Editing Nyx (section)

==== An ancient theogony? ====
Several passages from early authors, which seem to be [[Orphic literature|Orphic]] in influence, have been taken as evidence of the existence of an "old" or "ancient" Orphic theogony, in which Night was one of the earliest figures.<ref>Bernabé 2004, pp. 72&ndash;3, p. 73 on fr. 64, p. 74 on fr. 65; Bernabé and Casadesús, pp. 295&ndash;6; Bernabé 2007, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/30032220?seq=30 p. 128]; Brisson 1995, pp. 3&ndash;4, I pp. 390&ndash;2, III pp. 38&ndash;9, IV pp. 2876&ndash;7; Calame, pp. 236&ndash;7; see also West, pp. 111&ndash;2.</ref> The earliest of these is a passage from [[Aristophanes]]' comedy ''[[The Birds (play)|The Birds]]'' (414 BC), which presents a parody of a cosmogony, often considered to have been derived from an Orphic theogony.<ref>Brisson 1995, pp. 3&ndash;4, I pp. 390&ndash;1, III pp. 38&ndash;9, IV pp. 2876&ndash;7; Bernabé 2004, p. 73 on fr. 64; Bernabé 2007, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/30032220?seq=30 p. 128]; see also West, p. 111. For discussions of whether Aristophanes' source is an Orphic theogony, see Betegh, pp. 148&ndash;9; Chrysanthou, pp. 301&ndash;3; Meisner, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA89 89], [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA92 92&ndash;4]. Chrysanthou, p. 303 suggests that his source is Epimenides, but says it is "more probable that [he] has in mind an Orphic Theogony", while Betegh, p. 149 states that it is most likely he "created a comic pastiche of different theogonies".</ref> Night is described as one of the first beings to come into existence, alongside Chaos, Erebus and Tartarus, and lays a "wind-egg" from which Eros is born:<ref>Brisson 1995, pp. 3&ndash;4. The meaning of the term "wind-egg" here is not clear; see Meisner, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA89 89&ndash;90]. Bremmer 2008, [https://books.google.com/books?id=YTfxZH4QnqgC&pg=PA415 p. 15] (following Dunbar) states that it likely indicates that Night gives rise to the egg pathogenetically.</ref>
{{blockquote|text=In the beginning were Chaos and Night and black Erebus and broad Tartarus, and no Earth, Air, or Sky. And in the boundless bosom of Erebus did black-winged Night at the very start bring forth a wind egg, from which as the seasons revolved came forth Eros the seductive, like to swift whirlwinds, his back aglitter with wings of gold.<ref>[[Aristophanes]], ''[[The Birds (play)|The Birds]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/aristophanes-birds/2000/pb_LCL179.117.xml 693&ndash;9 (pp. 116, 117)] [= Orphic fr. 64V Bernabé (I pp. 73&ndash;5) = [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/80/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 1 Kern]].</ref>}}

A passage from [[Euripides]]' play ''[[Hypsipyle]]'' (performed c. 411–407) also makes reference to Night and other early deities, seemingly containing traces of an early Orphic theogony:<ref>Bernabé 2004, p. 74 on fr. 65; Calame, p. 232; Chrysanthou, p. 305; Bremmer 2011, p. 5; see also West, p. 112.</ref>
{{blockquote|O mistress ... of the gods ... inscrutable (light) ... first-born (in) mist (or heaven) ... Erôs willed, when (Night) ... and was nurtured then ... family of gods ...<ref>[[Euripides]] ''[[Hypsipyle]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-dramatic_fragments/2008/pb_LCL506.305.xml fr. 758a.1103&ndash;8 Collard and Cropp, pp. 304, 305] [= Orphic fr. 65V Bernabé (I pp. 75&ndash;7) = [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/80/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 2 Kern]].</ref>}}

Several modern scholars have interpreted these fragments as evidence of an early Orphic theogony in which Night featured as one of the first deities. According to [[Luc Brisson]], the cosmogony which Aristophanes parodies came from a work which he calls the "ancient version" (''la version ancienne''), which he sees as the earliest Orphic theogony. In this work, he believes that Night is, by herself, the first being to exist (a position she loses in later Orphic theogonies), and that she produces an egg from which comes Eros (as she does in Aristophanes' parody), from whom all things arise.<ref>Brisson, pp. 3&ndash;4, I pp. 390&ndash;2, III pp. 38&ndash;9, IV pp. 2876&ndash;7.</ref> {{ill|Alberto Bernabé|es}} similarly sees these fragments as alluding to an "ancient" theogony (''priscae Orphicae theogoniae'') which centred around the birth of Eros from an egg, produced by "Chaos-Night".<ref>Bernabé 2004, p. 72; Bernabé and Casadesús, pp. 295&ndash;6; Bernabé 2007, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/30032220?seq=30 pp. 128&ndash;9].</ref>