Chaos

Chaos was the first of the primordial gods (protogenoi) to emerge at the dawn of creation. She was followed in quick succession by Gaea (Earth), Tartaros (the Pit Below) and Eros (Procreation).

Chaos was the lower atmosphere which surrounds the earth--both the invisible air and the gloom of fog and mist. The word khaos means "gap" or "chasm" being the space between heaven and earth. Chaos was the mother and grandmother of the other misty essences-

• Erebos (the mists of netherworld darkness),
• Aether (the ethereal mists of heaven),
• Nyx (the night), and
• Hemera (the day),

as well as the numerous emotion-driving Daimones (Spirits) which haunted it. She was also a goddess of fate like her daughter Nyx and grand-daughters the Moirai (Moirae).

As the goddess of the air, Chaos was also the mother of birds, just as Gaea (the Earth) was the mother of land animals, and Thalassa (the Sea) was the mother of fish.

Late classical authors redefined Chaos as the chaotic mix of elements which existed in the primordial universe, conflating it with the primal "Mud" of the Orphic cosmogony. The modern English word "chaos" derives from this.