Greek primordial gods
The ancient
Greeks proposed many different ideas about the
primordial gods in their
mythology. The many
theogonies constructed by Greek poets each give a different account of which gods came first.
- In Homer, Ocean and Tethys are the parents of all the gods.
- In Hesiod, Chaos ("void", "gap") stands at the beginning, followed by Aether, Night and Eros; and then Uranos and Gaia.
- Orphic poetry made Night the first principle.
- Night is also the first deity in Aristophanes's Birds, producing Eros from an egg.
- Alcman made the water-nymph Thetis the first goddess, producing poros "path", tekmor "marker" and skotos "darkness" on the pathless, featureless void.
Greek philosphers and thinkers also constructed their own cosmogonies, with their own primordial gods: