Uranus
When the children of Javan, son of Japheth, son of Noah, began settling the
areas of Italy, Greece, and the islands of the Mediterranean Sea, they had
not yet ever had a king rule over them. One man called Uranus/Coelus
rose up in power and established the first, small kingdom, not much else is
known of him. Uranus died in Oceania and was buried in the town of Aulatia.
Uranus like Acmon, his father before him, claimed the title of prince.Saturn
Among his sons were Titan and Saturn/Kronos. Saturn's older brother Titan
wanted to be given the kingdom but his mother and two sisters (Ceres)
supported Saturn to be the next ruler. So he made a agreement with Saturn.
He would allow Saturn to take the throne under the condition that he have no
male heirs and that at his death the sons of Titan would be heir to the
throne. An Oracle prophesied that he would have a son that would over
through his kingdom. So Saturn sacrificed all of his sons to "the gods" and
the angry ghost of his father. He is also said
to have castrated his father to prevent further rivals for the throne.
Saturn Married one of his sisters Rhea, who Uranus has secretly sent to do
away with Saturn. Saturn seized several of Uranus' providences and in the
end captured and confined Uranus. It is said that he died in grief. Belus
who was worshiped by Babylonians and Assyrians, was ruling at the same time
in history as Saturn. This was about 322 years before the great Trojan War.
Under Saturn's rule his kingdom reached from Syria and Phoenicia all the way
to Spain and Mauritania in Africa.
Jupiter
When Saturn's wife became pregnant again she made and excuse to travel to
Arcadia.
Saturn's son Jupiter/Zeus/Zen was born there and he was sent
to in Mt. Ida on the Island of Crete to be hidden from Saturn. Melisseus king of the
Cretans took Jupiter to raise as his own. Melisseus was the first who
sacrificed to the gods. He appointed his daughter Melissa the first
priestess of the great mother. Later when Titan learned that Saturn had sons, thus
breaking the agreement between them, he and his sons, known as the titans,
took Saturn prisoner, sealing him and his wife Ops/Vesta in a wall. Jupiter
then assembled a small army from Crete and took the kingdom back are
restored his father to the throne. Saturn, however; now knowing he has a
son, and because of the prophecy from the oracle that a son would destroy
him, set up an ambush to kill Jupiter. Assuming that those whom he had
entrusted the government of Crete to would still be loyal to him, he lead a
small band of warriors into Crete, but Jupiter was ready for him having
turned the government to his side. Saturn fled to that part of Greece called Peloponesus. Jupiter perused his father there, so Saturn fled further to
Italy. When the Titans of some other provinces learned that Jupiter had
dethroned Saturn, and was determined to take over the empire, they formed a
confederacy against him. Jupiter himself went as far a Spain to end the war.
The last great battle was fought near the coastal city of Tartesa, a little
North of Cadiz. Saturn later died and was buried on the island of Sicily.
His tomb was still shown in the first century AD. The War between Jupiter
and Saturn lasted about 10 years, which occurred "some years before before
the death of Abraham." After driving out Saturn he violated his sisters, and
married one. He was well known for his many adulteries and his practice of
violating young boys.
Jupiter then divided the kingdom by lot between himself and his other two
brothers Neptune/Poseidon, and Pluto that had also escaped Saturn's sacrifices. The
empire of the east fell to Jupiter. A portion of the west fell to Pluto, who's surname
was Agesilaus. The
maritime coast together with the islands fell to Neptune. Ennius' history records
many of the triumphs of king Jupiter. Jupiter set up temples in many
countries to form alliances with those countries. Jupiter himself created a
golden column in the Triphylian temple chronicling
all his triumphs. The tomb of Jupiter is in Crete, in the city of Knossos. Knossos was
supposed to have been founded by Vesta, his mother. The inscription over the tomb of Jupiter
says in Greek "Zan Kronou" which means "Zeus son of Kronos."
Hercules
Hercules was one of the sons of Jupiter/Zeus. He is known for his
temper. When arriving on Rhodes he asks a plowman for one of his oxen to
kill and eat. The plowman refused. So Hercules killed both of the oxen, and
cursed the plowman. This is how cursing became a prominent component in the
rites of Hercules on the isle of Rhodes. When Hercules found out that the
rites of Saturn as practiced on the island of Sicily involved human
sacrifice he went there to put a stop to it. Hercules is buried in Spain.
Other
At different times both the worship of Saturn and Jupiter involved human
sacrifice. Jupiter visited oracles, this shows he could not see the
future. He named the sky after his grandfather Uranus, built and later and
sacrificed victims (whole burnt offerings) to it as a god. Jupiter's tomb
was still well known in 250 AD according to Cyprian.
Information taken from church fathers Lactantius (DI 1.9-23), Tertullian (Gods of the Heathen),
Arnobius (Against the Heathern) and Ancient historians Hesiod (Theognis),
Apollodorus (Bibliotheca), Pezron (Antiquities of Nations), and Philocorus |