Chaos
- This article is about the mythological concept. See Chaos theory for the mathematics and physics term.
In
Greek mythology,
Chaos is the primeval state of existence from which the first gods appeared. The word "chaos" means "gaping void" in Greek. As a god, Chaos was the nothingness out of which the first objects of existence appeared. These first beings, described as children of Chaos alone, were
Gaia,
Tartarus and
Eros, sometimes also including
Nyx and
Erebus.
Ovid described Chaos in
Metamorphoses as "rather a crude and indigested mass, a lifeless lump, unfashioned and unframed, of jarring seeds and justly Chaos named." According to some sources Chaos was the offspring of
Chronos.
Ovid. Metamorphoses; Hesiod. Theogony. (123-132)
In
Chinese mythology,
Chaos is the name of a god which has no eyes and no ears. Once he invited two friends to his place, the two friends offer to craft two eyes and two ears on his face so that he can sense. But he soon died when he finally got his eyes and ears.
Chaos is the name of a
fictional character, a
puppet cat in the
Canada children's
television show Sesame Park.