View source for Aether (mythology)

{{Short description|Personification of the upper sky in Greek mythology}}
{{distinguish|Aether (classical element)}}
{{Infobox deity
| type             = Greek
| name             = Aether
| member_of        = the [[Greek primordial deities|Primordial Gods]]
| image            = Aether in battle with a lion-headed Giant.jpg
| alt              = 
| caption          = Aether in battle with a lion-headed [[Giants (Greek mythology)|Giant]], detail of the Gigantomachy frieze, [[Pergamon Altar]], 2nd century BC<ref>Honan, p. 21.</ref>
| god_of           = Primordial god and personification of the Upper Sky
| symbol           = 
| consort          = 
| parents          = [[Erebus]] and [[Nyx]] (Hesiod)<br />[[Chronos]] (Orphic)
| siblings         = [[Hemera]] (Hesiod)<br />[[Chaos (mythology)|Chaos]] and [[Erebus]] (Orphic)
| children         = 
| mount            = 
| Roman_equivalent = 
}}
{{Greek deities (primordial)}}

In [[Greek mythology]], '''Aether''', '''Æther''', '''Aither''', or '''Ether''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|iː|θ|ər}}; {{langx|grc|Αἰθήρ}} (Brightness)<ref>Gantz, p. 4.</ref> {{IPA|el|ai̯tʰɛ̌ːr|pron}}) 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).<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA24 p. 24]; Grimal s.v. Aether; Tripp, s.v. Aether; ''The Oxford Classical Dictionary'', s.v. Aither; Gantz, p. 4.</ref> In Orphic cosmogony Aether was the offspring of [[Chronos]] (Time), and the brother of [[Chaos (mythology)|Chaos]] and Erebus.<ref>Athanassakis and Wolkow, p. 80.</ref>

==Genealogy==
According to [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Theogony]]'', which contained the "standard" Greek genealogy of the gods,<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA21 p. 21]; Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA5 p. 5].</ref> Aether was the offspring of [[Erebus]] and [[Nyx]], and the brother of [[Hemera]].<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA5 p. 5]; Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA23 pp. 23&ndash;24]; [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-theogony/2018/pb_LCL057.13.xml 124&ndash;125].</ref> However, other early sources give other genealogies. According to one, the union of Erebus and Nyx resulted in Aether, [[Eros]], and [[Metis (mythology)|Metis]] (rather than Aether and Hemera), while according to another, Aether and Nyx were the parents of Eros (in Hesiod, the fourth god to come into existence after Chaos, [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]] (Earth), and [[Tartarus]]).<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA5 pp. 5&ndash;6]; Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA23 p. 23]; [[Acusilaus|Acusilas]] [https://books.google.com/books?id=j0nRE4C2WBgC&pg=PA5 fr. 6 Fowler (pp. 5&ndash;7)];  [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-theogony/2018/pb_LCL057.13.xml 116&ndash;122].</ref> Others tell us that [[Uranus (mythology)|Uranus]] (Sky) (in Hesiod, the son of [[Gaia]]) was Aether's son, and that "everything came from" Aether.<ref>Eumelus fr. 1 (West 2003, [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/eumelus-epic_testimonia_fragments/2003/pb_LCL497.223.xml pp. 222&ndash;225]); compare [[Callimachus]], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/callimachus-fragments_uncertain_location/1973/pb_LCL421.257.xml fr. 498].</ref>

In Orphic cosmogony Aether was the offspring of [[Chronus]] (Time), the first primordial deity, and the brother of Chaos and Erebus. And made from (or placed in) Aether was the [[Orphic egg|cosmic egg]], from which hatched [[Phanes (mythology)|Phanes/Protogonus]], so Aether was sometimes said to be his father.<ref>Athanassakis and Wolkow, p. 80; West 1983, p. 70; Meisner, p. 187; Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA25 p. 25].</ref> The ''[[Orphic Argonautica]]'' gives a theogony that begins with Chaos and Chronus, and has Chronus producing Aether and Eros.<ref>Meisner, p. 172; ''[[Orphic Argonautica]]'' [https://archive.org/details/argonauticahymn00unkngoog/page/n39/mode/2up 12&ndash;14]; Orphic [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/64/mode/2up?view=theater test. 224 Kern].</ref>

