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96-401: Night is a prominent figure in several theogonies of Orphic literature , in which she is often described as the mother of Uranus and Gaia . In the earliest Orphic cosmogonies, she is the first deity to exist, while in the later Orphic Rhapsodies , she is the daughter and consort of Phanes , and the second ruler of the gods. She delivers prophecies to Zeus from an adyton , and is described as

192-576: A "wind-egg" from which Eros is born: In the beginning were Chaos and Night and black Erebus and broad Tartarus, and no Earth, Air, or Sky. And in the boundless bosom of Erebus did black-winged Night at the very start bring forth a wind egg, from which as the seasons revolved came forth Eros the seductive, like to swift whirlwinds, his back aglitter with wings of gold. A passage from Euripides ' play Hypsipyle (performed c. 411–407) also makes reference to Night and other early deities, seemingly containing traces of an early Orphic theogony: O mistress ... of

288-466: A black sheep. Orphic literature Orphism (more rarely Orphicism ; Ancient Greek : Ὀρφικά , romanized :  Orphiká ) is the name given to a set of religious beliefs and practices originating in the ancient Greek and Hellenistic world, associated with literature ascribed to the mythical poet Orpheus , who descended into the Greek underworld and returned. This type of journey

384-529: A column which signifies the edge of the world, and is followed by Selene and Helios (or Eos). She is sometimes also shown wearing a dress which has black borders, or has a black piece of cloth placed on her clothes; on an Attic kylix, for example, is a winged figure (probably Nyx) wearing a black-bordered peplos, walking behind the horse of Selene. Following the 5th century BC, depictions of Nyx no longer show her alongside other celestial deities, and most representations are uncertain. She has been identified as one of

480-463: A few similarities. Others argue that the two traditions share a common origin and can even be considered a single entity, termed " Orphico-Pythagoreanism ." The belief that Pythagoreanism was a subset or direct descendant of Orphic religion existed by late antiquity, when Neoplatonist philosophers took the Orphic origin of Pythagorean teachings at face value. Proclus wrote: In the fifteenth century,

576-465: A more detailed account of the event. In Hesiod 's Theogony (late 8th century BC), which the Greeks considered the "standard" account of the origin of the gods, Nyx is one of the earliest beings to exist, as the offspring of Chaos alongside Erebus (Darkness); in the first sexual coupling, she and Erebus produce their personified opposites, Aether and Hemera (Day). Hesiod also makes Nyx, without

672-461: A mythological figure. Despite this, even these authors of the 5th and 4th centuries BC noted a strong similarity between the two doctrines. In fact, some claimed that rather than being an initiate of Orphism, Pythagoras was actually the original author of the first Orphic texts. Specifically, Ion of Chios claimed that Pythagoras authored poetry which he attributed to the mythical Orpheus, and Epigenes, in his On Works Attributed to Orpheus , attributed

768-502: A number of beliefs about the afterlife similar to those in the "Orphic" mythology about Dionysus ' death and resurrection. Bone tablets found in Olbia (5th century BC) carry short and enigmatic inscriptions like: "Life. Death. Life. Truth. Dio(nysus). Orphics." The function of these bone tablets is unknown. Gold-leaf tablets found in graves from Thurii , Hipponium , Thessaly and Crete (4th century BC and after) give instructions to

864-459: A number of early cosmogonies other than Hesiod's, where she is similarly mentioned among the earliest deities. The philosopher Philodemus , writing in his De pietate ( On Piety ), reports that the legendary poet Musaeus considered Tartarus and Night to be the first beings to exist, followed by Air. Philodemus also writes that, according to Epimenides (7th or 6th century BC), the two first principles are Air and Night, from which "everything else

960-457: A partner (though this view has been criticised), while other scholars have suggested that Aether may have been the father, or Phanes. Gábor Betegh also adds Gaia as the offspring of Night in the poem, alongside Uranus. In the poem, Night was called the "immortal nurse of the gods" (as quoted in the Derveni papyrus), and in its narrative she nurtures and gives shelter to the young Zeus. Later in

1056-510: A philosophical treatise that is an allegorical commentary on an Orphic poem in hexameters, a theogony concerning the birth of the gods, produced in the circle of the philosopher Anaxagoras , written in the second half of the fifth century BC. Fragments of the poem are quoted making it "the most important new piece of evidence about Greek philosophy and religion to come to light since the Renaissance". The papyrus dates to around 340 BC, during

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1152-530: A primordial role to Night. Several writers describe the elemental mass from which Chronos emerges as dark and shadowy in nature, while the Byzantine author John Malalas reports that in Orpheus it is "gloomy Night" who "[comes] first", and Damascius similarly refers to Night as the "first being". When the god Phanes springs from the cosmic egg created by Chronos, there emerges a bright light, at which point Night

