According to the creation story of Greek mythology, Chaos existed before anything else and constituted the cosmos, consisting of emptiness and formless matter. From this emerged the Earth, Gaia, and afterward the Underworld, Tartarus.

Gaia created the sky, Uranus, and the sea, Pontus. Uranus was the husband of Gaia, and together they had several sons, including Cronus, who killed his father Uranus and became the most powerful god. However, he himself would be overthrown by his own son, Zeus. This occurred after a long war between Cronus and the Titans on one side and Zeus and his brothers on the other. When the battle was decided and power was taken from Cronus, Mount Olympus became the new home of the ruling gods, with Zeus as the supreme deity.

How, then, were humans created according to this worldview? According to certain mythological sources, Prometheus created mankind from water and earth. Prometheus created only men, and just as in the biblical tradition, man therefore preceded woman. A negative view of women is reflected in the myth that the gods created woman as a punishment for humanity. The equivalent of Eve in this story is Pandora—just as Eve could not resist biting the apple, Pandora could not resist opening the box with which she had been sent to Earth. When she opened the box, every conceivable misfortune and sorrow poured out across the world. From that day onward, the idea of a harmonious life on Earth became impossible.

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