Aether also played a role in Roman genealogies of the gods. [[Cicero]] says that Aether and [[Dies (deity)|Dies]] (Day) were the parents of [[Caelus]] (Sky),<ref>[[Cicero]], ''[[De Natura Deorum]]'' [https://archive.org/stream/denaturadeorumac00ciceuoft#page/328/mode/2up 3.44].</ref> and reports that according to the "so called theologians" Aether was the father of one of the "three Jupiters".<ref>[[Cicero]], ''[[De Natura Deorum]]'' [https://archive.org/stream/denaturadeorumac00ciceuoft#page/336/mode/2up 3.53].</ref> According to [[Hyginus (Fabulae)|Hyginus]]'s (possibly confused)<ref>Bremmer, [https://books.google.com/books?id=YTfxZH4QnqgC&pg=PA5 p. 5], calls the beginning of Hyginus' genealogy "a strange hodgepodge of Greek and Roman cosmogonies and early genealogies".</ref> genealogy, Nox (Night), Dies, Erebus, and Aether were the offspring of Chaos and Caligo (Mist), and Aether and Dies were the parents of [[Terra (mythology)|Terra]] (Earth), [[Caelus]] (Sky) and Mare (Sea),<ref>[[Hyginus (Fabulae)|Hyginus]], ''[[Fabulae]]'' Theogony 1&ndash;2 (Smith and Trzaskoma, p. 95).</ref> and Aether and Terra were the parents of:
{{blockquote|Pain, Deception, Anger, Mourning, Lying, Oath, Vengeance, Self-indulgence, Quarreling, Forgetfullness, Sloth, Fear, Arrogance, Incest, Fighting, Ocean, [[Themis]], [[Tartarus]], and [[Pontus (mythology)|Pontus]]; and the [[Titans]], [[Briareus]], [[Hecatoncheires|Gyges]], [[Steropes]], [[Atlas (mythology)|Atlas]], [[Hyperion (Titan)|Hyperion]] and Polus, [[Saturn (mythology)|Saturn]], [[Ops]], [[Moneta]], [[Dione (Titaness)|Dione]], and the three [[Erinyes|Furies]] ([[Alecto]], [[Megaera]], [[Tisiphone]]).<ref>[[Hyginus (Fabulae)|Hyginus]], ''[[Fabulae]]'' Theogony 3 (Smith and Trzaskoma, p. 95). Hyginus's  genealogy is very different from that given in Hesiod's ''Theogony'', where Tartarus is the third primal deity after Chaos and Gaia ([https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-theogony/2018/pb_LCL057.13.xml 116&ndash;122]); [[Uranus (mythology)|Uranus]] (Sky) and [[Pontus (mythology)|Pontus]] (Sea) were the offspring of Gaia (Earth) alone ([https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-theogony/2018/pb_LCL057.13.xml 126&ndash;132]); Ocean ([[Oceanus]]), Themis, Hyperion, Saturn ([[Cronus]]), and Ops ([[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]]) are five of the twelve [[Titans]], Briareus and Gyges are two of the three [[Hundred-Handers]], and Steropes was one of the three [[Cyclopes]], who were all the offspring of Gaia and Uranus ([https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-theogony/2018/pb_LCL057.13.xml 132&ndash;153]); Atlas was the offspring of the [[Titans]] [[Iapetus]] and [[Clymene (mythology)|Clymene]] ([https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-theogony/2018/pb_LCL057.43.xml 507&ndash;509]); the Furies ([[Erinyes]]) are the offspring of Gaia and Uranus' blood ([https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-theogony/2018/pb_LCL057.17.xml 185]). In addition the abstract personifications Pain, Deception, Anger, Mourning, Lying, Oath, Vengeance, Self-indulgence, Quarreling, Forgetfullness, Sloth, Fear, Arrogance, Incest, and Fighting, are similar to the personifications, in the ''Theogony'', who are the children of Nyx ([https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-theogony/2018/pb_LCL057.21.xml 211&ndash;225], e.g. [[Oizys]] (Distress), and [[Apate (deity)|Apate]] (Deceit)) or [[Eris (mythology)|Eris]] ([https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-theogony/2018/pb_LCL057.21.xml 226&ndash;232], e.g. [[Algos|Algea]] (Pains), Pseudea (Lies), [[Horkos]] (Oath), [[Neikea]] (Disputes), [[Lethe]] (Forgetfulness), [[Hysminai]] (Combats), and [[Makhai]] (Battles)).</ref>}}

