Back to Basics

A collection of my drawings of the Protogenoi or the Primeval Gods.

No one was really ever sure of how the world began. Scientists attribute its formation to the Big Bang Theory (which also happens to be the name of a famous TV show O.o); and many other scientific models. Different religions have different cosmological beliefs (say for example, as Christians we believe in the Six Days of Creation... and one rest day). There are even more or less indigenous stories talking about the beginning of time. And of course, there are those who don't believe in anything (no offense meant).

The ever complicated Greek mythology also had, in itself, a LOT of versions recounting the tales of the origin of life. In fact, to the Greeks, the very elements that make up the universe are actually living and sentient beings. Knowing them brings better understanding to the nature of the gods we already know and love (or not?).

And thus, I am now going to introduce to you the race of 'gods' known as the PROTOGENOI.

Proto...what?

Yes, mythology is full of weird names. But this one's a very important weird name.

According to Theoi Project, the Protogenoi ("first-born") were the primeval gods who formed the basic components of the universe which emerged at creation. They form the very fabric of the universe and as such are immortal. These deities are a group of gods from which all the other gods descend.

What's interesting about these gods is that they were both persons and places or realms. Just as they were the literal Earth, Sky, Sea, etc., they were also individuals who have different personalities and different life issues. Although they were, for the most part, purely elemental beings, they were also described or portrayed in anthropomorphic form. (I mean like how can places be considered male or female and have literal children had they stayed just as... places? It's the magic of mythology.)

Anyway, the Protogenoi were considered the first generation of gods to rule the cosmos. After them came the Titans, and then the Olympians. Their prime days already passed, we can only except them to be seen on the sides (perhaps a cameo here or a guesting there, you know... those stuffs).

Creation through the grapevine

(Oh no, I don't mean to say that the world was created through of gossips!)

Much like in the modern times, the ancients have their own views about the Greek story of creation. The result was a countless number of myths, often conflicting and divergent, telling different versions of the same story.

The most popular and widely accepted among all of those came from Hesiod's Theogony. From what I have retrieved from greece.org:

According to him Chaos was out there first, then Earth, Tartarus - in the depth of Earth -, and last of all Eros (Love). Eros is the natural power which caused the union of the identical parts of matter resulting in the formation of several bodies, and by keeping them united it kept the whole Universe in order. These four elements are mentioned as self made elements and not as coming from each other. By "chaos" Hesiod means the dark which dominated everywhere (or water). From Chaos came forth Erebus and Night and then night bare Aether and Day. And Earth first gave birth to Uranos (Heaven), then Mountains and Pontus. 

(And Gaea begot the Titans by Uranus and so on and so forth.)

Also, there are other creation myths that are worth mentioning. According to Wikipedia:

Just felt right putting it here. (Source)

• The Iliad, an epic poem attributed to Homer about the Trojan War (an oral tradition of 700 or 600 BC) states that Oceanus (and possibly Tethys, too) is the parent of all the deities.
• Alcman (c. 600 BC) made the water-nymph Thetis the first goddess, producing poros "path", tekmor "marker" and skotos "darkness" on the pathless, featureless void.
• Orphic poetry (c. 530 BC) made Nyx the first principle, Night, and her offspring were many. Also, in the Orphic tradition, Phanes (a mystic Orphic deity of light and procreation, sometimes identified with the Elder Eros) is the original ruler of the universe, who hatched from the cosmic egg.
• Aristophanes (c. 456–386 BC) wrote in his Birds, that Nyx is the first deity also, and that she produced Eros from an egg.

The 'Creative' Team

Recurring figures may be noticed in all the stories mentioned above. So now, I present to you the cast of characters who played a part in the Greek Creation myth.

GREEK	ROMAN	GENDER	REALM
Aether	Ether	M	Light/Air
Ananke	Necessitas	F	Destiny
Chaos	Aer	?	Void
Erebus	Avernus	M	Darkness
Gaea	Terra/Tellus	F	Earth
Hemera	Dies	F	Day
Hydros	Hydros	M	Fresh Water
Khronos	Aeon	M	Time
Nyx	Nox	F	Night
Phanes/Eros	Amor	?	New Life
Physis	Natura	F	Nature
Pontus	Pontus	M	Sea
Tartarus	Tartarus	M	Underworld
Thalassa	Mare	F	Sea
Thesis	Thesis	F	Creation
Uranus	Coelus	M	Sky

The Mountains (Ourea/Montes) and Islands (Nesoi/Insulae) were also considered primordial gods. However, they figured very little to the story that I decided not to include them there. Also, Oceanus and Tethys were listed, but I would rather have them as Titans. I also have my own views. Oh well.

The lasting firsts...

Unlike the other races of gods who fade or perish after their powers are usurped or given, the Protogenoi are special because they don't just become goners.

