Theogony

by Hesiod

Also known as: The Birth of the Gods

"The quest to order the cosmos through genealogy, showing how chaos becomes cosmos and how divine succession mirrors human struggles for power."
Theogony cover
Type:Epic Poem (didactic, genealogical)
Source:Ancient Greece
Original Date:Oral tradition, possibly Mycenaean influences
Written Date:c. 700 BCE
Length:1 books, 1,022 lines (~1 hours)

Summary

Hesiod’s Theogony is the earliest surviving Greek attempt to systematize mythology into a coherent genealogy of the gods. It begins with primordial Chaos, Gaia (Earth), and Eros, and unfolds through the birth of the Titans, the rise of Zeus, and the establishment of divine order. The poem explains the origins of the gods, the cosmos, and mankind’s place in it, while embedding stories of conflict, succession, and cosmic justice.

Themes

Creation and cosmic orderSuccession of divine powerConflict between generationsFate and justiceThe balance between chaos and order

Major Characters

ChaosGaia (Earth)Uranus (Sky)CronusThe TitansZeusRheaHecateTyphonNyx (Night)Eros

Notable Quotes

"First of all Chaos came into being, and then broad-bosomed Earth, the ever-sure foundation of all…"

Line 116

"From Chaos came forth Erebus and black Night; but of Night were born Aether and Day…"

Line 123

"But when Zeus had driven the Titans from heaven, vast Earth bore her youngest child, Typhon, through love of Tartarus…"

Line 820

Notable Translations

Hugh G. Evelyn-White(1914)

Loeb Classical Library edition, bilingual Greek-English.

Dorothea Wender(1973)

Penguin Classics, accessible and poetic.

M. L. West(1966)

Scholarly critical edition and translation, highly authoritative.

Athanassakis, Apostolos N.(1983)

Readable modern translation, often used in university courses.