CLA204H1 Chapter : CLA204 Massive Notes Document - All Myths
Document Summary
Hesiod in his epic poem the theogony offers the earliest greek version of genesis. Chaos ( yawning void ) provides the beginning for creation. Later writers interpret chaos as a mass of many elements (or only four: earth, air, fire, and water) from which the universe was created. From hesiod"s chaos came ge, tartarus, eros, erebus, and night: gaia [geye"a], gaea [jee"a], or ge [gay]. Most important and first, gaia, the earth and fertility mother, came from chaos. Contemporary feminist approaches to mythology lay great importance on the fact that many early societies first conceived of deity as a woman: eros [er"os] (cupid). From chaos came eros, the potent concept of love, which is fundamental: tartarus [tar"ta-rus], or tartaros. Tartarus, which came out of chaos, was an area in the depths of the earth. It became a place of punishment in the underworld; erebus [er"e-bus], or erebos, its darkness, became another name for tartarus itself.
