The story of the Gods

GREEK

Zeus

God of the sky and ruler of the Olympian Gods. Just like his brother Hades, he drew lots alongside their other brother Poseidon after overthrowing their father, Cronus, on who would succeed him. Zeus won and became supreme ruler of the Gods, as well as the Lord of the sky and rain. His weapon is a thunderbolt, which he hurled at those who defied or displeased him - especially liars and Oath haters. He was married to the Goddess Hera, but he wasn’t the most loyal husband and she became famous for his many affairs.

Using his shield, Aegis, he could create many weather phenomena related to the sky such as storms, tempests and intense darkness.

As the father of the Gods, he made sure that each deity performed their individual duties, punished them for their misdeeds, settled their disputes and acted towards them on all occasions as their all-knowing counsellor and mighty friend.

As the father of man, he took a paternal interest in the actions and well-being of mortals. He watched over them with care; rewarding those who were charitable, told the truth and were fair to others. He would severely banish others for lying and being cruel to others. He was a wise and paternal figure who demanded the wealthy inhabitants of Earth be attentive to the needs of their lower class citizens.

Poseidon

God of the Sea, and protector of all aquatic features. As with Zeus and Hades, his brothers, he drew lots after they overthrew their father, Cronus. Poseidon drew and became the lord of the sea. He was widely worshipped by seamen. He married Amphitrite, a Goddess of the sea.

At one point, Poseidon desired the Goddess Demeter. To deter him, she asked him to  create the most beautiful animal that the world had ever seen. In an effort to impress her, he created the first horse. In some accounts, his first attempt was unsuccessful and he created a variety of other animals on his quest. By the time the horse was created, his love for Demeter had diminished.

His weapon, the trident, could make the Earth shake, causing earthquakes and shattering any objects. He was second in power after Zeus among the Gods. He was considered to have a quarrelsome personality to the Greeks. Combined with his greed, he would get into disputes with other Gods because of his attempt to take over the cities they were patrons of.

Hades

One of the many brothers of Zeus and Poseidon. After the overthrow of their father, Cronus, they drew lots deciding on how they would share the Universe. Unfortunately, Hades drew poorly and ended up with the Underworld, as well as being the ruler of the dead. Despite this, he was not known nor considered as Death itself, as a different God already held this position, one by the name of Thanatos. Hades, greedy just like his brother Poseidon, wanted to increase his subjects and anyone whose deeds resulted in people dying was favoured by him.

The Greeks did not favor Hades, and they were not keen on uttering his name out of fear that they would die before their time. As a result of this, Hades gained another name - Pluto - which comes from the Greek word for wealth, due to precious metals that were mined from the Earth. This resulted in Hades also becoming the God of wealth.

JAPANESE

Amaterasu

Amaterasu is the Goddess of the Sun, as well as the sister of Susanoo and Tsukuyomi. She, along with her siblings, painted the landscape to create ancient Japan.

The three of them were born from Izanagi when he was purifying himself after entering the Underworld, after failing to save Izanami. Amaterasu was born when Izanagi washed out his left eye.

Amaterasu became ruler of the sun and the Heavens, along with her brother, Tsukuyomi, God of the moon and ruler of the night. Originally, Amaterasu shared the sky with Tsukuyomi, her husband and brother. This changed, however, when Tsukuyomi killed Uke Mochi, the Goddess of food. The killing upset Amaterasu, causing her to label Tsukuyomi as an evil God and split away from him, separating night from day.

There was also a longstanding rivalry between Amaterasu and her other brother, Susanoo. Upon being ordered to leave Heaven by Izanagi, he bid goodbye to his sister and proposed a challenge to prove his sincerity when she was suspicious. Each took an object of the other’s and, from it, birthed gods and goddesses. Amaterasu birthed three women from his sword, while he birthed five men from her necklace. She decided that she had won, as his item was the one to produce women.

The two were content for some time, but Susanoo became restless and went on a rampage, destroying Amaterasu’s rice fields and killing one of her attendants in his fit of rage. Amaterasu, now suffering from fury and grief, hid inside the Heavenly Rock Cave, effectively hiding the sun for a long period of time. Eventually, she was persuaded to leave, and Susanoo was punished by being banished from Heaven.

Later, they both amended their conflict when Susanoo gave her the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi sword as a reconciliation gift. When they reconciled, the moon became visible.

Tsukuyomi

God of the moon, and ruler of the night, Tsukuyomi is the brother to both Amaterasu and Susanoo. Birthed when Izanagi washed out his right eye upon escaping the clutches of his enraged wife, Izanami, from the Underworld when he was cleansing himself of his sins upon escaping.

After climbing the celestial ladder into Heaven, he came to live with his sister, Amaterasu, the sun goddess, who later became his wife.

He angered Amaterasu when he killed the food goddess, Uke Mochi. Tsukuyomi was sent by Amaterasu to represent her at a feast once presented by Uke Mochi. The goddess of food created food by turning to the ocean and spitting out a fish, facing the forest and spitting out game and finally turning to a rice paddy and coughing up a bowl of rice. Tsukuyomi was disgusted by this act, as well as that, although it looked exquisite, the meal was made in a disgusting manner, and so he killed her.

In response to this, Amaterasu was so angry after she learned what happened that she refused to ever look at Tsukuyomi again, forever moving herself to another part of the sky. This is the reason that day and night are never together.

Susanoo

A God of the sea and storms, Susanoo is the brother of Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi. They were born from Izanagi, when he washed his face clean of the pollutants of the Underworld. Susanoo was born from the washing of Izanagi’s nose. Susanoo’s weapon was the sword, Totsuka-no-Tsurugi.

There was a long-standing rivalry between Susanoo and his sister, Amaterasu. When Susanoo was to leave Heaven by orders of Izanagi, he went to bid his sister farewell, which caused her to become suspicious. In order to prove his sincerity, Susanoo proposed a challenge, to which Amaterasu accepted.

Each of them took an item belonging to the other and birthed gods and goddesses from it. Susanoo took Amaterasu's necklace and, from it, birthed give men; meanwhile, she birthed three women from his sword. He claimed that he had won the challenge, as it was his item that produced women.

After being content for a time, Susanoo eventually became restless and, in a fit of rage, destroyed his sister's rice fields and killed one of her attendants. Following this, Amaterasu, who was in a state of fury and grief, hid herself inside of the Heavenly Rock Cave, until she was persuaded to leave.

Susanoo was punished by being banished from Heaven. He then descended to the province of Izumo, where he met an elderly couple who told him that seven of their eight daughters had been devoured by the eight-headed dragon, Yamata-no-Orochi, and it was nearing time for their eighth, Kushinadahime.

Susanoo was taken back by this daughter’s beauty, and asked for her hand in marriage. She agreed to be his bride under the condition that he defeat the Orochi. Susanoo then transformed Kushinadahime into a many-toothed comb and stuck it in the august knot of his hair, in order to keep her hidden from the Orochi.

After Susanoo had tricked and defeated the Orochi, he obtained the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi and then built a grand shrine in Izumo where he and Kushinadahime married.

Susanoo then gifted the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi to his sister, Amaterasu, as a sign of reconciliation.