Ogony

Ogony is a term describing the origin or birth of beings, often used in myth, philosophy, and religious thought. In English, it is commonly used to refer to the origins of the cosmos or of the gods, and it is related to the more specific terms cosmogony (origin of the universe) and theogony (origin and birth of gods). The word derives from Greek, rooted in the idea of birth or origin.

In classical contexts, ogony is closely associated with birth narratives of deities and worlds. Hesiod’s Theogony is the foundational Lydian-Greek text that presents a theogonic sequence beginning with primordial chaos, Gaia (Earth), and Tartarus, followed by the emergence of the first beings, the Titans, and finally the Olympian gods. The work shaped later Greek and Roman understandings of divine lineage and cosmic order and has influenced many later cosmogonies and theologies.

Across cultures, ogony encompasses a broad range of origin stories, including creation myths that explain how the world and its inhabitants came to be. While cosmogony often focuses on the creation of the universe, ogony can also address the births and genealogies of divine beings, heroes, or fundamental forces within a mythic system.

In modern scholarship, ogony is mainly a descriptive term used in literary, comparative mythological, and philosophical analysis to study how cultures conceive origins, order, and the emergence of the divine or cosmic structures. It is typically treated as part of mythography rather than a scientific field.