1248-600: A progenitor, she is addressed in the Hymn as Cypris (an epithet of Aphrodite). In the proem to the Hymns , in which Orpheus addresses Musaeus , she is similarly called the "oldest of all". The later Orphic Argonautica (4th or 5th centuries AD) also mentions "holy oracles of Night about the lord Bacchus", seemingly referring to the Rhapsodies. In ancient Greek and Roman art, Nyx is often difficult to identify, as she lacks

1344-520: A re-ordering of Hesiod 's Theogony , based in part on pre-Socratic philosophy . The suffering and death of the god Dionysus at the hands of the Titans has been considered the central myth of Orphism. According to this myth, the infant Dionysus is killed, torn apart, and consumed by the Titans. In retribution, Zeus strikes the Titans with a thunderbolt, turning them to ash. From these ashes, humanity

1440-402: A ritual purification and reliving of the suffering and death of the god. Orphics believed that they would, after death, spend eternity alongside Orpheus and other heroes. The uninitiated ( Ancient Greek : ἀμύητος , romanized :  amúētos ), they believed, would be reincarnated indefinitely. Orphism is named after the legendary poet-hero Orpheus , who was said to have originated

1536-501: A role in cult. According to Pausanias , there was an oracle which belonged to Night on the acropolis of Megara , alongside temples to Dionysus Nyktelios and Zeus, and a sanctuary of Aphrodite . A scholiast on Pindar claims that Nyx was the earliest owner of the Oracle of Delphi , and was followed in this role by Themis and Python , while according to Menander Rhetor , Apollo competed with Nyx, Poseidon , and Themis for control of

1632-500: A sceptre which he created himself, handing it on to her willingly, and that after her own time as ruler, she too passes on the sceptre voluntarily, giving it to her son Uranus. When Phanes gives her the sceptre, he seemingly also confers upon her the gift of prophecy. Proclus reports that Night is called the "immortal nurse of the gods" in the Rhapsodies, as she is the Derveni Theogony, and Damascius similarly refers to her as

1728-522: A shorter length composed in the Roman Imperial age. The Orphic Argonautica ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : Ὀρφέως Ἀργοναυτικά ) is a Greek epic poem dating from the 4th century CE of unknown authorship. It is narrated in the first person in the name of Orpheus and tells the story of Jason and the Argonauts . The narrative is basically similar to that in other versions of the story, such as

1824-488: A specific defined appearance, and it can be hard to distinguish her from other deities, such as Selene and Eos . According to Pausanias , she was depicted on the chest of Cypselus (6th century BC) as the nurse of Hypnos and Thanatos , where she held the two gods, portrayed as children, in each of her hands. In the 5th century BC, Nyx appears on a number of vases alongside other celestial deities such as Helios , Selene, and Eos. The earliest surviving representation of Nyx

1920-417: A story in which Nyx saves Hypnos from the anger of Zeus . When Hera comes to Hypnos and attempts to persuade him into lulling Zeus to sleep, he refuses, reminding her of the last time she asked the same favour of him, when it had allowed her to persecute Heracles without her husband's knowledge. Hypnos recounts that once Zeus awoke, he was furious, and would have hurled him into the sea, had he not fled to

2016-469: Is an Attic lekythos (c. 500 BC), which shows her driving a two-horse chariot away from Helios, who is ascending into the sky in his quadriga at the start of the new day. Most depictions of Nyx portray her as having wings, and in early representations she is usually shown riding in a chariot. On the lid of a 5th-century BC Athenian pyxis, for example, she is a winged figure driving a chariot pulled by four horses, with stars dotted above her head; she rides towards

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2112-544: Is born. In Orphic belief, this myth describes humanity as having a dual nature: body ( Ancient Greek : σῶμα , romanized :  sôma ), inherited from the Titans, and a divine spark or soul ( Ancient Greek : ψυχή , romanized :  psukhḗ ), inherited from Dionysus. In order to achieve salvation from the Titanic, material existence, one had to be initiated into the Dionysian mysteries and undergo teletē ,

2208-461: Is called a katabasis and is the basis of several hero worships and journeys. Orphics revered Dionysus (who once descended into the Underworld and returned) and Persephone (who annually descended into the Underworld for a season and then returned). Orphism has been described as a reform of the earlier Dionysian religion , involving a re-interpretation or re-reading of the myth of Dionysus and

2304-523: Is constituted"; the Neoplatonist Damascius adds to this, stating that from Air and Night is born Tartarus, who in turn produces two Titans (by Night?). Damascius also writes that the logographer and mythographer Acusilaus (6th century BC) believed that Chaos precedes Erebus and Night, and that this pair then produce Aether, Eros , and Metis ; a scholium on Theocritus , in contrast, states that Acusilaus considered Night and Aether to be

