them, the plunge of death would herald punishment. After a time, a person's soul would be reincarnated, and if a person could lead a life characterized by piety and righteousness three times in a row, then their soul would be freed from the cycle of reincarnation. Orpheus was a singularly talented musician. No other mortal was his equal, and it would have taken the likes of Apollo himself to best him in a contest. When he played, trees bent towards him to hear better, and rivers stopped flowing, pausing to listen. He was one of the heroes selected by Jason to accompany him on the quest for the golden fleece, and he travelled to the underworld itself to bring back his true love to the land of the living. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video, we're going to discuss the five greatest Heroes in Greek mythology. Let's get into it. Starting off our list is Perseus, a Hero with an impressive portfolio of heroics but whose legacy was ultimately undermined by the amount of divine support he received. The apotheosis of Perseus' life was the slaying of Medusa, a feat that would have been close to impossible without Hermes and Athena holding his hands the whole way. First, Perseus found the Graeae, three wizened crones, and stole the single eye they shared, threatening to squish it if they didn't divulge the information he sought. They directed him to the Nymphs of the North, where he received many magic gifts and learned of the location of Medusa's lair. After slaying Medusa and collecting her severed head, Perseus made his way home, but his route was far from direct. He came across a woman chained to a cliff and slayed the sea monster that was going to devour her. This woman, Andromeda, became his wife. When Perseus finally returned home, he used Medusa's head to turn Polydectes, the king who sent him on his quest, to stone. Next we have Theseus After making his way to Athens and establishing himself as the legitimate heir, Theseus endeavored to win the hearts of the people. His chosen path to accomplish this was to volunteer himself as one of the 14 youths sent by Athens into the minotaur's labyrinth every nine years as recompense for killing King Minos' son years earlier. Theseus killed the minotaur with his bare hands and was then able to retrace his steps, using a ball of string to escape the labyrinth. After this, Theseus became king, but the events that followed were of a mixed sort. Certainly, there were moments of heroism, like when Theseus joined Hercules on the latter's labour to retrieve the girdle of Hippolyta, but there were also blunders, like when Theseus and Pirithous were imprisoned in the underworld by Hades for attempting to abduct Persephone. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video, we're going to take a look at the five times Zeus came closest to dying, which is to say, as the notion of death pertains to gods, at the five times Zeus came closest to being permanently incapciated in some way, whether through banishment, imprisonment, or dismemberment - basically, five of the times Zeus came closest to either losing or never winning his crown. Starting us off is the insurgency in which Hera, Athena, and Poseidon banded together to overthrow Zeus. They staged a coup, managing to overcome Zeus and chain him up - whether through surprise, guile, or combined strength, is not specified. Thetis, Achilles' mother, saw what was happening, so she went and fetched Briareus, one of the Hecatonchires, the hundred-handers, the mere sight of whom subdued the gods attempting to supplant Zeus, causing them to immediately abandon their efforts without even the hint of a fight. Had Thetis not brought reinforcements, Zeus may have been deposed then and there, replaced by an oligarchy of gods. Next we have Zeus' birth. Cronus, the leader of the Titans and the lord of the Cosmos, learned of a prophecy, foretelling his downfall at the hands of one of his children. In an effort to forestall such an eventuality, Cronus swallowed each of his children as soon as they were born - his reasoning being that none of them could usurp him while they were imprisoned inside of him. Rhea, Cronus' wife, became more distraught with each child she lost, until she reached her breaking point. She couldn't bear to see her youngest child, Zeus, swallowed, so she swaddled a stone in baby's wrappings and proffered it to Cronus in Zeus' stead. Cronus, oblivious, not even suspecting that a ruse might be afoot, swallowed the stone without a moment's hesitation. Zeus was then raised in secret and, once he was in the bloom of manhood, made a triumphant return, but had his mother not made the switch, he very well might have spent an eternity in his father's stomach. