> In Greek mythology, which deity was the personification of nothingness, and thefirst thing that ever existed?And the answer: Chaos. Photo credit: public domainIn Greek mythology, Chaos was the first entity toappear at the dawn of creation, emerging from a dark void. Chaos was followed bythe deities Gaea, Tartaros, and Eros. While Gaea went on to become the mother ofeverything beautiful in the world, Chaos created Erebus and Nyx, who were thegods of darkness and night. Coming from the Greek word for "abyss," Chaos was the first of the primordialgods. More than just a void, Chaos brought a dark realm of energy from which allthat is powerful (and all that is bad and evil) would later stem forth. Thisdeity is depicted in Greek poet Hesiod’s Theogony as the lower atmosphere onearth – a gloomy and misty dark space. Hesiod even suggests that perhaps Chaosis some kind of dwelling place between Earth and Tartarus (which is the place ofbanishment for Titans). Chaos has been conceived in many different ways throughout history. While somepoets lay claim to the deity’s role as the original creator, others questionthis possibility considering that even it had to have been born. Roman poet Ovidsaw Chaos as more of a concept than a deity, giving way to its association withmayhem from which the maker of the Cosmos produced the ordered universe. Thelatter association forms the basis for the word’s usage in English today. Did you know?There was no recorded, organized worship for Chaos in Ancient Greece. This mightaccount for the greatly differing depictions of the deity throughout time – muchof his/her/its form was left up to artistic interpretation!Learn more about Chaos and its place in Hesiod’s Theogony below.