==Sources==
===Early===
For the ancient Greeks, the word aether (unpersonified), referred to the upper atmosphere, a material element of the cosmos.<ref>Athanassakis and Wolkow, p. 80.</ref> For example, Homer has Sleep climb:
{{blockquote|a fir-tree exceeding tall, the highest that then grew in Ida; and it reached up through the mists into heaven [aether].<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D14%3Acard%3D270 14.286&ndash;288].</ref>}} However, Aether (personified) figured prominently in early Greek cosmogony.<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 p. 6].</ref> In [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Theogony]]'', Chaos was the first being after which came [[Gaia]] (Earth), [[Tartarus]], and [[Eros]], then from Chaos came [[Erebus]] (Darkness) and [[Nyx]] (Night), and from Erebus and Nyx came Aether and Hemera (Day):<ref>Gantz, p. 4; [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-theogony/2018/pb_LCL057.13.xml 123&ndash;125].</ref>
{{blockquote|From Chaos came forth Erebus and black Night; but of Night were born Aether and Day, whom she conceived and bore from union in love with Erebus.<ref>[http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:104-138 Evelyn-White translation].</ref>}}

According to a fragment of Hesiod, by his sister Hemera he is the father of a figure named Brotus.<ref>''[[Brill's New Pauly]]'', [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e111080.xml s.v. Aether].</ref> Aether perhaps also figured in the lost epic poem the ''[[Titanomachy (epic poem)|Titanomachy]]'' (late seventh century BC?).<ref>West 2002, p. 109 says that the ''Titanomachy'' was "composed in the late seventh century at the earliest".</ref> Two ancient sources report statements about Aether, which they attribute to the "author of the ''Titanomachy''". The ''Homeric Parsings'' (from Methodius), reports that Uranus was Aether's son,<ref>Gantz, p. 12; Grimal, s.v. Uranus; Eumelus fr. 1 (West 2003, [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/eumelus-epic_testimonia_fragments/2003/pb_LCL497.223.xml pp. 222&ndash;225]); compare [[Callimachus]], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/callimachus-fragments_uncertain_location/1973/pb_LCL421.257.xml fr. 498]. According to Grimal the mother was "doubtless" Hemera, compare with [[Cicero]], ''[[De Natura Deorum]]'' [https://archive.org/stream/denaturadeorumac00ciceuoft#page/328/mode/2up 3.44], which has Aether and Dies as the parents of [[Caelus]] (Sky).</ref> while [[Philodemus]], in his ''De Pietate'' (''On Piety''), reports that "everything came from Aither".<ref>Eumelus fr. 1 (West 2003, [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/eumelus-epic_testimonia_fragments/2003/pb_LCL497.223.xml pp. 222&ndash;225]).</ref>

Aether also appears in genealogies attributed to the sixth-century BC [[logographer (history)|logographer]] and [[mythographer]] [[Acusilaus]].<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 p. 6]; [[Acusilaus|Acusilas]] [https://books.google.com/books?id=j0nRE4C2WBgC&pg=PA5 fr. 6 Fowler (pp. 5&ndash;7)].</ref> According to the [[Neoplatonist]] [[Damascius]] (c. early sixth century), Acusilaus said that Aether was, along with [[Eros]] and [[Metis (mythology)|Metis]], the offspring [[Erebus]] and [[Nyx]].<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 p. 6].</ref> However, a scholion to [[Theocritus]] reports that, according to Acusilaus, Aether and [[Nyx]] were the parents of Eros.<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 p. 6]; Gantz, p. 3.</ref>

