STYX: the First GOD to Betray the TITANS and Join ZEUS - Greek Mythology Explained
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Before we start this video, I just want to briefly mention that only 10% of you are subscribed, so if you enjoy the content please consider subscribing to support future content.Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video, we're going to discuss the five rivers of the underworld: Styx, Acheron, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Cocytus.Let's get into it.We're going to start off this video by taking a look at the Titans Oceanus and Tethys, as the vast majority of water deities are their progeny, so beginning with them will allow us to cover the parentage of the five rivers of the underworld in one fell swoop. The children of Uranus, the personification of the sky, and of Gaia, the personification of the earth, both Oceanus and Tethys numbered among the 12 first-generation titans. Oceanus was the personification of the great river that encircled the world, and Tethys - her sphere of influence more ambiguous - was either the font of Oceanus' sweet waters or a sea goddess, one that personified its fecundity. Together, Oceanus and Tethys produced the Oceanids, a group of 3,000 water nymphs, the greatest of whom were Doris, Amphitrite, and Metis, and more germane to this video, they also produced all the rivers of the world, including the rivers of the underworld. With that covered, we can start looking at each river in detail without having to delineate the same parental information five times. Starting us off is the river Styx. Compared to the other four rivers of the underworld, Styx is really in a league of her own, both in being the only female river deity and in the degree of prominence she has in Greek mythology; the others are quite obscure by comparison. Called Stygos Hydor ("Water of Horror") by Homer, Styx was the foremost river of the underworld. According to Hesiod, she was the oldest of the Oceanids, the female children born to the Titans Oceanus and Tethys. In the version presented by Hyginus, Styx was described as the daughter of Nyx, the personification of night, and of Erebus, the personification of darkness. Styx was said to flow around the underworld, encircling it nine times. In some versions, it is Styx' waters over which the ferryman Charon ferries the dead across; though other versions have the river Acheron as the one Charon crosses.