Chaos (cosmogony)  

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-[[Image:Magnum Chaos by Lorenzo Lotto and Giovan Francesco Capoferri.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''[[Magnum Chaos]]'' (c. 1524 ) by [[Lorenzo Lotto]]+{| class="toccolours" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5"
-<hr>+| style="text-align: left;" |
-:"Before the ocean and the earth appeared&mdash;+"Before the [[ocean]] and the [[earth]] appeared&mdash; before the skies had overspread them all&mdash; the face of [[Nature]] in a vast expanse was naught but [[Chaos]] uniformly waste. It was a rude and undeveloped [[mass]], that nothing made except a ponderous weight; and all discordant elements confused, were there congested in a [[shapeless]] heap." --''[[Metamorphoses]]'' (trans. [[Metamorphoses (Brookes More translation)|Brookes More]])
-:before the skies had overspread them all&mdash;+|}
-:the face of Nature in a vast expanse+[[Image:Magnum Chaos by Lorenzo Lotto and Giovan Francesco Capoferri.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''[[Magnum Chaos]]'' (c. 1524 ) by [[Lorenzo Lotto]]]]
-:was naught but Chaos uniformly waste.+
-:It was a rude and undeveloped mass,+
-:that nothing made except a ponderous weight;+
-:and all discordant elements confused,+
-:were there congested in a shapeless heap." (trans. [[Brookes More]])+
-]]+
{{Template}} {{Template}}
-'''Chaos''' ([[Ancient Greek|Greek]] ''khaos'') refers to the formless or void state of '''[[Prima materia|primordial matter]]''' preceding the creation of the universe or [[cosmos]] in [[creation myth]]s, particularly [[Greek mythology|Greek]] but also in related [[religions of the Ancient Near East]]. +'''Chaos''' ([[Ancient Greek|Greek]] ''khaos'') refers to the [[formless]] or [[void]] state of '''[[Prima materia|primordial matter]]''' preceding the creation of the universe or [[cosmos]] in [[creation myth]]s, particularly [[Greek mythology|Greek]] but also in related [[religions of the Ancient Near East]].
-The motif of '''''[[chaoskampf]]''''' is ubiquitous in these myths, depicting a battle of a [[culture hero]] deity with a chaos monster, often in the shape of a serpent or [[dragon]]. +The motif of '''''[[chaoskampf]]''''' is ubiquitous in these myths, depicting a battle of a [[culture hero]] deity with a chaos monster, often in the shape of a [[Serpent (symbolism)|serpent]] or [[dragon]].
Fifth-century [[Orphism (religion)|Orphic]] cosmogony had a "[[Womb of Darkness]]" in which the Wind lay a ''[[World egg|Cosmic Egg]]'' whence [[Eros]] was hatched, who set the universe [[primum movens|in motion]]. Fifth-century [[Orphism (religion)|Orphic]] cosmogony had a "[[Womb of Darkness]]" in which the Wind lay a ''[[World egg|Cosmic Egg]]'' whence [[Eros]] was hatched, who set the universe [[primum movens|in motion]].
-==Greco-Roman tradition==+==Terminology==
-In Greek [[cosmology]], Khaos was a primordial state of matter from which the [[cosmos]] and the other gods emerged.+Greek ''χάος'' means "emptiness, vast void, chasm, [[abyss (religion)|abyss]]", from the verb ''χαίνω'', "gape, be wide open, etc.", from [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] ''*ghen-'', cognate to [[Old English language|Old English]] ''geanian'', "to gape", whence English ''[[yawn]]''. ([[etymonline|<sup>source</sup>]])
-For [[Hesiod]] and the early Greek Olympian myth (8th century BC), Chaos was the "vast and dark" void from which [[Nyx (mythology)|Nyx]] emerged.+
-Chaos was also personified as a primal deity in [[Greek mythology]], as the first of the [[Protogenoi]] and the god of the air.+[[Hesiod]] and the [[Pre-Socratic]]s use the Greek term in the context of [[cosmogony]].
 +Hesiod's chaos has often been interpreted as a moving, formless mass from which the cosmos and the gods originated, but [[Eric Voegelin]] sees it instead as ''creatio [[ex nihilo]]'', much as in the [[Book of Genesis]]. The term ''[[tohu wa-bohu]]'' of Genesis 1:2 has been shown to refer to a state of non-being prior to creation rather than to a state of matter. The [[Septuagint]] makes no use of ''χάος'' in the context of creation, instead using the term for ''גיא'', "chasm, cleft", in [[Book of Micah|Micha]] 1:6 and [[Book of Zechariah|Zacharia]] 14:4.
-Primal Chaos was sometimes said to be the true foundation of reality, particularly by philosophers such as [[Heraclitus]]. It was also probably what [[Aristotle]] had in mind when he developed the concept of [[Prima Materia]] in his attempt to combine Platonism with [[Pre-Socratic|Presocraticism]] and [[Naturalism (philosophy)|Naturalism]].+Nevertheless, the term ''[[chaos]]'' has been adopted in [[religious studies]] as referring to the primordial state before creation, strictly combining two separate notions of primordial waters or a primordial darkness from which a new order emerges and a primordial state as a merging of opposites, such as heaven and earth, which must be separated by a creator deity in an act of cosmogony. In both cases, chaos referring to a notion of a primordial state contains the cosmos ''in potentia'' but needs to be formed by a [[demiurge]] before the world can begin its existence.
-[[Ovid]] (1st century BC), in his ''[[Metamorphoses]]'', described Chaos as "a rude and undeveloped mass, that nothing made except a ponderous weight; and all discordant elements confused, were there congested in a shapeless heap."+This model of a primordial state of matter has been opposed by the [[Church Fathers]] from the 2nd century, who posited a creation ''[[ex nihilo]]'' by an omnipotent [[God]].
-[[Ovid]]. ''[[Metamorphoses (poem)|Metamorphoses]]'' 1.5-9+In modern [[biblical studies]], the term ''chaos'' is commonly used in the context of the [[Torah]] and their cognate narratives in Ancient Near Eastern mythology more generally. Parallels between the Hebrew Genesis and the Babylonian [[Enuma Elish]] were established by H. Gunkel in 1910. Besides Genesis, other books of the Old Testament, especially a number of [[Psalms]], some passages in [[Isaiah]] and [[Jeremiah]] and the [[Book of Job]] are relevant.