===Orphic===
[[File:Orphic-egg.png|thumb|right|upright|[[Jacob Bryant|Jacob Bryant's]] [[Orphic Egg]] (1774)]]
Aether played a significant role in Orphic cosmogony.<ref>West 1983, pp. 70, 198&ndash;200; Meisner (throughout, see index); Athanassakis and Wolkow, pp. 5, 80 (citing Orphic frr. 78, 111 Bernabé); Orphic frr. [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/100/mode/2up?view=theater 30] [= [[Chrysippus]], apud [[Philodemus]], ''De Pietate'' (''On Piety'') pp. 80&ndash;81 Gomperz], [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/130/mode/2up?view=theater 54] [= [[Damascius]], ''De principiis'' 123.31&ndash;80], [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/142/mode/2up?view=theater 60] [= [[Damascius]], ''De principiis'' 123.8&ndash;30], [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/146/mode/2up?view=theater 65] [= [[John Malalas]], ''[[Chronographia (Malalas)|Chronographia]]'' 4.9 p. 74 Dindorf], [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/146/mode/2up?view=theater 66] [= [[Proclus]], ''Commentary on Plato's Republic'' 2.138.8 Kroll], [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/148/mode/2up?view=theater 70] [= [[Damascius]], ''De principiis'' 55], [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/150/mode/2up?view=theater 72] [= [[Proclus]], ''Commentary on Plato's Republic'' 2.138.18 Kroll], [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/150/mode/2up?view=theater 73] [= [[Lactantius]], ''[[The Divine Institutes|Divine Institutes]]'' I, 5, 4&ndash;6 p. 13, 13 Brandt.], [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/150/mode/2up?view=theater 74] [= [[Proclus]], ''Commentary on Plato's Timaeus'' 31 a (I 433, 31 Diehl)], [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/152/mode/2up?view=theater 75] [= ''[[Etymologicum Magnum]]'' [https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/en/view/bsb10209806?page=1149 p. 787.29], [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/152/mode/2up?view=theater 76] [= [[Hermias of Atarneus|Hermias]], ''Commentary on Plato's Phaedrus''  246e], [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/152/mode/2up?view=theater 79] [= [[Proclus]], ''Commentary on Plato's Timaeus'' 30 c, d (I 427, 20 Diehl)], [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/200/mode/2up?view=theater 168] Kern; Orphic [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/64/mode/2up?view=theater test. 224 Kern]  [= ''[[Orphic Argonautica]]'' [https://archive.org/details/argonauticahymn00unkngoog/page/n39/mode/2up 7&ndash;46].</ref> There are a large number of ancient texts which have been called "Orphic", a few are extant, such as the ''[[Orphic Hymns]]'', but most are not.<ref>West 1983, pp. 1&ndash;3; Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ethjDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA4 pp. 4&ndash;5]; Athanassakis and Wolkow, p. xi.</ref> Several important Orphic texts, which exist now only in fragments, have been called theogonies, since they contained material, similar to Hesiod's ''Theogony'', which described the origin of the gods. At least three of these, the so-called "Derveni Theogony", the "Hieronyman Theogony", and the "Rhapsodic Theogony" or Rhapsodies,<ref>West 1983, pp. 68&ndash;69; Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ethjDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 p. 1]; Athanassakis and Wolkow, pp. xi&ndash;xii.</ref> contained references to Aether the personification as well as aether the material element.

====Derveni Theogony====
The oldest of these theogonies, the Derveni Theogony, is a text which is extensively quoted in the [[Derveni papyrus]] (fourth century BC).<ref>West 1983, pp. 75&ndash;77; Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ethjDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 p. 1]; Athanassakis and Wolkow, p. xi. For discussions of the Derveni papyrus and theogony see West 1983, Chapter 3: "The Protogonos and Derveni Theogonies" (pp. 68&ndash;115); Meisner, Chapter 2: "The Derveni Papyrus" (pp. 51&ndash;85)</ref> One of these quotes contains a reference to aether the material element:<ref>Meisner, pp. 31&ndash;32, 69, 80&ndash;81.</ref>

{{poem quote|text=When Zeus had heard the prophecies from his father,
he swallowed the revered one [or phallus], who [or which] sprang forth
first into the aither [or who first ejaculated aither].<ref>Meisner, p. 69.</ref>}}

