The origin of the universe according to the Greeks was explained through mythology and not science. Their myths and legends were initially transmitted orally and poetically, but they transcended thanks to their writers, among whom it is worth mentioning Hesiod. This author, a contemporary of Homer, addressed the origin of the cosmos in his work entitled Theogony.
There were other contributions, both oral and written, that enriched the interpretations of the principle of everything, but the mention and consideration of the Theogony is essential for a full understanding of the subject.
Possible sculpture of Hesiod
The ancient Greek civilization was the cradle of an advanced culture that had a great influence on the later development of Western thought. So much so that to this day it determined the political organization of societies and left its mark on philosophy, law, art and literature.
The beginning
In a very short and succinct description the origin can be introduced as Hesiod imagined it.
The beginning of everything is Chaos, an unfathomable void surrounded by shadows. From Chaos arises Gea that is the Earth, together with Nix, the night; Ether, the infinite space; Eros, love; Tartarus, the abyss and other divine entities.
Gea begets Uranus, who is heaven and he fecundates her so that she can illuminate the so-called Titans, who are Cronos, time; Phoebe, Tethys, Rea, Ocean, Ceo, Crio and more.
As Uranus and Gaea decided not to spawn more Titans, the next births corresponded to the Cyclops, known for having only one eye, and the Hecatonchires.
The youngest of the Titans is Cronos, recognized for his wickedness to the point that he decides to castrate his father Uranus and sets himself up as the king of the gods, choosing his sister Rea as his wife.
The wickedness of Cronos was so great that he felt the fear of being betrayed by his own children as he had done before with Uranus.
For this reason, she waited for Rhea to give birth and swallowed the newborn child, deserving Rhea's absolute repudiation. Tired of the horror of Cronos, Rea decided to save one of the offspring, Zeus, pretending to wrap her in canvases but placing a stone in its place. Cronos fell into the deception and swallowed her, for which Rea managed to save Zeus.
The myth is completed when Zeus, already grown, manages to give Cronos a poison that forces him to vomit all his brothers and the stone. Among his brothers thus saved are Poseidon and Hades.
Fight between Cronos and Zeus
After this episode, the power struggle between Cronos and Zeus is unleashed, assisted by his brothers and by the Cyclopes, whom he had previously freed.
Zeus gains the victory and sentences Cronos and the Titans to remain in prison in Tartarus, which is in the center of the Earth.
As a result of this triumph, the gods share power among brothers, leaving Zeus in charge of the sky, Poseidon in charge of the sea and Hades in control of hell to watch over the Titans in Tartarus.
A prophecy makes Zeus believe that a god with more power than him will be born from his wife Metis. History repeats itself and Zeus's suspicion leads him to eliminate Metis by swallowing her.
Upon learning that Metis was already pregnant with Athena, Zeus suffers a great disappointment but the myth says that Athena emerged from his head, now an adult and with military clothing, helping her father to retain power among the gods.
After the defeat of the Titans a new era began, with Zeus dominating Olympus and new gods increasingly familiar to popular beliefs.
Greek art managed to preserve a few woefully fragmented sculptures and ceramics on the theogony of the earliest period.
Propagation of the myth
All this mythology was kept alive and changing over time, mainly due to oral transmission, but Hesiod's writings made it possible to protect the unalterable central nucleus.
A singularity that many authors have highlighted is the anthropomorphic characteristic of the Greek gods, that is to say the fact that they all had a human aspect despite their extraordinary qualities and potential virtues.
The substantial difference in separating them from human beings was their eternal youth and immortality, but their form and appearance tended to bring them closer together as if they were more accessible divine persons and not unreachable deities.
In the belief of the ancient Greeks, the gods coexisted with human beings in the beginning and affected the lives of mortals, intersecting with stories of love and hate, one of whose main narrators was Ovid in his work The Metamorphoses.
conclusion
The entire Greek mythological and theogonic legend is too long and complex to be analyzed in a brief treatment and it must be recognized that it has given rise to different interpretations and theories.
It is remarkable to observe how religious, philosophical, historical and prophetic aspects are interspersed in the lush allegory that makes up most of the stories.
Archaeologists and historians have discovered some points of contact with other civilizations prior to or contemporary to the Hellenic in the formation of myths and in the symbolism of some of their gods and heroes.
The Roman Empire helped spread Greek mythology at first but then acted in the opposite direction when it turned to Christianity in the 4th century. All the religious rites associated with the Greek gods were prohibited and excluded from official iconography, partially falling into oblivion.
However, its historical, philosophical and artistic value is so outstanding that the art of the Renaissance was in charge of repositioning it through literature, painting, music and sculpture, even reinventing the old symbols and studying new possible reaches of Your message.
What cannot be ignored in any way is the influence of the Greek tradition in shaping the spirit of the West.
References
- Hesiod, Theogony
- Ovid, The Metamorphoses
- Walter Burkert (2002), Greek Religion Archaic and Classical
- Paul Cartledge (2002), The greeks: A portrait of self and others
- Gregory Nagy (1990), Greek Mythology and Poetics