Erebus: Walking Through the Valley of the ‘Shadow’ of Death

Darkness is Erebus.

(I got the title from my favorite psalm in the Bible, Psalm 23. Congratulations to those who recognized it. Peace to those who didn’t.)

I have not found many references for this particular god. From my point of view, Erebus so wanted to live a very private life; he left many details about him... well... in the dark.

The Murky Past. Almost all ancient sources agree that our boy Erebus was one of the early birds of Greek mythology. Hence, he belonged to the class of the Protogenoi. Erebus, together with his sister-wife Nyx, was born in the beginning of time from Chaos, the shapeless nothingness who, ironically, was also the mixture of everything (I know I got you confused with that one. I myself am confused, too. It’s a tie.)

Anyway, Chaos must have gotten his/her (I’m not really sure) son’s name from that book quite popular among first time parents (called A Thousand Baby Names or something). According to Greek Gods Info:

The name Erebus is believed to come from Proto-Indo-European language, *h1regwos, cognate to Old Norse rœkkr, Gothic riqis "darkness", Sanskrit rajani "night", Tocharian orkäm "darkness". Some also believe that Erebus could be from Semitic, c.f. Hebrew erebh and Akkadian erebu "sunset, evening" ("darkness").

Pretty name for a baby god, actually.

More than Fifty Shades of Gray

Blackout. Like all the first-born gods, Erebus also represented a fundamental element of the universe. He was the god of shadows and was DARKNESS himself. It would be interesting for us to mention that her consort Nyx was also a deity of darkness, and the goddess of night on that note.

His dark mists enveloped the edges of the world, and filled the deep hollows of the earth. His wife Nyx drew these mists across the heavens to bring night to the world, while his daughter Hemera scattered them bringing day: one blocking out the light of Aether (shining, blue heaven) and the other revealing it (Source).

Obscurity Agency. You might think that being always in the dark is all depressingly boring; but not for Erebus. In fact, there are a couple of things (spell P-O-W-E-R-S) that makes Erebus enjoy his job.

Rumor has it that the guy had complete mastery over the manipulation of Shadows and Darkness (well, duh). That means Erebus can manipulate and control things by their shadows; can make shadows become three-dimensional, tangible, even living beings; can use darkness and shadows as portals from one another (Source).

(The Disney kid in me imagines Peter Pan chasing his shadow. The Otaku in me sees Shikamaru and his ninja techniques. Whichever is cooler. Thanks to Google images for the two BTW. XD)

Furthermore, he can bless one with some of his powers. According to a website interestingly called Superpower List:

“His blessing gives you powers over the dark. For one, you can control shadows as living things. They are your faithful servants. You can make them do whatever you want. They can reshape themselves and store things within themselves. However, you cannot become a shadow or shadow travel.”

The good: Control shadows The shadows can reshape and store things within themselves. Shadows can spy on things for you and can "communicate" with you

The bad: Can only summon so many shadows to help you at once No shadow mimicry or travel

(It’s a really fun website especially I you’re into superhero thingies like me. You can even choose the powers you’d want to have there. Visit the site here. Super awesome.)

Seriously Black Family. (Bad pun, I know. My apologies to all the Potterheads out there.)

Like many of the Protogenoi (and the gods in general), Erebus also possessed the virility some men could only wish for. Unlike most of the gods, though, he remained faithful to his wife, Nyx. As Godchecker puts it:

“Even with the lights turned out he managed to father CHARON, THANATOS, HYPNOS, EROS and the FATES.”

(Wait up; I have more interesting references for Eros and the Fates’ parentage which I’ll be posting in this blog. Soon.)

