Literature and art are replete with allusions to Greek mythology. For example, a painting of Botticelli depicts the birth of Venus, and Handel wrote some lovely music for an oratorio entitled “Semele.”
I personally have wanted to trace these myths back to their original source as much as possible, and perhaps others have had the same desire. The purpose of this article is to show what familiar Greek myths go back to the “Theogony” of Hesiod. I kept editorial comments and explanation to a minimum. The article presupposes at least a minimal acquaintance with Greek mythology.
Unfortunately, I do not have the original Greek text at my disposal. I am using the English translation of M. L. West.
In this English translation, Hesiod’s works appear as prose. Nevertheless, Hesiod was a poet. He even tells us that he once won a poetry contest. Unfortunately, he did not reveal the title of his prize-winning work nor any of its details.
The first part of “Theogony” deals with the Muses. Hesiod portrays them as living on Mount Helicon, dancing and singing the praises of the Olympian gods. In passing, he mentions the streams Permessos and Olmeios and the fountain Hippocrene, the places on Mt. Helicon where the Muses liked to bathe. Hesiod then relates how the Muses once came to him as he was tending his lambs at the foot of Mt. Helicon. They gave him poetic inspiration and instructed him to sing about the gods. Hesiod then continues with a laudatory description of the Muses.
In the course of this description, he describes their birth. They first saw the light of day in Pieria, a region near Mt. Olympus. Zeus was their father and Memory was their mother. He also reveals their names: Clio, Euterpe, Thaleia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polyhymnia, Urania, and Calliope.
After treating the Muses, Hesiod goes back to the very beginning. In reality, what he describes is not a creative activity. Chaos, Gaea (Earth), Tartara, and Eros simply appear on the scene, and Hesiod does not explain how they got there. Hesiod does not explain what he means by the Greek work “Chaos,” so I shall not attempt to explain it, except to say that it might not be identical with its English cognate. The appearance of Eros is surprising because in other authors, Eros or Cupid is the son of Aphrodite.
Gaea, or Mother Earth, gave birth to Uranus, the starry Heaven, who is a male entity. Uranus and Gaea then became the parents of the Titans, the one-eyed Cyclops, and three monsters with one hundred arms and one hundred heads, called Kottos, Briareos, and Gyges. Because Uranus imprisoned these three monsters in the gloomy realm of Tartarus, Cronus, one of the Titans, mutilated his father and supplanted him as Lord of the Universe.
The fertile blood of the mutilated Uranus fell on the Earth, who consequently gave birth to some nymphs, a multitude of giants, and the Erinyes, who were goddesses of retribution.
In the meantime, the mutilated parts of Uranus fell on the sea. The flesh produced white foam. Within this foam, Aphrodite, the goddess of love, came into being. As she drifted on the sea, she came close to an island called Cythera and eventually landed in Cyprus.
The primordial Chaos had begotten Night. Strangely, Night had become the mother of Bright Air and Day. After describing the mutilation of Uranus and its results, Hesiod mentions some of the more fearful children of Night. Especially significant are the Fates and the avenging Furies. Sleep and Death are also children of Night.
Next Hesiod discusses the children and descendents of Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea. He was the father of 50 lovely daughters called Nereids, including Amphitrite and Thetis.
Thaumas, a son of Nereus, was the father of the Harpies. Hesiod mentions Aello and Ocypeta by name. Hesiod tells us that they had lovely hair, which does not agree with later descriptions of these creatures. Thaumas was also the father of Iris, the rainbow goddess.
Phorcys and Ceto, the son and daughter of Nereus, were the parents of the Graeae and the three Gorgons Sthenno, Euryale, and Medusa. He mentions that Perseus cut off the head of Medusa and that the winged horse Pegasus sprang from her severed neck.
Another offspring of Ceto was a daughter named Echidna. Through her, Nereus became the ancestor of Cerberus, the Hydra of Lerna, the Chimaera, the Sphinx, and the Nemean Lion, Hesiod mentions the exploits of Hercules in connection with the Hydra and the Nemean Lion. He also mentions that Bellerophon killed the Chimaera with the help of Pegasus.
Hesiod then presents the children of the Titans. Oceanus and Tethys gave birth to a large number of rivers and nymphs, Hyperion and Thea were the proud parents of the Sun, the Moon, and Eos (Dawn).. Hecate, a special favorite of Hesiod, was the daughter of Leto and the granddaughter of Koios and Phoebe. The well-known children of Cronus and Rhea are listed, and Hesiod tells the story about how Cronus swallowed his children and how Zeus rescued his brothers and sisters.
Finally, Hesiod treats the children of Iapetus in some detail. With the Oceanid nymph Clymene, Iapetus became the father of Atlas, Prometheus, and Epimetheus. Hesiod tells of the burden that Atlas had to bear. He also is the source of the well-known myths concerning Prometheus, Epimetheus and Pandora. He does not mention Pandora by name in the “Theogony,” but he adds this and other details in “Works and Days.”
After speaking of the Titans’ progeny, Hesiod tells of the ten-year war between the Titans and the younger gods. Zeus and his crew emerged victorious when they released Kottos, Briareos, and Gyges from their confinement. The three monsters were a crucial factor in the defeat of the Titans.
Gaea produced another monster called Typhoeus. Hesiod devotes a section to his losing battle with Zeus.
The final section goes into the wives of Zeus and his descendants. Zeus swallowed Metis, his first wife, thereby acquiring her wisdom. Hesiod calls Metis the mother of Athene, but in a later passage he says that Zeus produced Athene by himself out of his head (probably because he had swallowed Metis before she gave birth to Athene).
The children of Themis, his second wife, included the Fates: Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. This is puzzling because Hesiod had previously called Night the mother of the Fates.
The next wife of Zeus was Eurymone, who gave birth to the graces: Aglaia, Euphrosyne, and Thalia. With Demeter, Zeus became the father of Persephone, who became the husband of Hades. The next was Memory, the mother of the Muses. His final wife was Hera, the mother of Hebe, Ares, Ilithyia, and Hephaestus.
Hesiod also mentions that Zeus procreated Hermes with Maia, the daughter of Atlas; Dionysus with Semele, the daughter of Cadmus; and Hercules with Alcmene. He also relates the birth of other familiar mythological figures, such as Geryon, Memnon, Phaëthon, Achilles, Aeneas, and the three daughters of Cadmus and Harmonia. He also tells of Jason’s marriage to Medea, and states that she bore a son named Medeios. Apparently, Hesiod does not know of the tragic conclusion that Euripides applied to the story of Jason and Medea.
Homer and Hesiod do not agree on the nuptials of Hephaestus. According to Homer, Hephaestus married Aphrodite; but Hesiod gives him Aglaia, one of the Graces.