InGreek mythology,Erebus (/ˈɛrəbəs/;[1]Ancient Greek:Ἔρεβος,romanized: Érebos,lit.'darkness, gloom'),[2] orErebos, is the personification of darkness. InHesiod'sTheogony, he is the offspring ofChaos, and the father ofAether andHemera (Day) byNyx (Night); in other Greek cosmogonies, he is the father of Aether,Eros, andMetis, or the first ruler of the gods. In genealogies given by Roman authors, he begets a large progeny of personifications upon Nox (the Roman equivalent of Nyx), while in anOrphic theogony, he is the offspring ofChronos (Time).
The name "Erebus" is also used to refer either to the darkness of theUnderworld, the Underworld itself, or the region through which souls pass to reachHades, and can sometimes be used as a synonym forTartarus or Hades.
In a number of Greek cosmogonies, Erebus is described as one of the first beings to exist. InHesiod'sTheogony (late 8th century BC), which the Greeks considered the "standard" account of the origin of the gods,[5] he is the offspring ofChaos, alongsideNyx (Night).[6] In the first instance of sexual intercourse, he mates with Nyx, producingAether andHemera (Day),[7] the pair of which represent the personified opposites of their parents.[8] The NeoplatonistDamascius attributes toAcusilaus (6th century BC) a cosmogony in which Chaos is the first principle, after which comes Erebus and Night, and from this pair are then born Aether,Eros, andMetis.[9] The philosopherPhilodemus records that in the workOn the Gods by one "Satyros", Erebus is the first of five rulers of the gods, and is succeeded as sovereign by Chaos (though others have suggested this figure may be Eros).[10] According to a hymn by the poetAntagoras (3rd century BC), one of the possible parentages of Eros is Erebus and Night.[11]
Erebus also features in genealogies given by Roman authors. According toCicero (1st century BC), Erebus and Nox (the Roman equivalent of Nyx) are the parents of Aether andDies (Day), as well as Amor (Love), Dolus (Guile), Metus (Fear), Labor (Toil), Invidentia (Envy), Fatum (Fate), Senectus (Old Age), Mors (Death), Tenebrae (Darkness), Miseria (Misery), Querella (Lamentation), Gratia (Favour), Fraus (Fraud), Pertinacia (Obstinacy), the Parcae, theHesperides, and the Somnia (Dreams).[12] In theFabulae by the Roman mythographerHyginus (1st century BC/AD), Erebus is the offspring of Chaos and Caligo (Mist), alongside Dies (Day), Erebus (Darkness), and Aether.[13] By Nox, he becomes the father of Fatum (Fate), Senectus (Old Age), Mors (Death), Letum (Destruction), Continentia (Strife), Somnus (Sleep), the Somnia (Dreams), Epiphron (Thoughtfulness), Hedymeles, Porphyrion, Epaphus, Discordia (Discord), Miseria (Misery), Petulantia (Petulance), Nemesis, Euphrosyne (Cheerfulness), Amicitia (Friendship), Misericordia (Pity),Styx, theParcae - Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos (Fate), and theHesperides - Aegle, Hesperia, and Erythea (Twilight).[14]
In a cosmogony given byAristophanes in his playThe Birds (414 BC), which is often believed to be a parody of an Orphic theogony,[15] Erebus is one of the first deities to exist, alongside Chaos, Night, andTartarus. At the beginning of creation, Night lays a "wind-egg" in the "boundless bosom of Erebus", from which springs golden-winged Eros.[16] In an Orphic theogony recorded by Damascius in his workDe principiis (On First Principles), known as theHieronyman Theogony (2nd century BC?),[17] Erebus, alongside Aether and Chaos, is the offspring ofChronos (Time), who has the form of a serpent.[18]
The name "Erebus" is often used by ancient authors to refer either to the darkness of the Underworld,[19] to the Underworld itself,[20] or to the subterranean region through which souls of the dead travel to reach Hades,[21] and it is sometimes used synonymously with Tartarus orHades.[22]Homer uses the term to refer to the Underworld:[23] in theOdyssey, souls of the dead are described as "gather[ing] from out of Erebus", on the shore ofOceanus at the edge of the Earth,[24] while in theIliad Erebus is the location in which theErinyes live,[25] and from whichHeracles must fetchCerberus.[26] In theTheogony, it is the subterraneous place to which Zeus casts the TitanMenoetius (here meaning either Tartarus or Hades),[27] and from which he later brings up theHecatoncheires.[28] In theHomeric Hymn toDemeter, Erebus is used to refer to Hades, the location in which the godHades and his wifePersephone reside,[29] while inEuripides's playOrestes, it is where the goddess Nyx lives.[30] Later, in Roman literature,Ovid callsProserpina the "queen of Erebus",[31] and other authors use Erebus as a name for Hades.[32]
^Hyginus,Fabulae Theogony 1.2–3 (Smith and Trzaskoma, p. 95; Marshall, p. 10).
^Hyginus,Fabulae Theogony 1.2–8 (Smith and Trzaskoma, p. 95; Marshall, p. 10).
^Brisson, I pp. 390–1; Bernabé 2004, p. 73 on fr. 64; Chrysanthou, p. 303.
^Brisson, pp. 3–4; Luján, p. 86;Aristophanes,Birds693–9 (pp. 116, 117) [= Orphic fr. 64V Bernabé (pp. 73–5) =fr. 1 Kern]. Luján, pp. 86–7 compares this progression of "Erebos – Egg – Eros" to the IndianRigveda 10.129.3a–4b, in which Darkness exists in the beginning, and out of Darkness comes the "One", from which arises Desire.
^See Meisner,p. 1 with n. 3. Damascius states that the text is "referred to by Hieronymus and Hellanicus, unless he is the same person"; see Meisner,p. 122.
^Meisner, pp.126,129; West, pp. 198–9; Brisson, I p. 395; Orphic fr. 78 Bernabé (p. 88) [=fr. 54 Kern]. Meisner,p. 144 says that Chronos produces these children byAnanke (Necessity), though West, p. 198 and Brisson, I p. 396 consider Chronos alone to be the parent. Brisson, V p. 55 also sees Orphic fr. 106 Bernabé (p. 114), from the later OrphicRhapsodies, as alluding to Erebus; see also West, pp. 230–1.
^Gantz, p. 154; Hard, p. 49;Hesiod,Theogony514–5. According to Gantz, "it is not clear whether Hesiod means by this Tartaros, or that Menoitios met the fate of a mortal", while West 1966, p. 310 on line 515 states that "whether [Erebus] means Tartarus or Hades here [...] depends on whether Hesiod thought of Menoitios as god or mortal", while Hard says that it refers to "the nether darkness, presumably of Tartaros".
Almqvist, Olaf,Chaos, Cosmos and Creation in Early Greek Theogonies: An Ontological Exploration, London, Bloomsbury Academic, 2022.ISBN978-1-350-22184-0.
Hard, Robin,The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004,ISBN978-0415186360.Google Books.
Hyginus, Gaius Julius,Fabulae inApollodorus'Library and Hyginus'Fabulae: Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology, Translated, with Introductions by R. Scott Smith and Stephen M. Trzaskoma, Hackett Publishing Company, 2007.ISBN978-0-87220-821-6.
