Begats and Beatings: Hesiod's Theogony

Creation, according to Hesiod, tumbles forth from nothingness. The Greek is chaos (kah-ohs), a gaping maw, from which deities pour forth and procreate so prolifically that it may seem difficult to keep track. Thankfully Hesiod gives us a hand with such things.

Perhaps this genealogy of the deities makes Hesiod less palatable for borrowers of text.

My first direct encounter with the Classics, I can almost surely say, was the Disney Hercules. And when reading Hesiod, I cannot resist the thought of his begats sung in a fanciful gospel style.

Disney's myth-blundering certainly has quite a few issues (five muses does not equal nine and Hercules was definitely not a child of Hera, and Pegasus was not made from clouds, and Hades did not send the snakes, and... yeah, you get it), but then again, so does the Theogony. Today it was mentioned that many generic mythology introductions base their presentation of the divine beings on the Theogony. The problem with this is that Hesiod's view of the Greek pantheon's lineage is unusal. It spawns Eros of his own accord fresh from the depths of Chaos, and Aphrodite from the "foam" of the sea after Uranus's disembodied genitals are tossed in.

Confused? That's because there are varying accounts as to how these deities came into being. For those wondering, other mythographers have Aprhodite as Zeus's daughter, and Eros/Cupid as her son.

But these varying stories make sense. The ancient Greeks were not a mass-people like we think of countries today. Rather, they were segmented communties who ran into each other, sometimes got along, and sometimes did not. Greece itself was not a unified country until long after Hesiod's works were recorded.

With that being the case, the constant stories of dangerous offspring and conniving mothers makes sense. Not only do individual cults from each city-state vie for attention, but the communities themselves fight for power and recognition by their neighbors. Or, they try to take over their neighbors. Maybe they patch things up with a war-bride or an arranged marriage, which would inherently be political, only for the bride/new mother to assist with a usurpation, or the son.

Sorry guys, no pictures today. Just re-watch that clip from Hercules. In fact, watch all of Hercules, sing along, and then make a list of Things They Did Wrong.

I'll wait.

This may take a while.

Next up, Hesiod's Works and Days! How to be a farmer, and some other stuff.

PS: I am halfway through The Penelopiad, so keep your eyes peeled for a review next week!