Also possibly from the Derveni Theogony is the idea, from a fragment of [[Chrysippus]] (preserved in [[Philodemus]], ''De Pietate'' (''On Piety'')), that "everywhere is aither, which itself is both father and son".<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA103 p. 103]; Orphic [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/100/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 30 Kern] [= [[Chrysippus]], apud [[Philodemus]], ''De Pietate'' (''On Piety'') pp. 80&ndash;81 Gomperz]. Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA103 p. 103 n. 77] says that Bernabé "relates this fragment to the Derveni poem."</ref>

====Hieronyman Theogony====
The early 6th-century [[Neoplatonist]] [[Damascius]], in his ''De principiis'' (''On First Principles'') comments on an Orphic text, which he describes as "under the names of Hieronymus and Hellanicus, if indeed this is not the same".<ref>[[Damascius]], ''De principiis'' 123.31–32 (White, [https://books.google.com/books?id=zdesXRC6ba8C&pg=PA232 pp. 232, 233]); West 1983, p. 176.</ref> This text is called the "Hieronyman Theogony" (second century BC).<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 p. 1]. For discussions of the Hieronyman Theogony, see West 1983, Chapter 4: "The Hieronyman Theogony" (pp. 176–226); Meisner, Chapter 4: "The Hieronyman Theogony" (pp. 119–157). For Damascius' entire account of the Hieronyman Theogony, see ''De principiis'' 123.31–80 (White, [https://books.google.com/books?id=zdesXRC6ba8C&pg=PA232 pp. 232–237]) [= Orphic [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/130/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 54 Kern].</ref> Damascius says that the Hieronyman Theogony had "serpent Time" as the father  of three offspring, "moist Aether", "limitless Chaos" and "misty Erebos".<ref>[[Damascius]], ''De principiis'' 123.56&ndash;58 (White, [https://books.google.com/books?id=zdesXRC6ba8C&pg=PA234 pp. 234, 235]) West 1983, p. 198. Although Meisner, p. 144, reads Damascius as saying that "Chronos mates with Necessity" ([[Ananke]]), "who gives birth to Aither, Chaos, and Erebus", West 1983, pp. 198&ndash;199, argues against such a reading, saying "Although Chronos and Ananke make a well-matched male and female pair, the sources agree in speaking of Chronos alone as parent."</ref>

====Rhapsodic Theogony====
Also in his ''De principiis'', [[Damascius]] briefly summarizes the "standard Orphic theology" as found in another text, which he refers to as "these Orphic ''Rhapsodies'' currently circulating".<ref>[[Damascius]], ''De principiis'' 123.8&ndash;30 (White, [https://books.google.com/books?id=zdesXRC6ba8C&pg=PA228 pp. 228&ndash;231]) [= Orphic fr. [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/142/mode/2up?view=theater 60].</ref> According to Damascius, the Rhapsodies (first century BC/AD?),<ref>West 1983, p. 261; Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ethjDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA5 p. 5].</ref> began with Chronus from which came two offspring, Aether and Chaos:<ref>West 1983, p. 230; Meisner p. 187.</ref>

{{blockquote|the theology in the ''Rhapsodies'', ... starts from ... "ageless Time" and father of Aether and Chaos which is honored most in that account.<ref>[[Damascius]], ''De principiis'' 123.49&ndash;55 (White, [https://books.google.com/books?id=zdesXRC6ba8C&pg=PA234 pp. 234, 235)].</ref>}}

The 5th-century Greek [[Neoplatonist]] [[Proclus]], in his ''Commentary on Plato's Republic'', quotes the following verses from the Rhapsodies:

{{poem quote|text=This Time unaging, of immortal resource, begot
Aither and a great Chasm, vast this way and that,
no limit below it, no base, no place to settle.<ref>West 1983, p. 198; Meisner, p. 188; [[Proclus]], ''Commentary on Plato's Republic'' 2.138.8 Kroll [= Orphic [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/146/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 66 Kern].</ref>}}
Here Chasm is another name for Chaos.<ref>West 1983, p. 199; Meisner, p. 188.</ref> In another passage from the ''De principiis'', Damascius quotes other verses from the Rhapsodies:

