sweet-voiced Muses of Olympus, daughters of Zeus who holds the aegis

Zeus

Typhoeus

swift-footed Iris, come to her with a message over the sea’s wide back

Hades

Gyes and Cottus and great-souled Obriareus

Cottus and Briareus and Gyges

Tartarus

Limping God

And constrained Atlas holds up the wide heaven with untiring head and arms, standing at the borders of the earth before the clear-voiced Hesperides; [520] for this lot wise Zeus assigned to him. And ready-witted Prometheus he bound with inextricable bonds, cruel chains, and drove a shaft through his middle, and set a long-winged eagle on him, which used to eat his immortal liver; but by night the liver grew [525] back as much as the long-winged bird devoured in the whole day.

These great Cronus swallowed as each [460] came forth from the womb to their mother’s knees with this intent, that no other of the proud sons of Uranus  should be king among the deathless gods.

And he set free from their deadly bonds [the Cyclopes,] the brothers of his father, sons of Uranus whom his father in his foolishness had bound

Earth-Shaker

Zeus the son of Cronus honoured above all.

Cratos and Bia

Zephyrus, and Boreas, headlong in his course, [380] and Notus

r Selene and Eos

Ocean

holding the lightning and glowing thunderbolt, after he had overcome his father Cronus

Hera

Night

[270] And again, Ceto bore to Phorcus the fair-cheeked Graeae, sisters grey from their birth: and both deathless gods and men who walk on earth call them Graeae, Pemphredo well-dressed, and saffron-robed Enyo, and the Gorgons who dwell beyond glorious Ocean [275] in the frontier land towards Night where the clear-voiced Hesperides are, Sthenno, and Euryale, and Medusa who suffered a deplorable fate: she was mortal, but the two were deathless and did not grow old. The Dark-haired One [ Poseidon ] lay with her in a soft meadow amid spring flowers. [280] And when Perseus cut off her head, there sprang forth great Chrysaor and the horse Pegasus who is so called because he was born near the springs of Ocean; and that other, because he held a golden blade in his hands. Now Pegasus flew away and left the earth, the mother of flocks, [285] and came to the deathless gods: and he dwells in the house of Zeus and brings to wise Zeus the thunder and lightning. But Chrysaor was joined in love to Callirrhoe, the daughter of glorious Ocean, and begot three-headed Geryon. Mighty Heracles slew [290] him in sea-girt Erythea by his shambling oxen on that day when he drove the wide-browed oxen to holy Tiryns, and had crossed the ford of Ocean and killed Orthus and Eurytion the herdsman in the dim place out beyond glorious Ocean. [300] And in a hollow cave she bore another monster, irresistible, in no way like mortal men or undying gods, the goddess fierce Echidna who is half a nymph with glancing eyes and fair cheeks, and half a huge snake, great and awful, with speckled skin, eating raw flesh beneath the secret parts of the holy earth. And there she has a cave deep down under a hollow rock far from the deathless gods and mortal men. There, then, did the gods appoint her a glorious house to dwell in: and she keeps guard in Arima beneath the earth, grim Echidna, [305] a nymph who does not die or grow old all her days.

[240] And from Nereus and rich-haired Doris, daughter of Ocean the perfect river, were born children, the lovely goddesses Ploto, Eucrante, Sao, and Amphitrite, and Eudora, and Thetis, Galene and Glauce, [245] Cymothoe, Speo, Thoe and lovely Halie, and Pasithea, and Erato, and rosy-armed Eunice, and gracious Melite, and Eulimene, and Agaue, Doto, Proto, Pherusa, and Dynamene, and Nisaea, and Actaea, and Protomedea, [250] Doris, Panopea, and comely Galatea, and lovely Hippothoe, and rosy-armed Hipponoe, and Cymodoce who with Cymatolege and Amphitrite easily calms the waves upon the misty sea and the blasts of raging winds, [255] and Cymo, and Eione, and rich-crowned Alimede, and Glauconome, fond of laughter, and Pontoporea, Leagore, Euagore, and Laomedea, and Polynoe, and Autonoe, and Lysianassa, and Euarne, lovely of shape and without blemish of form, [260] and Psamathe of charming figure and divine Menippe, Neso, Eupompe, Themisto, Pronoe, and Nemertes who has the nature of her deathless father. These fifty daughters sprang from virtuous Nereus, skilled in excellent crafts. [265] And Thaumas wedded Electra the daughter of deep-flowing Ocean, and she bore him swift Iris and the long-haired Harpies, Aello [Storm-swift] and Ocypetes [Swift-flier] who on their swift wings keep pace with the blasts of the winds and the birds; for they dart along quick as time.

