PART I.—COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.
By Cosmogony, we understand the legends relating to the creation of the world; by Theogony, those relating to the origin of the gods. On both points we have to deal with the Greeks alone, since the Romans never indulged in any researches of this kind. All that their poets have to say on the subject is, without exception, borrowed from the Greeks.
According to the common account the world was formed out of Chaos. By this, however, we must not understand a huge and shapeless mass, but merely dark, unbounded space. The accounts of the poets vary very materially as to how the world proceeded from Chaos. The most popular view is that according to which Gæa or Ge (the earth) first issued from Chaos; whereupon Tartarus (the abyss beneath the earth) immediately severed itself, and Eros (the love that forms and binds all things) sprang into existence. Gæa then begot of herself Uranus (heaven), the mountains, and Pontus (the sea).
The first gods who peopled this new world were begotten of the earth partly by Uranus and partly by Pontus. From her union with Uranus sprang the Titans, the Cyclopes, and the Centimanes; from her union with Pontus various sea-deities.
1. The race of Uranus. According to Hesiod there were twelve Titans: six males—Oceanus, Cœus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus, and Cronus; and six females—Thia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phœbe, and Tethys. The interpretation of these divinities is somewhat difficult, but they doubtless represented the elementary forces of nature. The Cyclopes were three in number—Brontes (thunder), Steropes (lightning), and Arges (sheet-lightning): these, we can clearly see, refer to the phenomena of the storm. The Centimanes (hundred-handed), again, are three in number—Cottus, Briareus, and Gyes. These, too, represent destructive forces of nature—perhaps the earthquake, the tempestuous sea, and the storm-wind.
2. The race of Pontus. By Pontus Gæa became the mother of the fabulous sea-deities—Nereus, Thaumas, Phorcys, Ceto, and Eurybia. These, again, had numerous descendants. Nereus represents the sea in its quiet state: we shall have to speak of him and his daughters later on. Thaumas represents to us the majesty of the sea. He is the father of Iris (the rainbow), and of the Harpies (storm-winds). Lastly, Phorcys and Ceto, from whose union the frightful Gorgons and Grææ proceeded, typify all the dangers and terrors of the sea.
Many marriages also took place among the Titans themselves. The numerous sea-nymphs are descended from Oceanus and Tethys; from Hyperion and Thia come the deities of the light—Helios (sun), Selene (moon), and Eos (dawn); from Cœus and Phœbe the deities of the night—Leto (dark night) and Asteria (starry night).
The most important of all the Titans, however, are Cronus and Rhea, who pave the way for the universal dominion of their son Zeus.