{{poem quote|text=Then great Time fashioned from (or in) divine Aither
:a bright white egg.<ref>West 1983, p. 198; Meisner, p. 189; [[Damascius]], ''De principiis'' 55] [= Orphic [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/148/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 70 Kern].</ref>}} While Proclus, in his ''Commentary on Plato's Timaeus'', describes the Orphic cosmic egg as "born from Aither and Chaos",<ref>West 1983, p. 200; [[Proclus]], ''Commentary on Plato's Timaeus'' 30 c, d (I 427, 20 Diehl)] [= Orphic [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/152/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 79 Kern].</ref> and calls Phanes the "son of Aither".<ref>West 1983, p. 200; [[Proclus]], ''Commentary on Plato's Timaeus'' 31 a (I 433, 31 Diehl)] [= Orphic [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/150/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 74 Kern]; so also Orphic [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/150/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 73 Kern] [= [[Lactantius]], ''[[The Divine Institutes|Divine Institutes]]'' I, 5, 4&ndash;6 p. 13, 13 Brandt.]. However, concerning these passages of Proclus, West 1983, p. 200, cautions: "We must be ... prepared not to attach too literal a sense to Proclus' description of the egg as 'born from Aither and Chaos' (fr. 79), or to verses in which Protogonos, who came from the egg, is styled 'son of Aither' (frr. 73, 74). It seems clear that Aither was not represented as a person, only as a material element."</ref> Proclus also says that, when Phanes hatched from the cosmic egg, Aether and Chasm were split.<ref>West 1983, pp. 70, 203; Gantz, p. 742; [[Proclus]], ''Commentary on Plato's Republic'' 2.138.18 Kroll] [= Orphic [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/150/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 72 Kern].</ref>

Aether, the material element is also mentioned twice in a thirty-two line hymn-like passage to Zeus which was apparently part of the Rhapsodies in which various parts of the physical cosmos are associated with parts of Zeus' body.<ref>West 1983, pp. 89, 239&ndash;241; Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA105 pp. 105&ndash;107], 112; Orphic [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/200/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 168 Kern].</ref> Line 8 lists things contained in Zeus' body:

{{blockquote|fire and water and earth and air [aether], night and day,<ref>West 1983, p. 241. Compare with [[Aeschylus]], ''[[Heliades]]'' (''Daughters of Helios'') [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-attributed_fragments/2009/pb_LCL505.73.xml fr. 70 Sommerstein] [= fr. 70 Radt] [= [[Clement of Alexandria]], ''[[Stromata]]'', 5.14.114.4 = [[Eusebius]], ''[[Praeparatio evangelica]]'' 13.13.41]: "Zeus is the aether, Zeus is earth, Zeus is heaven—yes, Zeus is everything, and whatever there may be beyond that."</ref>}}
while line 17 says:

{{blockquote|his [Zeus'] truthful, royal mind is imperishable aither.<ref>Meisner, p. 112.</ref>}}

Also possibly drawn from the Rhapsodies is an account of the creation of the world attributed to "Orpheus" by the sixth century AD chronographer [[John Malalas]]:<ref>Meisner, pp. 173&ndash;174, 205; [[John Malalas]], ''[[Chronographia (Malalas)|Chronographia]]'' 4.9 [= Orphic [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/146/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 65 Kern].</ref>

{{Blockquote|This is what Orpheus stated. He said that at the beginning Aither was revealed to Time, having been created by God, and there was Chaos on this side of Aither, and on that, while dark Night held everything and covered what was under Aither, signifying that Night came first. Orpheus said in his account that there was a certain Being who was incomprehensible, supreme over all, before all, and the creator of all things, including the Aither itself and Night and the whole creation that was concealed and was beneath the Aither. He said that the Earth was invisible beneath the darkness. He declared that Light broke through the Aither and illuminated the Earth and all creation, saying that the Light which broke through the Aither was that being mentioned above, that was supreme over all things, whose name Orpheus heard from the oracle and declared: "Metis, Phanes, Erikepaios".<ref>Elizabeth Jefferys, Michael Jefferys and Roger Scott's translation, [https://en.calameo.com/read/000675905f2f4bf509d49 p. 36].</ref>}}

