There were many myths about the creation among the Greeks and Romans, and many parallels to them may be found in other mythologies, such as Egyptian, Sumerian, Babylonian, and Hebraic. Homer (ca. 800 B.C.) has Oceanus and Tethys responsible for the origin of the gods (Iliad 14. 201) and reflects a primitive belief in the geographical nature of the universe as a flat disc with hills, touched at its rim by the vast dome of the heavens. The deity Oceanus is the stream of ocean that encircles the earth. But Homer does not by any means provide a complete account of genesis. Hesiod (ca. 700), as far as we can tell, was the first to give literary expression to a systematic explanation of how the gods, the universe, and mankind came into being. At any rate his is the earliest account that has survived, and it may be considered the classic Greek version in many respects; the genealogical scheme is presented in his Theogony, while his Works and Days adds significant details. Hesiod invokes the Muse in the manner of epic, but his text is steeped in a religious aura of divinely inspired revelation (Theogony 108 ff.): Tell me how first gods, earth, rivers, the boundless sea . . . the shining stars, and the wide heavens above came into being." His answer is that first of all Chaos came into being. The Greek word Chaos means a "yawning." For Hesiod, then, Chaos is a void. How close we are in spirit to the investigations of the early pre-Socratic philosophers who sought a primal world substance is a difficult question. Thales (ca. 540) seems to provide a startling break with mythological and theological concepts when he claims water to be the source of everything, with shattering implications for botk science and philosophy. Hesiod is not so revolutionary. From Chaos, Hesiod continues, came Gaea, or Ge (Earth), Tartarus (a dim place in the depths of the ground), Eros (Love), Erebus (the gloom of Tartarus), and dark Night. Love naturally appears early, and quite typically is a potent force in tales of creation and more especially procreation. Hesiod characterizes Eros by one of his many descriptive touches, which strive to lift his didacticism to the realm of poetry (Theogony 120-23): "most fair among the immortal gods, who loosens the limbs and overcomes judgment and sagacious counsel in the breast of gods and men." Another myth of creation is found in The Birds, a comedy by the fifth-century playwright Aristophanes. For all its mock heroism and burlesque of religious philosophical speculation and vocabulary,

this account reflects earlier theory and illustrates both the multiplicity of versions and the primacy of Eros. A chorus of birds proves that the birds are much the oldest of all the gods by the following tale (683 ff.): Chaos, Night, black Erebus, and broad Tartarus were first. But Ge, Aer [the lower atmosphere], and Uranus [Sky] did not exist. In the vast hollows of Erebus first of all black-winged Night, alone, brought forth an egg, from which Eros, the desirable, burst forth like a swift whirlwind, his back glistening with golden wings. He mingled in broad Tartarus with Chaos, winged and dark as night, and hatched our race of birds and first led it to light; There was no race of immortals before Eros caused all things to mingle. From the mingling of couples, Uranus, Oceanus, Ge, and the immortal race of all the blessed gods came into being. The Eros responsible for this fury of procreation may very well be the same Eros who is in the later tradition appropriately called Phanes (the one who first shone forth or gave light to creation) and Protogonus (first-born). If so, we have in Aristophanes a parody of a myth that was the basis of a religion ascribed to Orpheus in which the world-egg was a dominant symbol. Orphism has as its fundamental features a dogma, ritual, and a belief in purification with an afterlife of reward and punishment. Orpheus and Orphism will be discussed in their proper place and with them other religions similar in nature, designated generically as mystery religion. The link between myth and profound religious thought and experience in the ancient world is a continuing and fascinating theme. Ovid, a Roman poet of the Augustan Age, and thus writing some seven hundred years after Hesiod, provides another classic account of genesis, different in important respects from that of Hesiod. Ovid is eclectic in his sources. Not only Hesiod but also the speculations of later Greek and Roman thought are definite influences, in particular those of Empedocles (a fifth-century philosopher) with his theory of four basic elements (earth, air, fire, and water) as the primary materials of the universe. Ovid's Chaos (Metamorphoses 1.1-75) is not a gaping void but rather a crude and unformed mass of elements in strife from which a god (not named) or some higher nature formed the order of the universee.  Ovid's poem Metamorphoses, which concentrates upon stories that involve transformations of various sorts, could very well provide a basic text for a survey of mythology. We shall on occasion reproduce Ovid's versions, since it is often his poetic, sensitive, and sophisticated treatment that has dominated subsequent tradition. But we must remember that Ovid is Roman and late, and that his mythology is far removed in spirit and belief from that of earlier conceptions. Mythology for him is little more than poetic fodder, however attractive the end product may be.