 + 
 +Use of ''chaos'' in the derived sense of "complete disorder or confusion" first appears in Elizabethan [[Early Modern English]], originally implying satirical exaggeration.
 + 
 +==Greco-Roman tradition==
 +===Hesiod===
 +For [[Hesiod]] and the early Greek Olympian myth (8th century BC), Chaos was the first of the [[Greek primordial deities|primordial deities]], followed by Earth ([[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]]), [[Tartarus]] and [[Eros]] (Love). From Chaos came [[Erebus]] and [[Nyx (mythology)|Nyx]].
 + 
 +Passages in Hesiod's ''[[Theogony]]'' suggest that Chaos was located below Earth but above Tartarus. Primal Chaos was sometimes said to be the true foundation of reality, particularly by philosophers such as [[Heraclitus]].
 +===Ovid===
 +[[Ovid]] (1st century BC), in his ''[[Metamorphoses (poem)|Metamorphoses]]'', described Chaos as "a rude and undeveloped mass, that nothing made except a ponderous weight; and all discordant elements confused, were there congested in a shapeless heap."
 + 
 +''[[Metamorphoses (poem)|Metamorphoses]]'' 1.5–9
: Ante mare et terras et quod tegit omnia caelum : Ante mare et terras et quod tegit omnia caelum
: unus erat toto naturae vultus in orbe, : unus erat toto naturae vultus in orbe,
Line 34: Line 40:
: non bene iunctarum discordia semina rerum. : non bene iunctarum discordia semina rerum.
-:"Before the ocean and the earth appeared&mdash;+"Before the ocean and the earth appeared&mdash;
-:before the skies had overspread them all&mdash;+before the skies had overspread them all&mdash;
-:the face of Nature in a vast expanse+the face of Nature in a vast expanse
-:was naught but Chaos uniformly waste.+was naught but Chaos uniformly waste.
-:It was a rude and undeveloped mass,+It was a rude and undeveloped mass,
-:that nothing made except a ponderous weight;+that nothing made except a ponderous weight;
-:and all discordant elements confused,+and all discordant elements confused,
-:were there congested in a shapeless heap." (trans. [[Metamorphoses (Brookes More translation)]])+were there congested in a shapeless heap." (trans. [[Metamorphoses (Brookes More translation)|Brookes More]])
 +===Orphism===
 +Fifth-century [[Orphism (religion)|Orphic]] cosmogony had a "[[Womb of Darkness]]" in which the Wind lay a ''[[World egg|Cosmic Egg]]'' whence [[Eros]] was hatched, who set the universe [[primum movens|in motion]].
 +==In Milton's ''Paradise Lost''==
 +Milton's comments on chaos in ''[[Paradise Lost]]'':
 + 
 +:Chaos umpire sits,
 +:And by decision more embroils the fray
 +:By which he reigns: next him high arbiter
 +:[[Chance]] governs all. Into this wild abyss,
 +:The womb of nature and perhaps her grave,
 +:Of neither sea, nor shore, nor air, nor fire,
 +:But all these in their pregnant causes mixed
 +:Confusedly, and, which thus must ever fight [...][http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost_(1674)/Book_II]
 + 
 +==Alchemy==
 +The Greco-Roman tradition of ''[[Prima Materia]]'', notably including 5th and 6th centuries
 +[[Orphism (religion)|Orphic]] cosmogony was merged with biblical notions (''[[Tehom]]'') in [[Christian belief]] and inherited by [[alchemy]] and [[Renaissance magic]].
 + 
 +The [[Orphic egg|cosmic egg]] of Orphism was taken as the raw material for the alchemical [[magnum opus (alchemy)|magnum opus]] in early Greek alchemy. The first stage of the process of producing the ''[[Lapis Philosophorum]]'', i.e., [[nigredo]], was identified with chaos. Because of association with the [[Genesis creation myth|creation in Genesis]], where "the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters" (Gen. 1:2), Chaos was further identified with the [[Water (element)|element Water]].
 + 
 +===Alchemy in the Middle Ages and Renaissance===
 +[[Raimundus Lullus|Blessed Raimundus Lullus]] (1232–1315) wrote a ''Liber Chaos'', in which he identifies Chaos as the primal form or matter created by God.
 + 
 +Swiss alchemist [[Paracelsus]] (1493–1541) uses ''chaos'' synonymously with ''[[Classical element|element]]'' (because the primeval chaos is imagined as a formless congestion of all elements). Paracelsus thus identifies [[Earth (element)|Earth]] as "the chaos of the ''gnomi''", i.e., the element of the [[gnome]]s, through which these spirits move unobstructed as fish do through water, or birds through air.
 + 
 +An alchemical treatise by [[Heinrich Khunrath]], printed in Frankfurt in 1708, was entitled ''Chaos''.
 + 
 +The 1708 introduction to the treatise states that the treatise was written in 1597 in Magdeburg, in the author's 23rd year of practicing alchemy. The treatise purports to quote [[Paracelsus]] on the point that "The light of the soul, by the will of the Triune God, made all earthly things appear from the primal Chaos."
 + 
 +[[Martin Ruland the Younger|Martin Ruland]], in his 1612 ''Lexicon Alchemiae'', states, "A crude mixture of matter or another name for ''Materia Prima'' is ''Chaos'', as it is in the Beginning."
 + 
 +The term ''[[gas]]'' in [[chemistry]] was coined by Dutch chemist [[J. B. Van Helmont]] in the 17th century, directly based on the Paracelsian notion of chaos. The ''g'' in ''gas'' is due to the Dutch pronunciation of this letter as a spirant, also employed to pronounce Greek [[χ]].
==See also== ==See also==
 +*[[Azathoth]]
 +*[[Brahman]]
 +*[[Chaos magic]]
*[[Chaoskampf]] *[[Chaoskampf]]
*[[Cosmogony]] *[[Cosmogony]]
 +*''[[Creatio ex nihilo]]''
 +*[[Discordianism]]
*[[Genesis creation narrative]] *[[Genesis creation narrative]]
 +*[[Ginnungagap]]
 +*[[Greek primordial gods]]
 +*[[Tohu wa bohu]]
 +*[[Ymir]]
 +*[[Chaos theory|Chaos as a scientific term]]
 +*[[Cornelius Castoriadis#Chaos|Chaos in Cornelius Castoriadis' thought]]
 +*[[Alain Badiou#Introduction to Being and Event|Void in Alain Badiou's thought]]
 +
{{GFDL}} {{GFDL}}

