Chaos: The Great Void, Father of the Gods & Very First God to Exist

In this video we’re going to discuss Chaos, who usually features in Greek mythology as the great void, the first entity to exist, but as we’ll see, there were other versions, too, including: being the offspring of Chronos (Chronos the primordial personification of time, not Cronus the Titan king), being the undifferentiated agglomeration of matter and energy that was harnessed to shape the universe, and being the lower layer of air that encases the earth.

The best known account of the Greek creation myth comes from Theogony, written by the poet Hesiod in the 8th century BC. Parts of Theogony are tinged with ambiguity, and the nuance in some of what it says is still debated today. What’s unequivocal is that Chaos was the first entity to exist, but less clear is what came afterwards. Chaos is the great void that independently manifested itself and existed before anything else, but as for what happened next, different interpretations are spawned from vagueness and obscurity. The next three gods to emerge are Gaia, the earth, Tartarus, the abyss beneath the earth, and Eros, sexual love or attraction. As for how these three gods came to be, there are two views: one is that they also independently manifested themselves, able to do so in the endless expanse constituted by chaos; the other is that they are the children of chaos, begotten rather than bringing themselves forth. Therefore, some believe Chaos to be the ultimate source of everything, while others believe Chaos, Gaia, Tartarus, and Eros to be of equal standing, the four primordial pillars most fundamental and foundational to the universe

From Chaos alone came Erebus, darkness, and Nyx, night, and from Gaia alone came Uranus, the sky, Ourea, mountains, and Pontus, the sea. Following the advent of these gods, there followed a time of divine coupling. Erebus and Nyx came together to produce Aether, the bright upper-atmosphere, and Hemera, day, and Gaia and Uranus came together to produce the 12 first-generation titans, the trio of Uranian Cyclopes, and the trio of Hecatonchires. There were yet more children to come, but here is where we’re going to cut off the genealogy.

Watch the video for the rest!