2400-521: Is copulating with this feminine half. Dwayne Meisner, however, rejects the idea that there were three separate Nights in the poem, and interprets Hermias's passage in terms of Neoplatonic allegory. One passage from Proclus apparently describes there as being five Nights, as opposed to three. The fifth of the Orphic Hymns (2nd century AD?) is dedicated to Night, and describes her as the "mother of gods and men", who "gave birth to all"; in this role as

2496-491: Is described as the "first goddess" in the first book of Chrysippus ' Physics , and mentions another cosmogony (the origin of which he does not specify), in which Night and Tartarus are the first pair, from whom "all things are born". Authors following Hesiod similarly describe Nyx as living at the ends of the Earth. The choral lyric poet Alcman (7th century BC), as recorded by a scholium on Sophocles , considered Nyx to live in

2592-562: Is not certain. Orphic views and practices have parallels to elements of Pythagoreanism , and various traditions hold that the Pythagoreans or Pythagoras himself authored early Orphic works; alternately, later philosophers believed that Pythagoras was an initiate of Orphism. The extent to which one movement may have influenced the other remains controversial. Some scholars maintain that Orphism and Pythagoreanism began as separate traditions which later became confused and conflated due to

2688-421: Is on her recommendation that he takes Nomos (Law) to sit beside him. Night also prophesies that Themis , who becomes Zeus's consort, will continue to be a virgin until a son of Cronus and Rhea is born. Several fragments from the Rhapsodies seem to refer to three separate deities named Night. Hermias reports that "three Nights have been transmitted in Orpheus", and gives them the following descriptions: He says

2784-478: Is the mother of Tartarus by Aether, while in others, she is described as the mother of Eros by Aether, or the mother of Aether, Eros, and Metis by Erebus. The poet Bacchylides apparently considered Nyx to be the mother of Hemera by Chronos (Time), and elsewhere mentions Hecate as her daughter. Aeschylus mentions Nyx as the mother of the Erinyes (Furies), while Euripides considered Lyssa (Madness) to be

2880-685: Is the mother of the Moirai, apparently by the Titan Cronus . In the Dionysiaca of Nonnus , Nyx is the offspring of Chaos, as she is in Hesiod's Theogony , while in a genealogy given by the 12th-century writer Michael of Ephesus (incorrectly attributed to Alexander of Aphrodisias ), she is the offspring of Oceanus , and the mother of Uranus. Homer , in the Iliad (c. 8th century BC), relates

2976-908: Is the offspring of Chaos , alongside Erebus (Darkness), by whom she becomes the mother of Aether and Hemera (Day). Without the assistance of a father, Nyx produces Moros (Doom, Destiny), Ker (Destruction, Death), Thanatos (Death), Hypnos (Sleep), the Oneiroi (Dreams), Momus (Blame), Oizys (Pain, Distress), the Hesperides , the Moirai (Fates), the Keres , Nemesis (Indignation, Retribution), Apate (Deceit), Philotes (Love), Geras (Old Age), and Eris (Strife). A number of these offspring are similarly described as her children by later authors. Other early sources, however, give genealogies which differ from Hesiod's. According to one such account, she

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3072-461: Is the only one who looks upon him. Phanes then creates the cosmos, doing so from within the cave of Night; a passage from the Rhapsodies states that "these things are what the father made in the misty cave", and the Neoplatonist philosopher Hermias describes Phanes as being seated in the "shrine of Night". Damascius similarly records that the two deities live together, while Proclus refers to

3168-706: The Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius , on which it is probably based. The main differences are the emphasis on the role of Orpheus and a more mythological, less realistic technique of narration. In the Argonautica Orphica , unlike in Apollonius Rhodius, it is claimed that the Argo was the first ship ever built. The Derveni papyrus, found in Derveni , Macedonia (Greece) , in 1962, contains

3264-550: The Little Iliad of Lesches , span the contest between Aias and Odysseus for the arms of Achilles, the death of Aias of suicide after his loss, the exploits of Neoptolemus , Eurypylus and Deiphobus , the deaths of Paris and Oenone , and the building of the wooden horse . As well as drawing inspiration from Lesches' work, it is likely that these books gathered source material from Greek tragedy , such as Sophocles ' depiction of Ajax . The remaining books, covering

3360-458: The Eridanus river "ris[es] from the end of the earth, where the gates and precincts of Night are located", locating her home in the far west. Among descriptions of Nyx in 5th century BC tragedy, Euripides , in his play Ion , represents her as being "robed in black", and her chariot as being pulled by two horses. He reports that she prepares her chariot as Helios finishes his journey across

3456-505: The Mysteries of Dionysus . However, Orpheus was more closely associated with Apollo than to Dionysus in the earliest sources and iconography. According to some versions of his mythos, he was the son of Apollo, and during his last days, he shunned the worship of other gods and devoted himself to Apollo alone. Poetry containing distinctly Orphic beliefs has been traced back to the 6th century BC or at least 5th century BC, and graffiti of

