The Gods of Rome
By
Gary Primo
People commonly think of mythology as something that has been made up and not based on truth. Of course, many think the Scriptures are mythology too. However, it is my belief that the pagan gods were once real and likely are connected to the fallen angels and their giant offspring who terrorized mankind before the flood. What I would like to do in this study is draw attention to the similarities and differences between what we know of these pagan gods and the True Elohim and His Son.
Prior to the flood, the world was a much different place. A group of (200) angels, known as the “Fallen Angels”, came to Earth with the intention of taking over the earth from men and corrupting the plan of Yahuwah. These angels then took it upon themselves to mate with the human women of the earth and the result was a race of giant offspring. !2 of the giants became known as the Titans.
Greek Titans: Who Were The 12 Titans In Greek Mythology? | TheCollector
Greek Titans: Who Were The 12 Titans In Greek Mythology?
You may know the famous twelve Olympian Greek Gods and Goddesses, but they were not the first rulers in Greek mythology. So, who were the Titans?
But what about the Greek Titans? They play an important role in Greek mythology yet have not been popularized in modern culture.
Out of the empty space of Chaos came Gaea, the earth, Tartarus, the underworld, and Eros, desire. Gaea gave birth to the mountains, the sky, and the sea. She took her son the sky, Uranus, as her husband, and with him, she mothered the twelve Titans, the very first gods and goddesses, taller than the mountains they used as thrones. However, Uranus was disgusted by their next children, the three cyclopes and three monstrous sons, each with fifty heads and one hundred arms, and he threw them into Tartarus, the underworld prison of suffering.
Yet Gaea loved all of her children, and she could not forgive Uranus for his cruelty. She made a diamond sickle for her youngest son, Cronus, and with it he defeated his father. Gaea later married her son Pontus, the ocean, and the Titans took charge of the universe. They were the ancestors or parents of most of the twelve Olympians discussed here below, though it was through their children that they too were eventually overthrown.
1 – Very first gods and goddesses. This was the beginning of popular paganism. By and large, mankind has always held to the saying, “I will believe it when I see it”. And, since no one has ever seen the Father, no one believes in Him. So instead, they created their own gods and their own systems of worship.
2 – “taller than the mountains they used as thrones”. This is an unbelievable claim to us today. We cannot imagine anyone that tall. However, Enoch mentions the height of some at 3,000 ells, which is equal to 4,500 feet. To date, the tallest of any giant skeletons found measures 36 feet. The were two of such buried in the same tomb and supposed to be husband and wife. Both the Scriptures and history make mention of giants. Every society on earth has folk lore about ancient giants. Is it possible for them all to imagine the same thing; or is there some basis in fact?
3 – “he defeated his father”. Isn’t what HaSatan has been stiving for since his rebellion? Everything in modern-day religions of men strive to succeed in dethroning Yahuwah and replacing Him with some created being. It was Adam who decided he could discern what was good and what was evil by his own evaluation. And here we are!
4 – “through their children that they too were eventually overthrown.” This is a reoccurring theme that should be familiar to us all. How many times have the sons of world rulers attempted to overthrow their father and claim his throne? Is that what HaSatan and man has stived to do to our Heavenly Father?
The following are all children of the Titans. And, if truly children of the Titans would it be a stretch to imagine that they too were giants (likely of a much smaller state). And, who did Israel choose as their first King? Solomon was known for being taller than average and good looking – just the kind of superficial nonsense human perceive as endearing qualities. It was also likely a throwback to the worship of giants.
Zeus, in ancient Greek religion, chief deity of the pantheon, a sky and weather god who was identical with the Roman god Jupiter. His name clearly comes from that of the sky god Dyaus of the ancient Hindu Rigveda. Zeus was regarded as the sender of thunder and lightning, rain, and winds, and his traditional weapon was the thunderbolt. He was called the father (i.e., the ruler and protector) of both gods and men.
According to a Cretan myth that was later adopted by the Greeks, Cronus, king of the Titans, upon learning that one of his children was fated to dethrone him, swallowed his children as soon as they were born. But Rhea, his wife, saved the infant Zeus by substituting a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes for Cronus to swallow and hiding Zeus in a cave on Crete. There he was nursed by the nymph (or female goat) Amalthaea and guarded by the Curetes (young warriors), who clashed their weapons to disguise the baby’s cries. After Zeus grew to manhood he led a revolt against the Titans and succeeded in dethroning Cronus, perhaps with the assistance of his brothers Hades and Poseidon, with whom he then divided dominion over the world.
