Aether (mythology)

Aether (also Æthere, Ancient Greek: Αἰθήρ, pronounced [ajtʰɛ̌ːr]), is a concept associated with Greek mythology, Hindu mythology and Buddhist mythology.

Mythology

Hesiod

In Hesiod's Theogony, he was the son of Erebus and Nyx and brother of Hemera. Both were noted in passing in Cicero's De Natura deorum, but Hyginus mentioned Chaos as his parent. The aether was also known as Zeus' defensive wall, the boundary that locked Tartarus from the rest of the cosmos.

Hyginus

Aether had several offspring, but Hyginus seems to confuse him with Uranus when saying that Aether had Uranus by Gaia, his daughter. Aergia, a goddess of sloth and laziness, is the daughter of Aether and Gaia. Hyginus is also our source for telling us that Aether is the father of Uranus and Gaia but another source tells us that it is just Uranus who is his child. And like Tartaros and Erebos, in Hellas he might have had shrines but no temples and probably no cult either.

Orphic hymns

In the Orphic hymns, he is mentioned as the soul of the world from which all life emanates. Callimachus, in calling Uranus Akmonides, claims him as the son of Akmon, and Eustathius in Alcman tells us that the sons of Uranus were called Akmonidai.

External links

• Theoi Project – Aither.