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Aphrodite Apollo Ares Artemis Athena Atlas Coeus Crius Cronus Demeter Dionysus Gaia Hades Hephaestus Hera Hermes Hestia Hyperion Iapetus Mnemosyne Oceanus Phobos Phoebe Poseidon Prometheus Rhea Tethys Themis Uranus Zeus
Bacchus Ceres Diana Juno Jupiter Mars Mercury Minerva Neptune Pluto Venus Vesta Vulcan
Amun Anubis Aten Atum Babi Bastet Bes Geb Hapi hathor heqet Horus Isis Khepri Khnum Khonsu Maat Nephthys Nut Osiris Ptah Ra Seshat Seth Shu Sobek Thoth
Alfheim Baldur Freya Freyr Frigg Heimdallr Helheim Idun Jotunheim Loki Nerthus Njord Odin Thor Tyr
Aengus Arawn Badb Brigid Cailleach Ceridwen Cernunnos Cu Chulainn Dagda Danu Gwydion Herne the Hunter Lugh Medb Morrigan Neit Nuada Taliesin Taranis
Chalchiuhtlicue Coatlicue Huitzilopochtli Mictlantecuhtli Mixcoatl Ometeotl Quetzalcoatl Tezcatlipoca Tlaloc Tonatiuh Xipe Totec Xochiquetzal Xolotl
Amaterasu Ame no Uzume Benzaiten Bishamonten Daikokuten Ebisu Fujin Fukurokuju Inari Izanagi Kagutsuchi Raijin Susanoo Tsukuyomi
Caishen Cangjie Dragon King Eight Immortals Erlang Shen Fuxi Guanyin Hou Yi Huxian Jade Emperor King Yama Leizi Lu-ban Mazu Nezha Nuwa Pangu Shennong Sun Wukong Xiwangmu Yue Lao Zhong Kui
Norse Classical Celtic Arthurian
Literature Stories Names
Aphrodite Apollo Ares Artemis Athena Atlas Coeus Crius Cronus Demeter Dionysus Gaia Hades Hephaestus Hera Hermes Hestia Hyperion Iapetus Mnemosyne Oceanus Phobos Phoebe Poseidon Prometheus Rhea Tethys Themis Uranus Zeus
Bacchus Ceres Diana Juno Jupiter Mars Mercury Minerva Neptune Pluto Venus Vesta Vulcan
Amun Anubis Aten Atum Babi Bastet Bes Geb Hapi hathor heqet Horus Isis Khepri Khnum Khonsu Maat Nephthys Nut Osiris Ptah Ra Seshat Seth Shu Sobek Thoth
Alfheim Baldur Freya Freyr Frigg Heimdallr Helheim Idun Jotunheim Loki Nerthus Njord Odin Thor Tyr
Aengus Arawn Badb Brigid Cailleach Ceridwen Cernunnos Cu Chulainn Dagda Danu Gwydion Herne the Hunter Lugh Medb Morrigan Neit Nuada Taliesin Taranis
Chalchiuhtlicue Coatlicue Huitzilopochtli Mictlantecuhtli Mixcoatl Ometeotl Quetzalcoatl Tezcatlipoca Tlaloc Tonatiuh Xipe Totec Xochiquetzal Xolotl
Amaterasu Ame no Uzume Benzaiten Bishamonten Daikokuten Ebisu Fujin Fukurokuju Inari Izanagi Kagutsuchi Raijin Susanoo Tsukuyomi
Caishen Cangjie Dragon King Eight Immortals Erlang Shen Fuxi Guanyin Hou Yi Huxian Jade Emperor King Yama Leizi Lu-ban Mazu Nezha Nuwa Pangu Shennong Sun Wukong Xiwangmu Yue Lao Zhong Kui
Norse Classical Celtic Arthurian
Literature Stories Names
  1. Classical Mythology
    Pantheon Heroic Age Royal Houses Geographia Facts & Figures Genealogy Bibliography About Classical Myths
  2. Pantheon
    Creation Primeval Deities Titans Olympians Mother Goddesses House of Hades Thracian Deities Anatolian Deities Nymphs Minor Greek Deities Etruscan Deities Roman Deities The Wrath of Heaven Mysteries
  3. Primeval Deities

Primeval Deities

The Ancient Deities found on this page consist of the primeval beings that came into existence since the beginning of time, and who were involved with the creation of the universe. These are deities who came before the time of the Titans and the Olympians - who include Chaos, Nyx, Gaea, Uranus and many others.

Most of the people are familiar with these primordial beings from Hesiod (the ones I had mentioned earlier). But there are other beings found in the alternative and more obscure creation myths which are not found in Hesiod's accepted myths. They come from various sources, but more notably from philosophy and from Mystery religions.

  • Hesiod's Primordial Deities

  • Other Primeval Beings

Hesiod's Primordial Deities

The following are some of the earliest beings who came into existence out of the creation, before the existence of the Titans and the Olympians. Like some of the Titans, some were no more than just personifications and were known only by who their offspring were.