As ruler of heaven Zeus led the gods to victory against the Giants (offspring of Gaea and Tartarus) and successfully crushed several revolts against him by his fellow gods. According to the Greek poet Homer, heaven was located on the summit of Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece and the logical home for a weather god. The other members of the pantheon resided there with Zeus and were subject to his will. From his exalted position atop Mount Olympus Zeus was thought to omnisciently observe the affairs of men, seeing everything, governing all, and rewarding good conduct and punishing evil. Besides dispensing justice—he had a strong connection with his daughter Dike (Justice)—Zeus was the protector of cities, the home, property, strangers, guests, and supplicants.
Zeus was well known for his amorousness—a source of perpetual discord with his wife, Hera—and he had many love affairs with both mortal and immortal women. In order to achieve his amorous designs, Zeus frequently assumed animal forms, such as that of a cuckoo when he ravished Hera, a swan when he ravished Leda, or a bull when he carried off Europa. Notable among his offspring were the twins Apollo and Artemis, by the Titaness Leto; Helen and the Dioscuri, by Leda of Sparta; Persephone, by the goddess Demeter; Athena, born from his head after he had swallowed the Titaness Metis; Hephaestus, Hebe, Ares, and Eileithyia, by his wife, Hera; Dionysus, by the goddess Semele; and many others
Though regarded by Greek religionists everywhere as omnipotent and the head of the pantheon, Zeus’s very universality tended to reduce his importance compared with that of powerful local divinities like Athena and Hera. Although statues of Zeus Herkeios (Guardian of the House) and altars of Zeus Xenios (Hospitable) graced the forecourts of houses, and though his mountaintop shrines were visited by pilgrims, Zeus did not have a temple at Athens until the late 6th century BCE, and even his temple at Olympia postdated that of Hera.
In art Zeus was represented as a bearded, dignified, and mature man of stalwart build; his most prominent symbols were the thunderbolt and the eagle.
1 - “Father of gods and men”. Well, this statement is obviously false as Zeus himself was fathered by Cronus. Unlike the True Elohim, Zeus had a beginning. He did not exist from infinity. He was not incorruptible. He did not fit any of the criteria fitting of an elohim, but all of the corruptible traits of his real father, HaSatan.
2 – “swallowed his children as soon as they were born”. This statement is speaking of Cronus, who was king of the Titans and father of Zeus. Titans are giants. Even though the pre-flood giants were the offspring of the fallen angels, they were considered gods of sons of gods because of their fearsome stature and horrific deeds, which included cannibalism.
Another analogy here is the practice of killing children to prevent the birth of a coming great leader. Sound familiar?
3. - “hidden in a cave on Crete”. Just as with Abraham, Moses and Yahushua, Zeus had to go into hiding as a child to avoid being killed. The “Great Counterfeit” had begun even at this early date and, somehow, managed to survive the food.
4 – “led the gods to victory over the giants”. Could this be a reference to the flood when the True Elohim destroyed the giants? Did ancient man mange to take this victory away from Yahuwah and give it instead to their supposed father, Zeus? It would seem quite likely.
5 – Designating Mt. Olympus as the home of the gods (heaven}. This is likely the beginning of worshipping in “high places”. This practice was carried on by the pagan cults long after the flood. Throughout the Scriptures this practice is condemned by Yahuwah. He gave Israel a system of worship to follow; however, following the split, Northern Israel was quick to return to this practice. This practice, along with a number of other pagan practices is what led to the defeat and disbursement of the northern nation.
6 – “Had many affairs with both mortal and immortal women”. Both scriptural and non-scriptural writings speak of the fallen angels mating with the woman of earth and producing giant offspring. To date, approximately 10 thousand giant skeletons have been unearthed. Of course, not all can be attributed to the fallen angels. The largest found were a couple (man and wife) both of whom were 36 feet tall.
Hermes, Greek god, son of Zeus and the Pleiad Maia; often identified with the Roman Mercury and with Casmilus or Cadmilus, one of the Cabeiri. His name is probably derived from herma (see herm), the Greek word for a heap of stones, such as was used in the country to indicate boundaries or as a landmark. The earliest centre of his cult was probably Arcadia, where Mt. Cyllene was reputed to be his birthplace. There he was especially worshipped as the god of fertility, and his images were ithyphallic.