Just so you know, Erebus and Nyx were more hard-working than that. Actually, here’s the full list of their children I got from our favorite Wikipedia:

• Aether (Brightness)
• Charon (of keen gaze)
• Epiphron (Prudence, shrewdness, thoughtfulness and carefulness)
• Hemera (Day)
• Hypnos (Sleep): father, with Pasithea, of Phantasos (dreams)
• Moros (Doom)
• Nemesis (Indignation, Retribution)
• Sophrosyne (temperance, balance, moderation)
• Thanatos (Death)
• Morpheus (Dreams)

There are quite a few individuals here whom I think have different parents. I’ll just be discussing them at some other times, though.

Nyx also bore several children without the help of any man. I have no idea how she did that, but Erebus still treated them as his own, though. What a loving husband!

The god is a governor

*****ALERT: This is in relation to Erebus also being one of the Infernal Regions. I just wanted to make up a story of how he came to be one. Not much references here. Enjoy but consider yourself warned.*****

Unlike the other Protogenoi, Erebus did not fade nor become transformed into a thing with the coming of the younger generation of gods. To add to that, he continued to play an important role in the cycles of night and day. However, while the other gods kept coming and going and bickering against each other, Erebus had always kept his mouth shut and in the dark.

This had earned him the favor of the newly crowned King Cronus. Along with being the god of darkness and shadows, the Titan lord also appointed him the governor of the infernal region where the dead had to pass immediately after dying. It was:

A world below where no ray of sunshine, no gleam of daylight or vestige of health-giving terrestrial life ever appeared.

In this guise, Erebus became associated with his fellow Protogenoi and governor of hell, Tartarus. They were both put under the dominion of the Titan Iapetus who ruled the Underworld, much to Erebus’ displeasure. It is said that the god Hades was brought up in either his or Tartarus’ realm.

When the Titanomachy came, Erebus still did not take sides. As a result, he did not become affected by it. He still retained his power as governor when Hades ascended the throne of the Underworld.

Not much was heard about him after that. (As if people heard so much from him before that. Tsss.)

Mount Erebus: Here comes Hell

Fortunately for us modern humans, we don't have to die to get to Erebus. On my research, I found a real actual place on earth named Erebus! Yes, Mount Erebus is an active volcano located on the icy territory of Antarctica. And please let me quote this from National Geographic:

We’ve come to one of the coldest spots on Earth to search for beings that thrive in blistering heat. In a place with full daylight for four months, we’re seeking life that dwells in utter darkness. Welcome to the topsy-turvy world of Antarctica’s Mt. Erebus.

However, I wouldn't recommend visiting this one (Unless you're a real expert on volcanology, and you can pay the money to go to Antarctica).

As it shows, Erebus, like its namesake, is also no fit for living beings. Like its mythical counterpart, visiting Mount Erebus unarmed would only lead you to one destination – the land of the DEAD.

Hemera: Little Miss Sunshine

This is Hemera from my imagination.

Hemera belonged to a class known as Protogenoi--the first generation of gods who played important roles in the creation of the cosmos. Like many of her 'relatives', she grew too old beyond retirement age and had been gradually forgotten in the godly happenings. Nevertheless, I still like this goddess very much.

It's a beautiful Day!

I just thought Michael Buble could set up the mood for you:

Or maybe you're a Lee DeWyze person (wherever he is right now):

Whatever. Now, back to the story.

Our girl Hemera here was the daughter of the primeval gods Erebus (Shadow) and Nyx (Night), and the sister-wife of Aether (Air). In contrast to her 'dark' parentage, this goddess was all about brightness (which made me think of  the phrase, "darkest before the dawn.). Hemera was then the goddess of light, warmth and day. She was called Dies by the Romans.

She was a totally sunny goddess who always had a positive outlook in life. As what I have read from Greekgods.info:

She brightened the dark with her morning greeting over the earth.

Quite a happy camper, I must say.

Hemera's job was to pull away the dark curtains of Erebus every morning to let her brother Aether's light shine forth. As a deity who brings morning, she also came to be considered as the goddess of new beginnings. (Source)

I personally think that that was the reason why the two of them eventually fell for each other. You know, having to see each other every day for eternity and stuff. As events showed, the two finally got married and had a daughter named Thalassa, the female personification of the sea.