The poetic and the real world of Hesiod and Ovid are poles apart. But let us return to Hesiod (Theogony 123-38). Night and Erebus (both sprung from Chaos) united and produced Aether (the bright upper atmosphere) and Day. Ge (also sprung from Chaos) first of all brought forth Uranus (Heaven or Sky) "equal to herself so that he might surround and cover her completely and be a secure home for the blessed gods forever." Ge thus produced Uranus alone, without Love the desirable, and also brought forth Mountains and Pontus (the sea). But then she lay with Uranus and bore the Titans. The personification and deification of sky and earth as Uranus and Ge and their physical union represent basic recurring themes in mythology. Uranus is the male principle, a god of the sky; Ge, the female goddess of fertility and the earth. Worship of them may be traced back to very early times; sky and rain, earth and fertility are fundamental concerns and sources of wonder to primitive agricultural peoples. The rain of Uranus might, for example, be imagined as his seed that fertilizes the hungry earth and makes her conceive. Thus develops the concept of a sacred marriage (the Greek phrase hieros gamos is the technical term), and the sky-god and the earth-goddess (for example, Uranus and Ge, Cronus and Rhea, and Zeus and Hera) appear again and again under various names and guises to enact this holy rite.   The worship of the female earth divinity has many important facets, and she may assume the dominant role in the partnership with her male consort. But whatever her name and however varied her worship, she is significant in all periods, either maintaining her own identity or lurking behind, influencing, and coloring more complex and sophisticated concepts of female deity. Ge, Themis, Cybele, Rhea, Hera, Demeter, and Aphrodite are all, either wholly or in part, divinities of fertility. Indeed some scholars are ready to find Ge's presence in every goddess and are deeply suspicious of even the most circumspect virgin deities. Certainly the emotional, philosophical, religious, and intellectual range of the worship of the mother-goddess is vast. It may run the gamut from frenzied orgiastic celebrations with the castration of her devoted priests to a sublime belief in spiritual communion and personal redemption; from a blatant emphasis upon the sexual attributes and potency of the female to an idealized vision of love, motherhood, and virgin birthe.   The Titans, offspring of Uranus and Ge, are twelve in number: Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus, Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Tethys, and the last-born, Cronus, "wily and most terrible, who hated his lusty father" (Theogony 137-38).

They are for the most part deifications of various aspects of nature, important for their progeny, although a few assume some significance in themselves. In the genealogical labyrinth of mythology, all lineage may be traced back to the Titans and to the other powers originating from Chaos. From these beginnings Hesiod proceeds to create a universe both real and imagined, physical and spiritual, peopled with gods, demigods, deified or personified abstractions, animals, monsters, and men; we cannot list them all here, but it is from his system that we shall select the most important figures. At the moment it is expedient only to define the nature of some of the early deities and to describe their more influential offspring. Several of the Titans are best considered in pairs, since the six brothers must mate with their six sisters, at least in the beginning. Oceanus and his mate, Tethys, produced numerous children, the Oceanids, three thousand daughters and the same number of sons, spirits of rivers, waters, andsprings, many with names and some with mythological personalities. Hesiod provides an impressive list, but he admits (Theogony 369-70) that it is difficult for a mortal to name them all, although people know those belonging to their own area. The Titan Hyperion is a god of the sun, more important than his sister and mate, Theia. They are the parents of Helius, Selene, and Eos. Helius, like his father, is a sun-god. Duplication of divinities is common in the early scheme of things; they may exist side by side, or their names and personalities may be confused. Very often the younger generation will dominate the older and usurp its power. The conventional picture of the sun-god is in harmony with the Homeric conception of geography described before. The sun-god dwells in the East, crosses the dome of the sky with his team of horses, descends into the stream of Oceanus in the West and sails back to the East, chariot and all. Mimnermus, a Greek poet of the seventh century, provides a description (fr. 10): Helius has as his 'lot toil day after day and there is never any rest either for him or his horses, when rosyfingered dawn (Eos) leaving the stream of Ocean makes her way up into the sky. But a beautiful hollow cup, winged and of precious gold, fashioned by the hands of Hephaestus, bears him, sleeping deeply, from the land of the Hesperides to the country of the Ethiopians, where he makes his swift chariot and horses stand, until rising dawn comes.