Both in literature and cult Hermes was constantly associated with the protection of cattle and sheep, and he was often closely connected with deities of vegetation, especially Pan and the nymphs. In the Odyssey, however, he appears mainly as the messenger of the gods and the conductor of the dead to Hades. Hermes was also a dream god, and the Greeks offered to him the last libation before sleep. As a messenger, he may also have become the god of roads and doorways, and he was the protector of travellers. Treasure casually found was his gift, and any stroke of good luck was attributed to him; this conception and his function as a deity of gain, honest or dishonest, are natural derivatives of his character as a god of fertility. In many respects he was Apollo’s counterpart; like him, Hermes was a patron of music and was credited with the invention of the kithara and sometimes of music itself. He was also god of eloquence and presided over some kinds of popular divination.
The sacred number of Hermes was four, and the fourth day of the month was his birthday. In archaic art, apart from the stylized herms, he was portrayed as a full-grown and bearded man, clothed in a long tunic and often wearing a cap and winged boots. Sometimes he was represented in his pastoral character, bearing a sheep on his shoulders; at other times he appeared as the messenger of the gods with the kērykeion, or herald’s staff (see caduceus), which was his most frequent attribute. From the latter part of the 5th century BCE he was portrayed as a nude and beardless youth, a young athlete.
1 – Son of Zeus/god. Being the son of Zeus made Hermes a type of Messiah. There were, in fact, 16 pagan saviors in total.
2 – Was born on a mountain top. The home of all the pagan gods is on a mountain top – usually Mt. Olympus. I found the following on the subject.
Where did the fallen angels land when they came to earth? - Bing
The Bible does not say that fallen angels landed on any mountain. But one of the apocryphal books discloses this: And they remained in all 2 hundred; who came down in the days of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon, and they called it Mount Hermon, since they had actually sworn and bound themselves by shared imprecations upon it. (Enoch 6: 6).
Since these primordial gods landed on and descended down from the top of this mountain, the mountain tops, or “high places” became the home of the gods.
3 – Messenger of the gods. The fallen angels were literal angels but made themselves gods. Angels are often depicted as messengers. After promoting themselves to gods they had their own messengers,
4 – Apollo’s counterpart. Apollo was also worshipped as a son of god/messiah.
5 - Sometimes he was represented in his pastoral character, bearing a sheep on his shoulders. Who else do we know who was portrayed as a shepherd?
Semele, also called Thyone, in Greek mythology, a daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, at Thebes, and mother of Dionysus (Bacchus) by Zeus. Semele’s liaison with Zeus enraged Zeus’s wife, Hera, who, disguised as an old nurse, coaxed Semele into asking Zeus to visit her in the same splendour in which he would appear before Hera. Zeus had already promised to grant Semele her every wish and thus was forced to grant a wish that would kill her: the splendour of his firebolts, as god of thunder, destroyed Semele. Zeus saved their unborn child, Dionysus, from the womb and kept him in his thigh until the baby was ready to be born. The story that Dionysus, himself immortal, descended into Hades after reaching maturity and brought Semele back, and she too became an immortal or even a goddess is found on an Attic black-figure hydria from the Leagros Group (c. 520 BC) and in Pindar’s Olympian ode 2.
1 - Mother of Dionysus. Dionysus was another pagan messiah of the pagan pantheon. This would make Semele the mother of the messiah, a type of Mary; and she was worshipped in much the same way Mary is worshipped in Roman Catholic worship today.
2 - saved their unborn child, Dionysus, from the womb and kept him in his thigh until the baby was ready to be born. Once again we have a supposed savior being swept away to a place of safety immediately after birth and protected.
Apollo, byname Phoebus, in Greco-Roman mythology, a deity of manifold function and meaning, one of the most widely revered and influential of all the ancient Greek and Roman gods. Though his original nature is obscure, from the time of Homer onward he was the god of divine distance, who sent or threatened from afar; the god who made men aware of their own guilt and purified them of it; who presided over religious law and the constitutions of cities; and who communicated with mortals through prophets and oracles his knowledge of the future and the will of his father, Zeus (Roman: Jupiter). Even the gods feared him, and only his father and his mother, Leto (Roman: Latona), could easily endure his presence. He was also a god of crops and herds, primarily as a divine bulwark against wild animals and disease, as his Greek epithet Alexikakos (Averter of Evil) indicates. His forename Phoebus means “bright” or “pure,” and the view became current that he was connected with the Sun. See Helios.
