In mythology, “primordial gods” usually refers to the very first deities that embody basic aspects of the cosmos, like chaos, earth, sky, and darkness. The term is used most often for Greek mythology, where these beings come before the Titans and the Olympian gods.
In Greek mythology
In Greek myth, the primordial gods (Protogenoi) are the first beings at the start of the universe, often both a place or element and a deity at once. They form the background structure of reality, while later gods rule specific domains within that structure.
Key primordial beings commonly listed include:
- Chaos: the first state or yawning gap from which other beings arise.
- Gaia: Earth, the foundational “Mother Earth.”
- Tartarus: the deep abyss or pit, later a prison for gods and monsters.
- Eros (Protogonos/Phanes in some traditions): the force of desire or generation that starts creation.
- Nyx: Night, a powerful personification of the night itself.
- Erebus: Darkness or the gloom of the underworld.
- Aether: Bright upper air or light.
- Hemera: Day.
- Uranus: Sky or heavens, often a later primordial child of Gaia.
- Ourea: Mountains.
- Pontus: Sea, the primordial sea linked to Gaia.
Their role in the cosmos
These beings usually do not act like the later Olympian gods, who have rich personalities and many stories. Instead, primordial gods represent the basic “pieces” of the universe—earth, sky, night, sea, and abstract forces like time or necessity in some traditions.
From their unions, later generations of gods arise, especially the Titans (like Cronus and Rhea) and then the Olympians (like Zeus and Hera). Different ancient authors and later religious or philosophical traditions sometimes add or reorder primordial gods, but the core idea remains: they are the first, most fundamental deities at the beginning of everything.
