Besides the gods and goddesses named here there were many
other gods and immortals in Greek mythology.
So, who were the first- and second-generation gods? Glad you
asked. Gaia was the first goddess, also known as Mother Earth,
and gave birth (with her son Uranus being the father) to the
second-generation Titans. The Titans were led by Cronos or
Saturn, and he seized power from Uranus. Zeus, Poseidon, and
Hades are the sons of Cronos, and Zeus was considered primarily
responsible for overthrowing his father.
One lesson that the Greek myths loved to teach was the lesson of
hubris, or pride. Whenever a mortal (or god) exhibited hubris,
thinking he or she was better than the gods, they inevitably would
also experience a resulting tragedy. If one of the lesser gods
started thinking he was more powerful than Zeus, then he, too,
would be knocked down a peg or two. This type of metaphorical
lesson continues in the stories of the Bible, Shakespearian
tragedies, and even into modern literature and art.
Of course, the stories of these ancient gods were not just provided
as a way to guide the behavior of men. Many of the myths explain
various aspects of the world. Of course, there’s a story about how
the world was created, but there are also stories to explain things
such as the changing of the seasons. Persephone or Proserpine
(Zeus and Demeter’s daughter in Greek mythology and Jupiter
and Ceres’s daughter in Roman mythology) was stolen by Hades
or Pluto to be his queen in the underworld. Her mother, the earth
goddess, was saddened by her loss and refused to fulfill her duties.
A compromise was reached whereby Persephone would spend 4–
6 months (depending on the version of the myth) with her
mother, and the rest of the year in the underworld. Thus, when
she is with Hades, the earth goddess refuses to fulfill her duties,
resulting in fall and winter, but Persephone returns, resulting in
spring and summer.