Erebus

For other uses, see Erebus (disambiguation).

Greek deitiesseries
Titans and Olympians
Aquatic deities
Chthonic deities
Personified concepts
Other deities
Primordial deities
Chaos Aether Gaia Uranus	Eros Erebus Nyx Tartarus

In Greek mythology, Erebus, or Érebos was a primordial god, personification of darkness, offspring of Chaos alone. He was brother of Nyx and father of Aether by himself and, with Nyx, Hemera, Moros, Charon, Eros and the Keres.

According to some later legends, Erebus was part of Hades, the underworld. It was where the dead had to pass immediately after dying. After Charon ferried them across the river Acheron, they entered Tartarus, the underworld proper. Erebus was often used as a synonym for Hades, the Greek god of the underworld. Also, Erebus was the name of the gloomy space through which souls passed on their way to Hades.

The word is probably from Proto-Indo-European language, *h₁reg^wos, cognate to Old Norse rœkkr, Gothic riqis "darkness", Sanskrit rajani "night", Tocharian orkäm "darkness". Another suggestion is a loan from Semitic , c.f. Hebrew erebh "sunset, evening" (hence, "darkness"). The same etymology of "sunset" has been suggested for Europe.