Aether facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Aether |
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| Primordial god of the upper sky | |
Aether in battle with a lion-headed Giant
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| Personal information | |
| Consort | Hemera |
| Children | Gaia, Thalassa, Uranus, Aergia, Pontus, Tartarus |
| Parents | Erebus and Nyx (Hesiod) or Chronos and Ananke (Orphic Hymns) or Chaos (Ovid, Hyginus) |
| Siblings | Hemera, Hypnos, Thanatos, Eris (Hesiod), Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos, Apate, Nemesis, Eleos, the Keres, Hecate, Alecto (variant accounts), Megaera (variant accounts) , Tisiphone (variant accounts), Lyssa, Apate, Dolos, Momus, Moros, Oizys |
Aether is a very old and important god in Greek mythology. He is known as the god of the "upper sky." This is the bright, clear air that gods breathe, different from the normal air we breathe. Aether is one of the first gods ever, called a primordial deity. This means he was one of the very first beings to exist in the universe.
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Aether's Family and Origins
Aether's parents were Erebus, the god of darkness, and Nyx, the goddess of night. He was born from these two powerful beings.
Other Stories of Aether's Birth
Some ancient stories tell a different tale about Aether's family.
Damascius's Account
The writer Damascius said that Aether was a sibling to Erebus and Chaos. In this version, all three were children of Chronos, who was known as Father Time.
The Cosmic Egg Story
Another interesting story comes from Epiphanius. It says the world began as a giant "cosmic egg." This egg was wrapped tightly by Time (Chronos) and Inevitability (Ananke). They squeezed the egg with great force.
This squeezing made the egg split into two halves. Then, all the tiny particles inside sorted themselves out. The lighter, finer parts floated up. These became the bright air (Aether or Ouranos) and the light wind (Chaos). The heavier, dirtier parts sank down. These became the Earth (Gaia) and the Ocean (Pontus or Oceanus).
