CHAOS  , in the Hesiodic theogony, the

infinite empty space, which existed before all things (Theog . 116, 123) . It is not, however, a mere abstraction, being filled with clouds and darkness; from it proceed Erebus and Nyx (Night), whose children are Aether (upper air) and Hemera (Day) . In the Orphic cosmogony the origin of all goes back to Chronos, the personification of time, who produces Aether and Chaos . In the Aristophanic parody (Birds, 691) the winged Eros in conjunction with gloomy Chaos brings forth the race of birds . The later Roman conception (Ovid, Metam. i . 7) makes Chaos the original undigested, amorphous mass, into which the architect of the world introduces order and harmony, and from which individual forms are created . In the created world (cosmos, order of the universe) the word has various meanings:—the universe; the space between heaven and earth; the under-world and its ruler . Metaphorically it is used for the immeasurable darkness, eternity, and the infinite generally . In modern usage " chaos denotes a state of disorder and confusion .