Phanes is a primordial deity of procreation in Orphic cosmogony, said to have emerged from a cosmic egg at the beginning of creation. Also called Protogonos, meaning firstborn, and Erikepaios, meaning power, he is described as a deity of light whose name meant to bring light or to shine, and he has been depicted as a being of both sexes emerging from the egg entwined by a serpent. In Orphic tradition the god Chronos, or time, first fashioned the silver egg from which Phanes burst forth as the first god, after which he passed rulership of the cosmos to Nyx, who in turn passed it to her son Ouranos, before it went on to Cronus and finally to Zeus. Phanes was worshipped within Orphism rather than in mainstream Greek civic religion, and later sources equated him with Eros and with the god Mithras. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Attestation
Era of Attestation Veneration TodayHistorically attested; no continuous cult 3 HistoricityNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human being 1 Belief
TheologyPolytheistic: many gods 1 Function
Domain / Function Sources
1. The Facts on File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend
Anthony S. Mercatante, revised and expanded by James R. Dow, Facts on File
2. Phanes, Structured Record (Wikidata Q)
3. The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 4th edition
Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth and Esther Eidinow (eds.), Oxford University Press, 2012Phanes, Orphic cosmogonyView the Source Wikipedia, "Phanes"
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