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Oceanus



Story:

Oceanus
Oceanus
1st - 2nd centuries A.D. (Empire)
Bronze
The Lillian Z. Turnblad Memorial Fund

Key Ideas
Story
Background
Discussion Questions

Long before the world existed, there was Chaos—immeasurable, dark, and wild. Out of Chaos came Night and Erebus (AIR-a-bus), a dim place. All was still, black, silent, and without end until Love emerged. Love brought Light and Day, which then produced Earth. No one can recall just how any of this happened. Then Earth, called Gaea (GUY-ah), produced the boundless blue Heaven, called Uranus (YUR-a-nus). The union of Heaven and Earth produced gigantic monstrous children with overwhelming power. Among their children were the one-eyed Cyclops (SIGH-clops), the 100-handed Hecatoncheires (hec-a-TAHN-churs), and the mighty natural forces, the Titans.

Six female and six male Titans ruled the universe. One of them was called Oceanus because he ruled the great river Ocean that encircled the earth and formed its outermost limits. Oceanus and his Titan wife, Tethys (TEH-thees), had 3,000 sons and 3,000 daughters. Their sons were the spirits of the rivers. Their daughters, known as Oceanids, were spirits of streams and springs. Eventually, the Titans' children destroyed their parents and became the gods of the Greek world.


Key Ideas Story Background Discussion Questions
 
 

 

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