In the Theogony, the initial state of the universe was said to be formless and contained nothing (Chaos). Chaos spontaneously gave birth to all other objects of existence, ultimately creating the cosmos. The significance of the fact that the Greeks believed the four powers Chaos, Gaia, Tartaros, and Eros came first was to portray the establishment of order. In establishing order, they started from the origin of existence (Chaos) with its characteristics of a bottomless pit without any directional orientation and dark void of space.
Chaos served as the foundation and the womb from which the beings of existence, Gaia (The Earth), Tartarus (The Underworld), and Eros (Sexual Love) were given birth (Harris & Platzner, 72). Then, Nyx (The Darkness of the Night) and Erebus (The Darkness of the Underworld) were created. Chaos conta
...ined all of the elements necessary in order to create the cosmos. Gaia, who represents the Earth, serves as the mother of all of the Gods. She mated with Ouranos to create the Titans, the three Cyclops, and the three hundred-handed giants of great power.
Erebos and Nyx reproduced to create Day and Light. Kronos, one of the Titans that Gaia gave birth to punished his father Ouranous and castrated him, throwing his genitals into the sea, ultimately giving birth to Aphrodite who mates with Ares gives birth to Eros. Although some events in Greek Mythology are not in chronological order, the significance of the four beings is created to establish the beginning of the cosmos. From there on, one relationship gives birth to another, creating the sequence of events that are now known to each of us.
In more simpler terms, Gaia provides th
home for the Gods and the mortals, Tartarus serves as the underworld which opposes the Earth to provide the differentiation between good and evil, and finally Eros, serves the role of sexual reproduction which was not present before. The four figures space needed to create home, punishment, and reproduction are the basis of the beginning, which the Greeks believed brought the meaning of the cosmos.2) One major theme in "The TheogonY' is that of the parent-devouring child.Gaia and Ouranos give birth to the first generation of Gods on the cosmos who are provoked by Gaia to go against their father Ouranos because of his selfish greed to maintain power. "Rather than serving as a model or Justification for sons in primitive societies to seize power from their aged fathers, the Uranus-Cronus conflict echoes a convention of ancient cosmogony. The creative process demands that sky be removed from earth in order for life to develop" (Harris ;amp; Platzner, 80).
This conflict between the first generations of the Gods tells us that the ancient Greek view f the conflicts between human mothers, fathers, and sons correlates with the competitive nature of the desire for power and how one will go as far as to suppress and destroy his own family in order to gain or maintain power. In the case with Ouranos, he was not willing to give over his power to his children; therefore, he protection is portrayed when she provokes her sons to go against their father. Also remember the Titans themeThis scene can also be viewed as "a classic illustration of the Freudian psychodrama, a father-son rivalry
in which the mother sides with her ambitious male child to subvert he dominance of a tyrannical husband and father" (Harris ;amp; Platzner, 82).Same conflict is present with Zeus, Hera, and Hephaestus, in which Hephaestus sides with his mother in his parents' many quarrels.
The concept of the metaphor "eating your young" is present in every situation whether it is parental or in other career based competitions that we see in the modern economy and it is illustrated through the Theogony in a more provocative manner.The implications of a universe ruled by a god who is neither its creator nor eternal is hat of a negative one due to the need for constant replacement of the rule of a God, which will inevitably shift the original creator's plan. In doing so, this constant shift may result in gaps of information resulting in an earlier replacement of a God. In addition, the universe being created by its creator would need a different entity in order to uphold the reality and existence of the universe; ultimately, Jeopardizing the "existence" of the universe as a whole.As the shift from one ruler to another, the gaps will grow larger leading to the destruction of the original plan. Zeus holds the title of the King of the Immortals, which was awarded to him with the help of his mother Rheia and his grandparents "Earth and Starry Heaven.
" Since Rheia knew that Kronos would do anything in his power to keep his title, even harm his children, she "petitioned her parents to put together some plan so that the birth of her child might go unnoticed and she would make devious Kronos
pay the Avengers of her father and children" (Harris ;amp; Platzner, 92).Zeus is a God; therefore, he is not eternal or is he the creator because the cosmos was created from Chaos, which ultimately leads to many battles for definitive power. If the creator was eternal, there would be less battles for power because it would be universally accepted and would not require shifts. Hesiod's purpose in "The TheogonY' is to "show how Zeus attained his position as ruler of the universe, thereby bringing stability and order to the cosmos" but complete stability and order do not take place due to the fact that Zeus is neither eternal nor the creator (Harris ;amp; Platzner, 64).
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