THE CREATION OR ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE ACCORDING TO THE GREEKS

Many people feel great concern about knowing what the origin of the universe was according to the Greeks, to clarify the questions surrounding their question. By reading this article you will decipher the concept of its creation according to their beliefs.

Origin of the Universe according to the Greeks

Most of the myths that tell about the theories of the origin of the universe according to the Greeks, It arises from Chaos, existing as an abyss, an open place shrouded in darkness, where natural elements such as: water, earth, fire and air were found in disorder.

Chaos formed the beginning of all events, long before the gods emerged, which is why they are considered the oldest. By then, things had no firm form, nor did they last over time, everything moved generating great blows to each other, the frozen elements against the hot ones, the humid ones against the rough ones, the white ones against the strong ones and the heavy ones against the soft ones. . Chaos took over everything, nothing existed.

Creation according to Hesiod

According to Hesiod’s theory, at the beginning what existed was Chaos. Then, Gaea, the earth, emerged from Tartarus, gloomy of the abyss, and Eros, love, the main element, which should not be mixed with Eros or Cupid, son of the goddess Aphrodite.

Because of Chaos, due to the behavior of Eros, Erebos, the darkness, was born, whose actions extended below Gaea, like NYX, the darkness of the night. Then, Erebos and Nyx produced Ether and Hemera the day, which symbolized the light of the sky and the earth.

When the light appeared, Gaea returned to her natural state, and began to conceive on her own. Then, Uranus, the starry sky, emerged, the great mountains were also formed.

Uranus, visualizes his mother, from the highest peaks and poured the fertile rain on top of her, so the plants, flowers, bushes, and animals that founded an accompaniment in each plant begin to emerge.

The excess waters, products of the rain, ran through the tributaries like rivers, which is why lakes and seas were formed. All of these received the name of Titans: Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Cronus and the Titanides: Themis, Rhea, Thetis, Thea, Mnemosyne, Phoebe from whom other gods and men appeared.

At the same time, Uranus and Gaea conceived other children with unpleasant aspects: the three primitive Cyclops: Arges, Asteropes, Brontes, who had a single round eye, were also immortal and personified lightning, lightning and thunder.

Then, they fertilized the Hecatonchires or Centimanos, which are the three brothers who each have fifty heads and arms, called: Coto, Briareus, Gyges.

On the other hand, the night conceived Thanatos, death; Hypno sleep and other gods such as the Hesperides, which refers to the suspicious watchers of the sunset, the Fates, protectors of cosmic order, and Nemesis, divine justice, protector of balance.

Myth of the Pelasgians

The Pelasgians were a primitive people, living in what is now Greece, who maintained a matriarchal position based on the original thought of a Mother Goddess.

According to their belief, their myth about creation, they maintained that initially Eurynome, the deity of all the elements that created Chaos, however, no compact element was found to place the feet on, so she was separated. the sea of ​​the sky, dancing alone among its waves facing south.

At that time, the Boreas wind arose, in the company of the Mother goddess, who made the snake Ophion appear. Then, the mother goddess became pregnant with Ophion, who transformed into a dove, which laid the universal egg.

The snake Ophion coiled itself seven times surrounding the egg, until it hatched and opened it, from which all known beings and elements in the universe emerged.

Eurynome and Ophion established their home on Mount Olympus. When Ophion molested her consort, assigning him the title of creator of the universe, she immediately kicked him and knocked out his teeth, throwing them to the ground, and they fell to the shores of Olympus.

Immediately afterwards, the goddess founded seven strong planets and assigned them a Titanide and a Giant: Aunt and Hyperion to accompany the sun; Phoebe and Atlante for the moon; Dione and Crio for the planet Mars; Metis and Geos for the planet Mercury; Themis and Eurymedon for the planet Jupiter; Thetis and Oceanus for the planet Venus, and finally Rhea and Cronus for the planet Saturn, all together guarded the continuation of time.

But, in this perfect creation man was not present, that is when Pelasgus appears, who emerged from the teeth of Ophion that were buried in the depths of Arcadia. Pelasgus was cheered as the leader and precedent of humanity.

The gods and men were dominated by the goddesses and women, who should worship the great Mother.