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's episode, we're going to dive into a very interesting question, which is whether Greek gods can be brought to death when people no longer believe in them. Let's get into it. Now, I can't say for certain whether a lack of worship can result in a Greek god plunging through death's gates, passing on to the next world or being erased by oblivion, but I can say that there are two myths - the Greek creation myth and the myth of the great flood - that serve as very strong arguments, showing Greek gods to be immune to death in a world devoid of exaltation and worship being paid to them. Let's take a look at these myths. The Greek creation myth rejects the notion that gods die when no one believes in them because, simply put, it describes gods existing before humans. At this point, You might be asking yourself, what does this have to do with anything? Well, if gods existed before there were humans to worship them, then doesn't it follow that gods would be equally unaffected if there were humans who didn't worship them, as was the case when pagan religions were eventually superseded by Monotheism? I feel like it's fair to extrapolate from the Greek creation myth, which shows gods to be unaffected by a lack of worship, and conclude that gods would be equally unaffected by a lack of worship resulting from absolute disregard by humanity. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video, we're going to discuss the Hecatonchires, a trio of incredibly powerful monsters in Greek mythology. Monsters so powerful that they overwhelmed the titans and even struck fear into the hearts of the gods. Let's get into it. Gaia, the personification of the earth, and Uranus the personification of the sky, together, had three groups of children, and each subsequent group was less monstrous than the group that came before it. First there were the three Hecatonchires, a monstrous trio, each with 100 arms; then there were the cyclopes, three beings with human-like appearance except for their single eye, and then there were the first-generation titans, a group of 12 gods. The hecatonchires were described as unsurpassed in size and strength. A cluster of 50 powerful arms grew from each shoulder, and their bodies were surmounted by a knot of 50 heads. Their names were Briareus, derived from the Greek word for stout or strong, Cottos, Wrathful One, and Gyes, Son of the Earth. Their father found them to be so abominable that they were cast into the cavernous abyss of Tartarus. The same was also done to the Cyclopes. The Titans, however, were not subject to this fate, satisfying the arbitrary aesthetic standard their father would, apparently, go to any length to preserve, even if it meant condemning his children to interminable imprisonment in the deep dark below the earth. The imprisonment of the Hecatonchires was a crucial moment in the Greek creation myth because it was the impetus for the first conflict. Having her children trapped inside of her was a source of great pain for Gaia, who supplicated her children to rise up as her champions. The result was Cronus castrating his father with a sickle of Adamant, dethroning Uranus to become the new king of the cosmos. The Hecatonchires and the giants were released, but their time as free monsters would prove only a brief sojourn; for they were quickly reimprisoned. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video we're discussing Argus, the monstrous thousand-eyed giant Hera set to guard Io, a woman Zeus transformed into a cow after forcing himself on her. Let's get into it. Called the Panoptes, meaning All-Seeing-One, Argus was a monstrous giant, a giant herdsman with eyes all over his body. Accounts describing exactly how many eyes he did have vary, ranging from as few as four to as many as 1,000. Argus was blessed with incredible strength, which he used on many occasions to eliminate threats terrorizing the land. He slayed a fearsome bull that was ravaging the countryside. He killed a satyr that was robbing people, and there's even an account of him killing Echidna who was preying on travelers. Echidna was sometimes called the queen of monsters, for she birthed many of the monsters in Greek mythology, including the hydra, the chimera, and the sphinx. Though many monsters fell to his might, the myth Argus most prominently featured in was the overpowering and subsequent transformation of Io. She was the daughter of Inachus, a river god, and her mother's identity, while more ambiguous, is sometimes said to be one of the Oceanid nymphs. As was so often the case, in a mythic world where gods and monsters abounded, beauty was as much a curse as it was a blessing, especially when one caught the eye of Zeus, whose roaming, lecherous gaze so often brought ruin to those who pleased it. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video we're going to take a dip in some controversial waters by exploring whether Gaia was, in fact, the most evil god in Greek mythology. This is definitely an unorthodox question - I mean, has the word evil and the name Gaia even been used in the same sentence before - but if you detach yourself from how she is usually portrayed and what she usually represents and, instead, consider her role in the sequence of great conflicts that constitute the Greek creation myth, then you begin to see her in an entirely different light, one that doesn't paint such a flattering portrait of her. Now, Gaia is one of my favourite figures in Greek mythology, and no, I don't really think she's evil, but if you add up everything she does throughout the Greek creation myth, the result is certainly more open to interpretation than you would think. What this video aims to do is look at the causation behind each of the great conflicts embedded in the Greek creation myth with the goal of seeing how Gaia factors in as a catalyst, thereby developing the basis on which we'll judge where Gaia falls on the spectrum of good and evil. Was she truly a force for good and the