The Creation of the World
In the beginning was Chaos. Chaos is neither good nor bad, it just exists. Chaos is the natural state of existence, as the world tends to atrophy back into Chaos any opportunity it has. Some say Chaos was the first goddess, but it is more accurate to describe Chaos as the absence of order. But something about existence also has a tendency to create order, and because of this, Gaia formed out of Chaos and became the oldest, most ancient, most primal of Creation. Gaia was destined to be the Mother of All, so her most dominant characteristic was loneliness until she started to give birth to her many offspring.
The first of her children was Ouranos, the night sky, who became her virile husband. In all the ways that Gaia was full of love to share, a desire to create, and nurturing care, Ouranos was the opposite, with self interest, a desire to rule, and an appetite to satisfy his own wants. He would visit Gaia each night without fail, blanketing her body with his great mass, and have his way with her. His favorite time of the day was when he first came upon Gaia at dusk as she would give way to his every bidding as a passive receiver of the darkness. He ruled the world, and it was good.
The only disgust he had was the result of his nightly tryst, which resulted in prolific creation, one by one a child born of the fertile earth after each nightly visit. Sex by night, birthing by day. These noisome creatures populated the earth and bothersomely took some of Gaia’s attention and love away from Ouranos who considered himself the rightful center of her being. So he greedily demanded that she hide them each away during the half of the day that was his turn. Even this compromise was unhappy for him, the spoiled ruler of the world, and for her, who loved all of her children dearly.
He went about his business with an immature dictatorial attitude, unbeknownst as Gaia devised a plan to save her sons and daughters. Gaia forged from her deepest minerals a sharp blade. She gave it to her strongest son, the titan Cronos, since he was the bravest, or the most foolish, or the only one to agree to Gaia’s plan. She gave him instructions to wait until dusk when Ouranos visited her and just as he was making his first thrust, he was to swipe the blade and castrate his father.
Cronos waited, then seized the moment and bravely, or foolishly, brought the blade across in one quick stroke. *SLASH* the blade sounded. Blood flew everywhere. Ouranos’ penis and testicles arched up and away from his body as if they had been pitched. Ouranos was in a moment suspended in shock, in the next screaming in pain.
The drops of blood did not land, instead turning into the furies, the little powers that take over right behind the ears at the top of the neck when someone is unspeakably angry. The discarded penis and testicles fell into the ocean, never to be seen again. But in the spot where they landed, out from the waves sprang Aphrodite, goddess of love, beauty, and passion. Cronos sheathed his blade and took the crown from his impotent father.
Cronos, together with his sister queen Rhea, ruled the age of the Titans that would come to be known as the Golden Era. Cronos was generally a good king and life prospered. Rhea had just one fault to find in him. Cronos could not forget the horror of how he dethroned his father with his blade, so he took precautions so that no child of his could ever replicate his betrayal. Each time Rhea gave birth, Cronos took the infant and *GULP* in one swallow he ate the baby whole. He did this with baby after baby.
Grieving Rhea approached Gaia and asked what could be done. Gaia sympathized with Rhea, recognizing the same greed for power in Cronos as in Ouranos, and devised another plan. She handed Rhea a large stone and instructed her to swaddle it as if it were a newborn baby and present it to Cronos the next time she gave birth. Rhea did as told, and Cronos did not hesitate to swallow the swaddled stone as he had done with his previous descendants before.
Gaia took rescued infant and hid him away in a cave in her vast earth until he grew strong enough to challenge his father as his father had challenged his father before him. Zeus was his name. Gaia offered him the same sharp blade and told him of his father’s father’s fate, and then his father’s fate, and then his own fate he was yet to fulfill. Zeus took up the blade and in doing so accepted his duty to destiny.
He went to his father and as the look of recognition, of his fate more than of his son spread on Cronos’ face, Zeus plunged the blade into the depths of his father’s stomach. Cronos sputtered in shock and first the swaddled stone popped out of his mouth. Then Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Hestia, and Demeter—the sons and daughters of Rhea—emerged from the gorged innards. Each one took up arms and fought for the power to rule, the gods versus the titans, with Prometheus and Epimetheus being the only ones of Cronos’ generation to fight on the side of the gods.
After years of conflict between the two generations, the gods won the war against the titans. The sons of Rhea split the territories to each rule their part—Zeus to rule the sky, Poseidon to rule the sea, and Hades to rule the underworld.
Is order preferable to chaos?