Another Orphic verse fragment, also possibly from the Rhapsodies, is quoted in the ''[[Etymologicum Magnum]]'''s entry on the name Phanes:<ref>Meisner, p. 195; ''[[Etymologicum Magnum]]'' [https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/en/view/bsb10209806?page=1149 p. 787.29] [= Orphic [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/152/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 75 Kern].</ref>
{{poem quote|they call him Phanes
and Protogonus because he became the first one visible (φαντός) in Aither.<ref>Meisner's translation, p. 195.</ref>}}

====''Hymn to Aether''====
The ''[[Orphic Hymns]]'' (2nd or 3rd centuries AD?) are a collection of eighty-seven poems addressed to various deities or abstractions.<ref>Athanassakis and Wolkow, p. x; Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ethjDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA4 p. 4].</ref> The fifth ''Orphic Hymn'', which prescribes an offering of saffron,<ref>Malamis, p. 31.</ref> addresses Aether as follows:

{{Poem quote|text= Yours are Zeus' lofty dwelling, endless power too;
of the stars, of the sun, and of the moon you claim a share.
O tamer of all, O fire-breather, O life's spark for every creature,
sublime Ether, best cosmic element,
radiant, luminous, starlit offspring,
I call upon you and I beseech you to be temperate and clear.<ref>Athanassakis and Wolkow, p. 5.</ref>}}

