“Now the gilded car of day
     His golden axle doth allay
     In the steep Atlantic stream,
     And the slope Sun his upward beam
     Shoots against the dusky pole,
     Pacing towards the other goal
     Of his chamber in the east”

The abode of the gods was on the summit of Mount Olympus, in Thessaly.  A gate of clouds, kept by the goddesses named the Seasons, opened to permit the passage of the Celestials to earth, and to receive them on their return.  The gods had their separate dwellings; but all, when summoned, repaired to the palace of Jupiter, as did also those deities whose usual abode was the earth, the waters, or the underworld.  It was also in the great hall of the palace of the Olympian king that the gods feasted each day on ambrosia and nectar, their food and drink, the latter being handed round by the lovely goddess Hebe.  Here they conversed of the affairs of heaven and earth; and as they quaffed their nectar, Apollo, the god of music, delighted them with the tones of his lyre, to which the Muses sang in responsive strains.  When the sun was set, the gods retired to sleep in their respective dwellings.

The following lines from the “Odyssey” will show how Homer conceived of Olympus: 

    “So saying, Minerva, goddess azure-eyed,
    Rose to Olympus, the reputed seat
    Eternal of the gods, which never storms
    Disturb, rains drench, or snow invades, but calm
    The expanse and cloudless shmes with purest day. 
    There the inhabitants divine rejoice
    Forever”—­Cowper.

The robes and other parts of the dress of the goddesses were woven by Minerva and the Graces and everything of a more solid nature was formed of the various metals.  Vulcan was architect, smith, armorer, chariot builder, and artist of all work in Olympus.  He built of brass the houses of the gods; he made for them the golden shoes with which they trod the air or the water, and moved from place to place with the speed of the wind, or even of thought.  He also shod with brass the celestial steeds, which whirled the chariots of the gods through the air, or along the surface of the sea.  He was able to bestow on his workmanship self-motion, so that the tripods (chairs and tables) could move of themselves in and out of the celestial hall.  He even endowed with intelligence the golden handmaidens whom he made to wait on himself.

Jupiter, or Jove (Zeus [Footnote:  The names included in parentheses are the Greek, the others being the Roman or Latin names] ), though called the father of gods and men, had himself a beginning.  Saturn (Cronos) was his father, and Rhea (Ops) his mother.  Saturn and Rhea were of the race of Titans, who were the children of Earth and Heaven, which sprang from Chaos, of which we shall give a further account in our next chapter.

There is another cosmogony, or account of the creation, according to which Earth, Erebus, and Love were the first of beings.  Love (Eros) issued from the egg of Night, which floated on Chaos.  By his arrows and torch he pierced and vivified all things, producing life and joy.