Abstract

A close study of Hesiod's understanding of the birth of Chaos as the beginning of the cosmos, in which I (1) show why this beginning is better interpreted as the differentiation of earth from Tartaros than as the splitting of earth from sky, (2) explicate the differentiation on three levels that structures the cosmos, and (3) reflect on the semantic and ethical implications that may have led Hesiod to this vision of the cosmos.