{ "id": "greek-gods-family-tree", "type": "guide", "name": "Greek gods family tree: Hesiod's genealogy line by line", "summary": "The genealogy of the Greek gods as Hesiod's Theogony gives it — Chaos, then Gaia and Uranus, the twelve Titans, the children of Cronus and Rhea, and the children of Zeus — with the line of the poem behind every edge, and the places where Apollodorus and Homer draw the tree differently.", "locale": "en", "tags": [ "greek", "guides", "genealogy", "deities", "titans", "primordials", "olympians" ], "relations": [ { "rel": "attested_in", "target": "theogony" }, { "rel": "attested_in", "target": "bibliotheca" }, { "rel": "attested_in", "target": "iliad" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "chaos" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "gaia" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "uranus" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "nyx" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "eros" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "tartarus" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "cronus" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "rhea" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "oceanus" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "tethys" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "hyperion" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "themis" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "mnemosyne" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "iapetus" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "prometheus" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "atlas" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "leto" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "helios" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "selene" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "eos" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "hecate" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "cyclopes" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "zeus" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "hera" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "poseidon" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "hades" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "demeter" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "hestia" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "athena" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "apollo" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "artemis" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "ares" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "aphrodite" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "hephaestus" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "hermes" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "dionysus" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "persephone" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "muses" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "moirai" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "nike" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "typhon" }, { "rel": "example", "target": "heracles" }, { "rel": "discussed_in", "target": "twelve-olympians" }, { "rel": "related", "target": "titan" }, { "rel": "related", "target": "primordial-deity" } ], "questions": [ "What is the family tree of the Greek gods?", "Who came first in Greek mythology according to Hesiod?", "Who are the children of Gaia and Uranus?", "Who are the twelve Titans?", "Who are the children of Cronus and Rhea?", "Who are the children of Zeus according to Hesiod?", "Where do Hesiod and Apollodorus disagree about the gods' genealogy?" ], "claims": [ { "id": "c1", "text": "Hesiod's tree has no parents at the root: \"at first Chaos came to be, but next wide-bosomed Earth\", then \"dim Tartarus\" and Eros; from Chaos came Erebus and black Night, and Night, \"from union in love with Erebus\", bore Aether and Day (Theog. 116–125).", "sources": [ "hesiod-theogony" ], "confidence": 0.95 }, { "id": "c2", "text": "Earth (Gaia) bore Heaven (Uranus), the hills and Pontus without a partner, then with Heaven the twelve Titans — Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus, Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Tethys and \"Cronos the wily, youngest and most terrible\" — followed by the three Cyclopes and the three Hundred-handers Cottus, Briareos and Gyes (Theog. 126–153).", "sources": [ "hesiod-theogony" ], "confidence": 0.95 }, { "id": "c3", "text": "Two families spring from the castration of Uranus: from the blood drops Earth received came the Erinyes, the Giants and the Meliae nymphs (Theog. 183–187), and from the foam around the severed members grew Aphrodite, who came ashore at Cyprus (Theog. 188–200). Heaven then named his sons \"Titans (Strainers) in reproach\" (Theog. 