Aether (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Aether, Æther, Aither, or Ether (; , , meaning "brightness"Gantz, p. 4.) is the personification of the bright upper sky. According to Hesiod, he was the son of Erebus (Darkness) and Nyx (Night), and the brother of Hemera (Day).Hard, p. 24; Grimal s.v. Aether; Tripp, s.v. Aether; The Oxford Classical Dictionary, s.v. Aither; Gantz, p. 4. In Orphic cosmogony, Aether was the offspring of Chronos (Time) and the brother of Chaos and Erebus.Athanassakis and Wolkow, p. 80.

Genealogy According to Hesiod's Theogony, which contained the "standard" Greek genealogy of the gods,Hard, p. 21; Fowler 2013, p. 5. Aether was the offspring of Erebus and Nyx, and the brother of Hemera.Fowler 2013, p. 5; Hard, pp. 23–24; Hesiod, Theogony 124–125. However, other early sources give other genealogies. According to one, the union of Erebus and Nyx resulted in Aether, Eros, and Metis (rather than Aether and Hemera), while according to another, Aether and Nyx were the parents of Eros (in Hesiod, the fourth god to come into existence after Chaos, Gaia (Earth), and Tartarus).Fowler 2013, pp. 5–6; Hard, p. 23; Acusilas fr. 6 Fowler (pp. 5–7); Hesiod, Theogony 116–122. Others tell us that Uranus (Sky) (in Hesiod, the son of Gaia) was Aether's son, and that "everything came from" Aether.Eumelus fr. 1 (West 2003, pp. 222–225); compare Callimachus, fr. 498.

In Orphic cosmogony Aether was the offspring of Chronus (Time), the first primordial deity, and the brother of Chaos and Erebus. And made from (or placed in) Aether was the cosmic egg, from which hatched Phanes/Protogonus, so Aether was sometimes said to be his father.Athanassakis and Wolkow, p. 80; West 1983, p. 70; Meisner, p. 187; Hard, p. 25. The Orphic Argonautica gives a theogony that begins with Chaos and Chronus, and has Chronus producing Aether and Eros.Meisner, p. 172; Orphic Argonautica 12–14; Orphic test. 224 Kern.

Aether also played a role in Roman genealogies of the gods. Cicero says that Aether and Dies (Day) were the parents of Caelus (Sky),Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3.44. and reports that according to the "so called theologians" Aether was the father of one of the "three Jupiters".Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3.53. According to Hyginus's (possibly confused)Bremmer, p. 5, calls the beginning of Hyginus' genealogy "a strange hodgepodge of Greek and Roman cosmogonies and early genealogies". genealogy, Nox (Night), Dies, Erebus, and Aether were the offspring of Chaos and Caligo (Mist), and Aether and Dies were the parents of Terra (Earth), Caelus (Sky) and Mare (Sea),Hyginus, Fabulae Theogony 1–2 (Smith and Trzaskoma, p. 95). and Aether and Terra were the parents of:

Sources Early For the ancient Greeks, the word aether (unpersonified), referred to the upper atmosphere, a material element of the cosmos.Athanassakis and Wolkow, p. 80. For example, Homer has Sleep climb: However, Aether (personified) figured prominently in early Greek cosmogony.Fowler 2013, p. 6. In Hesiod's Theogony, Chaos was the first being after which came Gaia (Earth), Tartarus, and Eros, then from Chaos came Erebus (Darkness) and Nyx (Night), and from Erebus and Nyx came Aether and Hemera (Day):Gantz, p. 4; Hesiod, Theogony 123–125.

According to a fragment of Hesiod, by his sister Hemera he is the father of a figure named Brotus.Brill's New Pauly, s.v. Aether. Aether perhaps also figured in the lost epic poem the Titanomachy (late seventh century BC?).West 2002, p. 109 says that the Titanomachy was "composed in the late seventh century at the earliest". Two ancient sources report statements about Aether, which they attribute to the "author of the Titanomachy". The Homeric Parsings (from Methodius), reports that Uranus was Aether's son,Gantz, p. 12; Grimal, s.v. Uranus; Eumelus fr. 1 (West 2003, pp. 222–225); compare Callimachus, fr. 498. According to Grimal the mother was "doubtless" Hemera, compare with Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3.44, which has Aether and Dies as the parents of Caelus (Sky). while Philodemus, in his De Pietate (On Piety), reports that "everything came from Aither".Eumelus fr. 1 (West 2003, pp. 222–225).