Among Apollo’s other Greek epithets was Nomios (Herdsman), and he is said to have served King Admetus of Pherae in the lowly capacities of groom and herdsman as penance for slaying Zeus’s armourers, the Cyclopes. He was also called Lyceius, presumably because he protected the flocks from wolves (lykoi); because herdsmen and shepherds beguiled the hours with music, scholars have argued that this was Apollo’s original role. In art Apollo was represented as a beardless youth, either naked or robed. Distance, death, terror, and awe were summed up in his symbolic bow. A gentler side of his nature, however, was shown in his other attribute, the lyre, which proclaimed the joy of communion with Olympus (the home of the gods) through music, poetry, and dance.
Though Apollo was the most Hellenic of all gods, he derived mostly from a type of god that originated in Anatolia and spread to Egypt by way of Syria and Palestine. Traditionally, Apollo and his twin, Artemis (Roman: Diana), were born on the isle of Delos. From there Apollo went to Pytho (Delphi), where he slew Python, the dragon that guarded the area. He established his oracle by taking on the guise of a dolphin, leaping aboard a Cretan ship, and forcing the crew to serve him. Thus, Pytho was renamed Delphi after the dolphin (delphis), and the Cretan cult of Apollo Delphinius superseded that previously established there by Earth (Gaea). During the Archaic period (8th to 6th century BCE), the fame of the Delphic oracle spread as far as Lydia in Anatolia and achieved Panhellenic status. The god’s medium was the Pythia, a local woman over 50 years old who, under his inspiration, delivered oracles in the main temple of Apollo. The oracles were subsequently interpreted and versified by priests. Other oracles of Apollo existed on the Greek mainland, on Delos, and in Anatolia, but none rivalled Delphi in importance.
Of the Greek festivals in honour of Apollo, the most curious was the octennial Delphic Stepterion, in which a boy reenacted the slaying of the Python and was temporarily banished to the Vale of Tempe.
Although Apollo had many love affairs, they were mostly unfortunate: Daphne, in her efforts to escape him, was changed into a laurel, his sacred shrub; Coronis (mother of Asclepius) was shot by Apollo’s twin, Artemis, when Coronis proved unfaithful; and Cassandra (daughter of King Priam of Troy) rejected his advances and was punished by being made to utter true prophecies that no one believed.
In Italy Apollo was introduced at an early date and was primarily concerned, as in Greece, with healing and prophecy; he was highly revered by the emperor Augustus because the Battle of Actium (31 BCE) was fought near one of his temples.
1 - most widely revered and influential of all the ancient Greek and Roman gods. Apollo was the main pagan contender for the True Messiah when he came. Naturally, the Romans never believed that any Jewish messiah could be any greater than their own. So, when the reputation of the True Messiah began to trump their Apollo, the romans simply did a pagan makeover of the True Messiah, giving Him all the same credentials and attributes as Apollo
2 - who presided over religious law and the constitutions of cities. Religion through politics. Politics has always used religion as a political weapon to control the people.
3 - communicated with mortals through prophets and oracles. Once again, they attribute the methods of the True Elohim to the pagan deities. This glory belongs to Yahuwah alone.
4 - was Nomios (Herdsman). Again the picture of a shepherd.
5 - had many love affairs. This is one aspect in which none of the pagan messiahs have no commonality with the True Messiah. The True Messiah was pure sexually. He was the epitome of incorruption and morality. Recently there have been some claiming that Yahushua had various affairs, in particular with Mary Magdalene, but all are lies. They merely wish to make the True Messiah over into the image of their false messiahs.
6 – Known for healing and prophesy. These are perhaps the two main links between the True Messiah and the pagan ones. No one would believe if these two characteristics were not present. The other main characteristic is that ALL the pagan messiahs were born in December (with the return of the sun). and died at Easter time. The True Messiah was born in September and died at Passover.
Rhea, in Greek religion, ancient goddess, probably pre-Hellenic in origin, who was worshipped sporadically throughout the Greek world. She was associated with fruitfulness and had affinities with Gaea (Earth) and the Great Mother of the Gods (also called Cybele). A daughter of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaea, Rhea was a Titan. She married her brother Cronus, who, warned that one of his children was fated to overthrow him, swallowed his children Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon soon after they were born. Rhea concealed the birth of Zeus in a cave on Mount Dicte in Crete and gave Cronus a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes. This he swallowed in the belief that it was Zeus. Subsequently Cronus was vanquished by Zeus and was forced to disgorge the swallowed children.
