Nyx in the context of "Chthonia"

The primordial deities of Greek mythology are the first generation of gods and goddesses. These deities represented the fundamental forces and physical foundations of the world and were generally not actively worshipped, as they, for the most part, were not given human characteristics; they were instead personifications of places or abstract concepts.

Hesiod, in his Theogony, considers the first beings (after Chaos) to be Erebus, Gaia, Tartarus, Eros and Nyx. Gaia and Uranus, whose severed genitals created the goddess Aphrodite from sea foam, in turn gave birth to the Titans, and the Cyclopes. The Titans Cronus and Rhea then gave birth to the generation of the Olympians: Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Hera and Demeter. They overthrew the Titans, with the reign of Zeus marking the end of the period of warfare and usurpation among the gods.

The Erinyes (/ɪˈrɪni.iːz/ ih-RI-nee-eez; Ancient Greek: Ἐρινύες, sg. Ἐρινύς Erinys), also known as the Eumenides (Εὐμενίδες, the "Gracious ones"), are chthonic goddesses of vengeance in ancient Greek religion and mythology. A formulaic oath in the Iliad invokes them as "the Erinyes, that under earth take vengeance on men, whosoever hath sworn a false oath". Walter Burkert suggests that they are "an embodiment of the act of self-cursing contained in the oath". Their Roman counterparts are the Furies, also known as the Dirae. The Roman writer Maurus Servius Honoratus (c. 400 AD) wrote that they are called "Eumenides" in hell, "Furiae" on Earth, and "Dirae" in heaven. Erinyes are akin to some other Greek deities, called Poenai.

According to Hesiod's Theogony, when the Titan Cronus castrated his father, Uranus, and threw his genitalia into the sea, the Erinyes (along with the Giants and the Meliae) emerged from the drops of blood which fell on the Earth (Gaia), while Aphrodite was born from the crests of sea foam. Apollodorus also reports this lineage. According to variant accounts, they are the daughters of Nyx ('Night'), while in Virgil's Aeneid, they are daughters of Pluto and Nox (the Roman name for Nyx). In some accounts, they were the daughters of Eurynome (a name for Earth) and Cronus, or of Earth and Phorcys (i.e., the sea). In Orphic literature, they are the daughters of Hades and Persephone.

In Greek mythology, Eris (Ancient Greek: Ἔρις, romanized: Eris, lit. 'Strife') is the goddess and personification of strife and discord, particularly in war, and in the Iliad (where she is the "sister" of Ares the god of war). According to Hesiod she was the daughter of primordial Nyx (Night), and the mother of a long list of undesirable personified abstractions, such as Ponos (Toil), Limos (Famine), Algea (Pains) and Ate (Delusion). Eris initiated a quarrel between Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, which led to the Judgement of Paris and ultimately the Trojan War. Eris's Roman equivalent is Discordia. According to Hesiod, there was another Eris, separate and distinct from Eris the daughter of Nyx, who was beneficial to men.

In Greek mythology, Aether, Æther, Aither, or Ether (/ˈiːθər/; Ancient Greek: Αἰθήρ (Brightness) pronounced [ai̯tʰɛ̌ːr]) 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). In Orphism, Aether was the offspring of Chronos (Time) and the brother of Chaos and Erebus.

In Greek mythology, the Keres (/ˈkɪriːz/; Ancient Greek: Κῆρες) were female death-spirits. They were the goddesses who personified violent death and who were drawn to bloody deaths on battlefields. Although they were present during death and dying, they did not have the power to kill. All they could do was wait and then feast on the dead. The Keres were daughters of Nyx, and as such the sisters of beings such as Moirai, who controlled the fate of souls, and Thanatos, the god of peaceful death. Some later authorities, such as Cicero, called them by a Latin name, Tenebrae ("the Darknesses"), and named them daughters of Erebus and Nyx.

The singular form of the name is Ker (/ˈkɜr/; Κήρ), which, according to Hesiod, refers to an entity distinct from the Keres. Ancient sources seldom distinguish or enumerate the Keres, describing them instead as a vast and host. In the Iliad, they are portrayed as "thousands" (myriai) in number. Mimnermus, however, speaks of only two "one bringing old age, the other death". Quintus Smyrnaeus similarly mentions "twin Keres, one dark, one bright".

In Greek mythology, Erebus (/ˈɛrəbəs/; Ancient Greek: Ἔρεβος, romanized: Érebos, lit. 'darkness, gloom'), or Erebos, is the personification of darkness. In Hesiod's Theogony, he is the offspring of Chaos, and the father of Aether and Hemera (Day) by Nyx (Night); in other Greek cosmogonies, he is the father of Aether, Eros, and Metis, or the first ruler of the gods. In genealogies given by Roman authors, he begets a large progeny of personifications upon Nox (the Roman equivalent of Nyx), while in an Orphic theogony, he is the offspring of Chronos (Time).

The name "Erebus" is also used to refer either to the darkness of the Underworld, the Underworld itself, or the region through which souls pass to reach Hades, and can sometimes be used as a synonym for Tartarus or Hades.

In Greek mythology, Ponos or Ponus (Ancient Greek: Πόνος, romanized: Pónos, lit. 'Toil, Labor, Hardship') is the personification of toil and stress. According to Hesiod's Theogony, "painful" Ponos was the son of Eris (Strife), with no father mentioned. Like all of the children of Eris given by Hesiod, Ponos is a personified abstraction, allegorizing the meaning of his name, and representing one of the many harmful things which might be thought to result from discord and strife, with no other identity.

Cicero has the equivalent personification of the meaning of the Latin word labor as the offspring of Erebus and Night (Erebo et Nocte). Although Ponos has a negative connotation in Hesiod, in a poem of Lucian (2nd century AD), he is seen as having the positive aspect of leading to a virtuous life.