Eurynome was one of the female titans in Greek mythology. She and Ophion ruled over Olympus until they were dethroned by Saturn (Cronos) and Rhea (Ops). Ovid says of her:
And Eurynome, the daughter of Ocean, beautiful in form, bare him three fair-cheeked Charites (Graces), Aglaea, and Euphrosyne, and lovely Thaleia, from whose eyes as they glanced flowed love that unnerves the limbs: and beautiful is their glance beneath their brows. – Theogony (ll. 907-911)
Pelasgian Creation Myth
In the Pelasgian creation myth, Eurynome emerged from Chaos and immediately divided the sky from the sea
In the beginning, Eurynome, the Goddess of All Things,
rose naked from Chaos, but found nothing substantial for her feet to rest upon,
and therefore divided the sea from the sky,
dancing lonely upon its waves.
– Pelasgian Creation Myth
When she grasped the North Wind, the serpent, Ophion, appeared and coiled itself around her legs. This union impregnated her, and she soon assumed the form of a dove and laid the Universal Egg. Ophion then coiled around the egg seven times until it split in half, and:
Out tumbled all things that exist, her children: Sun, moon, planets, stars, Earth with her mountains, Rivers, trees, herbs, and all living creatures.
– Pelasgian Creation Myth
Eurynome and Ophion lived on Mount Olympus together until Ophion decided to announce that he was author of the Universe. She then
Forthwith, she bruised his head with her heel, Kicked out his teeth, and banished him to the Dark caves below the Earth.
– Pelasgian Creation Myth
Milton refers to Eurynome in Paradise Lost
“And fabled how the serpent, whom they called
Ophion, with Eurynome, (the wide-
Encroaching Eve perhaps,) had first the rule
Of high Olympus, thence by Saturn driven.”
[Paradise Lost, Book IX, Line 581]
Dictionnaire Infernal – Collin de Plancy (1863) (paraphrased)
Eurynome is a superior demon and prince of death. He wears a fox skin to cover the sores covering his body, and he has huge teeth. A statue of him exists in the temple of Delphi depicting him having a black complexion, huge wolf-like teeth, and sitting on a vulture skin. Pausanias said he fed on carrion and dead bodies.
Reference
- Book: The Pelasgian Creation Myth in The Greek Myths, Robert Graves
- Book: Paradise Lost
Erinyes