1 – Great Mother of the Gods. Only in pagan religions do the gods have mothers. The ancients couldn’t (it seems) picture any life without a mother. Therefore, the Elohim of Israel must have been a real mystery to them. How could a god have no beginning? The spiritual realm has always been difficult for man to understand.
2 – A Titan. One of the giant offspring of the fallen angels. Married her brother – another giant.
Hades, Greek Aïdes (“the Unseen”), also called Pluto or Pluton (“the Wealthy One” or “the Giver of Wealth”), in ancient Greek religion, god of the underworld. Hades was a son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, and brother of the deities Zeus, Poseidon, Demeter, Hera, and Hestia.
After Cronus was overthrown by his sons, his kingdom was divided among them, and the underworld fell by lot to Hades. There he ruled with his queen, Persephone, over the infernal powers and over the dead in what was often called “the house of Hades,” or simply Hades. He was aided by the dog Cerberus. Though Hades supervised the trial and punishment of the wicked after death, he was not normally one of the judges in the underworld, nor did he personally torture the guilty, a task assigned to the Furies (Erinyes). Hades was depicted as stern and pitiless, unmoved by prayer or sacrifice (like death itself). Forbidding and aloof, he never quite emerges as a distinct personality from the shadowy darkness of his realm, not even in the myth of his abduction of Persephone.
Those dark and unknowable aspects were complemented by an opposite and beneficial aspect. The god of the underworld was usually worshipped under a euphemistic epithet such as Clymenus (“the Renowned”) or Eubouleus (“Good Counsellor”). He was often called Zeus with the addition of a special title (e.g., chthonios, “chthonian Zeus”). His title Pluto or Pluton (“Wealth”) may have originated through Hades’ partial amalgamation with a god of the earth’s fertility or because he gathered all living things into his treasury at death.
In the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the word Hades is used for Sheol, denoting a dark region of the dead. Tartarus, originally denoting an abyss far below Hades and the place of punishment in the lower world, later lost its distinctness and became almost a synonym for Hades.
1 – Being the son of Cronus and Rhea (both giants), Hades was also likely a giant. Obviously they were worshipped as gods prior to the flood.
2 – “the word Hades is used for Sheol”. The Hebrew word “sheol” simply means the grave, not some hidden place of torment.
Cronus, also spelled Cronos or Kronos, in ancient Greek religion, male deity who was worshipped by the pre-Hellenic population of Greece but probably was not widely worshipped by the Greeks themselves; he was later identified with the Roman god Saturn. Cronus’s functions were connected with agriculture; in Attica his festival, the Kronia, celebrated the harvest and resembled the Saturnalia. In art he was depicted as an old man holding an implement, probably originally a sickle but interpreted as a harpē, or curved sword.
In Greek mythology Cronus was the son of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaea (Earth), being the youngest of the 12 Titans. On the advice of his mother he castrated his father with a harpē, thus separating Heaven from Earth. He now became the king of the Titans, and took for his consort his sister Rhea; she bore by him Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon, all of whom he swallowed because his own parents had warned that he would be overthrown by his own child. When Zeus was born, however, Rhea hid him in Crete and tricked Cronus into swallowing a stone instead. Zeus grew up, forced Cronus to disgorge his brothers and sisters, waged war on Cronus, and was victorious. After his defeat by Zeus, Cronus became, according to different versions of his story, either a prisoner in Tartarus or king in Elysium. According to one tradition, the period of Cronus’s rule was a golden age for mortals.
1 - the son of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaea (Earth). I believe what is meant by this is that his father was a fallen angel (heaven) and his mother was of the daughters of men (earth). Thus, Cronus was also a giant.
2 – 12 Titans in total. Cronus, although the youngest, became the king over them all.
Poseidon, in ancient Greek religion, god of the sea (and of water generally), earthquakes, and horses. He is distinguished from Pontus, the personification of the sea and the oldest Greek divinity of the waters. The name Poseidon means either “husband of the earth” or “lord of the earth.” Traditionally, he was a son of Cronus (the youngest of the 12 Titans) and of Cronus’s sister and consort Rhea, a fertility goddess. Poseidon was a brother of Zeus, the sky god and chief deity of ancient Greece, and of Hades, god of the underworld. When the three brothers deposed their father, the kingdom of the sea fell by lot to Poseidon. His weapon and main symbol was the trident, perhaps once a fish spear. According to the Greek poet Hesiod, Poseidon’s trident, like Zeus’s thunderbolt and Hades’ helmet, was fashioned by the three Cyclopes.
