Eurynome
nymphAn Oceanid who, in Pelasgian creation myth, was the goddess of all things and danced the world into being.
The Myth
In the standard Olympian mythology, Eurynome was simply an Oceanid — one of three thousand daughters of Oceanus and Tethys. She had a brief affair with Zeus that produced the three Graces: Aglaea, Euphrosyne, and Thalia. This alone would make her notable.
But an older tradition, preserved by the Pelasgians (the pre-Greek inhabitants of the Aegean), tells a far grander story. In their creation myth, Eurynome rose naked from Chaos. Finding nothing to stand on, she separated sea from sky and began to dance on the waves. Her dancing stirred the north wind into life, and she shaped that wind into a great serpent called Ophion. Eurynome and Ophion coupled, and she laid the universal egg from which all creation hatched — sun, moon, stars, earth, and every living thing.
She then ruled from Mount Olympus with Ophion until he grew arrogant and claimed to be the sole creator. She kicked out his teeth and banished him to the dark caves below the earth. The Pelasgian Eurynome was no minor nymph. She was the beginning of everything.
Children
The three Graces (by Zeus); all creation (Pelasgian)
Symbols
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Eurynome (Titaness)
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Ophion
titanThe great serpent who ruled the cosmos with Eurynome before the Titans, in the Pelasgian creation...
Thalia (Nereid)
nymphA Nereid whose name means "the blooming one," distinct from the Muse Thalia and the Grace Thalia.
Oceanids
nymphThe Oceanids included Metis, Styx, Doris — nymphs of all fresh waters.
Chaos
conceptThe first thing to exist — a vast, formless void from which all of creation emerged. Chaos was not...
Mount Ida (Crete)
placeMount Ida was the highest peak in Crete, home to the cave where the infant Zeus was hidden from his...
Mount Ida (Troy)
placeMount Ida near Troy was the mountain from which the gods observed the Trojan War and where Paris...
Mount Olympus (Sacred)
placeThe highest mountain in Greece and mythological home of the twelve Olympian gods, whose...
Mount Othrys
titanThe real mountain in central Greece that mythology designated as the Titans' fortress during their...
Mount Parnassus
placeMount Parnassus was the mountain above Delphi sacred to Apollo and the Muses — the symbolic home of...
Oceanus
titanThe great Titan who personified the vast river believed to encircle the entire world. Father of all...