Nyx

Nyx bore hateful Eris without a partner. Eris then bore her own children in the same manner. Her offspring took shape as the troubles that arose through discord among gods and human beings. They included Ponos, grievous Toil; Lethe, Forgetfulness; Limos, Hunger; and Algea, tearful Griefs.

Eris also bore Hysminai, Fightings; Makhe, Battles; Phonoi, Murders; and Androktasiai, Man-Killings. Neikea were Quarrels, and Pseudea were Lies. Eris bore Logoi, Words, and Amphillogiai, DoubleWords. These children gave discord many forms, from pain and hunger to fighting, killing, quarrels, deception, and the agitation of competing words.

Eris then bore Dusnomia, Bad Governance, and Ate, Ruin. These two remained companions to the other children. Together, they showed the disorder within a society and the ruin that followed from it. Finally, Eris bore Horkos, the Oath. Horkos harmed people on earth whenever someone knowingly swore a false oath. Thus Nyx bore Eris, and Eris bore the forces that came with discord, including toil, forgetfulness, hunger, grief, fighting, battles, murders, man-killings, quarrels, lies, words, double words, bad governance, ruin, and the harm caused by false oaths.

Nyx gave birth independently to Moros, Ker, Thanatos, Hypnos, the Oneiroi, Momos, Oizys, the Hesperides, Nemesis, Apate, Philotes, Geras, and Eris. These children belonged to the dark and mysterious conditions associated with their mother. Thanatos was identified with death, Hypnos with sleep, and the Oneiroi with dreams.

Thanatos and Hypnos were twins. Their dwelling was in the realm of shades. When Thanatos appeared among mortals, people feared and hated him as the enemy of mankind. His heart was hard and without pity. Hypnos, by contrast, was welcomed and loved. Moros, Ker, the Oneiroi, Momos, Oizys, the Hesperides, Nemesis, Apate, Philotes, and Geras had no separate actions or descriptions in this account.

Eris was the last named child in this genealogy. She was called hateful Eris, or Discord. In one telling, she was born from Night without a male parent. She then gave birth to Ponos, Forgetfulness, Hunger, tearful Griefs, Fightings, Battles, Murders, Man-Killings, Quarrels, Lies, Words, DoubleWords, Bad Governance, Ruin, and the Oath that harmed mortals when someone knowingly swore falsely. These descendants belonged to Eris rather than to the list of Nyx's children given here.

Nyx was the daughter of Chaos and the personification of Night. She inhabited a palace in the dark regions of the lower world.

From a silver egg laid in the darkness, Eros emerged and set the universe in motion. The egg had been laid by black-winged Night after she was courted by the Wind. Eros was golden-winged and double-sexed. He had four heads, and his voice could roar like a bull or lion, hiss like a serpent, or bleat like a ram. Some called him Phanes, while Night named him Ericepaius and Phaéthon Protogenus.

Phanes brought the universe into order. He created earth, sky, sun, and moon, then entrusted cosmic sovereignty and prophetic authority to Nyx. She lived with him in a cave and appeared as a triad of Night, Order, and Justice. Before the cave sat Rhea, the inescapable mother. She played a brazen drum and directed human attention towards the goddess's oracles. Nyx therefore held the rule of the universe and gave its commands through prophetic knowledge.

Her reign continued until the sceptre passed to Uranus. This transfer marked the succession from Night's rule to that of Uranus. The account places Nyx among the earliest powers governing the gods and the ordered universe. Phanes remained the first-born power who had brought creation into motion and established the order that allowed sovereignty to pass between divine rulers.

The Orphic account also connects Phanes with the sun and with illumination. His four heads were linked with the symbolic beasts of the four seasons. One interpretation associated the heads with Zeus as a ram, Helius as a lion, Hades as a serpent, and Dionysus as a bull. Another creation account says that Time created the silver cosmic egg, from which Phanes-Dionysus emerged before creating Nyx, Gaia, Ouranos, and the other familiar gods. In that version, Zeus later swallowed Phanes and renewed the world.