At the beginning of creation, Night lays a "wind-egg" in the "boundless bosom of Erebus", from which springs golden-winged Eros. In a cosmogony given by Aristophanes in his play The Birds (414 BC), which is often believed to be a parody of an Orphic theogony, Erebus is one of the first deities to exist, alongside Chaos, Night, and Tartarus. 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). In the Fabulae by the Roman mythographer Hyginus (1st century BC/AD), Erebus is the offspring of Chaos and Caligo (Mist), alongside Dies (Day), Erebus (Darkness), and Aether. According to Cicero (1st century BC), Erebus and Nox (the Roman equivalent of Nyx) are the parents of Aether and Dies (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, the Hesperides, and the Somnia (Dreams). Įrebus also features in genealogies given by Roman authors. According to a hymn by the poet Antagoras (3rd century BC), one of the possible parentages of Eros is Erebus and Night. 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). 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. In the first instance of sexual intercourse, he mates with Nyx, producing Aether and Hemera (Day), the pair of which represent the personified opposites of their parents. In Hesiod's Theogony (late 8th century BC), which the Greeks considered the "standard" account of the origin of the gods, he is the offspring of Chaos, alongside Nyx (Night). In a number of Greek cosmogonies, Erebus is described as one of the first beings to exist. 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"). The meaning of the word Erebos ( Ἔρεβος) is "darkness" or "gloom", referring to that of the Underworld. 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. In genealogies given by Roman authors, he begets a large progeny of personifications upon Nox (the Roman equivalent of Nyx), while in an Orphic theogony he is the offspring of Chronos (Time). In Hesiod's Theogony, he is the offspring of Chaos, and the father of Aether and Hemera (Day) by Nyx (Night) in other Greek cosmogonies, he is the father of Aether, Eros, and Metis, or the first ruler of the gods. In Greek mythology, Erebus ( / ˈ ɛr ə b ə s/ Ancient Greek: Ἔρεβος, romanized: Érebos, lit.'"darkness, gloom"'), or Erebos, is the personification of darkness.
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