And again, she bore the Cyclopes, overbearing in spirit, [140] Brontes, and Steropes and stubborn-hearted Arges, who gave Zeus the thunder and made the thunderbolt: in all else they were like the gods, [145] but one eye only was set in the midst of their foreheads. And they were called Cyclopes [Orb-eyed] because one orbed eye was set in their foreheads. Their works had strength and might and craft. And again, three other sons were born of Earth and Heaven, great and mighty beyond telling, Cottus and Briareus and Gyges [ the Hecatoncheires ], arrogant children. [150] From their shoulders sprang a hundred arms, not to be approached, and fifty heads grew from the shoulders upon the strong limbs of each, and the stubborn strength they had in their great bodies was invincible . Of all the children that were born from Earth and Heaven, [155] these were the most terrible, and they were hated by their own father from the day they were born. And he used to hide them all away in a secret place of Earth so soon as each was born, and would not allow them to come up into the light: and Heaven rejoiced in his evil doing. But vast Earth [160] groaned within, being restricted, and she came up with a crafty and evil plan. Right away she created the element of grey flint and shaped a great sickle, and told her dear sons her plan. And she spoke, cheering them, while she was vexed in her dear heart: [165] “My children, sired by a wicked father, if you obey me, we will punish the vile abuse of your father; for he first thought of doing shameful things.” So she said; but fear seized them all, and none of them uttered a word. But great Cronus the wily took courage and answered his dear mother: [170] “Mother, I will undertake to do this deed, for I do not care for our evil father, for he first thought of doing shameful things.”

But these sons whom he begot himself great Uranus used to call Titans [Strainers] in reproach, for he said that they strained and arrogantly did [210] a dreadful deed, and that vengeance for it would come afterwards. And Night bore hateful Doom [Moiros] and black Fate [Ker] and Death, and she bore Sleep and the tribe of Dreams [Oneiroi]. [214] And again the goddess murky Night, though she lay with no one, [213] bore Blame [Momos] and painful Woe [Oizys], [215] and the Hesperides who guard the rich, golden apples and the trees bearing fruit beyond glorious Ocean. Also she bore the Destinies and ruthless avenging Fates [Keres]: Clotho and Lachesis and Atropos, who give men at their birth both evil and good, [220] and they pursue the transgressions of men and of gods: and these goddesses never cease from their dread anger until they punish the transgressor with a sore penalty. Also deadly Night bore Nemesis to afflict mortal men, and after her, Deceit [Apate] and Friendship [Philotes] [225] and hateful Old Age [Geras] and hard-hearted Strife. But abhorred Strife bore painful Toil [Ponos] and Forgetfulness and Famine [Limos] and tearful Sorrows [Algea], Fightings [Hysminai] also, Battles [Makhai], Murders [Phonoi], Manslaughters [Androktasiai], Quarrels [Neikea], Lying Words [Pseudo-Logoi], Disputes [Amphilogiai], [230] Lawlessness [Dysnomia] and Ruin, all of one nature, and Oath [Horkos] who most troubles men upon earth when anyone willfully swears a false oath. And Sea [ Pontus ] fathered Nereus, the eldest of his children, who is true and lies not: and men call him the Old Man [235] because he is trusty and gentle and does not forget the laws of righteousness, but thinks just and kindly thoughts. And yet again he fathered great Thaumas and proud Phorcus, mating with Earth, and fair-cheeked Ceto and Eurybia who has a heart of flint within her.

So he said: and vast Earth rejoiced greatly in spirit, and hid and set him up for an ambush, and put in his hands [175] a jagged sickle, and revealed to him the whole plot. And Heaven came, bringing on night and longing for love, and he lay over top of Earth spreading himself fully upon her. Then the son from his ambush stretched forth his left hand and in his right took the great long sickle [180] with jagged teeth, and swiftly lopped off his own father’s genitals and cast them away to fall behind him. And they did not fall from his hand uselessly; for Earth received all the bloody drops that gushed forth, and as the seasons moved round [185] she bore the strong Erinyes and the great Giants with gleaming armour, holding long spears in their hands and the Nymphs whom they call Meliae all over the boundless earth. And as soon as he had cut off the genitals with flint and cast them from the land into the surging sea, [190] they were swept away over the watercourse for a long time: and a white foam spread around them from the immortal flesh, and in it there grew a maiden. First she drew near holy Cythera, and from there, afterwards, she came to sea-girt Cyprus, and came forth a powerful and lovely goddess, and grass [195] grew up around her beneath her shapely feet. Gods and men call her Aphrodite, the foam-born goddess, and rich-crowned Cytherea. Foam-born because she grew amid the foam, and Cytherea because she reached Cythera. They also called her Cyprogenes because she was born in billowy Cyprus, [200] and Philommedes[2] as well because she sprang from the genitals of Heaven. And with her went Eros, and lovely Desire [ Himeros ] followed her at her birth at the first and as she went into the assembly of the gods. This honour she has from the beginning, and this is the portion allotted to her among men and undying gods,— [205] the whisperings of maidens and smiles and deceits with sweet delight and love and graciousness.

