Aidonian's blog

rebos is the God of Darkness, more precisly, He is the personfication of darkness itself and the misty regions of the underworld. He is the Protogenos of Darkness. By that I dontt mean the evil kind. There were no real “evil” Gods. Evil is something that is a human invention to describe the unpleasant things of life like to kill to live.

He’s married to Nyx and they have many childeren among the famous ones: Morpheus, Thanatos, Hemera, Aether, Nemesis, etc… In fact most of the childeren Nyx gave birth to are fathered by Erebos.

His thick mists of darkness were said to envelop the edges of the world where the domed sky met the earth and fill the hollow caverns beneath the earth. These dark mists his wife Nyx drew up across the heavens each night to bring darkness to the world and his daughter Hemera (Day) scattered each morning to bring day – the one blocking out the glowing light of Aither (the glowing upper air and son of Erebos) and the other clearing the darkness to let his light shine again upon the earth. Erebos name was often used to describe the underworld of Hades. Hesiod mentions Khaos/ Chaos as his parent. I say parent because the gender of Khaos is undetermined. One source says Khaos is male, another female. Erebos is not only the God of Darkness but also the personification of darkness that surrounded the Underworld or Tartarus but like I said before. It was also used to describe the Underworld. The union between Erebos and Nyx is special because even though Nyx is the Night, the Night is nothing without the Darkness.

In my opinion Erebos doesn just represent the darkness of the night but also of space where again is always night can be said that wherever Darkness can be found, it will unite again with the Night when the Day (Hemera) leaves. Hyginus gives us the names of both the parents as his siblings in his preface of his Latin Mythography. He calls his parents Chaos and Caligine, which is also Darkness. He says from Chaos and Caligine Nox (Nyx- Night), ), Dies (Day), Erebus, Aether.
From Nox (Night) and Erebus: Fatum (Fate), Senectus (Old Age), Mors (Death), Letum (Dissolution), Continentia (Continence), Somnus (Sleep), Somnia (Dreams), Amor – that is Lysimeles, Epiphron, Porphyrion, Epaphus, Discordia (Discord), Miseria (Wretchedness), Petulantia (Wantonness), Nemesis, Euphrosyne, Amicitia (Friendship), Misericordia (Compassion), Styx; the three Parcae (Fates), namely Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos; the Hesperides Aegle, Hesperie and Aerica. One sources calls Erebos Skotos, Gaia Tekmor and Chaos Poros who came after Thetis (Creation). Moon is called Melana and Day Amar that was created to differentiate matter. Both Homeros and Hesiodos use Erebos to describe the Underworld. But his name is never use as another name for the Underworld. Erebos’ name was only used at most as another name for Tartarus or the darkness that separated Tartarus from the rest of the Underworld.

Cult of Erebos

Erebus) in a modern context often involves embracing his role as a primordial force of darkness,shadow, and the Underworld. Historically, Greeks rarely worshipped him directly as an individual deity, but modern practitioners have developed several ways to honor him. As i wrote earlier, Erebos did not receive any cultus because he was viewed as an element of nature, and was rarely interacted with in myths and theologically speaking, He is only referenced. His wife Nyx is a force to be reckoned with. Even Zeus is said to fear Her.

For me, Erebos is not a dangerous deity like Nyx (Nox). While it also true that night and darkness bring forth many terrors and dangers, it also brings tranquility and peace. The old addage says that when you look long enough into the Darkness, the Darkness looks back at you. This has many meanings. One that things that go bump into the night can find you, but also that when you look into darkness, you see nothing and you are confronted with yourself. So by looking into the darkness, one is confronted with himself. So basicly what Nyx and Erebos do is forcing you to confront the real you, not the one society and upbringing has thought you, how you should be. I think that Dionysos builds upon that.Since a couple of years ago i incorporated the worship of Erebos and Nyx into my practices and I do find peace in the darkness. Whenever I feel at unease during the night or in a dark room, I pray to Nyx and/or Erebos to calm my fears. I find Him to be a fascinating deity as He is like Dionysos in many ways. I find it fascinating that He is among other things, he father of Light and Day but also the Fates(Moirae). When you look at it, when the universe was formed, there was no light, only darkness. From that darkness the first Light (Aither) was born into it. Through Him Fate came into the young universe but also divine justice (Nemesis) but also Sleep and Death. He is also Father of many Daimones. In that way, He is connected to many Gods and daimones.I have written several hymns to Him and commisioned Sannion to writ eone to Him as well. You can find it here, here is one I wrote.

Offerings to Erebos

Libations: Black coffee, dark tea, wine, or strong spirits.

• Food: Dark chocolate, bread, honey, and dark-colored fruits like cranberries or blackberries.
• Incense: Frankincense, myrrh, patchouli, or dragon’s blood.
• Chthonic Ritual: Traditionally, offerings to Underworld deities were buried in the earthor poured into a pit (bothros) rather than burned.

Devotional Acts to Erebos

• Shadow Work: Use the quiet of darkness for ntrospection and confronting hidden fears.
• Nighttime Rituals: Perform prayers or meditations during the New Moon or in complete darkness.
• Honoring the Dead: Dedicate time to visiting cemeteries or assisting with funeral rites.
• Embracing Silence: Spend time in secluded, dark places like caves or windowless rooms to connect with his stillness.

Names:

Erebos has another name: Skotos. Both names mean Darkness. In Latin it is Erebus Scotus. Erebos is pronounced {air\”-i-buhs}

He is also called Arabus, but also Tenebrae, which seems more like the Latin word for darkness, but it describes His essence.

Notable Titles & Epithets

• The Deep Darkness
• The Primordial: He is one of the First Gods who came into the Universe and gave it fom, hence he is called Protogenos or Primordial.
• The Gloom of Hades
• Father of Light: Seeing how Aither is the personfication of Light, it is weird to see a Protogenois of Darkness called Father of Light, but He brought Light into the universe.
• The Silent One
• Lord of the Shadow-Land: this has to do with a description Homeros gave us of the Underworld.

Offspring:

– Aither, Hemera (by Nyx) (Theogony 124)

– Moira (Fatum), Geras (Senectus), Thanatos (Mors), Lethe (Letum), ?? (Continentia), Hypnos (Somnus), The Oneiroi (Somnia), Himeros (Amor), Epiphron, Porphyrion, Epaphos, Eris (Discordia), Akhlys (Miseria), ?? (Petulantia), Nemesis, Euphrosyne, Philotes (Amicitia), Eleos (Misericordia), Styx, The Moirai (Parcae), the Hesperides (By Nyx).

Sources:

Aristophanes: the Birds

Hesiod, Theogony – Greek Epic C8th-7th BC

The Homeric Hymns – Greek Epic C8th-4th BC

Greek Lyric II Alcman, Fragments – Greek Lyric C7th BC

Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy – Greek Epic C4th AD

Hyginus, Preface – Latin Mythography C2nd AD

The Theoi Project