What is the Meaning & Definition of Theogony
Theogony is the title of a poetry of Hesiod, a Greek author who lived around the eighth century BC according to most historical sources
The plot of the Theogony is the origin of the universe, which according to the account of Hesiod appeared from chaos, from which emerged the cosmos yet, i.e., the universe. Primordial chaos appeared Erebus (God of darkness) and Nyx (the goddess of night) and the offspring of both gradually arose the gods who were forming the forces that it move all: love was encouraged by the intervention of Eros, Uranus is portrayed as the God of the sky and, ultimately, all the forces of nature are explained by the intervention of a deity. In this way, the Theogony is an explanation of all reality from the relationships between the gods and other divine forces as the Titans, the Olympian gods or the Cyclops.
-The work of Hesiod allows us to understand what the mythical story for the Greeks. Until the Greek civilization incorporated the rational mentality and philosophy, the only explanation for the whole of reality should be from a magical and pseudoracional mentality. Thus, the time was explained by the intervention of the God Cronos, the love for the impulse of Eros and discord by Eris participation (the Theogony gods are described with passions and impulses of humans, since the Greeks do not conceive the idea of God as a being omnipotent and unique).
You have to bear in mind that according to the majority of scholars of the Theogony, Hesiod introduces the different relationships of the gods and their participation in the life of men not as a literary history but as something completely real (according to various historical sources Hesiod acquired this knowledge from a revelation of the muses of Mount Helicon).
-Stories of the account of Hesiod allow to know an era, a mindset and the remote origin of Western culture, because it should not be forgotten that many concepts and ideas of the Theogony are present in art, philosophy, or history itself. At the same time, it is not difficult to give examples of the cultural trail that has left the Theogony in our language (words such as hypnosis, funeral, eroticism, Typhoon, Ocean, chronology, bread, harmony and many others).
Article contributed by the team of collaborators.
The plot of the Theogony is the origin of the universe, which according to the account of Hesiod appeared from chaos, from which emerged the cosmos yet, i.e., the universe. Primordial chaos appeared Erebus (God of darkness) and Nyx (the goddess of night) and the offspring of both gradually arose the gods who were forming the forces that it move all: love was encouraged by the intervention of Eros, Uranus is portrayed as the God of the sky and, ultimately, all the forces of nature are explained by the intervention of a deity. In this way, the Theogony is an explanation of all reality from the relationships between the gods and other divine forces as the Titans, the Olympian gods or the Cyclops.
Why is the Theogony of Hesiod it relevant to?
The vast majority of civilizations of antiquity share common elements. All of them explain the origin of the world according to a mythological story or cosmogony and, at the same time, each civilization articulates its own culture based on the stories and experiences of the gods of their own mythology. In this sense, the Theogony is more than a poetic work of a literary value, since it represents a testimony with two very significant dimensions:-The work of Hesiod allows us to understand what the mythical story for the Greeks. Until the Greek civilization incorporated the rational mentality and philosophy, the only explanation for the whole of reality should be from a magical and pseudoracional mentality. Thus, the time was explained by the intervention of the God Cronos, the love for the impulse of Eros and discord by Eris participation (the Theogony gods are described with passions and impulses of humans, since the Greeks do not conceive the idea of God as a being omnipotent and unique).
You have to bear in mind that according to the majority of scholars of the Theogony, Hesiod introduces the different relationships of the gods and their participation in the life of men not as a literary history but as something completely real (according to various historical sources Hesiod acquired this knowledge from a revelation of the muses of Mount Helicon).
-Stories of the account of Hesiod allow to know an era, a mindset and the remote origin of Western culture, because it should not be forgotten that many concepts and ideas of the Theogony are present in art, philosophy, or history itself. At the same time, it is not difficult to give examples of the cultural trail that has left the Theogony in our language (words such as hypnosis, funeral, eroticism, Typhoon, Ocean, chronology, bread, harmony and many others).
Article contributed by the team of collaborators.