Aether also appears in genealogies attributed to the sixth-century BC logographer and mythographer Acusilaus.Fowler 2013, p. 6; Acusilas fr. 6 Fowler (pp. 5–7). According to the Neoplatonist Damascius (c. early sixth century), Acusilaus said that Aether was, along with Eros and Metis, the offspring Erebus and Nyx.Fowler 2013, p. 6. However, a scholion to Theocritus reports that, according to Acusilaus, Aether and Nyx were the parents of Eros.Fowler 2013, p. 6; Gantz, p. 3.

Orphic Aether played a significant role in Orphic cosmogony.West 1983, pp. 70, 198–200; Meisner (throughout, see index); Athanassakis and Wolkow, pp. 5, 80 (citing Orphic frr. 78, 111 Bernabé); Orphic frr. 30 [= Chrysippus, apud Philodemus, De Pietate (On Piety) pp. 80–81 Gomperz], 54 [= Damascius, De principiis 123.31–80], 60 [= Damascius, De principiis 123.8–30], 65 [= John Malalas, Chronographia 4.9 p. 74 Dindorf], 66 [= Proclus, Commentary on Plato's Republic 2.138.8 Kroll], 70 [= Damascius, De principiis 55], 72 [= Proclus, Commentary on Plato's Republic 2.138.18 Kroll], 73 [= Lactantius, Divine Institutes I, 5, 4–6 p. 13, 13 Brandt.], 74 [= Proclus, Commentary on Plato's Timaeus 31 a (I 433, 31 Diehl)], 75 [= Etymologicum Magnum p. 787.29, 76 [= Hermias, Commentary on Plato's Phaedrus 246e], 79 [= Proclus, Commentary on Plato's Timaeus 30 c, d (I 427, 20 Diehl)], 168 Kern; Orphic test. 224 Kern [= Orphic Argonautica 7–46. There are a large number of ancient texts which have been called "Orphic"; a few are extant, such as the Orphic Hymns, but most are not.West 1983, pp. 1–3; Meisner, pp. 4–5; Athanassakis and Wolkow, p. xi. Several important Orphic texts, which exist now only in fragments, have been called theogonies, since they contained material, similar to Hesiod's Theogony, which described the origin of the gods. At least three of these, the so-called "Derveni Theogony", the "Hieronyman Theogony", and the "Rhapsodic Theogony" or Rhapsodies,West 1983, pp. 68–69; Meisner, p. 1; Athanassakis and Wolkow, pp. xi–xii. contained references to Aether the personification as well as aether the material element.

Derveni Theogony The oldest of these theogonies, the Derveni Theogony, is a text which is extensively quoted in a commentary (dating to around the end of the 5th century BC) preserved in the Derveni papyrus.West 1983, pp. 75–77; Meisner, p. 1; Athanassakis and Wolkow, p. xi. For discussions of the Derveni papyrus and theogony see West 1983, Chapter 3: "The Protogonos and Derveni Theogonies" (pp. 68–115); Meisner, Chapter 2: "The Derveni Papyrus" (pp. 51–85). For this dating of the text preserved in the Derveni papyrus, see Kouremenos, Parássoglou, and Tsantsanoglou, p. 10. One of these quotes contains a reference to aether the material element:Meisner, pp. 31–32, 69, 80–81.

Also possibly from the Derveni Theogony is the idea, from a fragment of Chrysippus (preserved in Philodemus, De Pietate (On Piety)), that "everywhere is aither, which itself is both father and son".Meisner, p. 103; Orphic fr. 30 Kern [= Chrysippus, apud Philodemus, De Pietate (On Piety) pp. 80–81 Gomperz]. Meisner, p. 103 n. 77 says that Bernabé "relates this fragment to the Derveni poem."