3552-505: The Sibyl . Of this vast literature, only two works survived whole: the Orphic Hymns , a set of 87 poems, possibly composed at some point in the second or third century, and the epic Orphic Argonautica , composed somewhere between the fourth and sixth centuries. Earlier Orphic literature, which may date back as far as the sixth century BC, survives only in papyrus fragments or in quotations. The Orphic Hymns are 87 hexametric poems of

3648-467: The Titans to murder the child. Zagreus is then tricked with a mirror and children's toys by the Titans, who shred him to pieces and consume him. Athena saves the heart and tells Zeus of the crime, who in turn hurls a thunderbolt on the Titans . The resulting soot, from which sinful mankind is born, contains the bodies of the Titans and Zagreus. The soul of man (the Dionysus part) is therefore divine, but

3744-562: The "ancient version" ( la version ancienne ), which he sees as the earliest Orphic theogony. In this work, he believes that Night is, by herself, the first being to exist (a position she loses in later Orphic theogonies), and that she produces an egg from which comes Eros (as she does in Aristophanes' parody), from whom all things arise. Alberto Bernabé  [ es ] similarly sees these fragments as alluding to an "ancient" theogony ( priscae Orphicae theogoniae ) which centred around

3840-483: The "nurse of all things". In the poem's narrative, she is described as raising her grandson Cronus , though West suggests that she may have nurtured all of the Titans. According to Hermias, the young Zeus is reared in the cave of Night by the nymphs Amalthea and Adrasteia , the latter of which protects the child by standing at the door of the cave, clanging cymbals. Once Zeus reaches adulthood, Night delivers several prophecies to him, presumably from this same cave. During

3936-585: The 4th century AD, but earlier dates have also been proposed. His epic in fourteen books, known as the Posthomerica , covers the period between the end of Homer 's Iliad and the end of the Trojan War . Its primary importance is as the earliest surviving work to cover this period, the archaic works in the Epic Cycle , which he knew and drew upon, having been lost. His materials are borrowed from

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4032-511: The 4th century, Dorotheus , known for his Greek epic poem The Vision of Dorotheus , has been identified as the son of Quintus Smyrnaeus. At the end of the manuscript of his Vision , he identifies himself as "Dorotheus, son of Quintus the poet". This identification is supported by the facts that there is no other poet Quintus in this period and Dorotheus uses the same Homeric poetic structure as Quintus. The plot of Posthomerica begins where Homer's Iliad ends, immediately after Hector 's body

4128-414: The 5th century BC apparently refers to "Orphics". The Derveni papyrus allows Orphic mythology to be dated to the end of the 5th century BC, and it is probably even older. Orphic views and practices are attested as by Herodotus , Euripides , and Plato . Plato refers to "Orpheus-initiators" ( Ὀρφεοτελεσταί ), and associated rites, although how far "Orphic" literature in general related to these rites

4224-472: The Bacchic One himself released you. Quintus Smyrnaeus Quintus Smyrnaeus (also Quintus of Smyrna ; Greek : Κόϊντος Σμυρναῖος , Kointos Smyrnaios ) was a Greek epic poet whose Posthomerica , following "after Homer", continues the narration of the Trojan War . The dates of Quintus Smyrnaeus' life and poetry are disputed: by tradition, he is thought to have lived in the latter part of

4320-492: The Neoplatonic Greek scholar Constantine Lascaris (who found the poem Argonautica Orphica ) considered a Pythagorean Orpheus. Bertrand Russell (1947) noted: Study of early Orphic and Pythagorean sources, however, is more ambiguous concerning their relationship, and authors writing closer to Pythagoras' own lifetime never mentioned his supposed initiation into Orphism, and in general regarded Orpheus himself as

4416-508: The Nights as three separate deities who appear in different parts of the poem's narrative. He sees the first Night as a primordial deity, eternal in nature, and the offspring of Chronos, and interprets this as the Night who observes Phanes at his emergence from the egg; he views her as the same figure described as the nurse of the gods, as well as the Night who prophesies, claiming that she receives

4512-602: The Parcae (Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos), and the Hesperides (Aegle, Hesperia, and Erythea). Several other Roman sources mention Nox as the mother of the Furies, with Pluto sometimes given as the father. In an early Orphic source, in which Nyx is the first deity to exist, she is the mother of Uranus, possibly without a father. In a later account, she is described as both the consort and daughter of Phanes , by whom she becomes

4608-695: The Parcae, the Hesperides, and the Somnia (Dreams). In the genealogy given by the Roman mythographer Hyginus , Nox is the offspring of Chaos and Caligo (Mist), alongside Dies (Day), Erebus (Darkness), and Aether. With Erebus, she produces Fatum (Fate), Senectus (Old Age), Mors (Death), Letum (Destruction), Continentia (Strife), Somnus (Sleep), the Somnia (Dreams), Lysimeles (Thoughtfulness), Epiphron (Hedymeles), Porphyrion, Epaphus, Discordia (Discord), Miseria (Misery), Petulantia (Petulance), Nemesis, Euphrosyne (Cheerfulness), Amicitia (Friendship), Misericordia (Pity), Styx ,

