Theogeny
Hesiod’s Theogeny
In Hesiod’s Theogeny, we are taken through the creation myths or the birth of the world. The four primeval entities, create distinct stages of either symbiosis or
Separation/individuation. The following will describe the literal and symbolic meaning of each entity, and apply one of the stages to it. The Cosmogony, or the beginning of the birth of the gods, begins with one primeval entity, Chaos. Chaos literally represents the void or the gaping yawn. He also represents symbolically the womb from which all primordial beings originate. Chaos is also described as a mist or air. When Gaia emerges as earth, it creates a symbiosis of the elements of air and earth coming together. Nothing on earth can survive without air, and there are many scientific theories explaining the creation of earth from the void of space. Out of this void in the Hesiod’s Theogeny, comes Gaia, Tartaros/Erebus and Eros.
Gaia literally represents the earth to emerge from the void and symbolically represents mother earth. Gaia could not exist without Chaos, and everything born on earth comes from the mother Gaia. Humans, plant-life, and animals have a symbiotic relationship with the earth. The earth feeds all animals, and provides a home and protection, much like the relationship of a human mother to her child.
Symbolically she is the archetype role of the mother, and could be compared to the Virgin Mary, in that she reproduces parthenogenetically, three more male entities, Pontus, Ouranos and Ourea without sexual intercourse. From these offspring she begins the stages of separation and individuation, since each offspring has its own distinct attributes. Ouranos and Pontus create a further separation by creating more offspring such as the sea monsters, Hecatoncheires, Cyclops and Titans.
Eros represents literally love and symbolically, is the binding principle in nature. Eros represents sexual desire and
In Hesiod’s Theogeny, we are taken through the creation myths or the birth of the world. The four primeval entities, create distinct stages of either symbiosis or
Separation/individuation. The following will describe the literal and symbolic meaning of each entity, and apply one of the stages to it. The Cosmogony, or the beginning of the birth of the gods, begins with one primeval entity, Chaos. Chaos literally represents the void or the gaping yawn. He also represents symbolically the womb from which all primordial beings originate. Chaos is also described as a mist or air. When Gaia emerges as earth, it creates a symbiosis of the elements of air and earth coming together. Nothing on earth can survive without air, and there are many scientific theories explaining the creation of earth from the void of space. Out of this void in the Hesiod’s Theogeny, comes Gaia, Tartaros/Erebus and Eros.
Gaia literally represents the earth to emerge from the void and symbolically represents mother earth. Gaia could not exist without Chaos, and everything born on earth comes from the mother Gaia. Humans, plant-life, and animals have a symbiotic relationship with the earth. The earth feeds all animals, and provides a home and protection, much like the relationship of a human mother to her child.
Symbolically she is the archetype role of the mother, and could be compared to the Virgin Mary, in that she reproduces parthenogenetically, three more male entities, Pontus, Ouranos and Ourea without sexual intercourse. From these offspring she begins the stages of separation and individuation, since each offspring has its own distinct attributes. Ouranos and Pontus create a further separation by creating more offspring such as the sea monsters, Hecatoncheires, Cyclops and Titans.
Eros represents literally love and symbolically, is the binding principle in nature. Eros represents sexual desire and