As the god of earthquakes, Poseidon was also connected to dry land, and many of his oldest places of worship in Greece were inland, though these were sometimes centred on pools and streams or otherwise associated with water. In this aspect, he was known as enosichthon and ennosigaios (“earth-shaker”) and was worshipped as asphalios (“stabilizer”). As the god of horses, Poseidon is thought likely to have been introduced to Greece by the earliest Hellenes, who also introduced the first horses to the country about the 2nd century BCE. Poseidon himself fathered many horses, best known of which was the winged horse Pegasus by the Gorgon Medusa.
Poseidon came into conflict with a variety of figures in land disputes. Notable among these was a contest for sovereignty over Attica, which he lost to the goddess Athena. Despite losing, Poseidon was also worshipped there, particularly at Colonus (as hippios, “of horses”).
Poseidon’s offspring were myriad. He was the father of Pelias and Neleus by Tyro, the daughter of Salmoneus, and thus became the divine ancestor of the royal families of Thessaly and Messenia. Many of his sons became rulers in other parts of the ancient Greek world. Otherwise he had many monstrous offspring, including giants and savage creatures, such as Orion, Antaeus, and Polyphemus. Progenitor of many, with several consorts, Poseidon also was married to the Oceanid Amphitrite, with whom he also had multiple offspring, including the sea creature Triton.
The chief festival in Poseidon’s honour was the Isthmia, the scene of famous athletic contests (including horse races), celebrated in alternate years near the Isthmus of Corinth. His character as a sea god eventually became his most prominent in art, and he was represented with the attributes of the trident, the dolphin, and the tuna. The Romans, ignoring his other aspects, identified him with Neptune as sea god.
1 – “he had many monstrous offspring, including giants and savage creatures”. This statement again alludes to the period of history when man was ruled by giant angelic offspring.
2 – “the Isthmia, the scene of famous athletic contests (including horse races”. Could this have been the origin of the modern-day Olympics?
Heracles, Greek Herakles, Roman Hercules, one of the most famous Greco-Roman legendary heroes. Traditionally, Heracles was the son of Zeus and Alcmene (see Amphitryon), granddaughter of Perseus. Zeus swore that the next son born of the Perseid house should become ruler of Greece, but—by a trick of Zeus’s jealous wife, Hera—another child, the sickly Eurystheus, was born first and became king. When Heracles grew up, he had to serve Eurystheus and also suffer the vengeful persecution of Hera; his first exploit was the strangling of two serpents that she had sent to kill him in his cradle.
Heracles waged a victorious war against the kingdom of Orchomenus in Boeotia and married Megara, daughter of Creon, king of Thebes, but he killed her and their children in a fit of madness sent by Hera and, consequently, was obliged to become the servant of Eurystheus. It was Eurystheus who imposed upon Heracles the famous Labours, later arranged in a cycle of 12, usually as follows: (1) the slaying of the Nemean lion, whose skin he thereafter wore; (2) the slaying of the nine-headed Hydra of Lerna; (3) the capture of the elusive hind (or stag) of Arcadia; (4) the capture of the wild boar of Mount Erymanthus; (5) the cleansing, in a single day, of the cattle stables of King Augeas of Elis; (6) the shooting of the monstrous man-eating birds of the Stymphalian marshes; (7) the capture of the mad bull that terrorized the island of Crete; (8) the capture of the man-eating mares of King Diomedes of the Bistones; (9) the taking of the girdle of Hippolyte, queen of the Amazons; (10) the seizing of the cattle of the three-bodied giant Geryon, who ruled the island Erytheia (meaning red) in the far west; (11) the bringing back of the golden apples kept at the world’s end by the Hesperides; and (12) the fetching up from the underworld of the triple-headed dog Cerberus, guardian of its gates.
In art and literature, Heracles was represented as an enormously strong man of moderate height, a huge eater and drinker, very amorous, and generally kindly but with occasional outbursts of brutal rage. His characteristic weapon was the bow but frequently also the club.
1 – “an enormously strong man of moderate height”. Although of “moderate” height, Hercules was endowed with tremendous strength. He had a later counterpart in Israel by the name, Sampson, who championed Israel against the Philistines.
