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 Before the Olympian gods and goddesses of ancient Greece, there were other deities who are now long forgotten. Like so many strange pantheons expressing the dreams and archetypes of our ancestors, they seem misty and poorly defined now, yet they continue to resonate. We do not know if they were actually worshipped by primal cults or were simply cosmological concepts or phases of creation, yet their Names still have power.

 In the Greek mythology all things emerged from the void of primordial Chaos and from dark Night, She who is called Nox or Nyx in Greek. Nox is first imaged as a Great Black Bird, and from her silver egg is born bright Eros who is Light or Love. He is sometimes called Phanes (Revealer) or Protogonos (First Born), and in his original form he is androgynous or dual-sexed, with golden wings and the four heads of a lion, bull, ram and serpent. In the Orphic cult he was identified with Dionysos. Mother Night or Nox is later represented as a woman, darkly winged or robed in black, sometimes enthroned in a chariot, always surrounded by stars.

From the twin halves of the egg’s shell came Gaea the Earth Mother and her brother/son Ouranos (Uranus), the Sky Father who is crowned with stars. As Heaven and Earth they couple, and give birth to the first generation of Twelve Titans. Obviously there is far more to Creation, for this same period brought forth vast primeval legions of Monsters, Cyclopes, Gorgons, Fates, Furies, Hesperides, Nereids, Hecatoncheires, Graeae, Harpies, Nymphs, Gigantes or giants, and assorted other realms and phenomena and states of being. We are, however, keeping this simple, and these Titans were seen as the originators of humankind and the creators of Magick and the Arts. Some, however, were seen as fearsome giants, half-human, half-serpent. We will alternate male and female:
 

 OCEANUS is the god of all waters and the great cosmic river that encircles this world; his nature thus can seem something like infinite space, yet includes the subterranean rivers of the underworld of the dead as well as the seas, rivers, springs and fountains of the natural world. He is similar to the Babylonian Apsu, and later on in Greece his role is taken over by Poseidon. He has been depicted reclining, surrounded by creatures of the sea, and holding an oar. Oceanus is also seen as an oroboros-serpent, encircling the globe while devouring his own tail, a symbol of cycles. Homer calls him the origin of the gods, and the begetter of everything else. Existing in a state of perpetual flux, he is the boundary between our world and what lies beyond.
 TETHYS his consort is a water goddess possibly associated with Venus, and the Disposer who determines the course of events; she may foreshadow the later Fates. Their many children include the female water nymphs, the male river-gods, and the infernal river Styx, as well as Metis the goddess of wisdom and mother of Athena, and Tyche who is fortune or chance or luck.
 

 COEUS or CEOS means Intelligence, the Mind of the Cosmos, and was the god of Night.
 PHOEBE is the Shining or Bright One, the original moon goddess later seen as an aspect of Artemis. Their children are Asteria (Starry Sky) and Leto (Lady) who will be the mother of the twins Apollo and Artemis; and perhaps also Hekate the patron of witchcraft.
 

 HYPERION, the Sun God, the Dweller On High, the bright power, is later identified with solar Apollo.
 THEIA is Divinity, the principle of the Sacred; her name may also mean Shining. Their children are Helios the Sun, Selene the Moon, and Eos the Dawn.
 

 IAPETUS means Hurrier, perhaps later seen as Mercury or Hermes the Swift? His children include Prometheus (Forethought) who stole the fire from heaven and gave it to men, Epimetheus (Afterthought) who married Pandora of the infamous box; Menoetius (Ruined Strength) who was slain by Zeus; and Atlas (He Who Dares) who was the leader of the Titan’s unsuccessful revolt and battle against the Gods, and when defeated was made to be the support of the world.
 

 THEMIS was the Keeper of Order, Justice and Natural Law, and often called ANANKE. She was a brilliant inventor and advisor, often depicted holding scales and a cornucopia, and was sometimes associated with the planet Jupiter. Her daughters are said to include Astraea (Justice), Eirene (Peace), Dike (Justice), and Eunomia (Wise Legislation). She is also the mother of the Moirae or Fates, and with Zeus she gave birth to the Horae or Seasons. She had a place among the elder gods who remained upon Olympus, and was the original goddess of prophecy at the Oracle of Delphi. She was often worshipped as a black stone, and seems somewhat similar to the Egyptian Maat, goddess of Truth and Balance.
 

 CRIUS or CRIOS may mean Ram, but it is unknown whether he resembles the martial Ares. His consort is Eurybia (Heart of Steel or Wide Strength).
 

 MNEMOSYNE personifies Memory and with Zeus is the Mother of the Nine Muses: Calliope (epic poetry), Urania (astronomy), Clio (history), Terpsichore (dancing), Euterpe (flute playing), Erato (the lyre), Polyhymnia (sacred song), Melpomene (tragedy) and Thalia (comedy).
 

 CRONUS is Crow, often merged with CHRONOS as Father Time, who ruled a Golden Age in Italy, an era when there was no death. He was the High God, the God of the World, of Time, and of the Harvest. He is also Saturn, and his symbol is the sickle or scythe with which he castrated his father Ouranus and flung his manhood into the sea. From that blood and the foam of the waves beautiful Aphrodite the goddess of Love was born. Like Time, Cronus had the bad habit of devouring his own children.
 RHEA is his consort, the Mother of the Gods, an avatar of Gaea; and together they give birth to the major Olympian deities: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus, who in turn eventually overthrow the Titans as they had overthrown Ouranus. Rhea is also Cybele, Ops, Tellus, Ge, Brimo, Titaea, Terra, Idaea, and many other names: the Bona Dea, the Magna Mater. She is a goddess of forests and wild animals, sometimes shown riding a chariot drawn by lions, or wearing a castellated crown (made to look like the towers of a city). Sacred dances upon high mountains were performed in her honor, and she is the oldest known Greek goddess associated with the Earth.
 

 All these beings have many more offspring, including gods, second generation titans, monsters, demigods, and heroes; so this hardly does justice to the vastly convoluted divine genealogy and archaic complexity of Greek mythology. Of course, I never intended this to be anything but a starting point toward a gathering of cosmic forces from the dawn of time….

 
       ~ Shade Oroboros