4704-662: The Stars come behind her in her journey, with Sleep following after them. In the Thebaid , Statius reports that Sleep is her "charioteer", while Ovid , in his Fasti , describes her as wearing a "wreath of poppy" around her head. In the works of Greek poets, Thetis is a Nereid who attracts the attention of both Zeus and Poseidon , until they receive a prophecy from the Titan Themis warning them that any son she produces will be greater in power than his father; according to

4800-403: The aid of a father, the mother of a number of abstract personifications, which are primarily negative in nature. Despite their abstract nature, however, to the Greeks these deities would have represented forces which "exercise[d] a real power in the world". Hesiod locates the home of Nyx at the far western end of the Earth, though it is unclear whether or not he considered it to be beyond Oceanus ,

4896-624: The alternation of Nyx and Hemera, referring to "the gates of the ways of Night and Day", and, according to Walter Burkert , he considered the Heliades to live in the house of Night. In tragedy, the Orestes of Euripides (5th century BC) states that Nyx has her abode in Erebus, while a fragment of Sophocles mentions the "springs of Night", which are located in the north. Later, Apollonius of Rhodes (3rd century BC) writes in his Argonautica that

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4992-678: The authorship of several influential Orphic poems to notable early Pythagoreans, including Cercops. According to Cicero , Aristotle also claimed that Orpheus never existed, and that the Pythagoreans ascribed some Orphic poems to Cercon (see Cercops ). Belief in metempsychosis was common to both currents, although it also seems to contain differences. Where the Orphics taught about a cycle of grievous embodiments that could be escaped through their rites, Pythagoras seemed to teach about an eternal, neutral metempsychosis against which personal actions would be irrelevant. The Neoplatonists regarded

5088-492: The birth of Eros from an egg, produced by "Chaos-Night". Night seems to have been considered the first deity in the earliest known Orphic cosmogonies. The oldest Orphic theogony in which Night is known to have appeared is the Eudemian Theogony (5th century BC), which receives its name from the philosopher Eudemus of Rhodes , a student of Aristotle , who spoke of an Orphic theogony in one of his works; this theogony

5184-648: The body (the Titan part) holds the soul in bondage. Thus, it was declared that the soul returns to a host ten times, bound to the wheel of rebirth . Following the punishment, the dismembered limbs of Zagreus were cautiously collected by Apollo who buried them in his sacred land Delphi . In Orphic theogonies, the Orphic Egg is a cosmic egg from which hatched the primordial hermaphroditic deity Phanes/Protogonus (variously equated also with Zeus , Pan , Metis , Eros , Erikepaios and Bromius ), who in turn created

5280-407: The couple as the "two rulers in the sky ... seated eternally in the innermost shrine". In the poem's narrative, Night is both the consort and his daughter of Phanes, and, by him, becomes the mother of Uranus and Gaia. She is described as the second ruler of the gods, being preceded in this role by Phanes, and followed by her son Uranus. Proclus relates that Phanes passes on his rule to Nyx by giving her

5376-418: The creation of the cosmos, at a time when the universe sits in a state of "cold and passive darkness". In a surviving line from the poem, quoted in the Derveni papyrus, she is described as the mother of Uranus: Ouranos, son of Night, who was the first to become king It is unclear, however, whether or not there was a father, and, if there was, what his identity was: Bernabé argues that Night produces him without

5472-571: The cyclic poems from which Virgil (with whose works he was probably acquainted) also drew, in particular the Aethiopis ( Coming of Memnon ) and the Iliupersis ( Destruction of Troy ) of Arctinus of Miletus , and the Ilias Mikra ( Little Iliad ) of Lesches . His work is closely modeled on Homer. The dates of Quintus's life are controversial, but they are traditionally placed in

5568-467: The daughter of Nyx and Uranus . Nox, the Roman equivalent of Nyx, features in several genealogies given by Roman authors. According to Cicero , Aether and Dies (Day) are the children of Nox and Erebus, in addition to Amor (Love), Dolus (Guile), Metus (Fear), Labor (Toil), Invidentia (Envy), Fatum (Fate), Senectus (Old Age), Mors (Death), Tenebrae (Darkness), Miseria (Misery), Querella (Lamentation), Gratia (Favour), Fraus (Fraud), Pertinacia (Obstinacy),

5664-409: The dead . Although these thin tablets are often highly fragmentary, collectively they present a shared scenario of the passage into the afterlife. When the deceased arrives in the underworld, he is expected to confront obstacles. He must take care not to drink of Lethe ("Forgetfulness"), but of the pool of Mnemosyne ("Memory"). He is provided with formulaic expressions with which to present himself to

