Arche - Mythical Cosmogonies

Mythical Cosmogonies

In the mythical Greek cosmogony of Hesiod (8th-7th century BC) the origin (arche) of the world is Chaos, an unlimited (formless) void considered as a divine primordial condition, from which everything else appeared. This is described as a large gap without bottom (yawning abyss) where are the roots and the ends of the earth, sky, sea and Tartarus. In the Orphic cosmogony the unageing Chronos produced Aether and Chaos and made in divine Aether a silvery egg, from which everything else appeared.

In the mythological cosmogonies of Near East, the universe is formless and empty and the only existing thing prior to creation was the water abyss. In the Babylonian creation story Enuma Elish the primordial world is described as a watery chaos from which everything else appeared. Something similar is described in Book of Genesis where the spirit of the God is moving upon the dark face of the waters.

In the Hindu cosmology which is similar to the Vedic cosmology in the beginning there was nothing in the Universe but only darkness. The self-manifested being created the primordial waters and established his seed into it. This turned to a golden egg (Hiranyagarbha) from which everything else appeared.