2 – Like all the other manmade gods, Hercules was known as gluttonous and sexually promiscuous. The True Elohim of Israel was not like any of the ancient angel-gods. He was above reproach, incorruptible and entirely moral. No, the ancient pagan gods were truly of their father, HaSatan, the master of corruption.
Perseus, in Greek mythology, the slayer of the Gorgon Medusa and the rescuer of Andromeda from a sea monster. Perseus was the son of Zeus and Danaë, the daughter of Acrisius of Argos. As an infant he was cast into the sea in a chest with his mother by Acrisius, to whom it had been prophesied that he would be killed by his grandson. After Perseus had grown up on the island of Seriphus, where the chest had grounded, King Polydectes of Seriphus, who desired Danaë, tricked Perseus into promising to obtain the head of Medusa, the only mortal among the Gorgons.
Aided by Hermes and Athena, Perseus pressed the Graiae, sisters of the Gorgons, into helping him by seizing the one eye and one tooth that the sisters shared and not returning them until they provided him with winged sandals (which enabled him to fly), the cap of Hades (which conferred invisibility), a curved sword, or sickle, to decapitate Medusa, and a bag in which to conceal the head. (According to another version, the Graiae merely directed him to the Stygian Nymphs, who told him where to find the Gorgons and gave him the bag, sandals, and helmet; Hermes gave him the sword.) Because the gaze of Medusa turned all who looked at her to stone, Perseus guided himself by her reflection in a shield given him by Athena and beheaded Medusa as she slept. He then returned to Seriphus and rescued his mother by turning Polydectes and his supporters to stone at the sight of Medusa’s head.
A further deed attributed to Perseus was his rescue of the Ethiopian princess Andromeda when he was on his way home with Medusa’s head. Andromeda’s mother, Cassiopeia, had claimed to be more beautiful than the sea nymphs, or Nereids; so Poseidon had punished Ethiopia by flooding it and plaguing it with a sea monster. An oracle informed Andromeda’s father, King Cepheus, that the ills would cease if he exposed Andromeda to the monster, which he did. Perseus, passing by, saw the princess and fell in love with her. He turned the sea monster to stone by showing it Medusa’s head and afterward married Andromeda.
Later Perseus gave the Gorgon’s head to Athena, who placed it on her shield, and gave his other accoutrements to Hermes. He accompanied his mother back to her native Argos, where he accidentally struck her father, Acrisius, dead when throwing the discus, thus fulfilling the prophecy that he would kill his grandfather. He consequently left Argos and founded Mycenae as his capital, becoming the ancestor of the Perseids, including Heracles. The Perseus legend was a favorite subject in painting and sculpture, both ancient and Renaissance. (Benvenuto Cellini’s bronze statue in Florence of Perseus with Medusa’s head is especially famous.) The chief characters in the Perseus legend, Perseus, Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, and the sea monster (Cetus), all figure in the night sky as constellations.
The Gorgons were three monsters in Greek mythology, daughters of Echidna and Typhon, the mother and father of all monsters respectively. Their names were Stheno, Euryale, and the most famous of them, Medusa. Although the first two were immortal, Medusa was not. Weirdly, Medusa was also not considered the child of Echidna and Typhon, but of Phorkys and Keto. Their faces were ugly and their hair was replaced by snakes; anyone who would gaze into their eyes would be turned to stone instantly.
1 – “As an infant he was cast into the sea in a chest”. This is reminiscent of the story of Moses. Although Perseus preceded Moses, it was a foreshadowing of the event.
2 – “the only mortal among the Gorgons.” Medusa, strangely enough, did not apparently have the same mother and father as her sisters. How that is possible, I have no idea. But then, I suppose anything is possible when it comes to the gods of men.
The very fact that our constellations are named after these ancient gods lend credence to the fact that man worships his own homemade gods over the One True Elohim. Man had not changed in this regard one bit. He continues to believe HaSatan’s lie that we are already gods with the divine right of choosing what is right and wrong for ourselves. That line of thinking has only brought man hopelessness and misery.
John 12:31 - Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.
The ruler of this world is being cast out, slowly but surely. And it is us, the servants of Yahuwah, that are helping to make it possible. Knowledge is power. The knowledge that we possess is far beyond the reach of those who are spiritually blind.