Hail, children of Zeus! Grant lovely song [105] and celebrate the holy race of the deathless gods who are forever, those that were born of Earth and starry Heaven and gloomy Night and them that briny Sea [ Pontus ] reared. Tell how, in the beginning, gods and earth came to be, and rivers, and the boundless sea with its raging swell, [110] and the gleaming stars, and the wide heaven above, and the gods who were born of them, givers of good things, and how they divided their wealth, and how they shared their honours amongst themselves, and also how they first took many-folded Olympus. Declare to me these things, from the beginning, you Muses who dwell in the house of Olympus, [115] and tell me which of them happened first. In truth at first Chaos came to be, but next wide-bosomed Earth, the ever-sure foundation of all the deathless ones who hold the peaks of snowy Olympus, and dim Tartarus in the depth of the wide-pathed Earth, [120] and Eros, fairest among the deathless gods, who loosens the limbs and overcomes the mind and the wise counsels of all gods and all men. From Chaos came forth Erebus and black Night; but from Night were born Aether and Day, [125] whom she conceived and bore from union in love with Erebus. And Earth first bore starry Heaven, equal to herself, to cover her on every side, and to be an ever-sure abiding-place for the blessed gods. And she brought forth long hills, graceful haunts [130] of the goddess Nymphs who dwell amongst the glens of the hills. She bore also the fruitless deep with his raging swell, Sea [ Pontus ], without sweet union of love. But afterwards she lay with Heaven and bore deep-swirling Ocean, Coeus and Crius and Hyperion and Iapetus, [135] Theia and Rhea, Themis and Mnemosyne and gold-crowned Phoebe and lovely Tethys. After them was born Cronus the wily, youngest and most terrible of her children, and he hated his lusty father.

In Piera, Mnemosyne, who reigns over the hills of Eleuther, bears them from union with the father, the son of Cronus, [55] a forgetting of ills and a rest from sorrow. For nine nights did wise Zeus lie with her, entering her holy bed remote from the other immortals. And when a year passed and the seasons came round as the months waned, and many days were accomplished, [60] she bore nine daughters, all of one mind, whose hearts are set upon song, and whose spirit is free from care, a little way from the top-most peak of snowy Olympus.

One day they taught me their glorious song while I was shepherding my lambs under holy Helicon. The goddesses— [25] the Muses of Olympus, daughters of Zeus who holds the aegis– first said this to me, “Shepherds of the wilderness, wretched, shameful things, only looking to fill your bellies, we know how to speak many false things as though they were true; but, when we want to, we know how to say true things too.”

Let us begin our song with the Heliconian Muses, who hold great and holy Mount Helicon, and dance on soft feet around the deep-blue spring and the altar of Zeus. [5] After they have washed their tender bodies in Permessus or in the Horse’s Spring[1] or Olmeius, they dance fair and lovely on the highest peak of Helicon, moving with vigorous feet. At night, they rise from there and go out into the world, [10] veiled in thick mist, and they sing their song with lovely voices, praising Zeus the aegis-holder, and queenly of Argos who walks on golden sandals, and the daughter of the aegis-holder, bright-eyed [pb_glossary id="173"]Athenano post, and Phoebus Apollo, and Artemis who delights in arrows, [15] and Poseidon the earth holder who shakes the earth, and revered Themis, and quick-glancing Aphrodite, and Hebe with the crown of gold, and fair Dione, Leto, Iapetus, and Cronus the crafty counsellor, Eos, and great Helios, and bright Selene, [20] Earth, too, and great Ocean, and dark Night, and all the other deathless gods, who live forever.

The earliest cosmogony and theogony from ancient Greece that still survives today is an epic poem written by the poet Hesiod, who lived in Boeotia (an area in north eastern Greece) in the 8th/7th century BCE. Hesiod’s Theogony starts with the birth of the first primordial gods out of formless chaos and recounts how the major and minor gods, demigods, heroes, and humans came to be. It combines genealogies (catalogues of who is descended from whom) and etiological myths for how the various aspects of the universe and world came to be.

The ancient Greeks told myths about how the universe came to be in cosmogonies, from the ancient Greek words cosmos, “order (of things) and gonos, “procreation.” So a cosmogony is a myth about the procreation of the order (of things). They also had theogonies (from gonos and theoi, “gods”). These stories told about the creation of the gods and the struggles and hierarchies among them.