Eurynome
In the Pelasgian creation myth, Eurynome ruled the universe with Ophion before the rise of the Titans.
The Myth of Eurynome
In the Pelasgian creation myth — one of the oldest Greek cosmogonies — Eurynome was the goddess of all things who rose naked from Chaos and danced upon the waves. Finding nothing solid to rest her feet upon, she separated the sea from the sky. Her dancing stirred the north wind into the serpent Ophion, who coiled around her. She took the form of a dove and laid the Universal Egg, from which tumbled the sun, moon, planets, stars, earth, and all living creatures. Eurynome and Ophion settled on Mount Olympus, but when Ophion claimed to be the creator of the universe, she kicked out his teeth and banished him to the dark caves below the earth. This myth, recorded by Apollonius Rhodius and discussed by Robert Graves, predates the Hesiodic tradition and preserves a matriarchal cosmogony.
Fun Fact
This creation myth features a female supreme deity who predates Zeus by centuries in the Greek religious imagination.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Eurynome
🏔 titanPastures, Wide Rule
A Titaness who in some traditions ruled Olympus alongside her husband Ophion before being overthrown by Cronus and Rhea in a divine coup.
Tethys
🏔 titanTitaness of the primal ocean
The great Titaness of the sea who nursed Hera and whose union with Oceanus produced all the world's rivers and springs.
Ophion
🏔 titanPrimordial serpent ruler
The great serpent who ruled the cosmos with Eurynome before the Titans, in the Pelasgian creation myth.
Clymene
🏔 titanFame, Renown
An Oceanid-Titaness best known as the mother of Prometheus, Atlas, and the other sons of Iapetus who shaped humanity's early story.
Dione
🏔 titanOracle, Femininity
A shadowy Titaness worshipped at Dodona alongside Zeus, sometimes named as the original mother of Aphrodite before the sea-foam version became dominant.
Rhea
🏔 titanTitaness of fertility, motherhood, the mountain wilds
Mother of the Olympian gods and wife of Kronos. Rhea saved the infant Zeus from being devoured by his father, enabling the rise of the Olympians.
Dione
🏔 titanTitaness and mother of Aphrodite
An ancient Titaness worshipped at Dodona as the consort of Zeus and, in Homer's tradition, the mother of Aphrodite.
Kronos
🏔 titanTitan, father of the Olympians
King of the Titans who ruled during the mythological Golden Age. Kronos overthrew his father Ouranos and was in turn overthrown by his son Zeus.
Selene
🏔 titanTitan goddess of the moon
The Titan goddess who drove the silver chariot of the moon across the night sky, daughter of Hyperion and Theia.
Opis
🏔 titanHarvest, Abundance
A Titaness of plenty associated with the earth's bounty, later merged with the Roman goddess Ops who presided over agricultural wealth.
Rhea
🏔 titanTitaness mother of the Olympians
The great Titaness who saved Zeus from being swallowed by Kronos, enabling the entire Olympian order to exist.
Asteria
🏔 titanTitaness who became the island of Delos
Asteria was a Titaness who leapt into the sea to escape Zeus's advances and was transformed into the island of Delos — birthplace of Apollo and Artemis.