5760-644: The deities fighting against the Giants on the Gigantomachy frieze of the Pergamon Altar (2nd century BC), where she is shown grabbing the edge of a shield belonging to bearded giant, and in her other hand holds a jar with a snake wrapped around it. In later depictions, Nyx is often portrayed as a velificans (with a veil billowing behind her head), and on Roman sarcophagi is a figure who puts others to sleep. There exist few examples of Nyx having played

5856-533: The deities who are placed as "the first" by "the ancient poets". In addition, the Byzantine author John the Lydian writes in his De Mensibus that "three first beginnings of generation sprouted out, according to Orpheus: Night, Ge, and Ouranos", a passage which scholars have seen as referring to the Eudemian Theogony. Because of this, it has been proposed that Night, presumably on her own, is described as

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5952-410: The existence of an "old" or "ancient" Orphic theogony, in which Night was one of the earliest figures. The earliest of these is a passage from Aristophanes ' comedy The Birds (414 BC), which presents a parody of a cosmogony, often considered to have been derived from an Orphic theogony. Night is described as one of the first beings to come into existence, alongside Chaos, Erebus and Tartarus, and lays

6048-593: The far north, describing the Riphean Mountains as being "breast of black night". In the Geryoneis of Stesichorus (6th century BC), Nyx appears to live beyond Oceanus in the far west, as Stesichorus writes that after Helios crosses the river at the end of the day, he "reach[es] the depths of holy, dark night". The Pre-Socratic philosopher Parmenides (6th or 5th centuries BC), in the proem to his philosophical treatise, appropriates Hesiod's description of

6144-489: The first [Night] prophesies, which is connected with understanding, and he calls the middle [Night] revered, which is connected with moderation, and he says the third [Night] gave birth to justice. Clémence Ramnoux interprets these three Nights as forming a "feminine trinity" around Phanes, the first being his mother, the second his consort, and the third his daughter. Bernabé, in his collection of Orphic fragments, arranges passages relating to Night into three groups, interpreting

6240-415: The gift of prophecy from Chronos. A passage from Proclus relates that Phanes "brings forth the Nights and, as a father, has intercourse with the middle one", which Bernabé sees as referring to the second Night giving birth to the third. Brisson interprets Night as the feminine aspect of the bisexual deity Phanes, who is simultaneously his mother, sister, and daughter, and argues that when he mates with Night he

6336-401: The gods ... inscrutable (light) ... first-born (in) mist (or heaven) ... Erôs willed, when (Night) ... and was nurtured then ... family of gods ... Several modern scholars have interpreted these fragments as evidence of an early Orphic theogony in which Night featured as one of the first deities. According to Luc Brisson , the cosmogony which Aristophanes parodies came from a work which he calls

6432-511: The guardians of the afterlife. As said in the Petelia tablet : I am a son of Earth and starry sky. I am parched with thirst and am dying; but quickly grant me cold water from the Lake of Memory to drink. Other gold leaves offer instructions for addressing the rulers of the underworld: Now you have died and now you have come into being, O thrice happy one, on this same day. Tell Persephone that

6528-486: The innermost shrine. She prophesied all that it was permitted him to achieve, how he would hold the lovely seat in snowy Olympus. After Zeus receives this prophecy from Night (and one from his father Cronus), he apparently swallows either the phallus of Uranus (or, as other have suggested, the body of Phanes). The role which Night plays in the Derveni Theogony has been compared to that which Gaia plays in Hesiod's Theogony . It has pointed out that both are described as

6624-441: The late Greek writer Libanius (4th century AD), however, it is Nyx who delivers this prophecy, rather than Themis. In the Dionysiaca of Nonnus (5th century), the goddess Iris , on the request on Hera, approaches Hypnos in the "ugly form" of his mother Nyx, and in a lengthy speech persuades him to help set Zeus to sleep. Several passages from early authors, which seem to be Orphic in influence, have been taken as evidence of

6720-425: The latter part of the 4th century AD. Way suggests that "His date is approximately settled by two passages in the poem, viz. vi. 531 sqq., in which occurs an illustration drawn from the man-and-beast fights of the amphitheatre , which were suppressed by Theodosius I . (379–395 AD); and xiii. 335 sqq., which contains a prophecy, the special particularity of which, it is maintained by Koechly, limits its applicability to

6816-423: The method of exposition and narration: it made its start from Night, from whom also Homer begins, although he did not make his genealogy continuous. Aristotle similarly refers to earlier authors who attributed an primordial role to Night, presumably commenting upon the same text as his pupil. In his Metaphysics , he makes reference to theologians "who make Night parent of all", and describes Night as being one of

