The
Primordials

Khaos | Χαος

The first of the gods, Khaos was believed to exist at the dawn of creation as a deep chasm, void, or endless and dark abyss. Sometimes Khaos is likened to air itself, or the misty air between Sky and Earth, and indeed the other misty-air gods of night and darkness (Nyx and Erebos), light and day (Aither and Himera), are descended from them. In Ovid Khaos was likened to the chaotic clash of atoms and elements at the beginning of creation. Khaos was then joined by Gaia, Tartaros, and Eros in Hesiod's cosmology, and from these gods descended all others. Traditionally Khaos is gender-nonconforming, as the philosophers and poets have historically used all pronouns for the god.

Gaia | Γαια

The Earth and "Mother of All" (a titled shared with Rhea and Kybele). She is the earth beneath our feet with its deep caves, rolling hills, and snow-capped mountains. The host and nurturer of all plants and animals and mortal life as we know it. She gave birth to the Sky and Sea and the many gods and creatures that inhabit them. Through her coupling with Ouranos descended the great line of Titans, but she is the mother of many of the beasts and monsters plaguing the gods and heroes in myth as well. 

Tartaros | Ταρταρος

Since the Ancient Greeks believed Earth was flat, Tartaros was envisioned to be the deep arching pit below it, both a god and the pit itself. The Titans were said to be cast down into the pit by Zeus and trapped there, but many gods as well were said to reside in Tartaros of their own accord, including Nyx (Night), Himera (Day), Thanatos (Death), and Hypnos (Sleep). In earlier writings Tartaros is distinct from the underworld where the dead are said to go, and in Orphic writings along with Ouranos formed the cosmic egg around Gaia at the dawn of creation. Once mortals joined the world, Tartaros became home to humanity's first and worst criminals: kin-slayers, cannibals, and those who cheated Death.

Eros | Ερως

The last of Hesiod's original four gods, the god of Love, Desire, and Procreation, and a later companion to Aphrodite. In later myths he is said to be her son, while in Orphic tradition he is said to be born from the cosmic egg formed by Ouranos, Gaia, and Tartaros. He was a complex god even in ancient times with Plato's Symposium dedicated to discussing his nature, however in both Hesiod's and Orphic cosmology, his importance as a protogenoi is to bring fertility and procreation to the universe, and after his emergence, all other gods were born thanks to the gift of love.

Ouranos | Ουρανος

The god of the Sky and home to the gods. The sky was his body as the earth is Gaia's. It was said that he folded over her caressing the entire globe and creating the dome of the sky and the top half of the cosmic egg, and through their union fathered the race of Titans, Kyclops, and Hekatonkheires (Hundred-Handers). It is with him the cycle of sons overthrowing fathers began. When he shoved the Kyclops and Hekatonkheires back into Gaia's womb, Gaia sought the help of her son Kronos who with a great sickle castrated his father when he came to lie with Gaia and his rule as King of the Gods was ended. His testicles flew into the sea and from the foam bubbled up the Titan Aphrodite, while the blood that spattered over Gaia produced the Erinyes (Furies) and Gigantes (Giants).

Pontos | Ποντος

Pontos was the primordial god of the sea. With Gaia and his wife, Thalassa, he fathered all the fish and sea creatures including the Old Men of the Sea. In Ancient Greek thought the Earth, Sea, and Sky were the three equal parts of the world.

Nyx | Νυξ and Erebos | Ερεβος

Both children of Khaos, they are Night and Darkness respectively. Nyx is an ancient goddess and the mother of many daimons, personified spirits of human experience or concepts, and in Orphic cosmology is the one to lay the cosmic egg that Eros emerges from. Night and Darkness were thought of as distinct concepts, but both were believed to be airy-mists like Khaos, as were their children Aither (Light) and Himera (Day). Erebos was thought to be the darkness under the earth, Aither the light above it in the heavens, and Nyx and Himera were said to take turns walking the earth and spreading their veils of night and day behind them, giving ancient meaning to the expression "under the veil of Night".