wellspring of life, or was she really a source of insidious evil bent on creating strife and sorrow? There were four instances of conflict that defined the Greek creation myth. Here they are in order: there was the rise of Cronus, there was the war against the titans, called the Titanomachy, there was the war against the giants, called the Gigantomachy, and finally, there was the battle against the monster Typhon. To fully understand the depth of Gaia's involvement we have to start at the beginning of the Greek creation myth. We're going to gloss over the moments that don't feature her as a central figure. In the beginning there was the great void Chaos. From this void emerged the first of the Primordial deities. Gaia, the personification of the earth, was one of these, and she went on to independently produce three children, three second-generation primordial deities who would be aspects of the material world. These were Uranus, the sky, Ourea, the mountains, and Pontus, the sea. Gaia took Uranus as her consort, and together they had three groups of children: three Hecatonchires, hundred-handed monsters of unmatched size and strength, three Cyclopes, colossal humanoids with but a single large eye affixed to their faces, and finally, 12 titans. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. Today, we're discussing Typhon. The son of Gaia, the personification of the earth, and of Tartarus, the personification of the great abyss deep beneath the earth, Typhon was the most powerful monster in all of Greek mythology, even more powerful, perhaps - if you remove weapons from the equation - than all of the gods too. In the Greek creation myth, there was a sequence of three great conflicts, each of which entailed a powerful enemy the gods had to overcome: there was the war against the titans; there was the war against the giants; and lastly, there was the battle against Typhon. As Apollodorus tells it, Gaia was the driving force behind most of these conflicts. She created the giants to attack the gods after the titans were imprisoned in Tartarus, and then after the giants were destroyed, she created Typhon to attack the gods. This version portrays Gaia as some wrathful brood mother that keeps pumping out new batches of monsters to avenge older batches of monsters. But I digress. Typhon was, unequivocally, the gravest threat Olympus faced, and his appearance makes this easy to understand. He was terrible to behold, even the boldest were stricken with fear by him, and his awesome strength was unmatched by any other. Even mighty Zeus, if not for the blazing bolts he wielded, likely would have fallen. Typhon was half man and half beast. In size and strength he eclipsed all of Gaia's other children. 100 snakes twisted out of his shoulders where arms should have been, but aside from his arms, his body was human-like until his thighs, below which was a multitude of coiled vipers. Wings grew all over his body, and his eyes were two merciless pits of fire, almost like the mouths of two volcanoes. The sounds of every fierce animal thundered from him. Wings of every sort grew all over his body, and foul hair grew from his head and cheeks. He dwarfed the mountains as he strode across the land, and his head brushed the stars. It was said that if he extended his arms, he could grasp the farthest Western and Eastern points at the same time. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey Everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video we're going to be discussing Tartarus. Tartarus was the great abyss, the bottomless chasm, the deep dark that existed beneath Gaia. It was one of the primordial deities, which meant that it was both person and place, simultaneously existing as a god and as the manifestation of one of the aspects of creation. As a place, Tartarus was usually featured in Greek mythology as the infernal plane of the underworld, reserved for unforgivable sinners and dangerous enemies, such as the Titans and the monster Typhon. Tartarus was one of the five first-generation primordial deities, which meant that he - along with Gaia, the personification of the earth, Eros, the personification of love and desire, Erebus, the personification of darkness, and Nyx, the personification of night - was one of five deities to emerge from Chaos, the great void that existed before all else. According to Hesiod, earth existed equidistant between the heavens and Tartarus. He said that an anvil dropped from the heavens would take nine days and nine nights to plummet to earth, and that the same anvil would again take nine days and nine nights to plunge through the darkness from Earth to the depths of Tartarus. