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HESIOD'S THEOGONY AND COSMOGONY
('Theogony,' 116-210)
The main themes of Hesiod's 'Theogony' are (1) the coming into being of Chaos (the Void), Earth, Eros,
Sky and the first generation of gods (lines 116-53); (2) the castration of Sky by his son Cronus, instigated
by his mother Earth (lines 154-210); (3) Zeus' escape from being swallowed by his father Cronus (lines
453-500); (4) the victorious battle of Zeus and the Olympian gods against the Titans (lines 617-735). Only
the first two episodes are printed below. It is impossible to determine Hesiod's date, but he is later than
Homer, probably eighth century B.C. The similarities to and differences from the Ancient Near East
cosmogonies are discussed by Norman 0. Brown in the introduction to his translation, 'Hesiod's
Theogony,' PP. 36 ff.
'First of all, the Void (Chaos) came into being, next broad-bosomed Earth, the solid and eternal home of
all, and Eros [Desire], the most beautiful of the immortal gods, who in every man and every god softens
the sinews and overpowers the prudent purpose of the mind. Out of Void came Darkness and black
Night, and out of Night came Light and Day, her children conceived after union in love with Darkness.
Earth first produced starry Sky, equal in size with herself, to cover her on all sides. Next she produced the
tall mountains, the pleasant haunts of the gods, and also gave birth to the barren waters, sea with its
raging surges-all this without the passion of love. Thereafter she lay with Sky and gave birth to Ocean
with its deep current. Coeus and Crius and Hyperion and Iapetus; Thea and Rhea and Themia [Law] and
Mnemosyne [Memory]; also golden-crowned Phoebe and lovely Tethys. After these came cunning
Cronus, the youngest and boldest of her children; and he grew to hate the father who had begotten him.
Earth also gave birth to the violent Cyclopes-Thunderer, Lightner, and bold Flash-who made and gave to
Zeus the thunder and the lightning bolt. They were like the gods in all respects except that a single eye
stood in the middle of their foreheads, and their strength and power and skill were in their hands.
There were also born to Earth and Sky three more children, big, strong, and horrible, Cottus and Briareus
and Gyes. This unruly brood had a hundred monstrous hands sprouting from their shoulders, and fifty
heads on top of their shoulders growing from their sturdy bodies. They had monstrous strength to match
their huge size.
Of all the children born of Earth and Sky these were the boldest, and their father hated them from the
beginning. As each of them was about to be born, Sky would not let them reach the light of day; instead
he hid them all away in the bowels of Mother Earth. Sky took pleasure in doing this evil thing. In spite of
her enormous size, Earth felt the strain within her and groaned. Finally she thought of an evil and cunning
stratagem. She instantly produced a new metal, grey steel, and made a huge sickle. Then she laid the
matter before her children; the anguish in her heart made her speak boldly, 'My children, you have a
savage father; if you will listen to me, we may be able to take vengeance for this evil outrage: he was the
one who started using violence.'
This was what she said: but all the children were gripped by fear, and not one of them spoke a word.
Then great Cronus, the cunning trickster, took courage and answered his good mother with these words:
'Mother, I am willing to undertake and carry through your plan. I have no respect for our infamous father,
since he was the one who started using violence.'
This was what he said, and enormous Earth was very pleased. She hid him in ambush and put in his
hands the sickle with jagged teeth, and ' instructed him fully in her plot. Huge Sky came drawing night
behind him and desiring to make love; he lay on top of Earth stretched all over her. Then from his ambush
his son reached out with his left hand and with his right took the huge sickle with its long jagged teeth and
quickly sheared the organs from his own father and threw them away. The drops of blood that spurted
from them were all taken in by Mother Earth, and in the course of the revolving years she gave birth to the
powerful Erinyes [Spirits of Vengeance] and the huge Giants with shining armour and long spears. As for
the organs themselves, for a long time they drifted round the sea just as they were when Cronus cut them
off with the steel edge and threw them from the land into the waves of the ocean; then white foam issued
from the divine flesh, and in the foam a girl began to grow. First she came near to holy Cythera, then
reached Cyprus, the land surrounded by sea. There she stepped out, a goddess, tender and beautiful,
and round her slender feet the green grass shot up. She is called Aphrodite by gods and men because
she grew in the froth, and also Cytherea, because she came near to Cythera, and the Cyprian, because
she was born in watery Cyprus. Eros [Desire] and beautiful Passion were her attendants both at her birth