207–210).", "sources": [ "hesiod-theogony" ], "confidence": 0.95 }, { "id": "c4", "text": "Night's children are abstractions: \"hateful Doom and black Fate and Death\", Sleep, Dreams, Blame, Woe, the Hesperides and \"the Destinies and ruthless avenging Fates, Clotho and Lachesis and Atropos\" (Theog. 211–217). Hesiod later gives the same three Fates to Zeus and Themis (Theog. 904–906) — one of the poem's own double genealogies.", "sources": [ "hesiod-theogony" ], "confidence": 0.93 }, { "id": "c5", "text": "The Titan couples and their children: Oceanus and Tethys bore the rivers and \"three thousand neat-ankled daughters\", Styx \"the chiefest of them all\" (Theog. 337–370); Hyperion and Theia bore Helios, Selene and Eos (Theog. 371–374); Crius and Eurybia bore Astraeus, Pallas and Perses (Theog. 375–377); Styx and Pallas bore Zelus, Nike, Cratos and Bia (Theog. 383–385); Coeus and Phoebe bore Leto and Asteria, and Asteria bore Hecate to Perses (Theog. 404–411); Iapetus and Clymene bore Atlas, Menoetius, Prometheus and Epimetheus (Theog. 507–511).", "sources": [ "hesiod-theogony" ], "confidence": 0.95 }, { "id": "c6", "text": "Cronus and Rhea are the parents of the elder Olympians: \"Hestia, Demeter, and gold-shod Hera and strong Hades … and the loud-crashing Earth-Shaker, and wise Zeus, father of gods and men\", swallowed by Cronus as each was born (Theog. 453–467).", "sources": [ "hesiod-theogony" ], "confidence": 0.95 }, { "id": "c7", "text": "Zeus's children come in the order of his unions: by Themis the Horae and the Fates (Theog. 901–906); by Eurynome the Graces (907–909); by Demeter Persephone (912–914); by Mnemosyne the nine Muses (915–917); by Leto Apollo and Artemis (918–920); by Hera Hebe, Ares and Eileithyia (921–923); Athena from his own head (924); by Maia Hermes (938–939); by Semele Dionysus (940–942); by Alcmena Heracles (943–944). Hephaestus is Hera's alone, \"without union with Zeus\" (Theog. 927–929).", "sources": [ "hesiod-theogony" ], "confidence": 0.95 }, { "id": "c8", "text": "Apollodorus draws the first generation in the reverse order: Sky begat \"first the Hundred-handed\", then the Cyclopes, and only then the Titans (Apollod. 1.1.1–1.1.3); he makes Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus and Menoetius the sons of Iapetus and Asia, not Clymene (Apollod. 1.2.3), and gives Zeus Aphrodite by Dione and Persephone by Styx (Apollod. 1.3.1). He agrees with Hesiod on Hecate's parents, Perses and Asteria (Apollod. 1.2.4).", "sources": [ "apollodorus-library", "hesiod-theogony" ], "confidence": 0.92 }, { "id": "c9", "text": "Homer's root is different: Hera speaks of \"Oceanus, from whom the gods are sprung, and mother Tethys\" (Il. 14.201), and Aphrodite is the daughter of Zeus and Dione (Il. 5.370–371) — neither Chaos nor the foam appears in the Iliad.", "sources": [ "homer-iliad" ], "confidence": 0.92 }, { "id": "c10", "text": "The last child on the tree is Typhoeus (Typhon), whom Earth bore \"of the love of Tartarus\" after Zeus had driven the Titans from heaven (Theog. 820–822); Apollodorus repeats the parentage, placing the birth after the Giants' war (Apollod. 1.6.3).", "sources": [ "hesiod-theogony", "apollodorus-library" ], "confidence": 0.93 } ], "takeaways": [ "The root is Chaos, not a couple: Earth, Tartarus and Eros simply 'came to be' (Theog. 116–122); the first parents are Earth and Heaven.", "Twelve Titans, three Cyclopes, three Hundred-handers — all children of Earth and Heaven (Theog. 132–153); Aphrodite is older than Zeus in Hesiod.", "Six children of Cronus and Rhea (Theog. 453–458), then Zeus's children in the order of his wives (Theog. 886–944).", "Apollodorus reverses the order of Heaven's children and swaps some mothers; Homer starts the gods from Oceanus and Tethys." ], "faqs": [], "evidence_tier": "primary", "evidence": { "level": "theoretical", "source_types": [ "paper" ] }, "moat_flag": false, "winning_edge": "Family-tree diagrams online merge Hesiod, Apollodorus and Homer into one chart. This guide draws Hesiod's tree edge by edge with the Theogony line for each, and lists separately where the other two witnesses disagree.", "confidence": 0.93, "last_verified": "2026-09-03", "body": "# Greek gods family tree\n\nEverything below follows Hesiod's *Theogony* unless a line says otherwise.\nThe poem asks the Muses to tell \"how at the first gods and earth came to\nbe\" (Theog. 108–115), and answers in generations.\n\n## Generation 0: the ones who \"came to be\"\n\n```\nChaos ─────────────┬──────────────────────┐\n │ │\n Erebus ─┬─ Night (Nyx) (no parents:) Earth (Gaia) · Tartarus · Eros\n │\n Aether · Day\n```\n\n\"At first Chaos came to be, but next wide-bosomed Earth … and dim Tartarus\n… and Eros\" (Theog. 116–122). From Chaos: Erebus and Night; from Night\nand Erebus: Aether and Day (Theog. 123–125). Earth, Tartarus and Eros\nhave no parents at all — they are not Chaos's children, they come after\nit.