Erebus

In

Orphic theogony he is the offspring of Chronos (Time). The name "Erebus" is also used to refer either to the darkness of the Underworld, the Underworld itself, or the region through which souls pass to reach Hades, and can sometimes be used as a synonym for Tartarus

or Hades.

Etymology

The meaning of the word Erebos (Ἔρεβος) is "darkness" or "gloom", referring to that of the Underworld.^[3] It derives from the Proto-Indo-European *h₁regʷ-os- ("darkness"), and is cognate with the Sanskrit rájas ("dark (lower) air, dust"), the Armenian erek ("evening"), the Gothic riqis, and the Old Norse røkkr ("dark, dust").^[4]

Personification of darkness

In a number of Greek cosmogonies, Erebus is described as one of the first beings to exist. In

Chaos, alongside Nyx (Night).^[6] In the first instance of sexual intercourse, he mates with Nyx, producing Aether and Hemera (Day),^[7] the pair of which represent the personified opposites of their parents.^[8] The Neoplatonist Damascius attributes to Acusilaus (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, and Metis.^[9] The philosopher Philodemus records that in the work On 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 poet Antagoras (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 to

Hyginus (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), Lysimeles (Thoughtfulness), Epiphron (Hedymeles), Porphyrion, Epaphus, Discordia (Discord), Miseria (Misery), Petulantia (Petulance), Nemesis, Euphrosyne (Cheerfulness), Amicitia (Friendship), Misericordia (Pity), Styx, the Parcae (Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos), and the Hesperides (Aegle, Hesperia, and Erythea).^[14]

In a cosmogony given by

Hieronyman Theogony (2nd century BC?),^[17] Erebus, alongside Aether and Chaos, is the offspring of Chronos (Time), who has the form of a serpent.^[18]

Name or region of the Underworld

The name "Erebus" is often used by ancient authors to refer either to the darkness of the Underworld,

Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Erebus is used to refer to Hades, the location in which the god Hades and his wife Persephone reside,^[29] while in Euripides' play Orestes, it is where the goddess Nyx lives.^[30] Later, in Roman literature, Ovid calls Proserpina the "queen of Erebus",^[31] and other authors use Erebus as a name for Hades.^[32]

Notes

^ Tripp, p. 618.
^ Montanari, s.v. έρεβος, p. 815.
^ Montanari, s.v. έρεβος, p. 815.
^ Beekes, s.v. έρεβος, p. 451.
^ Hard, p. 21.
^ Gantz, p. 4; Hard, p. 23; Hesiod, Theogony 123.
^ Gantz, p. 4; Hesiod, Theogony 124–5.
^ Almqvist, p. 37.
BNJ 2 F6b = Damascius
, De Principiis 124].

BNJ 20 F2
.

^ Athanassakis and Wolkow, p. 172.

^ Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3.44 (pp. 328, 329).

Fabulae
Theogony 1.2–3 (Smith and Trzaskoma, p. 95; Marshall, p. 10).

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, Birds 693–9 (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 Indian Rigveda 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.

Rhapsodies
, as alluding to Erebus; see also West, pp. 230–1.

^ Tripp, s.v. Erebus, p. 228; Hard, p. 23; Montanari, s.v. έρεβος, p. 815.

^ Hard, pp. 23–4; Morford, p. 371.

LSJ, s.v. Ἔρεβος
: "a place of nether darkness, forming a passage from Earth to Hades".

Brill's New Pauly, s.v. Underworld
; Morford, p. 57; Coulter and Turner, s.v. Erebus, p. 170.

^ Gantz, p. 4.

^ Gantz, p. 123; Homer, Odyssey 11.37.

^ Homer, Iliad 9.571–2; see also Seneca, Octavia 965 (pp. 614, 615), which calls the Furies the "goddesses of Erebus".

^ Homer, Iliad 8.368.

^ Gantz, p. 154; Hard, p. 49; Hesiod, Theogony 514–5. 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".

^ Gantz, p. 4; Hesiod, Theogony 669.

Homeric Hymn to Demeter (2), 335; see also 349, 409
.

^ Euripides, Orestes 176 (pp. 430, 431).

^ Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.543 (pp. 276, 275).

Hercules on Oeta 1369 (pp. 454, 455)
.

References

Almqvist, Olaf, Chaos, Cosmos and Creation in Early Greek Theogonies: An Ontological Exploration, London, Bloomsbury Academic, 2022.
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Bernabé, Alberto, Poetae epici Graeci: Testimonia et fragmenta, Pars II: Orphicorum et Orphicis similium testimonia, Fasc 1,
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Chrysanthou, Anthi, Defining Orphism: The Beliefs, the Teletae and the Writings,
ISBN 978-3-110-67839-0. Online version at De Gruyter
.

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Coulter, Charles Russell, and Patricia Turner, Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities, Routledge, 2012.
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.

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(Vol. 2).

Hard, Robin, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004,
ISBN 978-0415186360. Google Books
.

Hesiod, Theogony, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd., 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.

Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A. T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd., 1924. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.

Homer, The Odyssey with an English Translation by A. T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd., 1919. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.

Homeric Hymn 2 to Demeter, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd., 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.

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.

Kern, Otto, Orphicorum Fragmenta, Berlin, 1922. Internet Archive.

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.

Luján, Eugenio R., "The Cosmic Egg (OF 64, 79, 114)", in Tracing Orpheus: Studies of Orphic Fragments, pp. 85–92, edited by Miguel Herrero de Jáuregui et al.,
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Marshall, Peter K., Hyginus <Mythographus>: Fabulae,
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.

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Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Erebus&oldid=1215473114"

[1] Tripp, p. 618.

[2] Montanari, s.v. έρεβος, p. 815.

[3] Montanari, s.v. έρεβος, p. 815.

[4] Beekes, s.v. έρεβος, p. 451.

[5] Hard, p. 21.

[6] Gantz, p. 4; Hard, p. 23; Hesiod, Theogony 123.

[7] Gantz, p. 4; Hesiod, Theogony 124–5.

[8] Almqvist, p. 37.

[9] BNJ 2 F6b = Damascius
, De Principiis 124].

[10] BNJ 20 F2
.

[11] Athanassakis and Wolkow, p. 172.

[12] Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3.44 (pp. 328, 329).

[13] Fabulae
Theogony 1.2–3 (Smith and Trzaskoma, p. 95; Marshall, p. 10).

[14] Fabulae
Theogony 1.2–8 (Smith and Trzaskoma, p. 95; Marshall, p. 10).

[15] Brisson, I pp. 390–1; Bernabé 2004, p. 73 on fr. 64; Chrysanthou, p. 303.

[16] Brisson, pp. 3–4; Luján, p. 86; Aristophanes, Birds 693–9 (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 Indian Rigveda 10.129.3a–4b, in which Darkness exists in the beginning, and out of Darkness comes the "One", from which arises Desire.

[17] 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.

[18] Rhapsodies
, as alluding to Erebus; see also West, pp. 230–1.

[19] Tripp, s.v. Erebus, p. 228; Hard, p. 23; Montanari, s.v. έρεβος, p. 815.

[20] Hard, pp. 23–4; Morford, p. 371.

[21] LSJ, s.v. Ἔρεβος
: "a place of nether darkness, forming a passage from Earth to Hades".

[22] Brill's New Pauly, s.v. Underworld
; Morford, p. 57; Coulter and Turner, s.v. Erebus, p. 170.

[23] Gantz, p. 4.

[24] Gantz, p. 123; Homer, Odyssey 11.37.

[25] Homer, Iliad 9.571–2; see also Seneca, Octavia 965 (pp. 614, 615), which calls the Furies the "goddesses of Erebus".

[26] Homer, Iliad 8.368.

[27] Gantz, p. 154; Hard, p. 49; Hesiod, Theogony 514–5. 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".

[28] Gantz, p. 4; Hesiod, Theogony 669.

[29] Homeric Hymn to Demeter (2), 335; see also 349, 409
.

[30] Euripides, Orestes 176 (pp. 430, 431).

[31] Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.543 (pp. 276, 275).

[32] Hercules on Oeta 1369 (pp. 454, 455)
.

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