As the primary components of the cosmos, they just cannot be digested out of the system. Instead, they become pure energies and stay in their elemental state. They won't be able to assume anthropomorphic forms and actively interact with the other immortals. (An example of this is Uranus' only becoming the dome of heaven after his castration).

During the reign of the Olympians, only a few of the Protogenoi still had their powers remain intact; most of them becoming the realms or items that the younger gods possess. It turns out; they enjoyed it more belonging to the gender called neuter.

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Now that I am finished with the principal Titanides, I'll discuss the individual Protogenoi next in my future articles. Stay tuned. =)

Tethys: Nursing Mother of 'Pearls'

My Tethys.

Tethys I call, with eyes cærulean bright,

Hid in a veil obscure from human sight;

Great Ocean's empress, wand'ring thro' the deep,

And pleas'd with gentle gales, the earth to sweep;

Whose blessed waves in swift succession go,

And lash the rocky shore with endless flow:

Delighting in the Sea serene to play,

In ships exulting and the wat'ry way.

Mother of Venus, and of clouds obscure,

Great nurse of beasts, and source of fountains pure.

O venerable Goddess, hear my pray'r,

And make benevolent my life thy care;

Send, blessed queen, to ships a prosp'rous breeze,

And waft them safely o'er the stormy seas. 

Orphic Hymn (Translation by Thomas Taylor) 

 (Courtesy: In Her Name)

In addition to Theia and Rhea, Tethys may also be considered another Titan queen (She was even called 'empress' on the hymn above). A mother of 3,000 (yes, seriously.... I'll discuss this later), this goddess just fits the bill to be called the Great Nurse of Greek Mythology.

Water under the bridge

Tethys' cult may have been largely forgotten, but there are still a handful of things about her that are worth mentioning.

Ancient sources agree that Tethys was one of the principal Titanides, a daughter of Uranus and Gaea. According to one source that I've read (which I lost, oops), she was their second daughter after Themis. She was attractive and cherished by both of her parents. At first, she was a goddess of rivers, as well as the distributor of FRESH WATER which nourished the earth. I am speculating that she acquired this power as a blessing from the Protogena Thesis, a creation goddess who was also a female aspect of the bi-gendered god Phanes.

(Source: click here)

She was married to her older brother Oceanus, the god of the sources of all the earth's fresh water. Upon their marriage, the Protogenoi (first-born gods) gifted them with their very own realm: the earth-encircling freshwater stream they called Ocean (which, I THINK, was originally from Hydros, a very very passive primeval water god). There, they ruled quite independently from the hustles and bustles of Heaven (then ruled by Uranus), Earth (by Gaea) and Sea (Pontus).

Furthermore, according to the Pelasgian myth (thanks Paleothea!) narrating the story of how the goddess Eurynome gave everyone everything, Tethys and Oceanus received dominion over the Planet Venus and its Essence of love. The planetary power seemed VERY appropriate for them, considering the number of children they have had; Tethys is surely one prolific woman!

(She must've gotten the trait from her mother Gaea.)

Tethys, like the other Titanides remained neutral during the Titanomachy (Although she served as Hera's protector up until then). Thus, she still retained her powers after her brothers' downfall.

And the river flows to the sea. As what I have pointed out earlier, Tethys had started out as a freshwater goddess, as opposed to the salty sea. But as time passed by, people came to identify her also as a deity of the brine. Yeah, I know it's because of the Ocean stream being identified with the Atlantic Ocean, geography becoming more accurate and stuff, but I still came up with a more dramatic story for this:

(ALERT: I composed this one. No historical references. Just sayin'.)

As a royal couple, Tethys and Oceanus wanted only the best of the best for their children. Of course they allowed their children to be with whomever they want, although they would prefer it if they marry those who belong to their caste, and who are worthy of their reputation.

In one instance, they betrothed their daughter Doris to the crowned prince Nereus, son of Pontus (who was the Sovereign of the Seas back then). Part of the prenuptial agreement stated that they had to share in the dominion over the Sea (pratical parents, actually). With their daughter now the crowned princess of the sea, the couple held some sway over the briny waters. Time passed and they eventually acquired the rule of it; both of them becoming embodiment of ALL the waters in the world (the Sea and the Ocean still remained two separate kingdoms, though). In this guise, Tethys came to be identified with Thalassa, the real female embodiment of the sea.

Nereus and Doris' wedding might have looked like this.
Credits  to Maui Wedding for this pic.

(The prenup proved to be disadvantageous on Pontus' side, as he clearly did not acquire powers over the realm of freshwater. Oh, well, he might have just been a typical old man who only wanted to have grandchildren.)

Fortunately for Doris, Nereus was a loving and faithful husband. A proof of their happiness is their fifty Nereid daughters. (Why do water gods always have tons of children???)

