The Three Realms, the Three Gods

There is so much to talk, write, discuss and learn about/from the Greek mythology. Perhaps, the avid God of War gamers already know much about it already. But that does not deter us from talking about the division of the three realms of the earth amongst Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, the three sons of Cronos and Rhea. As the tale goes, after dealing a crushing defeat to the Titans (for the sins of Cronos), there was a feud for power amongst Zeus, Poseidon and Hades.  

Earth already belonged to Gaia, Zeus lorded over the skies and hence came to be known as the King of the Gods. Poseidon, as you might already know or have guessed (thanks to the eponymous movie) commanded the sea and the wind. Hades reigned supreme in the underworld (and therefore the contemporary characterization as ‘The Grim Reaper’, although it is not exactly correct). 

Together with Hera, Dionysus, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Athena, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus and Demeter, Zeus and Poseidon form the group of 12 Olympians who stay abode the great Mount Olympus. It is in the honor of Zeus, the King of Gods that the Olympics were held in ancient Greece. Some insist upon the exclusion of Hades from Olympians because he keeps mostly to the underworld, where his regime lies. Other mythologists consider him an important part of the Olympians but nobody seems to concur on this, so and so forth, the tale continues. 

The Olympians and their Roman equivalents find parallels in Indian mythology, because Hindu mythology is the oldest in the world. This in fact gives us a lot to talk and a chance to expand our knowledge in the sphere and as A.B. Keith points out in his book Indian Mythology, the Hindu myth has indeed withstood the invasion of various foreign cultures and the Gods and Goddesses are an important part of people’s lives. The Greek and the Roman myths have been merely accorded the status of folklore or classical studies. However, that does not diminish the interest of the Philomythists or the charm of Aphrodite and Venus.

From here shall our story branch out in various directions – past, present and future. There are so many parallels to be found in various mythologies from around the world but we shall devote all our attention towards Indian, Greek and Roman mythology.