==See also==
*[[Anshar]]
*[[Heaven]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* [[Aeschylus]], ''Fragments'', edited and translated by Alan H. Sommerstein, [[Loeb Classical Library]] No. 505. Cambridge, Massachusetts: [[Harvard University Press]], 2009. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99629-8}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL505/2009/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].
* [[Apostolos Athanassakis|Athanassakis, Apostolos N.]], and Benjamin M. Wolkow, ''The Orphic Hymns'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013) {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0882-8}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=TTo3r8IHy0wC Google Books].
* [[Jan N. Bremmer|Bremmer, Jan N.]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=YTfxZH4QnqgC ''Greek Religion and Culture, the Bible and the Ancient Near East''], Jerusalem Studies in Religion and Culture, Brill, 2008. {{ISBN|978-90-04-16473-4}}. {{LCCN|2008005742}}.
* ''[[Brill's New Pauly]]: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. Antiquity, Volume 1'', A &ndash; Ari, edited by Hubert Cancik and Helmuth Schneider, Brill, 2002. {{ISBN|9004122583}}.
* [[Callimachus]], [[Musaeus Grammaticus|Musaeus]], ''Aetia, Iambi, Hecale and Other Fragments, Hero and Leander'', edited and translated by C. A. Trypanis, T. Gelzer, Cedric H. Whitman, [[Loeb Classical Library]] No. 421, Cambridge, Massachusetts, [[Harvard University Press]], 1973. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99463-8}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL421/1973/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].
* [[Cicero|Cicero, Marcus Tullius]], ''[[De Natura Deorum]]'' in ''Cicero: On the Nature of the Gods. Academics'', translated by H. Rackham, [[Loeb Classical Library]] No. 268, Cambridge, Massachusetts, [[Harvard University Press]], first published 1933, revised 1951. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99296-2}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL268/1933/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press]. [https://archive.org/stream/denaturadeorumac00ciceuoft#page/n5/mode/2up  Internet Archive].
* Fowler, R. L. (2000), ''Early Greek Mythography: Volume 1: Text and Introduction'', Oxford University Press, 2000. {{ISBN|978-0198147404}}.
* Fowler, R. L. (2013), ''Early Greek Mythography: Volume 2: Commentary'', Oxford University Press, 2013. {{ISBN|978-0198147411}}.
* Gantz, Timothy, ''Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5360-9}} (Vol. 1), {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5362-3}} (Vol. 2).
* Grimal, Pierre, [https://books.google.com/books?id=iOx6de8LUNAC ''The Dictionary of Classical Mythology''], Wiley-Blackwell, 1996, {{ISBN|9780631201021}}.
* Hard, Robin, ''The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology"'', Psychology Press, 2004, {{ISBN|9780415186360}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC Google Books].
* [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'', in ''Hesiod, Theogony, Works and Days, Testimonia,'' Edited and translated by Glenn W. Most. [[Loeb Classical Library]] No. 57. Cambridge, Massachusetts, [[Harvard University Press]], 2018. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99720-2}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL057/2018/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].
* [[Homer]], ''The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes''. Cambridge, Massachusetts, [[Harvard University Press]]; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.1-1.32 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* Honan, Mary McMahon, ''Guide to the Pergamon Museum'', De Gruyter, 1904. {{ISBN|978-3-112-39933-0}}. {{doi|10.1515/9783112399347}}.
* [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus, Gaius Julius]], ''[[Fabulae]]'' in ''Apollodorus' ''Library'' and Hyginus' ''Fabulae'': Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology, Translated, with Introductions by R. Scott Smith and Stephen M. Trzaskoma'', Hackett Publishing Company, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-87220-821-6}}.
* [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. [https://topostext.org/work/207 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
* [[Otto Kern|Kern, Otto]]. ''Orphicorum Fragmenta'', Berlin, 1922. [https://archive.org/stream/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft#page/n5/mode/2up Internet Archive].
* [[John Malalas|Malalas, John]], ''The Chronicle of John Malalas: A Translation'', trans. Elizabeth Jefferys, Michael Jefferys and Roger Scott, Australian Association for Byzantine Studies, Melbourne, 1986. {{ISBN|0959362622}}.
* Malamis, Daniel, ''The Orphic Hymns: Poetry and Genre, with a Critical Text and Translation'', Leiden and Boston, Brill, 2024. {{ISBN|978-90-04-71407-6}}. [https://brill.com/display/title/71251 Online version at Brill].
* Meisner, Dwayne A., ''Orphic Tradition and the Birth of the Gods'', [[Oxford University Press]], 2018. {{ISBN|978-0-19-066352-0}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ Google Books]. 
* ''[[Orphic Argonautica]]'' in ''Argonautica, Hymni Libellus de lapidibus et fragmenta cum notis'', [[Johann Matthias Gesner]], [[Leipzig]]: Sumtibus Caspari Fritsch, 1764. [https://archive.org/details/argonauticahymn00unkngoog/page/n7/mode/2up Internet Archive].
* ''[[The Oxford Classical Dictionary]]'', second edition, [[N. G. L. Hammond|Hammond, N.G.L.]] and [[Howard Hayes Scullard]] (editors), [[Oxford University Press]], 1992. {{ISBN|0-19-869117-3}}.
* [[William Smith (lexicographer)|Smith, William]]; ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]'', London (1873). [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DA%3Aentry+group%3D8%3Aentry%3Daether-bio-1 "Aether"]
* Tripp, Edward, ''Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology'', Thomas Y. Crowell Co; First edition (June 1970). {{ISBN|069022608X}}.
* [[Martin Litchfield West|West, M. L.]] (1983), ''The Orphic Poems'', [[Clarendon Press]] Oxford, 1983. {{ISBN|978-0-19-814854-8}}.
* [[Martin Litchfield West|West, M. L.]] (2002), "'Eumelos': A Corinthian Epic Cycle?" in ''The Journal of Hellenic Studies'', vol. 122, pp.&nbsp;109–133. {{JSTOR|3246207}}.
* [[Martin Litchfield West|West, M. L.]] (2003), ''Greek Epic Fragments: From the Seventh to the Fifth Centuries BC'', edited and translated by Martin L. West, [[Loeb Classical Library]] No. 497, Cambridge, Massachusetts, [[Harvard University Press]], 2003. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99605-2}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL497/2003/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].
* White, Stephen, "Hieronymus of Rhodes: The Sources, Text and Translation" in ''Lyco of Troas and Hieronymus of Rhodes: Text, Translation, and Discussion'', Volume XII, editors: William Wall Fortenbaugh, [[Stephen Augustus White]], Transaction Publishers, 2004. {{ISBN|0-7658-0253-8}}.

{{Greek religion|state=collapsed}}
{{Greek mythology (deities)|state=collapsed}}

{{Subject bar |wikt=y |wikt-search=Aether |portal1=Ancient Greece|portal22=Myths}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Sky and weather gods]]
[[Category:Light gods]]
[[Category:Greek gods]]
[[Category:Greek primordial deities]]
[[Category:Personifications in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Children of Nyx]]
[[Category:Consorts of Gaia]]
[[Category:Personifications]]