Where does one start with the origins of Greek Mythology? After all, it can be difficult to understand the difference between myths, legends, and tall tales. Perhaps at the creation of everything is the only place to start. Greek mythology really begins with Gaea and move ahead from there in a linear fashion, a little at a time.

A Prelude to Mythology Origins

If you are new to Greek mythology, all you have to know is a couple of things:

1. Myths are used to help explain the world. They answer the why question using fantastical elements (magical weapons, monsters, and heroes);
2. Personification is when we give human characteristics to nonhuman subjects;
3. Before the start of the world, there was only emptiness and Chaos.

Putting the World Together in Darkness

According to Greek Myth, in the beginning of the world, the vacant void of space existed everywhere. Chaos personified, made of void, mass, and darkness, reigned in this vacuum.

Though, sooner or later, the void began to fill as Gaea emerged from this nothingness. She appeared on her own, created by Chaos, along with her two siblings. Those siblings are Tartarus and Eros, who were the deities of the Underworld and Love, respectively.

More gods were to follow (created by Chaos), including Erebus (Darkness) and Nyx (Night), who together created Aether (Light) and Hemera (Day). Nyx, too, created a family on her own, including: Moros (Fate), the black Ker (Doom), Thanatos (Death), Hypnos (Sleep), Oneiroi (Dreams), Geras (Old Age), Oizus (Pain), Nemesis (Revenge), Eris (Strife), Apate (Deceit), Philotes (Sexual Pleasure), Momos (Blame), and the Hesperides (the Daughters of the Evening).

All the same, Gaea in Greek myth is an important deity. She was “described as the giver of dreams and the nourisher of plants and young children.” In time, she created the universe and Earth as we know it, giving names and gods to the things that shape our world, such as Uranus (the sky), Ourea (the mountains), and Pontus (the sea).

Everything in Greek mythology needed some kind of name or characteristic so that it fit within a narrative. For example, the mountains are not just rocks, but a character named Ourea. They are the child of the primordial progeny of Gaea. Now, being personified, we as listeners or storytellers can learn something about the world, and, more specifically, about the mountains.

On Greek Mythology and Personification

It is important to note, and as mentioned, that Greek Myth focuses on personifying elements and objects to give life to their stories. After all, the Earth is quite a character, and tying that into something like the creation myths of a culture is important work. Gaea can get into trouble, or it can be a seething tempest that is up to hear with its husband. By creating these personified character, the Greeks were able to not only share wonderful stories, but they could also explain their world. Gaea, though factoring heavily into a creation story, gives life and purpose to the Greek people.

Conclusion

Gods take on many different forms in the origins of Greek mythology. They can either be humans or simply forms with names ascribed to them. This is an important fact to understand. For the Greeks, all things in the world needed some kind of personification to answer that why question.