ColossiansOne

celestial hierarchy

The Greek Succession

Hesiod's cosmos is a story of three generations violently replacing one another. The Olympians are not the original gods and do not pretend to be — they are the winners of the most recent round.

Theogony & Works and Days · c. 700 BCE

Entries per grouping

Source base of members

  • 80+13
  • 50–791

14 of 21 nodes link to a profile; the rest are structural labels from the source text.

21 nodes

the whole structure as one tree

The Greek SuccessionThe Greek SuccessionThe primordialsBefore anything had a shape.The primordials — Before anything had a shape.ChaosThe gap.Chaos — The gap.Gaia — earthGaia — earthOuranos — skyCastrated by his son; the Erin…Ouranos — sky — Castrated by his son; the Erinyes spring from his blood.The TitansOverthrown in the Titanomachy.The Titans — Overthrown in the Titanomachy.KronosSwallows his childre…Kronos — Swallows his children. Later identified with Roman Saturn.TyphonGaia's last challeng…Typhon — Gaia's last challenger to the new order.The OlympiansThe cosmos divided by lot betw…The Olympians — The cosmos divided by lot between three brothers.Zeus — the skyEnforcer of oaths an…Zeus — the sky — Enforcer of oaths and hospitality.Poseidon — the seaPoseidon — the seaHades — the unde…Rules by lot, not as…Hades — the underworld — Rules by lot, not as punishment.AthenaWar as strategy.Athena — War as strategy.AresWar as slaughter. Di…Ares — War as slaughter. Disliked by his own worshippers.ApolloSends plague and lif…Apollo — Sends plague and lifts it.HermesHerald, psychopomp, …Hermes — Herald, psychopomp, patron of thieves.The chthonic powersBelow, and older than the Olym…The chthonic powers — Below, and older than the Olympians they serve.PersephonePersephoneThe ErinyesBlood-guilt. Install…The Erinyes — Blood-guilt. Installed under the Areopagus at the end of the Oresteia.HecateHonoured above all b…Hecate — Honoured above all by Zeus in Hesiod.CharonTakes the fare.Charon — Takes the fare.The DaimonesGuardian spirits. Th…The Daimones — Guardian spirits. The word that became 'demon'.

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The book this structure comes from

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