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"Before the ocean and the earth appeared— before the skies had overspread them all— the face of Nature in a vast expanse was naught but Chaos uniformly waste. It was a rude and undeveloped mass, that nothing made except a ponderous weight; and all discordant elements confused, were there congested in a shapeless heap." --Metamorphoses (trans. Brookes More)

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Chaos (Greek khaos) refers to the formless or void state of primordial matter preceding the creation of the universe or cosmos in creation myths, particularly Greek but also in related religions of the Ancient Near East.

The motif of chaoskampf is ubiquitous in these myths, depicting a battle of a culture hero deity with a chaos monster, often in the shape of a serpent or dragon.

Fifth-century Orphic cosmogony had a "Womb of Darkness" in which the Wind lay a Cosmic Egg whence Eros was hatched, who set the universe in motion.

Contents

Terminology

Greek χάος means "emptiness, vast void, chasm, abyss", from the verb χαίνω, "gape, be wide open, etc.", from Proto-Indo-European *ghen-, cognate to Old English geanian, "to gape", whence English yawn. (source)

Hesiod and the Pre-Socratics use the Greek term in the context of cosmogony. Hesiod's chaos has often been interpreted as a moving, formless mass from which the cosmos and the gods originated, but Eric Voegelin sees it instead as creatio ex nihilo, much as in the Book of Genesis. The term tohu wa-bohu of Genesis 1:2 has been shown to refer to a state of non-being prior to creation rather than to a state of matter. The Septuagint makes no use of χάος in the context of creation, instead using the term for גיא, "chasm, cleft", in Micha 1:6 and Zacharia 14:4.

