Protogenoi

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> The Protogenoi, the first gods of Greece. They are the children and grandchildren of Khaos, the Void, and are undoubtedly one of the most fucked-up bunchs of gods I have ever seen. Trust me, while the interactions between them would make a fantastic reality TV show, it wasn't suitable for a bunch of ruling deities. Somehow, despite their lack of caring, they still managed to be worse than the Olympians. And that's saying something.
>
> Life.

The **Protogenoi** are the Greco-Roman Primordial Deities and the first primordials that was created by Khaos.

## Overview

The Protogenoi are the first entities born into existence; they form the very fabric of the universe and as such are immortal. Unlike the Titans and the gods, they are essentially sentient aspects of the universe itself and have absolute and total control over it, so therefore they cannot truly be killed.

The Protogenoi included Caligo (Darkness/Nothingness), Khaos (Void), Aether (Light), Ananke (Necessity), Chronos (Time), Erebus (Darkness), Eros (Love), Gaia (Earth), Hemera (Day), Hydros (Waters), Nesoi (Islands), Nyx (Night), Ophion (Serpent), Ourea (Mountains), Phanes (Procreation), Pontus (Sea), Tartarus (Underworld), Thesis (Reality), and Ouranos (Sky/Heavens).

These deities are a group of gods from which all the other gods descended. They preceded the Titans, the descendants of Gaia and Ouranos. Most are the children of Khaos, the Primordial void from which all of creation came from.

## Description

The Protogenoi were astronomical in size and their appearances were abstract and cosmic, and whose true forms were similar to the Titans but far greater in scope. Little detail is available about their history as well as the full extent of their powers.

## Powers and Abilities

As they are the very components that make up the multiverse, Protogenoi have complete control of the domain they represent, which can rival or even exceed that of gods who preside over them. In addition, all the Protogenoi wield immeasurable power, rendering them the most powerful beings in the multiverse.

Protogenoi can manifest in physical form to enter the physical plane. They can be temporary banished from manifesting in the world physically, but their consciousness can never be destroyed. Even the power of the Scythe of Cronus and other weapons of immense power are ultimately only able to disperse their physical forms and can’t truly destroy them.

* **Immortality**: The Protogenoi had the potential to live forever and could only be destroyed by beings of equal or greater power. They are personifications of the eternity of nature and the multiverse.
* **Invulnerability**: The Protogenoi were impervious to mortal harm and could only be harmed by one another or beings of greater power. They are beings of pure elements and cosmic, not bound by the weaknesses of flesh, blood, bone, energy, and soul.
* **Vast Divine Powers**: As the creators of the Greco-Roman world, the Protogenoi possessed astronomical cosmic and unlimited powers. Given the fact that they predate the Moirai, not even they holds any sway over the Protogenoi.
* **Absolute Strength**: Their size and mass contribute to their astronomical superhuman strength and durability, making them more likely to be superior to Titans, Olympians, and any other creature less than a Primordial.
* **Unlimited Stamina**: The Protogenoi are not subject to fatigue. They could wage battle for centuries without rest or relent.
* **Near-Infinite Durability**: The Protogenoi are beings of pure elemental and cosmic forces. They are flawlessly indestructible and are capable of withstanding powerful blows and colossal amounts of pain for billions of years without showing any signs of exhaustion.

## History

From the beginning, there was only an empty chasm, a great bleak darkness that was never-ending, its name was Khaos. After who knows for a how long period of time, it created Chronos, Gaia, the personification of the earth rose. Then Tartarus and Eros, who was love. Following them was Erebus, who was darkness and Nyx, who was the night.

After a period of time, the sky appeared: a great dome above the earth that became Ouranos. He married Gaea and had several children together, whom he hated and she loved. Water pooled out of the mist of Khaos and formed the first seas, that like his predecessors, developed a consciousness: Pontus. Finally, another dome emerged from Chaos. Both Pontus and Tartarus harboured feelings for Gaea, which made her relationship with Ouranos rather difficult.

## Myths and Legends

The ancient Greeks entertained different versions of the origin of primordial deities. Some of these stories were possibly inherited from the pre-Greek Aegean cultures.

In some variations of Hesiod's creation myth, in Greek mythology, Khaos is the first being to ever exist. Khaos is both seen as a deity and a thing, with some sources seeing chaos as the gap between the Heavens and Earth. In some accounts Khaos existed first alongside Eros and Nyx, while in others Khaos is the first and only thing in the universe. In some stories, Khaos is seen as existing beneath Tartarus. Khaos is the parent to Night and Darkness.

In other myths, Chronos, who was the personification of time, produced Chaos, Aether, Phanes, Erebus, The Moirai, Hemera and Horae with his consort, Ananke, the Primordial of Necessity and Inevitability.

### Interpretation

Scholars dispute the meaning of the primordial deities in the poems of Homer and Hesiod. Since the primordials give birth to the Titans, and the Titans give birth to the Olympians, one way of interpreting the primordial gods is as the deepest and most fundamental nature of the cosmos.

For example, Jenny Strauss Clay argues that Homer's poetic vision centers on the reign of Zeus, but that Hesiod's vision of the primordials put Zeus and the Olympians in context. Likewise, Vernant argues that the Olympic pantheon is a "system of classification, a particular way of ordering and conceptualizing the universe by distinguishing within it various types of powers and forces." But even before the Olympic pantheon were the Titans and primordial gods. Homer alludes to a more tumultuous past before Zeus was the undisputed King and Father.

Mitchell Miller argues that the first four primordial deities arise in a highly significant relationship. He argues that Khaos represents differentiation, since Khaos differentiates (separates, divides) Tartarus and Earth. Even though Khaos is "first of all" for Hesiod, Miller argues that Tartarus represents the primacy of the undifferentiated, or the unlimited. Since undifferentiation is unthinkable, Khaos is the "first of all" in that he is the first thinkable being. In this way, Khaos (the principle of division) is the natural opposite of Eros (the principle of unification). Earth (light, day, waking, life) is the natural opposite of Tartarus (darkness, night, sleep, death). These four are the parents of all the other Titans.

## Quotes

> In the time before the Titans, before the Gods of Olympus, a great battle was waged. The wrath of the Primordials, the very beings who forged the Earth, raged out of control for an eternity.
>
> Rhea.

## Gallery

Primordials.png*War of the Protogenoi* (Scene from God of War: Ascension)
## Trivia

* Some beings like Ceto, Thanatos and the Moirai were treated as apart of the Protogenoi themselves, but were no way close enough in power to compare with them.
* The first Protogenoi, such as Gaea and Ouranos, named themselves
* Curiously the children of Cronus (Zeus, Poseidon, Hades and Demeter) each have a protogenoi counterpart. Zeus aligns with his grandfather Ouranos, Poseidon takes Pontus role, Hades takes Tartarus and Demeter's counterpart is Gaea.