The genealogy of the gods is complicated because the stories told about them are inconsistent and often contradictory. However, since the ancient Greeks traced their ancestry and that of their heroes to the deities, you should have at least a passing acquaintance with the lineages. Further back in mythological time than the gods and goddesses are their ancestors, the primordial powers. Other pages in this series look at some of the genealogical relationships among the primordial powers and their other descendants. This page shows the generations referred to in the mythological genealogies.
Generation 0 - Chaos, Gaia, Eros, and Tartaros
In the beginning were primordial forces. Accounts differ as to how many, but Chaos was probably the first. The Ginnungagap of Norse mythology is similar to Chaos, a sort of nothingness, black hole, or chaotic, swirling disorder or state of conflict. Gaia, the Earth, came next. Eros and Tartaros may also have sprung into existence at about the same time. This is not a numbered generation because these forces were not generated, born, created, or otherwise produced. Either they were always there or they materialized, but the idea of generation involves some sort of creation, so the forces of Chaos, the earth (Gaia), love (Eros), and Tartaros are before the first generation.
Generation 1
The earth (Gaia) was the great mother, a creator. Gaia created and then mated with the heavens (Ouranos) and the sea (Pontos). She also produced, but did not mate with the mountains.
Generation 2
From Gaia's union with the heavens (Ouranos) came the Hecatonchires (hundred-handers: Kottos, Briareos, and Gyes), the three cyclops (Brontes, Sterope, and Arges), and the Titans (Kronos [Cronus], Rheia [Rhea], Kreios [Crius], Koios [Coeus], Phoibe [Phoebe], Okeanos [Oceanus], Tethys, Hyperion, Theia [Thea], Iapetos [Iapetus], Mnemosyne, and Themis).
Generation 3
From the Titan pair Kronos and his sister Rhea came the first Olympian gods (Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, and Hestia).
Generation 4
From the mating of Zeus and Hera came Ares, the cup-bearer Hebe, Hephaestus, and the goddess of childbirth Eileithuia. There are other, conflicting genealogies. For instance, Eros is also called the son of Iris, instead of the more conventional Aphrodite, or the primeval and uncreated force Eros; Hephaestus may have been born to Hera without aid of a male. [See table in illustration.]
In case it is not completely clear in this table where brothers marry sisters, Kronos (Cronos), Rheia (Rhea), Kreios, Koios, Phoibe (Phoebe), Okeanos (Oceanos), Tethys, Hyperion, Theia, Iapetos, Mnemosyne, and Themis are all offspring of Ouranos and Gaia. Likewise, Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter and Hestia are all offspring of Kronos and Rheia.
Sources: Timothy Gantz: Early Greek Myth
Hesiod Theogony, translated by Norman O. Brown
Myth in Daily Life | What Is Myth? | Myths vs. Legends | Gods in the Heroic Age - Bible vs. Biblos | Creation Stories | Uranos' Revenge | Titanomachy | Olympian Gods and Goddesses | Five Ages of Man | Philemon and Baucis | Prometheus | Trojan War | Bulfinch Mythology | Myths and Legends | Golden Fleece and the Tanglewood Tales, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Next: > Descendants of the Titans > Page 1, 2, 3, 4
