In Greek mythology, the primordial deities, sometimes called the Protogonoi (from Gr. Πρωτογόνος Protogónos - "first-born"), are the first gods and goddesses born from primordial Chaos or from Chronos and Ananke (depending on the source). Hesiod's first are Chaos, Gaia, Tartarus, Eros, Erebus and Nyx. The primordial deities Gaia and Uranus give birth to the Titans. The Titan god Cronus and Rhea give birth to Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Hera and Demeter who overthrew the Titans. The warring of the gods ends with the reign of Zeus.
Hesiod's Theogony (c. 700 BC) tells the story of the genesis of the gods. After invoking the Muses (II.1-116), he tells of the generation of the first four primordial deities:
"First Chaos came to be, but next... Earth... and dim Tartarus in the depth of the... Earth, and Eros..."
According to Hesiod, the next primordial gods that come to be are:
The ancient Greeks entertained different versions of the origin of primordial deities. Some of these stories were possibly inherited from the pre-Greek Aegean cultures.