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video we're going to take a look at the Giants, a formidable race that challenged the gods, and at the Gigantomachy, which was the calamitous war fought between the gods and the giants. And to give you an idea of what's in store, here's apollodorus' description of the giants: "unsurpassed in size, unassailable in their strength, and fearful to behold because of the thick hair hanging down from their head and cheeks" The titans definitely get the lion's share of the attention, but the giants were also incredibly powerful and weren't to be trifled with. Let's get into it. In Greek mythology, there were two types of giants. The first type featured an array of characters, all unrelated to each other, who were of enormous size. Examples of this type include the giants Otus and Ephialtes, known for storming mount olympus and stuffing Ares in a bronze jar, Talos, a bronze giant, and Orion, a giant who was a master hunter. The other type of giants was the race of giants spawned from the droplets of blood that fell to the earth from Uranus' severed genitals after he was castrated and thereby Usurped by his youngest son Cronus. The Erinyes, commonly known as the furies, were created in the same way, also spawning from the earth after Uranus' blood saturated and impregnated the earth. According to Apollodorus, Gaia was furious with the gods after the Titanomachy. All of the titans who fought against Zeus - except for Atlas who was sentenced to hold up the sky for eternity - were cast down into the depths of Tartarus. Gaia wished for her children to be free, so she absorbed the droplets of Uranus' blood, became impregnated, and then birthed a new race of beings, the giants, a race with god-like power. The war that ensued was called the Gigantomachy, and it was the penultimate conflict Olympus would have to content with: the last major threat Olympus was assailed by was the monster Typhon, a son of Gaia and Tartarus and the most powerful monster in Greek mythology. To put all the major conflicts in order, it went: Titanomachy, the war against the titans, then Gigantomachy, the war against the giants, and then the battle against Typhon. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Every Norse God Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video, we're going to take a look at every god in Norse mythology, covering all of the essentials. Let's get into it. Number 1:Buri Buri was Thawed from a block of salty ice by the incessant licking of the cosmic cow, Audhumbla. He was the first god to exist in Norse mythology. All other gods were descended from him. He was described as being large, fair, and powerful. Number 2:Bor Very little is known of Bor. He was the only son of Buri, and by the giantess Bestla, he sired three sons, Odin, vili, and Ve Number 3:Odin Known as the All-father, Odin was the highest and the oldest of the gods. He was the god of the dead, poetry, wisdom, and war. Most of the myths that centered on him revolved around his pursuit of knowledge, wisdom, and magic, often involving extreme self-sacrifice, like when he impaled himself with his spear and hung himself from the world tree for nine days, or when he sacrificed his eye to gain mystic visions from Mimirsbrun. With his two brothers, he tore apart the proto-giant Ymir and created the world, and he helped to create the first man and the first woman. He's fated to be devoured by the monstrous wolf Fenrir during Ragnarok. Numbers 4 and 5:Vili and Ve Vili and Ve were Odin's two younger brothers. With Odin they tore apart the proto-giant Ymir and created the world, helping to create the first man and the first woman. Once, when Odin was away on a long journey, they divided their absent older brother's inheritance between them, even Frigg, whom they each bedded. Number 6 :Freyja Freyja was an incredibly powerful sorceress, only Odin could rival her in mastery of the magic arts. Along with her brother and father, she was originally one of the Vanir, a tribe of gods at war with the Aesir gods in the mythic past. She rode in a chariot pulled by huge cats. She loved gold and fine jewelry, and she was lascivious, having reportedly shared the bed of every god and elf. Many myths involved giants wanting to bed her or win her as a wife. She presided over Folkvang, where half of those slain in battle were sent. Her husband was Od, another name for Odin, which makes her a version of the goddess Frigg, who also married Odin. Number 7:Frigg Aside from having different names, Frigg and Freya were nearly duplicates of each other. Frigg was married to Odin. She enjoyed the company of men, loved gold and jewelry, and was a powerful magic wielder; she could even foretell the future. Both Frigg and Freya owned Falcon feathers that allowed them to transform into birds and soar through the sky Number 8:Frey Frey was a fertility god, and he was strongly associated with peace; for fertility thrives where war is absent. However, Norse culture was so warlike that even gods like Frey were said to be formidable warriors. As Freyja's brother, Frey is also of the vanir. He is fated to be cut down by Surtur, the chief of the fire giants, during Ragnarok. Number 9:Njord Njord was Freyja and Frey's father. He could control the winds, soothe the seas, and quench fire. He was also extraordinarily wealthy. Those whose livelihoods depended on the bounty of the sea were wise to invoke him, and he could bestow people with abundance. