Outline of Hesiod's Theogony |
|
Introduction |
1-35 |
Invocation of the Muses. |
36-115 |
Muses announce their intention to sing truth through Hesiod and the order of races in their song. |
|
Primordial Deities |
116-125 |
Chaos (=the "chasm" in West's trans.), an empty space that fills the Universe. Creation of Gaia (Earth), Tartaros (Underworld) and Eros (Desire). |
125-131 |
Chaos gives birth to Nyx (Night) and Erebos (Darkness); Gaia gives birth to Ourea (Mountains), Ouranos (Sky) and Pontos (Sea) by parthenogenesis. |
132-139 |
With Ouranos (=sky), Gaia (=earth) conceives the twelve Titans: Okeanos, Koios, Kreios, Hyperion, Iapetos, Thea, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne (=memory), Phoebe, Tethys, and Kronos. |
140-153 |
Again with Ouranos, Gaia bears the three Kyklopes and the three "Hundred-Handers." |
154-206 |
Castration of Ouranos by Kronos; creation of Aphrodite (an Olympian). |
207-232 |
Genealogy of Nyx: Various permutations of death, sleep, and sin/evil. |
233-336 |
Genealogies of the minor sea deities Nereus, Thaumus, Phorkys, Keto, and Eurybia; includes a large numbers of monsters. |
|
Genealogies of Titans |
337-374 |
Okeanos and Tethys (both Titans) give birth to over 6000 rivers and springs. |
375-403 |
Genealogies of Kreios and Eurybia and their offspring. |
404-452 |
Genealogies of Phoibe and Koios (Titans) and their offspring. |
453-458 |
Kronos and Rhea (Titans) give birth to the Hestia, Hera, Demeter, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus (all Olympian gods). |
459-506 |
Kronos swallows all his children except Zeus. Zeus prepares to overthrow Kronos. |
507-616 |
Genealogy of Iapetos. Hesiod uses this genealogy to interrupt Zeus' ascent to power and tell the stories of Prometheus and Pandora. This also completes the genealogies of the Titans. |
|
Zeus' Ascent to Power |
617-663 |
Zeus enlists the "Hundred-Handers" and sets up on Mount Olympus. |
664-719 |
Zeus and the "Hundred-Handers" defeat the Titans; Zeus casts the Titans deep into Tartaros. |
720-819 |
Extended description of the Titans' new home in Tartaros. |
820-840 |
Gaia, angered at Zeus' treatment of the Titans, and Tartaros conceive Typhoeus. |
841-868 |
With much difficulty, Zeus defeats Typhoeus and locks him in Tartaros. |
869-880 |
Description of Typhoeus trapped in Tartaros. |
|
Zeus'/Olympian Genealogy |
881-885 |
Zeus divides the Universe between himself (sky), Poseidon (sea), and Hades (underworld). |
886-911 |
Zeus sleeps with Metis, Thetis, and others from the Titan era. The Fates and Muses are his most notable offspring from these wives. |
912-929 |
Zeus conceives the Olympians Apollo, Artemis, Ares, and Athena; a jealous Hera conceives Hephaistos. |
930-962 |
Zeus produces the Olympians Hermes and Dionysus, as well as the hero Heracles. |
|
Mortals and Immortals |
963-968 |
Hesiod reinvokes the Muses and shifts gears to tell about goddesses sleeping with mortal men. |
969-1018 |
Immortal offspring of goddesses and mortal men. Note the prevalence of Homeric heroes (e.g. Aeneas, Achilles, and Odysseus) and tragic figures (e.g. Polydoros, Aeson, and Medea). |
1019-1022 |
Conclusion and segue to Catalogue of Women. |