The Myth of the Orphic Mysteries

The Hellenes, originating in the Orphic myths, maintained that the Night of the Black Wings, in the company of the Wind, conceived a plant egg, which it placed in the bosom of Darkness, from which came Eros or Phanes, love, and made that the movement of the universe appeared.

Eros had four heads, which symbolized the four seasons, golden wings and double sex. He lived in a cave in the company of the Dark Night, Order or Justice. Meanwhile, Rhea was in charge of attracting men at night, playing a metal drum, so that they could consult the oracles. At this time, Eros formed the firmament, the sun and the moon, however, the dominion was held by Night, which Uranus took from its throne.

The Myth of the Formation of the Milky Way

The story of the origin of the universe according to the GreeksThey believe that Hera, the spouse of Zeus, was the one who gave rise to the Milky Way, our galaxy. Zeus was a restless and adventurous god. He was fascinated by having many different women, so he was never faithful to his wife.

In one of the exploits, Zeus joined forces with Alcmene, while her husband was away. The god pretended that he was not present, and since he liked the woman too much, he spent a night with her that lasted a long time, therefore, and by her permission, the sun did not appear when it was supposed to. do it.

Then Alcmene’s husband, Amphitryon, returned and joined her. From these two unions Alcmena was left as a child. The son of Zeus was called Hercules, and the son of Amphitryon was called Iphicles.

Hercules was Zeus’ favorite, so Hera was filled with rage and jealousy, she could not stand that another woman’s son was more loved by her beloved husband.

For this reason, the goddess decided to make the birth of Hercules difficult, which is why he stayed ten months in his mother’s womb, and which also caused him to have to pay with Twelve Labors.

There is another version, which indicates that Hera was walking with Athena in the park, when they observed the child. Athena convinced the goddess to breastfeed him because he was majestic.

Hera accepted, the child absorbed the milk with great force, which hurt the goddess. Hera removed it from her breast forcefully, spilling the milk until the Milky Way formed.

First generation in other versions

There are other interpretations of Greek mythology, which relate that Eros is the son of Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty and sexual desire, and Ares, the god of war, or of Hermes, the god of commerce and merchandise, because they maintained that the first contacts occurred not out of love, but out of necessity. Plato even maintained that Eros descended from Penia, poverty in the midst of making fortune.

Second generation of the origin of the World

For the second generation of the origin of the world, Erebus originates, who personifies darkness, the underground cosmos and Nix the night.

Product of the union of Erebus and Nix, Ether is created, which personifies light and Hemera, which represents day, Gaea, due to the effects of light, begins to conceive alone; Uranus, god of the sky, is born, who looks at his mother, and sends rain, so that the earth becomes fertile, giving birth to plants, flowers, trees, and animals, rivers and oceans. These formations were called titans from which divine beings supposedly evolved.

Propagation of the myth

Mythology remained alive and was transformed over time, especially through verbal communication, however, Hesiod’s writings managed to keep the central part unchanged.

A particularity, which has been highlighted by some writers, is the anthropomorphic characteristic that the Greek gods enjoyed, due to their human physiognomy, surprising qualities and powerful forces.

The difference lies, to differentiate them from human beings is due to their eternal youth and that they are immortal, however, their figure and appearance characterized them as unanalyzable deities.

The ancient Greeks believed that the gods lived alongside human beings, involving themselves in the existence of mortals, linking themselves in legends of love and hate. As expressed by Ovid in his work The Metamorphoses.

Conclusion

The myth about the origin of the universe according to the Greeksthe Greek mythological and theogonic legend is broad, religious, philosophical, historical and prophetic aspects can be noted throughout Greek history.

Experts in archeology and history have found certain aspects linked to other civilizations contemporary with the Hellenic one in the formation of myths, and in the symbols of gods and their characters.

Roman culture was one of the main cultures that helped spread Greek mythology, but later proceeded in a different and contrary way, turning to Christianity in the 4th century.

Religious rites and cults related to the gods were prevented and excluded from official images, which led them to be temporarily forgotten.

Although, due to its valuable historical, philosophical and artistic concept, the history and art of the Renaissance, it was tasked with returning its position within literary works, as well as in painting, music and sculptures. We invite you to visit the following links:

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