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In this video, we're going to take a look at the unborn god who would have been the most powerful god in all of Greek mythology. Were he born, Zeus was fated to be overthrown by him. Like the rising sun bringing a new day, his coming would have been the inauguration of a new age. This god's power would have been supreme, unrivaled by any other. All other gods would have been forced to bend the knee or face destruction, Zeus most of all. To understand this story, we have to take a look at the Greek creation myth, for which the driving force is a vicious cycle of son supplanting father, each generation more powerful than the one before. From chaos, the great void, emerged five primordial deities. One of these, Gaia, the personification of the earth, independently produced three second generation primordial deities, aspects of the observable world. These were Ourea, the mountains, Pontus, the sea, and Uranus, the sky. Gaia took Uranus as her consort, and from their union came the Hecatonchires, the Cyclopes, and the first generation of Titans. Uranus thought the Hecatonchires and the Cyclopes were abominations, so he kept them trapped inside of Gaia; but he allowed the titans to be born. Having many of her children trapped inside of her was excruciating for Gaia, so she beseeched her children to champion her and rebel against their father. Only Cronus, the youngest, was audacious and ambitious enough to answer his mother's plea. With a grey sickle of adamant, cronus hid. The next time Uranus went to envelope Gaia in a sexual embrace, cronus ambushed him and castrated him, casting the severed genitals into the sea. This act separated earth from sky and ushered in a new era, the rule of the titans, with Cronus as king of the cosmos, but he would not keep the crown forever. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video, we're going to take a look at the Ennead, which was a group of nine gods the Heliopolitan creation myth revolved around. Let's get into it. In the beginning, before creation, before the first breath was drawn, before the inexorable flow of time, there existed only the primordial waters of Nun - dark, watery, and infinite. There was no end to them. In these primordial waters were all of the elements of creation, but in a boundless liquid state, they were almost inert; for nothing could be formed by them, combined as they were. It would take the touch of the divine for anything to happen. Within the water of Nun, the god Atum created himself from the watery darkness that churned about him. He then impregnated himself by masterbating and ejacualting into his own mouth. Atum's mouth functioned as a womb, and through his will and thought, his seed quickened into the fetuses of his two children. After a period of gestation, the divine twins Shu and Teftnut were expelled from the surrogate womb in which they grew. One was spat out. The other was sneezed out. Shu was the god of dry, life-giving air and sunlight, and tefnut was the goddess of moisture. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video we're going to be discussing Tyr, one of the Norse gods of war. Here's what you can expect: a war between two tribes of gods that's settled by a prisoner exchange; a nearly invincible wolf imprisoned by a ribbon fashioned from the spittle of a bird, the beard of a woman, the breath of a fish, and the sound of a cat's footsteps; a cauldron that's a mile deep; someone who goes fishing and inadvertently hooks the World Serpent; and a god who fights the hound of hell to the death; Let's get into it. Tyr was one of the Aesir, which was the tribe of Norse gods who made their home in Asgard. The Vanir, the other tribe of Norse gods, dwelt on Vanaheim, another of the nine realms. These two tribes were at war in the mythic past. Neither tribe could gain a meaningful advantage over the other, so the war was eventually resolved through an exchange of prisoners. Considered the boldest and most courageous of all the Norse gods, Tyr was a Norse god of war. The other two were Thor and Odin. Tyr was also among the wisest of the gods, so much so that exceedingly clever people were said to be Tyr wise. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Welcome to Mythology Explained. In todays video we're discussing Chinese dragons. More specifically, their powers and abilities, their appearance, their hierarchy, and their associations with the full-spectrum of ancient Chinese society, from peasant to emperor. Let's get into it. Where dragons and fire have become synonymous in western culture, Chinese dragons break from this tradition, instead being associated with wind and water. Unlike dragons in other cultures, who were often depicted as destructive and as avaricious wealth-hoarders, Chinese dragons were incarnations of strength, intelligence and luck, attributes that would be bestowed on those worthy of them. Those venerated and wielding power - royalty, especially emperors, epitomizing this - were compared to dragons. Those incompetent and unimportant were held in contempt through comparisons to lesser creatures, such as worms. Dragons were among the four smartest creatures in ancient Chinese culture. The other three were the unicorn, the phoenix, and the tortoise. This deep intelligence was one of the reasons emperors and dragons were so closely associated; strength, power, and good-fortune were others. Dragons possessed many amazing abilities. They could shapeshift, vanish and materialize, and grow or shrink in size. Where their real power lay, though, was in their affinity for water. A dragon's power encompassed a wide-variety of weather phenomena centering on air and water, including floods, typhoons, rivers, rain, swift winds, hailstorms, and tornadoes. large bodies of water, great rivers, and cloud-covered skies, were their abodes. When they flew, lightning flashed and thunder boomed. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.