Comments on: Can someone explain?

By: Encyclopædia Britannica (Unabridged)

Encyclopædia Britannica (Unabridged) — Thu, 14 May 2026 01:38:17 +0000

Orphic cosmogony represents a distinct, mystic branch of Greek religious thought separate from the widely familiar Hesiodic Theogony, which centers Chaos as the initial primordial void and origin of all existence. By contrast, Orphic tradition elevates Phanes (also titled Protogonos, “First-Born”) as the supreme primordial creator deity: a luminous, hermaphroditic primeval being emerging first from the void, bearing within itself the seed of all creation. Syncretism in Orphic texts frequently identifies Phanes with Eros, the primal force of generative desire, as both embody the foundational impulse that brings order and life into being—an equivalence absent from standard popular Greek mythology, compounding lay confusion.
Further disorientation arises from the near-homographic pair Chronos (Χρόνος) and Cronos (Κρόνος), two distinct entities often blurred in popular retellings despite etymological and theological separation.
Chronos is the primordial, abstract divine personification of time itself, a transcendent primeval force associated with endless duration, cosmic cycles, and existential dissolution in Orphic cosmology. Cronos, by etymology linked to “rule, command, sovereignty,” is the Titan ruler of the Golden Age, father of Zeus, and a figure of political and generational succession in standard myth.
While formally separate in theology and linguistic origin—one the primal essence of time, the other a ruling Titan—ancient syncretism and later popular tradition occasionally conflated the two figures into a single entity. This overlap, compounded by parallel spelling, shared thematic ties to temporal authority, and inconsistent retellings across classical, Orphic, and later Hellenistic sources, creates a layered inconsistency that disrupts casual understandings of Greek mythic hierarchy. The resulting cognitive dissonance noted by the observer is a common reaction to the lack of a single standardized Greek creation narrative, with Orphic esoteric lore operating by entirely different divine lineages and primordial frameworks than the mainstream Hesiodic tradition familiar to general audiences.

By: Diet Pepsi's Guide to Mythology

Diet Pepsi's Guide to Mythology — Sun, 18 May 2025 03:22:13 +0000

In reply to Director Dr Durian. NAHHH. Hitchhiker is way more fun

By: Director Dr Durian

Director Dr Durian — Sat, 17 May 2025 14:15:34 +0000

I also have an idea why there are many different versions of various Greek myths – because the people in different areas made up their own versions either by just amending the myth themselves or from external cultural influences which would’ve been different in different parts of the Greek world. They were quite widely scattered across the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas so some communities would have been relatively isolated. Their myths could have quite easily evolved independently of the same myths elsewhere.

By: Director Dr Durian

Director Dr Durian — Sat, 17 May 2025 14:05:46 +0000

Thanks to Nobody for a fairly detailed explanation here: https://mushroom-scholars.org/different-versions/

By: Director Dr Durian

Director Dr Durian — Sat, 17 May 2025 14:04:31 +0000

In reply to Serena. Unless they vote for Life of Pi :roll:

By: Serena

Serena — Sat, 17 May 2025 08:09:07 +0000

In reply to Diet Pepsi's Guide to Mythology. Good. Enjoy it next year.

By: Diet Pepsi's Guide to Mythology

Diet Pepsi's Guide to Mythology — Sat, 17 May 2025 05:13:08 +0000

In reply to Nobody. Yeah but the Romans just did small changes to the Greek myths, like renaming everyone, small changes to personality, and adding new gods. Orphic cosmogony version is the opposite. It is basically a entire different myth with some of the same names. How is that still the same myth?

By: Diet Pepsi's Guide to Mythology

Diet Pepsi's Guide to Mythology — Sat, 17 May 2025 05:09:44 +0000

In reply to Serena. Ohhh right. I love Hitch Hiker, such a good book

By: Serena

Serena — Sat, 17 May 2025 02:50:58 +0000

Because Dr Terrett is making Grade 8 do sci-fi.

By: Nobody

Nobody — Sat, 17 May 2025 01:40:26 +0000

In reply to Diet Pepsi's Guide to Mythology. Yeah so you know, there ARE different versions of Greek Mythology, and Roman mythology is basically Greek Mythology but it changed every name, so don't freak out if the same thing has different versions.

By: Diet Pepsi's Guide to Mythology

Diet Pepsi's Guide to Mythology — Fri, 16 May 2025 10:10:31 +0000

Help pls