6912-444: The middle place the sky, and therein the boundless earth, and the sea, and therein all the constellations, which the sky has surrounded. But when you have stretched a firm bond over everything, suspend a golden chain from the aither. After hearing this advice, Zeus consumes his ancestor Phanes, and, in doing so, takes in the entire creation, which he contains in his stomach. Following this, Zeus keeps Night as his advisor, and it

7008-436: The middle of the fourth century AD." Some scholars suggest an earlier date in the 3rd or even the 2nd century, arguing that his Posthomerica shows an influence from the " Second Sophistic ", the school of Greek orators who flourished in the 1st and 2nd centuries. According to his own account (xii. 310), he began composing poetry in his early youth while tending sheep near Smyrna (present-day İzmir ). A Christian poet of

7104-492: The mother of Uranus and Gaia in the work; West takes this further, claiming that Night is the mother of Uranus and Gaia, and that they are the parents of Oceanus and Tethys, who produce the Titans. In the Derveni Theogony (4th century BC), an Orphic poem known through the commentary on the work found in the Derveni papyrus , Night appears to have been the first deity; according to Bernabé, she exists eternally before

7200-424: The mother of Uranus and Gaia. In another account, likely derived from an Orphic cosmogony, Nyx gives birth to a "wind-egg", from which Eros emerges. In later Orphic sources, she is mentioned as the mother of the Stars (by Uranus?), and, in one account, is the daughter of Eros. Elsewhere, the late Greek poet Quintus Smyrnaeus mentions Nyx as the mother of Eos (Dawn), while according to Byzantine author Tzetzes , she

7296-482: The mother of Uranus, and occupy a similar position at the beginning of creation, with Gaia being the second being to exist in the Theogony . In addition, following the creation of world, rather than becoming rulers themselves, both deities remain present and occasionally offer guidance and assistance to younger generations. The prophecy which Night delivers to Zeus, which causes him to swallow Phanes, has been compared to

7392-431: The nurse of the gods. In the Rhapsodies, there may have been three separate figures named Night. In ancient Greek art, Nyx often appears alongside other celestial deities such as Selene , Helios and Eos , as a winged figure driving a horse-pulled chariot. Though of little cultic importance, she was also associated with several oracles. The name of her Roman equivalent is Nox . According to Hesiod 's Theogony , Nyx

7488-456: The only known manuscript of his poem was discovered at Otranto in Calabria by Cardinal Bessarion , in 1450. His familiar name was first given him by his editor Lorenz Rhodomann, in 1577, who included a Latin translation by Michael Neander . There has been a renewed interest in the poet and his poem in the twentieth century, with A. Way's translation (Loeb Classical Library vol. 19, 1913);

7584-563: The other gods. The egg is often depicted with the serpent-like creature, Ananke , wound about it. Phanes is the golden winged primordial being who was hatched from the shining cosmic egg that was the source of the universe. Called Protogonos (First-Born) and Eros (Love) an ancient Orphic hymn addresses him thus: Ineffable, hidden, brilliant scion, whose motion is whirring, you scattered the dark mist that lay before your eyes and, flapping your wings, you whirled about, and through this world you brought pure light. There are two Orphic stories of

7680-471: The parents of Eros. In the cosmogony given by the comic playwright Antiphanes (4th century BC), as recorded by the Christian writer Irenaeus , Night is first deity to exist alongside Silence, and out of this initial pair comes Chaos. From Night and Chaos then springs Eros (Love), who in turn produces Light and the first generation of the gods. Philodemus, writing in his De pietate , also records that Night

7776-491: The primordial succession: But there are other differences, notably in the treatment of Dionysos: In later centuries, these versions underwent a development where Apollo's act of burying became responsible for the reincarnation of Dionysus, thus giving Apollo the title Dionysiodotes (bestower of Dionysus). Apollo plays an important part in the dismemberment myth because he represents the reverting of Encosmic Soul back towards unification. Surviving written fragments show

7872-503: The prophecy Gaia and Uranus report to Zeus in the Theogony , which leads him to swallow his wife Metis . In the Theogony , Zeus is also given to Gaia after his birth, which has been connected to the role Night plays in nurturing the young Zeus in his infancy. In the longest Orphic poem, the Rhapsodic Theogony , or Rhapsodies (1st century BC/AD), though the first deity to exist is Chronos , several fragments appear to assign

7968-546: The protection of Nyx, as Zeus, despite his anger, was "in awe of doing anything to swift Night's displeasure". It has been suggested that the apparent status which Nyx has in Homer's account may indicate he was aware of a genealogy in which she came before even Oceanus and Tethys (often believed to be the primeval couple in the Iliad ), and Pietro Pucci claims that the story may have been derived from an earlier work, which contained