A special case of parent issues

Back in the days when the universe was still young, Hemera used to reside with her mother in Tartarus, in the depths of the Underworld. However, due to their conflicting work schedules, the two deities never met each other at home.

Hemera left Tartarus just as Nyx entered it; when Hemera returned, Nyx left. According to Hesiod's  Theogony, Nyx and Hemera draw near and greet one another as they pass the great threshold of bronze: and while the one is about to go down into the house, the other comes out at the door.

But that was an allegory. Literally, it must have looked like this:

(and I just got dizzy @_@)

That could have brought a somewhat frictional relationship between the mother and daughter. (Not that they wanted it, of course!)

Breaking Dawn

NOTE: This part has nothing to do with Stephenie Meyer's novel about freakin' vampires. I have nothing against Ms. Meyer, though.

As what I have pointed out in my previous posts, the gods are vulnerable to losing their powers either as a result of seizure or of voluntary surrender. What happened to Hemera and her husband Aether was an example of the latter.

A really beautiful photo entitled

Orange Thought by ~chloh

Aether was the first of the couple to rest; having finally gotten the tad of being the literal Light. The god gave away his powers to his favorite niece, the Titaness Theia, as a birthday present. As a Protogenos himself, he could not just have faded away. Instead, he became the brass walls that fortified both Olympus and Tartarus.

As for Hemera, she still went on with her life, but felt that it was never the same without Aether. So, when Theia went to ask her to bless her newborn daughter Eos, Hemera willingly gave all her powers to the young goddess.

After that, she transformed into a celestial veil. We would later find Eos drawing back this veil every morning to make way for his brother Helios, the Sun.

And so, a wall and a curtain. That's what became the two of them. Nice ending.

Aether: Let There Be Light

Right, I know Aether was not supposed to have anthromorphic form.
But would it hurt if I draw him like this?

(Aether is the first male divinity that I am writing about in this blog. I used to believe in the 'ladies first' policy, but then again it can be quite boring and exhausting. And so, I'm starting with him.)

ORPHIC HYMN IV: TO FIRE [AETHER] 

The Fumigation from Saffron. 

O Ever untam'd Fire [Aither],who reign'st on highin Jove's [Zeus'] dominions ruler of the sky;The glorious sun with dazzling lustre bright,and moon and stars from thee derive their light;All taming pow'r, ætherial shining fire,whose vivid blasts the heat of life inspire:The world's best element, light-bearing pow'r,with starry radiance shining, splendid flow'r,O hear my suppliant pray'r,and may thy frame be ever innocent, serene, and tame.

-From Theoi.com

I just have to say that Aether was one of creation's alpha males. Although not figuring actively in later mythology, he was still remembered by many as an important primeval deity. Thankfully, details about him didn't just go into the ether. (Oops, bad pun!)

Bright and breezy

Aether was said to be the eldest son of the primeval deities Erebus and Nyx. Whereas his parents represented darkness and night, this dude was all about LIGHT. Basically, he was the Protogenos (primeval god) of a few things:

• the substance of heavenly light;
• the upper air/atmosphere; and
• the space.

You get the idea. (Source)

Aether was a very bright lad. Even on the clearest day we only see the merest trace of his splendor as it filters down to us. There are a couple of witty articles describing the sort of job that Aether does. According to God Checker:

He looks after the air the Gods breathe. Not the polluted old rubbish we have to put up with down on Earth; this is the Supergrade 5 Godstar variety. Very invigorating.

I found an equally snappy (although rather insensible) rationale for this on Gods Laid Bare (nice domain title, BTW):

Aether was the son of Nyx and Erebos, but thought they were stinky and polluted his clean smelling part of the cosmos, so he turfed them out and they took their chaos causing with them... at least until nightfall.