Hieronyman Theogony The early 6th-century Neoplatonist Damascius, in his De principiis (On First Principles) comments on an Orphic text, which he describes as "under the names of Hieronymus and Hellanicus, if indeed this is not the same".Damascius, De principiis 123.31–32 (White, pp. 232, 233); West 1983, p. 176. This text is called the "Hieronyman Theogony" (second century BC).Meisner, p. 1. For discussions of the Hieronyman Theogony, see West 1983, Chapter 4: "The Hieronyman Theogony" (pp. 176–226); Meisner, Chapter 4: "The Hieronyman Theogony" (pp. 119–157). For Damascius' entire account of the Hieronyman Theogony, see De principiis 123.31–80 (White, pp. 232–237) [= Orphic fr. 54 Kern. Damascius says that the Hieronyman Theogony had "serpent Time" as the father of three offspring, "moist Aether", "limitless Chaos" and "misty Erebos".Damascius, De principiis 123.56–58 (White, pp. 234, 235) West 1983, p. 198. Although Meisner, p. 144, reads Damascius as saying that "Chronos mates with Necessity" (Ananke), "who gives birth to Aither, Chaos, and Erebus", West 1983, pp. 198–199, argues against such a reading, saying "Although Chronos and Ananke make a well-matched male and female pair, the sources agree in speaking of Chronos alone as parent."

Rhapsodic Theogony Also in his De principiis, Damascius briefly summarizes the "standard Orphic theology" as found in another text, which he refers to as "these Orphic Rhapsodies currently circulating".Damascius, De principiis 123.8–30 (White, pp. 228–231) [= Orphic fr. 60. According to Damascius, the Rhapsodies (first century BC/AD?),West 1983, p. 261; Meisner, p. 5. began with Chronus from which came two offspring, Aether and Chaos:West 1983, p. 230; Meisner p. 187.

The 5th-century Greek Neoplatonist Proclus, in his Commentary on Plato's Republic, quotes the following verses from the Rhapsodies:

Here Chasm is another name for Chaos.West 1983, p. 199; Meisner, p. 188. In another passage from the De principiis, Damascius quotes other verses from the Rhapsodies:

While Proclus, in his Commentary on Plato's Timaeus, describes the Orphic cosmic egg as "born from Aither and Chaos",West 1983, p. 200; Proclus, Commentary on Plato's Timaeus 30 c, d (I 427, 20 Diehl)] [= Orphic fr. 79 Kern. and calls Phanes the "son of Aither".West 1983, p. 200; Proclus, Commentary on Plato's Timaeus 31 a (I 433, 31 Diehl)] [= Orphic fr. 74 Kern; so also Orphic fr. 73 Kern [= Lactantius, Divine Institutes I, 5, 4–6 p. 13, 13 Brandt.]. However, concerning these passages of Proclus, West 1983, p. 200, cautions: "We must be ... prepared not to attach too literal a sense to Proclus' description of the egg as 'born from Aither and Chaos' (fr. 79), or to verses in which Protogonos, who came from the egg, is styled 'son of Aither' (frr. 73, 74). It seems clear that Aither was not represented as a person, only as a material element." Proclus also says that, when Phanes hatched from the cosmic egg, Aether and Chasm were split.West 1983, pp. 70, 203; Gantz, p. 742; Proclus, Commentary on Plato's Republic 2.138.18 Kroll] [= Orphic fr. 72 Kern.

Aether, the material element is also mentioned twice in a thirty-two line hymn-like passage to Zeus which was apparently part of the Rhapsodies in which various parts of the physical cosmos are associated with parts of Zeus' body.West 1983, pp. 89, 239–241; Meisner, pp. 105–107, 112; Orphic fr. 168 Kern. Line 8 lists things contained in Zeus' body:

while line 17 says:

Also possibly drawn from the Rhapsodies is an account of the creation of the world attributed to "Orpheus" by the sixth century AD chronographer John Malalas:Meisner, pp. 173–174, 205; John Malalas, Chronographia 4.9 [= Orphic fr. 65 Kern.

Another Orphic verse fragment, also possibly from the Rhapsodies, is quoted in the Etymologicum Magnum'''s entry on the name Phanes:Meisner, p. 195; Etymologicum Magnum p. 787.29 [= Orphic fr. 75 Kern.

Hymn to Aether The Orphic Hymns (2nd or 3rd centuries AD?) are a collection of eighty-seven poems addressed to various deities or abstractions.Athanassakis and Wolkow, p. x; Meisner, p. 4. The fifth Orphic Hymn, which prescribes an offering of saffron,Malamis, p. 31. addresses Aether as follows:

Aether (mythology)

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