Had I been there, I would've suggested this to be part of their wedding soundtrack:

The more, the merrier: Tethys' family motto

No shortage of sons and daughters
Tethys was notably a nurturing goddess of fertile ocean. True enough, she and her husband, Oceanus, were among (if not THE) the busiest couples ever documented in myth. Together, they had parented a staggering number of:

• 3,000 OCEANID DAUGHTERS, nymphs and goddesses of the Great River; and
• ALL THE RIVER GODS in the world (Some say, they also numbered 3,000 but who knows? There could have been more.)

And yes, those two could populate an entire continent with just their immediate family. I was planning to name every one of them here, but then again I thought... better not. And seriously, these guys here need some serious and in-depth family planning advice.

Being a dutiful mother to these lot, she fed her children's streams by drawing water from Oceanus through subterranean aquifers (Thanks, Theoi for that one!). Awww... a mother's love!

On fostering the Queen
Tethys' nurturing quality was not just exemplified in raising her own children, but her sister Rhea's daughter as well. She raised and educated Hera back when she was still a little Titan princess. One of the proudest nanny moments for Tethys must have been when her goddaughter Hera was crowned Queen of Olympus (I can almost see her getting teary-eyed, tsss).

Ursa Major and Ursa Minor by Helen Glazer

A long time after, Hera was so displeased with one of Zeus' extramarital affairs (again, mythology readers have grown used to it) that she came down to Tethys to ask for help. According to Theoi.com:

Tethys, to honour her foster-daughter Hera, forbade the constellation Ursa Minor to set into the waters of Oceanus.

*A little background on the story, the Ursa Major used to be Zeus' lover Callisto who was changed to a bear, was accidentally shot by her son (who was also changed to a bear as Ursa Minor), and was placed in the sky as a constellation.*

Tethys, as the goddess-wife of the great earth-encircling River Oceanus, oversaw the rising and setting of the heavenly bodies--the Sun, Moon, Dawn, Starry Constellations, and Clouds. As such, she cursed both the constellations forever to circle the sky and never drop below the horizon, hence explaining why they are circumpolar.

The last few drops of Tethys

When the Olympians came to power, Oceanus and Tethys had to relinquish the rule of the seas to the upstart god Poseidon. The couple went back to their home turf, Ocean, and lived (or are still living) their retired lives undisturbed.

Postscript: Scientific Tethys(es?)

Astronomical/Astrological
symbol of Tethys. (Source)

To the Einsteins and Galileos out there, Tethys may refer to TWO distinct bodies:

• Tethys Moon in Saturn, discovered by Giovanni Domenico Cassini in 1684.
• Tethys Sea, a ancient body of water that existed between the continents of Gondwana and Laurasia during much of the Mesozoic era, before the opening of the Indian and Atlantic oceans during the Cretaceous period.

Interesting how scientific people name things.

Clash Of The Titanides

I believe that everyone with the slightest knowledge on Greek mythology will at least have an idea or two about the race of beings called TITANS.

Yes. Of course. The Titans. They are ugly giants who fought with Kratos against the Olympians in God of War. In Percy Jackson and the Olympians, they are the meanies who took camp on Mount Tam and attempted to storm Olympus which was located on top of the Empire State Building. And lastly, they are the villains released by Hyperion on the Immortals.

In all of those stories (and more), the Titans were generally represented as the eternal enemies of the gods. (I've omitted some parts here as this incites some 'unfavorable' reaction from readers^^). But this notion is not entirely true. The Titans are actually just another race of gods. Some of them were allies of the Olympians; others were even benefactors of mankind. And so to the remaining Titan population, this treatment seems rather unfair and utterly racist (I repeat. They're just another race of gods. No modern implications. Promise.).

And so as the self-proclaimed divine archivist myself, I let them use this blog as a means to clear up their names, particularly the female Titans, upon the request of a concerned Titaness (whose profile is confidential, sorry).

Femme Fatales, the Titanides

The Six Principal Titanides made by me. Yes. Me.

As what I've said, not all the Titans are hideous gigantic monsters (let's admit that some of them actually are) led by their paranoid and cannibalistic king, Cronus (or Kronos, whatever). Also belonging to this race are the Titanides, or the female Titanesses (OMG. This is an extreme case of redundancy).

According to Theoi.com:

The TITANIDES were the six earth-goddess daughters of Heaven (Ouranos) and Earth (Gaia). They were the female counterparts of the Titanes, the primal gods of time, divinities of both Heaven and the Tartarean pit, the cosmic inverse of heaven.

The Titanides represented different aspects of their mother Gaia the Earth: Tethys was the nourishing waters of subterranean springs, nurse of all life; Rheia was nature's fertile mother, and lady of the wilds; Themis was earth's natural order, and prophetic voice; Phoibe was earth's oracular midpoint (Delphoi); Theia was sight, the all-seeing all-knowing earth; Mnemosyne was memory, the preservation of earthly history.

