Greek Mythology: A Concise Guide

by Robert Carlson

The general consensus is that we created myths to explain our environment to ourselves and to make sense of our experiences, to answer the question about where we came from, who we are and how we can be happy.

In the beginning there was Khaos, was either a god itself or a set of circumstances. Our word “chaos” comes from this word. But in the tale of early Greek mythology it has a very different meaning: a state of utter confusion or disorder; a total lack of organization or order. In Greek mythology it was a “formless or void” state and has nothing to do with a great deal of noise and confusion. It was actually a gap or a space that existed, perhaps as a result of the separation of heaven and earth.