Aether was one of the three "airs". The middle air was Aer or Chaos, a colorless mist which enveloped the mortal world. The lower air was Erebus, the mists of darkness, which enveloped the dark places beneath the earth and the realm of the dead. The third was the upper air of aether, the mist of light, home of the gods of heaven. It enveloped the mountain peaks, clouds, stars, sun and moon. The stars themselves were said to be formed from the concentrated fires of aether.

The sky's NOT the limit

Aside from just being the guardian of the upper sky, Aether was also given several notable functions.

Robert Fludd's Anima Mundi (Source: click here)

In high 'Spirit'. Sita, in her blog A Witchy Life, suggests that Aether was also a deity about purity and life. Not necessarily human life, but godly life (as humans can't breathe Aether). She must have gotten the idea from the Orphic Hymns, which calls Aether the SOUL OF THE WORLD from which all life emanates. (Do I smell some Paulo Coelho in here?)

This 'Soul' was referred to by different school of thoughts as the Anima Mundi.

As the god of pure air and the supposed soul of the world from which all life springs, he seems like a fairly nice deity.

The 'perfect' guy. In addition to his being the Universal Soul, Aether was also said to be the embodiment of the fifth element, QUINTESSENCE. You must be familiar with this word if you know this girl:

Will Vandom from W.I.T.C.H. Credits for the pic here.

(Yes, I have a knack for pretty magical girls.)

For the benefit of everyone, I got the definition of quintessence from The Free Dictionary (Thank God! Some things are still free):

quin·tes·sence  (kwn-tsns) n. 

1. The pure, highly concentrated essence of a thing.
2. The purest or most typical instance: the quintessence of evil.
3. In ancient and medieval philosophy, the fifth and highest essence after the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water, thought to be the substance of the heavenly bodies and latent in all things.

To Aristotle, Aether was a shining substance of utter purity, the quintessence. (Remember me saying that the Protogenoi were persons and places/substances at the same time? Read here.)

According to Helium, he WAS the substance that the Greek gods breathed, as all mortals breathe air, and it was also the pure element of which the gods were made, as fire was the essence of the salamanders, air the essence of the sylphs, water of the undines, and earth the essence of the gnomes. (Remember 

Attempts to discover traces of the aether on Earth were carried out by Michelson and Morley in a famous experiment of 1887. Did they find any? Nope. This non-result led directly to Einstein's Theory of Relativity, but dashed their hopes of selling bottled aether to the physics community. (Source)

If you're interested in discussions about the scientific aether, you may want to visit Encyclopedia Nomadica here.

Aether and Hemera: Match made in heaven

Hemera must have sung this to Aether many times:

Aether was married to his sister Hemera. Together, they embodied the substance of Light just as their parents (Erebus and Nyx) did for Darkness. Being workmates and all, the two grew really fond of each other:

Aether is said to be illuminated with the heavenly light that is so bright that traces of it can filter down to the earth when the skies are clear. He floats high up above AER which is the God of the air in the lower atmosphere. It is said that during the night Nyx will pull the curtains of gloom tightly around the earth to allow the darkness of Erebus to move up and across the earth. Then in the morning when the darkness begins to fade, Aether sister Hemera will carry the gloomy mist away on a soothing breeze so the glow of all his beauty and radiance can be seen by the earth again.

Aether had by her sister a daughter named Thalassa (the Sea). Also, rumors say that he had a secret affair with Gaea and had a couple of illegitimate children. But that was long ago so we can't know for sure.

The end of Aether?

*****WARNING: Look. I don't really know whatever happened to Aether after everything (maybe nothing). I just made the following story up in order to give conclusion to Aether's awesome life. Remember, not intended for academic purposes.*****

There was this one time when Aether got 'blinded' by his own light. He grew tired of his work as an all-good god that he finally decided to retire. He discussed the matter with his wife (whom I think agreed only half-heartedly). After settling into an agreement, he passed down all his powers to his favorite niece, the Titan princess Theia. Theia thereafter became nicknamed Aithre, or the Lady of the Clear Blue Sky.