8064-400: The rebirth of Dionysus : in one it is the heart of Dionysus that is implanted into the thigh of Zeus ; in the other Zeus has impregnated the mortal woman Semele , resulting in Dionysus's literal rebirth. Many of these details differ from accounts in the classical authors. Damascius says that Apollo "gathers him (Dionysus) together and brings him back up". The main difference seems to be in

8160-523: The reign of Philip II of Macedon , making it Europe's oldest surviving manuscript. The Orphic theogonies are works which present accounts of the origin of the gods, much like the Theogony of Hesiod . These theogonies are symbolically similar to Near Eastern models. The main story has it that Zagreus , Dionysus' previous incarnation, is the son of Zeus and Persephone . Zeus names the child as his successor, which angers his wife Hera . She instigates

8256-490: The reign of Cronus, she prophesies to Zeus that he will become the fifth king of the gods, and advises him on how he can overthrow his father. She directs him to use a "trick through honey", and then wait until Cronus is standing "under trees with high foliage, drunk with the works of loud-buzzing bees", before binding him. After becoming king, Zeus returns to Night, and asks her how he can solidify his rule, to which she responds: Surround all things with unspeakable aither, and in

8352-555: The river which encircles the world. In a (somewhat confused) section of the Theogony, Hesiod seems to locate her home near the entrance to the underworld, and describes it as being "wrapped in dark clouds". He reports that the Titan Atlas , who is holding up the sky, stands outside of the house, and that the homes of two of her children, Hypnos and Thanatos , are situated nearby. He relates that Nyx and her daughter Hemera live in

8448-400: The same dwelling, and that each day they pass one another at the entrance to the house, with one of them leaving and the other one entering; throughout the day, one passes across the Earth, while the other stays inside, waiting for their turn to leave. In her journey over the world, Hesiod describes Nyx as "wrapped in a vaporous cloud", and as holding her son Hypnos in her arms. Nyx features in

8544-411: The same ground as Arctinus ' The Sack of Troy , relate the capture of Troy by means of the wooden horse, the sacrifice of Polyxena at the grave of Achilles, the departure of the Greeks, and their dispersal by storm. The editio princeps by Aldus Manutius was published at Venice, 1504 under the title Quinti Calabri derelictorum ab Homero libri XIV . Aldus calls him Quintus Calabrus , because

8640-455: The site. Plutarch similarly refers to an oracle which belonged to Nyx and Selene. In addition to her association with oracles, Pausanias records that there was a statue of Night in the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus , created by the artist Rhoecus. Several Roman authors also mention animals which were sacrificed to Night: Ovid refers to black roosters slain to her, Statius black bulls, and Virgil

8736-421: The sky at the end of the day, and that the stars are her companions in her course through the sky. In a fragment from his Andromeda , he refers to her driving her chariot through Olympus, and in his Orestes , he describes her as having wings, while according to Aeschylus she wears a black robe which is "studded with colourful stars". Following the 5th century BC, Apollonius of Rhodes describes her as "putting

8832-467: The theology of Orpheus, carried forward through Pythagoreanism, as the core of the original Greek religious tradition. Proclus , an influential neoplatonic philosopher, one of the last major classical philosophers of late antiquity, says (trans. Thomas Taylor, 1816) A number of Greek religious poems in hexameters were attributed to Orpheus, as they were to similar miracle-working figures, like Bakis , Musaeus , Abaris , Aristeas , Epimenides , and

8928-422: The work, after Zeus overthrows his father Cronus and becomes king, he consults Night on how he can consolidate his rule. She is described as she "who knows all the oracles", and delivers a prophecy to him from within her shrine ( adyton ); several reconstructed lines from the work describe this: And Zeus [... came to the cave, where] Night sat, immortal nurse of the gods, knowing all oracles ... to prophesy from

9024-507: The yoke on her horses" as the sun is setting, and Theocritus (3rd century BC) mentions the stars as the "attendants at the chariot of quiet Night". In the works of Roman poets, descriptions of Nox (the Roman equivalent of Nyx) put a greater emphasis on her terrifying nature. In Virgil 's Aeneid (1st century BC) she seems to have lived in the underworld, and drives a chariot across the sky, while Tibullus (1st century BC) describes her chariot as being pulled by four horses, and relates that

9120-505: Was later referred to by the Neoplatonist Damascius , in his De Principiis ( On First Principles ), using Eudemus as his source. The only piece of information known for certain about this theogony is that it started with Night; as Damascius writes: The theology described in the Peripatetic Eudemus as being that of Orpheus is silent about the entire realm of the intelligible for it is completely inexpressible and unknowable by

9216-539: Was regained by the Trojans. The first four books, covering the same ground as the Aethiopis of Arctinus of Miletus , describe the doughty deeds and deaths of the Amazon Penthesileia and of Aethiopian king Memnon , the son of the dawn goddess Eos , both slain by Achilles, and the death of Achilles himself and the funeral games in his honour. Books five through twelve, covering the same ground as

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