Now that the true Messiah has already come, we are without excuse. The Scriptures are available in mostly every country at the moment. Most can freely access them and discover the truth easy enough. So, what is stopping everyone? They have no desire to seek the truth. That would mean they would have to change. They do not want to change. They have grown accustomed to the darkness and cherish it because it is all they know. They are lazy and hate change because it will require them to go to work. They do not fear what they cannot see. That is like having an army surrounding your house and feeling protected by putting a bag over one’s head.
John 14:30 - I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me;
The ruler of this world came upon the world stage some 6,000 years ago; but Yahushua was speaking in the future tense. I believe he did come shortly following the death and resurrection. I believe that HaSatan tries to mimic the Father as much as possible. Therefore, he too uses human vessels to do his work. One such human vessel was Emperor Constantine. Constantine produced a counterfeit religion and a counterfeit messiah. He deceived the entire world with his counterfeit and because the world continues to obey Constantine’s empirical decrees over the commandments of Yahuwah, he is the god that they worship. And, of course, all such worship is ultimately directed towards HaSatan.
The gods of Rome have indeed survived through the Christian religion and will remain with us until the end of the age.
Ephesians 2:2 - in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
What does the term, “prince of the power of the air” mean? I believe it means that HaSatan radiates his own spirit (of disobedience) throughout the world and man (on account of their own disobedience) are perfectly in tune with that spirit. Many are so greatly deceived that they glory in their disobedience and their journey towards eternal death.
John 16:11 - and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
When was HaSatan judged? He was judged at Yahushua’s victory over death. That was the clincher. His fate has been sealed, along with the fate of all non-believers.
2 Cor. 4:4 - Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the good news. They don’t understand this message about the glory of HaMashiyack, who is the exact likeness of Elohim.
Adam made the choice for us, folks; and almost all have worshipped HaSatan ever since. Yahuwah tried to change things with the nation of Israel. However, in very short order they were again worshipping the pagan deities of their neighbors. It is an irrefutable fact that man is irreputably deceived and almost beyond hope. If we had a dog this stupid, we’d shoot it. But man’s “shot” is coming. We don’t know when, but it is coming.
When we examine the various worldly religions and the gods they worship, we quickly find that they bear no resemblance to the True Elohim and what he is offering us. Instead, they offer only false gods and false hope. Yahuwah is offering us “ordinary folk” the chance to become elohim and rule for all eternity with Him. Yet, man rejects this awesome future for one that ends in death. Nothing has changed since the Garden of Eden. Just as Yahushua was the exact likeness of Elohim, so must we be striving to attain this goal. It is not only possible (for Yahushua told us so) but is essential to gaining eternal life.
Conclusion
The world has known and worshipped many gods throughout history. The common theme is that these gods emerged from a watery chaos. My theory is that all were real life characters at one time, and they did indeed survive the flood when it comes to worldly worship. Their whole history reads like some modern-day soap opera, and we all know how the world worships their soap opera stars.
Not all of the sons of Noah were righteous individuals. Ham and his sons were responsible for the corruption that followed. They reintroduced the worship of pre-flood angel-gods. They made the post-flood world barely any better than the pre-flood world
But rest easy, folks. The day is coming when all such pagan worship will be designated to the grave, forever. Our True High Priest and King will be returning shortly to sort out this mess. And, still, after 1,000 years, mankind will once again rise up in rebellion against the Most High. What is wrong with mankind? Why can they not see through and throw off the chains our Adversary has placed upon us. It is like all of mankind has Stockholm Syndrome – we love our kidnapper.
Of course. It is not just within religious circles where we find these characters glorified. We find them glorified in children’s cartoons, Hollywood superheroes and the auto industry {with the naming of new cars}. In such manner we continue to worship these false gods. In bringing glory to these gods, we take glory away from Yahuwah. We must see that we do it not.
The world is definitely a difficult place to escape from. Since we cannot escape physically, we can only do so spiritually. We do that by “losing” ourselves in the word of Yahuwah. It is the only source of truth that exists. We must believe and cherish every word. We must be courageous in taking on the rest of the world and standing our ground in the midst of the worst tribulation that comes our way.
Our reward may yet be a way off, but it is coming. We must keep our eyes on the prize and not allow our Adversary to led us off in some other direction. And we must not deceive ourselves that we are beyond deception. Such an attitude almost guarantees that we will be.
No, we must keep our noses to the grindstone and search and prove all things.
Yahuwah Bless
G.P.