Then the son of Hyperion mounts his chariot. A well-known story concerns Phaethon, the son of Helius by one of his mistresses, Clymene. According to Ovid's account (Metamorphoses l. 747-79, 2. l-366), Phaethon was challenged by the accusation that the sun was not his real father at all. His mother, Clymene, however, swore to him that he was truly the child of Helius and told him that he should, if he so desired, ask his father, the god himself. Ovid describes in glowing terms the magnificent palace of the sun, with its towering columns, gleaming with gold and polished ivory, splendid in both material and workmanship.   Phaethon, awed by the grandeur of his surroundings, is prevented from coming too close to the god because of his radiance; Helius, however, confirms Clymene's account of Phaethon's parentage, lays aside the rays that shine around his head, and orders his son to approach. He embraces him and promises on an oath sworn by the river Styx that the boy may have any gift that he likes so that he may dispel his doubts once and for all. Phaethon quickly and decisively asks that he be allowed to drive his father's chariot for one day. The sun tries in vain to dissuade him, but Phaethon in his eagerness pays no attention. Helius must abide by his dread oath and reluctantly leads the youth to his chariot, fashioned exquisitely by Vulcan,  of gold, silver, and jewels that reflect the brilliant light of the god. The chariot is yoked; Helius anoints his son's face as protection against the flames, places the rays on his head, and with heavy heart advises him on his course and the management of the horses and tries for the last time to dissuade him. Phaethon, young and inexperienced, is unable to control the four winged horses who speed from their usual path. The chariot races to the heights of heaven, creating havoc by the intensity of the heat, then hurtles down to earth. Ovid delights in his description of the destruction and transfornations that result. (Two examples from many must suffice. On earth, because of the heat at this time, the Ethiopians- acquired their dark skins and Libya became a desert.) Earth herself is ablaze and unable to endure her fiery anguish any longer. Jupiter in answer to her prayer hurls his thunder and lightning and shatters the car, dashing Phaethon to his death. The river Eridanus receives and bathes him, and nymphs bury him with the following inscription upon his tomb: "Here is buried Phaethon, charioteer of his father's car; he could not control it, yet he died after daring great deeds.'' His sisters (daughters of the sun) in their mourning for Phaethon are turned into trees, from whose bark tears flow, which are hardened into amber by the sun and dropped into the river. Away in Liguria his cousin, Cycnus, mourns for him, and he, too, changes and becomes a swan. Selene, daughter of Hyperion and Theia, is a goddess of the moon. Like her brother Helius, she drives a chariot, although hers usually has only two horses.

Only one famous myth is linked with Selene, and that concerns her love for the handsome youth Endymion, who is usually depicted as a shepherd. On a still night Selene saw Endymion asleep in a cave on Mount Latmus (in Caria). Night after night, she lay down beside him as he slept. There are many variants to this story, but in all the outcome is that Zeus granted Endymion perpetual sleep with perpetual youth. This may be represented as a punishment (although Endymion is given some choice) because of Selene's continual absence from her duties in the heavens, or it may be the fulfillment of Selene's own wishes for her beloved, Many stories about the god of the sun, whether he be called Hyperion, Helius, or merely the Titan, were transferred to the great god Apollo, who, although in all probability not originally a sungod, was considered as such in the classical period. Thus Phaethon may be the son of Apollo. The confusion is caused for several reasons. The sun-god and Apollo share the same epithet, Phoebus, which means "bright." Apollo's twin sister, Artemis, became associated with the moon, although originally she probably was not a moon-goddess. Thus Selene and Artemis merge in identity, just as do Hyperion, Helius, and Apollo. Artemis, like Selene, as a moongoddess is associated with magic, since the link between magic and the worship of the moon is close. Apollo and Artemis themselves have a close link with the Titans. The Titan Coeus mates with his sister Phoebe, and their daughter Leto bore Artemis and Apollo to Zeus. Coeus and Phoebe are little more than names to us, but Phoebe is the feminine form of Phoebus, and she herself may very well be another moon-goddess. Phoebe became an epithet of Artemis, just as Phoebus is applied to Apollo. Again the identification of Apollo and Artemis with the sun and the moon is evident and confirmed by genealogy. Eos, the third child of Hyperion and Theia, is goddess of the dawn, and like her sister Selene drives a two-horsed chariot. Her epithets in poetry are appropriate, for instance, rosy-fingered and saffron-robed. She is an amorous deity. Aphrodite, the goddess of love, caused her to long for young mortals perpetually because she caught her mate Ares in EOS' bed. Orion, Cleitus, and Cephalus were all beloved by Eos, but her most important mate is Tithonus, a handsome youth of the Trojan royal house.