ABSTRACT
This chapter traces one Panhellenic version of the origin of the universe and the gods that became canonical, for reasons still unclear, but most likely having to do with the spread of oral-poetic song-making as practiced in the eighth century BC and later. It looks briefly at some more marginal but fascinating cosmologies and examines some implications, for everyday Greek life, of origin tales and divine myths, more generally. The origin myths contained in the Theogony segue seamlessly from the world of gods into that of heroes. These semi-divine beings in turn channel the divine DNA of the Olympians into the circulation of ordinary Greek life. After all, proud rulers or leading families of city-states, even in historical times, traced their ancestry to such descendants of Zeus. In this way, the activity of the gods has a direct influence on the structure of human communities. The dialogue Symposium, written by the philosopher Plato displays the philosopher’s typical brilliance at mythologizing.
