Chaos comes first, she is followed by three other entities, first broad-bosomed Gaia (Earth), the ever-sure seat of the gods, and then gloomy Tartaros in a recess of the broad-pathed earth, and finally Eros, the personification of love or, perhaps more accurately, of desire. The next stage in the development of the universe commenced when Chaos and Gaia proceeded to generate further children from themselves without contact with any male partner to help create order. Gaea alone gave birth to Uranus, the heavens. Uranus became Gaea's mate covering her on all sides. Together they produced the three Cyclopes, the three Hecatoncheires, and twelve Titans.
Chaos
refers to the formless or void state preceding the creation of the universe or cosmos in the Greek creation myths, more specifically the initial "gap" created by the original separation of heaven and earth.
Gaea
Gaea is the Earth goddess, creating the planets and became the embodiment of Earth, close to the warmth of her son Helios (the Sun). She mated with her son Uranus to produce the remaining Titans. Gaea seems to have started as a neolithic earth-mother worshipped before the Indo-European invasion that eventually lead to the Hellinistic civilization.
Tartarus
TARTAROS (or Tartarus) was the protogenos (primordial god) of the great stormy Tartarean pit that lay beneath the earth.
The pit was imagined as the inverse of the dome of the sky, lying beneath the flat earth. The sky-dome and Tartarean pit together enclosed the entire cosmos in an egg-shaped or spherical shell. It is a deep, gloomy place, a pit, or an abyss used as a dungeon of torment and suffering that resides beneath the underworld.
Eros
in Greek religion and mythology, god of love. He was the personification of love in all its manifestations. According to some legends he was one of the oldest of the gods, personifying Desire, creative power and harmony.
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Erebus
Chaos produced a son and daughter alone, EREBOS and Nyx, the black NIGHT. Nyx is far more important than her brother because she will found the main branch of the family of Chaos by generating a dismal brood of children from herself. He was the son of a primordial god, Chaos alone, and represented the personification of darkness. Erebus married his sister Nyx (goddess of the night) and their offspring include: Aether, Hemera, Charon, the Hesperides, Hypnos, the Moirae, Momus, Nemesis, Oneiroi, Styx, and Thanatos.
Nyx
was the primordial goddess of the night. A shadowy figure, Nyx stood at or near the beginning of creation, and was the mother of personified gods such as Hypnos (sleep) and Thánatos (death). Even Zeus held her in awe, for when Hypnos once sought refuge with her to escape the fury of Zeus, he let him go, angry though he was, ‘for he shrank from doing anything that would displease swift-passing Night’.
Uranus
Uranus is the sky god and first ruler. He is the son of Gaea, who created him without help. He then became the husband of Gaea and together they had many offspring, including twelve of the Titans.
His rule ended when when Cronus, encouraged by Gaea, castrated him. He either died from the wound or withdrew from earth.
The Ourea
were progeny of Gaia, members of the Protogenoi, who were the first-born elemental gods and goddesses, children of Gaia. They are the mountains that now sleep for eternity. The ten ourea, Aitna, Athos, Helikon, Kithairon, Nysos, Olympus 1, Olympus 2, Oreios, Parnes, and Tmolus, like Uranus, and Pontus, were parthenogetic offspring of Gaia alone. The Greeks rarely personified an individual mountain; an exception might be Tmolus, both a king and a mountain in Lydia. Each mountain was said to have its own local nymph, an oread.
Pontus
Pontus means Deep Sea. He is the son of Gaea and the father of Nereus. He was the father of the most ancient of sea-gods by the earth-goddess by Gaia including Nereus, Phorkys and Keto. By Thalassa, his female counterpart, Pontos sired the fish and other sea creatures.
Ananke
was the personification of destiny, necessity and fate, depicted as holding a spindle. She marks the beginning of the cosmos, along with Chronos. She was seen as the most powerful dictator of all fate and circumstance which meant that mortals, as well as the Gods, respected her and paid homage. She was also the mother of the Moirae, the three fates who were fathered by Zeus.
Physis
Is the Greek god of nature and daughter of Gaea.
Phanes or Protogonos
was the mystic primeval deity of procreation and the generation of new life. Son of Eros.
HORKOS (Oath)
is introduced into the list in connection with perjuries; he personifies the curse that will be activated if a person swears a false oath. Hesiod expresses the matter in allegorical terms in the Works and Days, by stating that the Erinyes (Furies) assisted at the birth of Horkos when Eros brought him to birth to bring trouble to those who perjure themselves. Son of Eros.
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The Nesoi
were the goddesses of islands. Each island was said to have its own personification. They were classified as one of the ancient elemental gods called Protogenoi. Daughters of Physis and Phanes.
The Furies
Also known as The Erinnyes, punish crime. They persue wrong doers relentlessly, until death, often driving them to suicide. They are particularly concerned with matricide. There are three Erinnyes, Tisiphone, Megaera, and Alecto. The Erinnyes came from the blood of Uranus when he was castrated.
The Ash Tree Nymphs
The Ash Tree Nymphs were generated from Uranus blood resulting from his castration by Cronus.
Thaumas
was an old marine god who personified the wonders of the sea. His name was derived from the Greek word thaumatos meaning "miracle" or "wonder." His daughters were the Harpies and Iris, and his wife Elektra. Son of Pontus and Gaia.
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