Note that the primeval deities below were more commonly found in Hesiod's creation myths. There are a few deities listed in Other Primeval Beings that come from Orphic or other Greek creation myths.

Also, some authors just referred to these primordial beings not by names but by what they represented, such as Earth instead of Gaea, Heaven instead of Uranus, Night instead of Nyx, etc.

Chaos

Chaos

Nyx

Nyx

Erebus

Erebus

Tartarus

Tartarus

Aether

Aether

Hemera

Hemera

Eros (Cupid)

Eros (Cupid)

Gaea (Earth)

Gaea (Earth)

Uranus (Sky)

Uranus (Sky)

Pontus (Sea)

Pontus (Sea)

Nereus

Nereus

Phorcys

Phorcys

Eurybia

Eurybia

Genealogy

Greek Deities

Related Pages

  • Creation

  • Olympians

Other Primeval Beings

The following primordial beings or deities come from more obscure mythology such as from the Orphic creation myths.

Please note that some of the deities from more obscure mythology are already listed in the previous section in Hesiod's Primordial Deities, such as Chaos, Nyx, Aether, Eros, Gaea, etc.

Demiurge

Demiurge

Oceanus

Oceanus

Eurynome

Eurynome

Ophion

Ophion

Chronus (Time)

Chronus (Time)

Adrasteia

Adrasteia

Protogonus (Phanes)

Protogonus (Phanes)

Related Pages

Obscure Creation Myths

Jimmy Joe Timeless Myths

By Jimmy Joe

Pantheon:

  • • Creation
  • • Primeval Deities
  • • Titans
  • • Olympians
  • • Mother Goddesses
  • • House of Hades
  • • Thracian Deities
  • • Anatolian Deities
  • • Nymphs
  • • Minor Greek Deities
  • • Etruscan Deities
  • • Roman Deities
  • • The Wrath of Heaven
  • • Mysteries
Chaos

Chaos

Long after the "beginning of time", the void known as Chaos came into existence in the universe. Out of Chaos, or together with it, came Gaea ("Earth"), Tartarus and Eros ("Love"). Without a mate, Chaos bore Nyx ("Night") and Erebus ("Darkness"). ...

April 19th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Gaia

Gaia

Gaia: Beautiful Mother Earth Goddess and Bearer of Greek Gods Gaia, Titan of the first generation, was mother earth in Greek mythology. She was there at the beginning of all things. Along with her son Uranus, she was the start of all life. But rea...

April 2nd, 2002 • Timeless Myths
Eurynome

Eurynome

The Goddess of All Things. Eurynome was the mother goddess and ultimate Creator goddess. Eurynome was possibly also a sun and moon goddess. According to Apollonius of Rhodes, he wrote in the Argonautica that the first being was the goddess Eurynom...

April 19th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Nyx (Night)

Nyx (Night)

Goddess of the night. Nyx was identified by the Romans as Nox, and was often identified as just Night. Nyx was born together with Erebus , Gaea , Tartarus, and Eros ("Love"), out of Chaos. By her brother Erebus, Nyx bore Aether ("Upper Air") and H...

April 19th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Gaea (Earth)

Gaea (Earth)

The personification of earth and the goddess of the earth. Gaea was also known as Gaia or Ge, but to the Romans she was known as Terra Mater and Tellus . According to Diodorus Siculus, her name was also Titaea. Gaea was born together with Nyx ("Ni...

April 19th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Titans

Titans

According to Hesiod, the word Titan (Τιτησι) seemed to mean "Strainer", because they strained and performed some presumptuous, fearful deeds and vengeance would come after it. Whereas the Olympians lived on Olympus, the home of the Titans was Othr...

April 19th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Erebus (Darkness)

Erebus (Darkness)

Erebus was born together with Nyx , Gaea , Tartarus, and Eros ("Love"), out of Chaos . With his sister Nyx, Erebus was the father of Aether ("Upper Air") and Hemera ("Day"). See Creation, Theogony of Hesiod . Apart from the part he played in the C...

April 19th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Obscure Creation Myths

Obscure Creation Myths

Hesiod was the not the only Greek poet who wrote about the Creation and the origin of the gods and mankind. Hesiod's account is just one kind. The world was created from Chaos first, and then by the World Parents – Gaea (Earth) and Uranus (Heaven)...

April 9th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Orphic Creation

Orphic Creation

The Orphic Creation Myth is another scenario of the Cosmic Egg origin, but without the Creator Goddess, Eurynome (see Eurynome and Ophion ). Behind the myth is the religion of salvation for the human soul. This religion was named after the mythica...

April 9th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Theogony of Hesiod

Theogony of Hesiod

Hesiod was a Boeotian poet of either the 8th or 7th century BC, who is believed by many to have flourished not long after Homer. Hesiod wrote two poems, Works and Days and the Theogony . Both works can actually be combined to form an adequate Crea...

April 9th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe

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