Primordial Deities: The Ancient Gods Who Created the Universe - Greek Mythology

Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today’s video, we’re going to discuss the Primordial Deities of Greek mythology: ancient gods, the first gods, gods older than Zeus and the Olympians, older than the Titans, gods who do not rule the world, though they once did in the primeval past, but who are the world, the universe, creation itself. Yes, the Olympians rule the world, but they aren’t the world; yes, Zeus has supremacy over the sky, but he isn’t the sky; and yes, Poseidon has sovereignty over the sea, but he isn’t the sea. Conversely, Gaia is the earth, Uranus is the sky, and Pontus is the sea, and it is these sorts of gods we’re going to focus on, not the later gods who came to rule these domains

First, we’re going to look at the first two generations of Gods in Greek mythology, beginning with Chaos. Following that, we’re going to look at many third generation gods, the children of either Gaia and Nyx. Here, because we’re now in the third generation, the term Primordial Deity loses some of its relevance. Regardless, though, we’ll continue, first focusing on third-generation deities who also represent fundamental constructs of the material world and, second, focusing on third-generation deities who represent the forces and phenomena that define the human condition: our virtues and vices, our strengths and weaknesses, and in general, what our time on earth looks like.

Let’s get into it.

In the beginning, the very beginning, before anything or anyone existed, before time, even, there wasn’t even empty space, the unfathomable expanse of dark nothingness that envelops the specks of rock and fire we call planets and stars.

The first being to emerge was Chaos. Self-engendered, he personified the great void, the empty space that necessarily had to exist to allow subsequent entities to emerge. Thought of another way, if you want to furnish a room, you first need a room to exist so that there’s space for the furniture to be placed in.

Watch the video for the rest!