The six original Titanesses were:

1. Tethys, Queen of Ocean;
2. Theia, goddess of light;
3. Phoebe, moon goddess;
4. Themis, goddess of justice;
5. Mnemosyne, goddess of memory; and
6. Rhea, Queen of Heaven

As emanations of their mother, the Great Goddess Gaea, we can just assume that these divinities were no small deal. Before the Olympians took over, the Titanides were the A-list goddesses of the known world. These... ehem... ladies, might also have once had superhuman capabilities (discussed here). On the other hand, they served as the gentler, if not better, counterparts of their Titan husbands/brothers. To keep the scales balanced, so to say.

Titans' Next Top Model. I got the base here. Thankies!

However, Mother Earth's daughters are not the only ones who were given the title. Different sources speak of different goddesses who were also honored as Titanides. Even the names of the principal six differ from author to author. From this point of view, it seems to me that what happened was just a really ancient cycle of America's Next Top Model where everyone has his top picks.

Among the more famous contenders are:

1. Dione, oak goddess (an Oceanid, daughter of Oceanus);
2. Metis, a goddess of wisdom (another Oceanid);
3. Clymene, goddess of fame (Oceanid. Affirmative);
4. Eurynome, meadow goddess (Oceanid, and a mermaid on that note);
5. Styx, goddess of oaths (Oc-... oh no! Not an Oceanid; but she was their sister though);
6. Leto, goddess of daylight;
7. Asteria, goddess of stars (Leto's sister);
8. Selene, moon goddess;
9. Eos, dawn goddess (Selene's sister);
10. Aura, goddess of breezes; and
11. Anchiale, little known goddess of the warmth of fire.

Alas for them, the Uranid (daughters of Uranus, that is) sisters still got the top spots.

The Seven Planetary Powers

I read this random tidbit from a site I accidentally found. It's called Paleothea. If you think of yourself as a feminist and a myth geek at the same time, then this site is perfect for you. Just sayin'.

Okay, the story goes like this:

In the Pelasgian myth, there was this Creatrix goddess known as Eurynome (not to be confused with the Oceanid of the same name). She created the Seven Planetary Powers, putting a Titaness and a Titan over each. Theia and Hyperion were given the Sun and the power of illumination; Phoebe and Atlas were given the Moon and the power of enchantment; Dione and Crius were given the planet Mars and the power of growth; Metis and Coeus were given the planet Mercury and the power of wisdom; Themis and Eurymedon were given the planet Jupiter and the power of law; Tethys and Oceanus were given the planet Venus and the power of love; and Rhea and Cronus took the planet Saturn with the power of peace. (Source)

Source: click here

(Seriously. This myth makes me think of Sailor Moon and other magical girl group types of anime. Yay! Otaku Represent! XD)

From reading and rereading this myth, I've noticed TWO things: 

• It should be noted that seven, instead of six Titanesses were mentioned in this particular story; and
• Mnemosyne was replaced by either Dione or Metis in the lineup. I bet she did not let this issue just pass.

The Essence of Being Women: The Titanides' Case

Sushmita Sen once said, "Just being a woman is God's gift. The origin of a child is a mother, a woman. She shows a man what sharing, caring, and loving is all about. That is the essence of a woman."

And that answer won her the crown for a certain beauty pageant years ago. Well, it's just because it's true... as in the case of the Titan goddesses of Greek mythology.

One main reason why the Titanides became really important in myths is because of their children:

• Tethys was the mother of 3000 Oceanides and All the river gods (she's one busy wife!);
• Theia was the mother of Helios, Selene and Eos (mother of the Winds);
• Phoebe was the mother of Leto and Asteria, who were the mothers of the twins Apollo and Artemis and Hecate respectively;
• Themis was the mother of the Seasons and the Fates;
• Mnemosyne was the mother of the Muses;
• Rhea was the mother of the original Olympians Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Demeter and Hera;
• Dione was the rumored mother of Aphrodite (no one has confirmed this yet, although we're open to hear Dione's side);
• Metis was the supposed 'mother' of Athena (I'll have to explain this in the future);
• Clymene was the mother of Atlas and Prometheus and the ancestress of mankind;
• Eurynome (the Oceanid, not the Creatrix) was the mother of the Graces;
• Styx was the mother of Victory, Force, Violence and Zeal;
• Anchiale was the mother of the Dactyls.

Their children became the main characters of most of the mythical stories that we know today, and were figures of mass interest. And so, the Titanides were ever renowned in myths as the Mothers of the Gods. You may want to visit a rather persuasive discussion about these 'Mothers' here.

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For the next few days, I will be putting individual entries of the abovementioned Titanides. I just thought that you might be interested in each of these goddesses' personal issues. Stay tuned.