At the beginning there was only Khaos (the Chasm) [Air], Nyx (Night), dark Erebos (Darkness), and deep Tartaros (the Pit). Ge (Gaea, Earth), Aer (Air) [probably Aither (Aether) the upper air] and Ouranos (Uranus, Heaven) had no existence. Firstly, black-winged Nyx (Night) laid a germless egg in the bosom of the infinite deeps of Erebos (Darkness), and from this, after the revolution of long ages, sprang the graceful Eros [the primordial Eros] with his glittering golden wings.

~Aristophanes, Birds 685 ff (trans. O'Neill) (Greek comedy C5th to 4th B.C.)