Chaos is an essential element of the Theogony of Hesiod. It precedes everything, the origin of the world, the gods, the titans. It is a bottomless chasm where one falls endlessly. In worse.
Today Chaos is a very powerful mathematical concept which core definition may share some ideas with this Chaos but not really if you look close. At the time it was rather the idea of the perfect mess of everything, more prosaically, the absolute disorder.
Chaos was not born, it pre-exists everything, has neither beginning nor end, neither center nor edge or time, so no beginning nor end.
From Chaos are born :
- Nyx,
- Erebus,
- Gaia and
- Uranus.
Chaos according to Hesiod is linked to its Greek root, χα meaning « being wide open » … which designates empty space.
Later a derivation of the word gave it the meaning of a confused, shapeless and unorganized mass of elements spread in space. Chaos is a cosmic principle, without divine character.
It is the same with the primordial Eros mentioned by Hesiod. This Eros is more of a metaphysical principle, a force of attraction between the intimate constituents of the universe. It has nothing to do with the « Eros » of later legends.
In the very end, the Chaos is too the tomb of our universe.