\n\n## Generation 1: the children of Earth\n\n| Parents | Children | Theog. |\n|---|---|---|\n| Earth alone | Heaven (Uranus), the hills, Pontus | 126–132 |\n| Earth + Heaven | The twelve Titans: Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus, Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Tethys, Cronus | 132–138 |\n| Earth + Heaven | Cyclopes: Brontes, Steropes, Arges | 139–146 |\n| Earth + Heaven | Hundred-handers: Cottus, Briareos, Gyes | 147–153 |\n| Earth + blood of Uranus | Erinyes, Giants, Meliae | 183–187 |\n| Foam + members of Uranus | Aphrodite | 188–200 |\n| Night alone | Doom, Fate, Death, Sleep, Dreams, Blame, Woe, Hesperides, the Fates | 211–217 |\n| Earth + Tartarus | Typhoeus (after the Titans' defeat) | 820–822 |\n\nApollodorus lists the same three sets of Heaven's children in the opposite\norder — Hundred-handers, Cyclopes, Titans (Apollod. 1.1.1–1.1.3) — and\nadds Dione to the Titanides.\n\n## Generation 2: the Titan couples\n\n| Parents | Children | Theog. |\n|---|---|---|\n| Oceanus + Tethys | The rivers; 3,000 Oceanids, Styx chief among them | 337–370 |\n| Hyperion + Theia | Helios, Selene, Eos | 371–374 |\n| Crius + Eurybia | Astraeus, Pallas, Perses | 375–377 |\n| Pallas + Styx | Zelus, Nike, Cratos, Bia | 383–385 |\n| Coeus + Phoebe | Leto, Asteria | 404–409 |\n| Perses + Asteria | Hecate | 409–411 |\n| Cronus + Rhea | Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, Zeus | 453–458 |\n| Iapetus + Clymene | Atlas, Menoetius, Prometheus, Epimetheus | 507–511 |\n\nApollodorus makes the mother of Atlas and Prometheus \"Asia\", not Clymene\n(Apollod. 1.2.3), and the Oceanids of his list include Metis and\nAmphitrite (Apollod. 1.2.2).\n\n## Generation 3: the children of Zeus\n\nHesiod gives them in the order of Zeus's wives (Theog. 886–944):\n\n| Mother | Children | Theog. |\n|---|---|---|\n| Metis (swallowed) | Athena, born from Zeus's head | 886–900, 924 |\n| Themis | The Horae (Eunomia, Dike, Eirene) and the Fates | 901–906 |\n| Eurynome | The Graces | 907–909 |\n| Demeter | Persephone | 912–914 |\n| Mnemosyne | The nine Muses | 915–917 |\n| Leto | Apollo, Artemis | 918–920 |\n| Hera | Hebe, Ares, Eileithyia | 921–923 |\n| Maia | Hermes | 938–939 |\n| Semele (mortal) | Dionysus | 940–942 |\n| Alcmena (mortal) | Heracles | 943–944 |\n\nHera alone bears Hephaestus, in anger, \"without union with Zeus\"\n(Theog. 927–929). Apollodorus adds that \"according to Homer he was one of\nher children by Zeus\" (Apollod. 1.3.5).\n\n## Where the witnesses disagree\n\n- **The root.** Hesiod begins with Chaos. Homer's Hera calls Oceanus the\n one \"from whom the gods are sprung\" (Il. 14.201). Apollodorus begins\n with Sky ruling the world (Apollod. 1.1.1).\n- **Aphrodite.** Foam of Uranus in Hesiod (Theog. 188–200); daughter of\n Zeus and Dione in Homer (Il. 5.370–371) and Apollodorus (Apollod. 1.3.1).\n- **Persephone.** Daughter of Demeter in Hesiod (Theog. 912–914); \"by\n Styx he had Persephone\" in Apollodorus (Apollod. 1.3.1).\n- **The Fates.** Daughters of Night (Theog. 217) and of Zeus and Themis\n (Theog. 904–906) in the same poem.\n- **Order of Heaven's children.** Titans first in Hesiod, Hundred-handers\n first in Apollodorus.\n\nAn agent drawing this tree should therefore label it \"Hesiod\" and treat\neach of the five points above as a fork, not an error.", "media": [], "x": { "myth": { "pantheon": "greek", "kind": "concept", "domains": [ "genealogy", "cosmogony" ] } }, "canonical_url": "https://mythosdata.dev/k/greek-gods-family-tree", "api_url": "https://mythosdata.dev/api/k/greek-gods-family-tree.json", "jsonld": { "@context": "https://schema.org", "name": "Greek gods family tree: Hesiod's genealogy line by line", "description": "The genealogy of the Greek gods as Hesiod's Theogony gives it — Chaos, then Gaia and Uranus, the twelve Titans, the children of Cronus and Rhea, and the children of Zeus — with the line of the poem behind every edge, and the places where Apollodorus and Homer draw the tree differently.", "url": "https://mythosdata.dev/k/greek-gods-family-tree", "license": "https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-4.0.html", "dateModified": "2026-09-03", "citation": [ { "@type": "CreativeWork", "name": "Hesiod, Theogony — tr. Hugh G. Evelyn-White (Loeb, 1914), Perseus TEI edition", "url": "https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-greekLit/blob/master/data/tlg0020/tlg001/tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng2.xml" }, { "@type": "CreativeWork", "name": "Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca) — tr. Sir James George Frazer (Loeb, 1921), Perseus TEI edition", "url": "https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-greekLit/blob/master/data/tlg0548/tlg001/tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng2.xml" }, { "@type": "CreativeWork", "name": "Homer, Iliad — tr. A. T. Murray (Loeb, 1924), Perseus TEI edition", "url": "https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-greekLit/blob/master/data/tlg0012/tlg001/tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng3.xml" } ], "@type": "Article", "headline": "Greek gods family tree: Hesiod's genealogy line by line" } }