Artwork of the protogenoi Gaea (Gaia) and Uranus (Ouranos) from "d'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths," by Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire (1962).
The Protogenoi (Roman: Primagenera), are referred to in English as the Primordial Gods, were the original deities in Greek mythology that emerged at the dawn of creation. As such, their name in ancient Greek literally means "first-born." Unlike the Titans or the Olympian gods, the Protogenoi were not typically thought of as being anthropomorphic (having human-like bodies). Rather, the Protogenoi were the basic components of the universe, such as the earth, sky, sea, light, darkness, and time. In art, the Protogenoi were sometimes depicted as personified representations of these basic universal components.
| The Primordials (Protogenoi) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Greek Name | English Name | Description |
| Ἀχλύς (Akhlús) | Achlys | The goddess of poisons, and the personification of misery and sadness. Said to have existed before Chaos itself. |
| Αἰθήρ (Aithḗr) | Aether | The god of light and the upper atmosphere. |
| Αἰών (Aiōn) | Aion | The god of eternity, personifying cyclical and unbounded time. Sometimes equated with Chronos. |
| Ἀνάγκη (Anánkē) | Ananke | The goddess of inevitability, compulsion, and necessity. |
| Χάος (Kháos) | Chaos | The personification of nothingness from which all of existence sprang. Depicted as a void. Initially genderless, later on described as female. |
| Χρόνος (Khrónos) | Chronos | The god of empirical time, sometimes equated with Aion. Not to be confused with the Titan Cronus (Kronos), the father of Zeus. |
| Ἔρεβος (Érebos) | Erebus | The god of darkness and shadow, as well as the void that existed between Earth and the Underworld. |
| Ἔρως (Érōs) | Eros | The god of love, attraction, and procreation. |
| Γαῖα (Gaîa) | Gaia (Gaea) | Personification of the Earth (Mother Earth); mother of the Titans. |
| Ἡμέρα (Hēméra) | Hemera | The goddess of day. |
| Ὕπνος (Húpnos) | Hypnos | The personification of sleep. |
| Νέμεσις (Némesis) | Nemesis | The goddess of retribution. |
| Νῆσοι (Nêsoi) | The Nesoi | The goddesses of islands. |
| Νύξ (Núx) | Nyx | The goddess of the night. |
| Οὔρεα (Oúrea) | The Ourea | The gods of mountains. |
| Φάνης (Phánēs) | Phanes | The god of procreation in the Orphic tradition. |
| Πόντος (Póntos) | Pontus | The god of the sea, father of the fish and other sea creatures. |
| Τάρταρος (Tártaros) | Tartarus | Personification of the deepest, darkest part of the underworld, the Tartarean pit. |
| Θάλασσα (Thálassa) | Thalassa | Personification of the sea and consort of Pontus. |
| Θάνατος (Thánatos) | Thanatos | Personification of death. Brother to Hypnos (Sleep) and Moros (Doom). |
| Οὐρανός (Ouranós) | Uranus | Personification of the sky dome and god of the heavens (Father Sky); father of the Titans. |
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