Theia inherited his uncles powers.
Lucky girl.

Being a Protogenos and all, Aether could not just vanish after his Essence has been given. Eventually, he became the very air that surrounded the clouds, mountain peaks, sun, moon and the stars.

However, Theia proved to be an unstable goddess because she, too, had vanished during the Titanomachy. Aether's Essence was left un-owned until Zeus came to retrieve it. After that, according to one source, Aether became the:

high reigning, ever-indestructible power of Zeus

Greekgods.info also said that Aether served as a defensive brass wall for Zeus in his battle to take over the cosmos from the Titans and that it blocked Tartarus from entering the cosmos during this time. This could have been a factor that helped this new generation of Gods beat the Titans and take control of the universe. From then on, Zeus became known as the Lord of the Aether.

Well at least, the primeval god's power had been put to good use.

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.

***********************************************************************

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

Dione: A Beautiful Affair

This is how I imagined Dione.

Dione has been said to be one of the most important goddesses; but of what? No one knows for sure. Her name literally only meant the Goddess. Yeah, talk about obscure divinities. Even made me think of the song aptly titled Mizu no Akashi or ‘Evidence of Water’ by Rie Tanaka:

Back to the story, I quote from God Checker:

DIONE was one of the early birds in the goddess stakes. In fact she was on the scene so early that no-one else seems to have been around to make notes for posterity.

Because of her disputable nature, I decided to write a special article about her right after the original Titanides. My aims here are to try to paint a clear and unified picture or idea of her; and share what I know about her as obtained from different sources. This article is in no way academic and definitive. So consider yourself warned.

Drenched in Dione

Meet the parents. So, people say that this intriguing lady Dione was a daughter of Uranus and Gaea (making her a principal Titaness) or of Aether and Gaea, sometimes even of the younger Titan Epimetheus and the first woman Pandora. But the most common (and most grounded) belief, which I personally prefer, is that she was one of the eldest daughters of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys.

(I might be worth noting that handful of those two's daughters were also considered second generation Titanides, say Metis, Clymene, Pleione, etc. Thus, the term Titan Oceanides. I might write about them, or the whole class of Oceanides soon.)

Her offices. As an Oceanid, Dione served as a goddess of water and moisture. In particular, she represented the moist soil that marks fertile ground. By extension, she also was a goddess of fertility (there are a bunch of them, actually). However, her powers seem to still remain vague. The Official Guide to the Mythological Universe says:

Dione also has some abilities to tap into and manipulate inherent mystical energies in the universe. While her exact level of power is unknown, it is known that she can move through dimensions, such as through the dimensional barriers between Earth and Olympus. She can send her voice and image over time and space, appear in a gigantic state, control the weather and cast spells upon objects and living things. She has extraordinary precognitive abilities, allowing her to see future events and possible alternate futures, discerning which events are most likely to occur. The full range of her power is unknown, but she may at least be equal to such female gods as Hera and Aphrodite. 

The last part where Dione was said to be almost equally powerful as Hera and Aphrodite suggests that she was a goddess of utmost importance.

In the Pelasgian myth, she was one of the seven principal Titanides whom the goddess Eurynome paired with the a Titan each. According to the myth, she was paired with the god Crius. I personally don't see any connection between them. Eurynome must have just selected them randomly, say a raffle draw. Nevertheless, the two were given the dominion over the planet Mars, and the power of Growth.

I've already said that I don’t believe her to be an original Titaness but her pure awesomeness is just too interesting to ignore. And so, to make ends meet, I will just presume that she made it to the Titan Council, occupying the post that should have been  Mnemosyne's, who did not readily accept the position. Finally, that diva of a goddess decided to make up with her brother Cronus and assume her place, with Dione stepping out for her.

(I probably lost you there so I recommend for you to read my own version of Mnemosyne’s history here.)