Nevertheless, the term chaos has been adopted in religious studies as referring to the primordial state before creation, strictly combining two separate notions of primordial waters or a primordial darkness from which a new order emerges and a primordial state as a merging of opposites, such as heaven and earth, which must be separated by a creator deity in an act of cosmogony. In both cases, chaos referring to a notion of a primordial state contains the cosmos in potentia but needs to be formed by a demiurge before the world can begin its existence.

This model of a primordial state of matter has been opposed by the Church Fathers from the 2nd century, who posited a creation ex nihilo by an omnipotent God.

In modern biblical studies, the term chaos is commonly used in the context of the Torah and their cognate narratives in Ancient Near Eastern mythology more generally. Parallels between the Hebrew Genesis and the Babylonian Enuma Elish were established by H. Gunkel in 1910. Besides Genesis, other books of the Old Testament, especially a number of Psalms, some passages in Isaiah and Jeremiah and the Book of Job are relevant.

Use of chaos in the derived sense of "complete disorder or confusion" first appears in Elizabethan Early Modern English, originally implying satirical exaggeration.

Greco-Roman tradition

Hesiod

For Hesiod and the early Greek Olympian myth (8th century BC), Chaos was the first of the primordial deities, followed by Earth (Gaia), Tartarus and Eros (Love). From Chaos came Erebus and Nyx.

Passages in Hesiod's Theogony suggest that Chaos was located below Earth but above Tartarus. Primal Chaos was sometimes said to be the true foundation of reality, particularly by philosophers such as Heraclitus.

Ovid

Ovid (1st century BC), in his Metamorphoses, described Chaos as "a rude and undeveloped mass, that nothing made except a ponderous weight; and all discordant elements confused, were there congested in a shapeless heap."

Metamorphoses 1.5–9

Ante mare et terras et quod tegit omnia caelum
unus erat toto naturae vultus in orbe,
quem dixere chaos: rudis indigestaque moles
nec quicquam nisi pondus iners congestaque eodem
non bene iunctarum discordia semina rerum.

"Before the ocean and the earth appeared— before the skies had overspread them all— the face of Nature in a vast expanse was naught but Chaos uniformly waste. It was a rude and undeveloped mass, that nothing made except a ponderous weight; and all discordant elements confused, were there congested in a shapeless heap." (trans. Brookes More)

Orphism

Fifth-century Orphic cosmogony had a "Womb of Darkness" in which the Wind lay a Cosmic Egg whence Eros was hatched, who set the universe in motion.

In Milton's Paradise Lost

Milton's comments on chaos in Paradise Lost:

Chaos umpire sits,
And by decision more embroils the fray
By which he reigns: next him high arbiter
Chance governs all. Into this wild abyss,
The womb of nature and perhaps her grave,
Of neither sea, nor shore, nor air, nor fire,
But all these in their pregnant causes mixed
Confusedly, and, which thus must ever fight [...][1]

Alchemy

The Greco-Roman tradition of Prima Materia, notably including 5th and 6th centuries Orphic cosmogony was merged with biblical notions (Tehom) in Christian belief and inherited by alchemy and Renaissance magic.

The cosmic egg of Orphism was taken as the raw material for the alchemical magnum opus in early Greek alchemy. The first stage of the process of producing the Lapis Philosophorum, i.e., nigredo, was identified with chaos. Because of association with the creation in Genesis, where "the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters" (Gen. 1:2), Chaos was further identified with the element Water.

Alchemy in the Middle Ages and Renaissance

Blessed Raimundus Lullus (1232–1315) wrote a Liber Chaos, in which he identifies Chaos as the primal form or matter created by God.

Swiss alchemist Paracelsus (1493–1541) uses chaos synonymously with element (because the primeval chaos is imagined as a formless congestion of all elements). Paracelsus thus identifies Earth as "the chaos of the gnomi", i.e., the element of the gnomes, through which these spirits move unobstructed as fish do through water, or birds through air.

An alchemical treatise by Heinrich Khunrath, printed in Frankfurt in 1708, was entitled Chaos.

The 1708 introduction to the treatise states that the treatise was written in 1597 in Magdeburg, in the author's 23rd year of practicing alchemy. The treatise purports to quote Paracelsus on the point that "The light of the soul, by the will of the Triune God, made all earthly things appear from the primal Chaos."

Martin Ruland, in his 1612 Lexicon Alchemiae, states, "A crude mixture of matter or another name for Materia Prima is Chaos, as it is in the Beginning."

The term gas in chemistry was coined by Dutch chemist J. B. Van Helmont in the 17th century, directly based on the Paracelsian notion of chaos. The g in gas is due to the Dutch pronunciation of this letter as a spirant, also employed to pronounce Greek χ.

See also




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