Editing Nyx (section)

==== Eudemian Theogony ====
Night seems to have been considered the first deity in the earliest known Orphic cosmogonies.<ref>Edmonds, p. 228.</ref> The oldest Orphic theogony in which Night is known to have appeared is the [[Eudemian Theogony]] (5th century BC),<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 p. 1].</ref> which receives its name from the philosopher [[Eudemus of Rhodes]], a student of [[Aristotle]], who spoke of an Orphic theogony in one of his works; this theogony was later referred to by the Neoplatonist [[Damascius]], in his ''De Principiis'' (''On First Principles''), using Eudemus as his source.<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA87 p. 87]; Orphic fr. 20 I Bernabé (I p. 35) [= [[Eudemus of Rhodes|Eudemus]] fr. 150 Wehrli = [[Damascius]], ''De Principiis'' 124].</ref> The only piece of information known for certain about this theogony is that it started with Night;<ref>Edmonds, p. 228; Betegh, p. 146.</ref> as Damascius writes:
{{blockquote|text=The theology described in the Peripatetic Eudemus as being that of Orpheus is silent about the entire realm of the intelligible for it is completely inexpressible and unknowable by the method of exposition and narration: it made its start from Night, from whom also Homer begins, although he did not make his genealogy continuous.<ref>[[Damascius]], ''De Principiis'' 124 [= Orphic fr. 20 I Bernabé (I p. 35)]. The translation used here is that given by Betegh, p. 146.</ref>}}
[[Aristotle]] similarly refers to earlier authors who attributed a primordial role to Night, presumably commenting upon the same text as his pupil.<ref>Bernabé 2008, p. 35 on fr. 20.</ref> In his ''[[Metaphysics (Aristotle)|Metaphysics]]'', he makes reference to theologians "who make Night parent of all",<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA94 p. 94]; Fowler, p. 13; Orphic fr. 20 II Bernabé (I p. 35) [= [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/94/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 24 Kern] = [[Aristotle]], ''[[Metaphysics (Aristotle)|Metaphysics]]'' 1071<sup>b</sup> 26]. The translation used here is that given by Fowler.</ref> and describes Night as being one of the deities who are placed as "the first" by "the ancient poets".<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA94 p. 94]; Orphic fr. 20 IV Bernabé (I p. 35) [= [[Aristotle]], ''[[Metaphysics (Aristotle)|Metaphysics]]'' 1091<sup>b</sup> 4]; see also Orphic fr. 20 III Bernabé (I p. 35) [= [[Aristotle]], ''[[Metaphysics (Aristotle)|Metaphysics]]'' 1072<sup>a</sup> 7].</ref> In addition, the Byzantine author [[John the Lydian]] writes in his ''De Mensibus'' that "three first beginnings of generation sprouted out, according to Orpheus: Night, Ge, and Ouranos",<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA95 p. 95]; Orphic fr. 20 V (I p. 35) [= [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/98/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 28a Kern] = [[John the Lydian]], ''De Mensibus'' 2.8].</ref> a passage which scholars have seen as referring to the Eudemian Theogony.<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA95 p. 95].</ref> Because of this, it has been proposed that Night, presumably on her own, is described as the mother of Uranus and Gaia in the work;<ref>Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wgJfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA95 p. 95]; Alderink, [https://archive.org/details/creationsalvatio0000alde/page/36/mode/2up?view=theater p. 37, table 3].</ref> West takes this further, claiming that Night is the mother of Uranus and Gaia, and that they are the parents of Oceanus and Tethys, who produce the Titans.<ref>West, pp. 117&ndash;9. West takes this genealogy from [[Plato]], ''[[Timaeus (dialogue)|Timaeus]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/plato-philosopher_timaeus/1929/pb_LCL234.87.xml 40e (pp. 86, 87)] [= fr. 21 Bernabé (I p. 36) = [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/88/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 16 Kern]], which contains the same sequence of generations, excluding Night. West explains the absence of Night from the passage by arguing that in the ''Timaeus'' "night cannot be a god, being merely something produced by the earth's shadow and a unit of time".</ref>