Aether (mythology)
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| Greek deities series |
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| Titans and Olympians | |
| Aquatic deities | |
| Chthonic deities | |
| Personified concepts | |
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| Primordial deities | |
Aether (Greek: ᾿Αιθήρ; English: aether, æther or ether), in Greek mythology, is one of the Protogenos (first-born). He is the personification of the "upper sky", space and heaven, and the elemental god of the "Bright, Glowing, Upper Air." He is the pure upper air that the gods breathe, as opposed to regular air (᾿Αήρ, aer), the gloomy lower air of the Earth, which mortals breathe.
In Hesiod's Theogony he was the son of Erebus and Nyx and brother of Hemera, both noted in passing in Cicero's De Natura deorum, but Hyginus Pref mentioned Khaos as his parent. He is the soul of the world and all life emanates from him. The aether was also known as Zeus' defensive wall; the bound that locked Tartaros from the cosmos.
His mother Nyx (Night) drew the dark mists of Erebos across the sky beneath him to make night, while his sister Hemera (Day) drew away these mists to reveal his shining glow and bring the day. Night and day were regarded as independent of the sun in the ancient theogonies. He has several offspring but Hyginus seem to confuse him with Ouranos when saying that Aether has many children by Gaia. Hyginus is also our source for telling us that Aether is the father of Ouranos, Gaia and Thalassa by Hemera (his sister. But another source tells us that it is just Ouranos who is his child. And like Tartaros and Erebos, in Hellas he might have had shrines but no temples and probably no cult either. In the Orphic hymns, he is mentioned as the soul of the world from which all life emanates. Callimachus, in calling Ouranus Akmonides, claims him as the son of Akmon, and Eustathius in Alcman tells us that the sons of Ouranos were called Akmonidai.
[edit] Etymology
His name means "light / upper air" or "clear sky" in Ancient Greek, and his other name[verification needed], Akmôn (΄Ακμων), means "meteor / anvil". In Latin his names are spelled "Aether" and "Acmon". In English, both "Aether" and "Ether" survive.