Between Zeus and Dione
Several other goddesses were paired with Zeus in different stories. However, it was only Dione was the only one who was considered to be his equal (Even Hera did not quite reach the standards). In fact, her name which means, "The Goddess" was etymologically just a female form of Zeus.

Appropriately so, the two had something going on between them. Paparazzi claimed that she even was Zeus' second girlfriend after the dude ate Metis, his first.

The two had met each other when Zeus needed a 'temple associate' for his new oracle at Dodona. Dione tried out and got the job. With that, she became:

• a goddess of the oak, Zeus's sacred tree; and
• a goddess of divination (like the other major Titanides).

The temple was visited by both Greeks and non-Greeks because of the precision of the prophecies told there. The three old prophetesses of the shrine, known collectively as the Peleiades, were probably her Dione's priestesses. A little trivia, Peleiades meant "Doves," which were Dione and Aphrodite's sacred birds.

In this guise, Dione was also called Dodona, the eponymous goddess of the shrine.

The Love Goddess by the 'Goddess'

Dione was said to be the mother of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty; although the Olympian was more generally received as a goddess born with no mother or father. People said that she just sprung out from the sea foam when Uranus' genitals were thrown to the water.

I personally prefer to believe the more charming and logical version (meaning, not the parent-less)  regarding her birth. (Lik having sex with a sea foam bath is any decent way to produce a daughter. Thanks God Checker! I'm beginning to like you and your punch lines!) 

Botticelli's very famous 'Birth of Venus'

(ALERT: This one is just MY elaboration of the Iliad's version of Aphrodite's parentage. It is also another attempt to reconcile the story of Aphrodite arriving Cyprus aboard a sea shell.)

Zeus and Dione were really into each other since they worked together in Dodona. She even lived with him on Olympus together with Zeus' other girls. Every day may have been ‘awkward day’ back there.

It was all good until Zeus finally decided to marry Hera.

Hera, in her role as Queen of Olympus, however, did not want to be reminded of her husband's extra-marital affairs and banished several of his other wives from Olympus. The then pregnant Dione departed Olympus riding a scallop shell and took refuge on the island of Cythera where her daughter Aphrodite by Zeus was born. Aphrodite was spirited off to the island of Cyprus to hide her from Hera where she was discovered and accepted into the Olympian gods.

Both Cythera and Cyprus became subsequently centers of worship for Aphrodite. As for Dione, she returned to her parents' home in the Ocean to once again serve in their court as an Oceanid.

The mother and the daughter still had kept in touch with each other in spite of the long distance. In fact, in the Iliad:

Dione played an important role as the healer of Aphrodite after the goddess was wounded in the fighting during the siege of the city of Troy. The Achaean hero Diomedes was infused with vigor and boldness by the goddess Athena and told to avoid all Immortals on the battlefield except Aphrodite ... Athena told Diomedes that he should attack Aphrodite if he saw her. 

Aphrodite's son Aeneas was in danger of being killed, so Aphrodite swooped into the fighting and shielded Aeneas from harm. At that moment, Diomedes lunged at the goddess and wounded her on the wrist. Ares (god of War) was nearby so Aphrodite mounted his chariot and fled. Once she was safe, Aphrodite went to Dione. 

Dione wiped away the oozing ichor (divine blood) from Aphrodite's wounded wrist and tried to comfort the sobbing goddess. Dione sought to make Aphrodite realize that, even though she was immortal, she was still subject to pain and injury.

Aww, a motherly advice. Thanks to Mythagora for that bit!

As Aphrodite grew more popular in the Near East under the names Astarte and Ishtar, Dione also came to be identified as Asherah and the Lady of Byblos. (Source)

Souce: click here

Scientific Dione: Goddess of the Satellite

Dione was a very vague figure in Greek mythology. In spite of this, she still lived on to this day as one of the many moons of the planet Saturn.

The image on the left is her astronomical symbol. It consists of the Greek letter delta and a representation of Saturn's hook.