First There Was Chaos: Hesiod's Story of Creation

by Joel Priddy

Overview

Greek myth has inspired stories and art for millennia. And yet some stories and characters remain unfamiliar. First There Was Chaos explores the formless, primordial, and extraordinary forces that preceded the Olympian gods. These tales of Creation illustrate the creative process, giving cosmic form to the universal struggles of all creators. 

Framing the narrative is the story of a poet struggling with his act of Creation, hoping to transform nothingness into beauty. His struggles parallel the tales of primordial beings, from the ambitions of formless Chaos to the birth of the first Olympian, Aphrodite.

Based on Hesiod's Theogony and other classic sources, First There Was Chaos synthesizes fragmentary myths into a compelling narrative accessible to a contemporary audience.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781941250525
Publisher:	Uncivilized Books
Publication date:	10/24/2023
Pages:	222
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 8.60(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Joel Priddy is the creator of Pulpatoon: Pilgrimage (AdHouse Books) and The Gift of the Magi (HarperCollins). He has won several industry awards, including the Ignatz Award for Outstanding Debut, and have been nominated for several Eisner Awards, including Best Graphic Novel and Best Single Issue Comic. His work was included in The Best American Comics and The New York Times.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"By adapting the very oldest of origin stories into 21st-century comics, Joel Priddy has jolted a forgotten text into life for modern readers. [First There Was Chaos] is inventive: handsomely wrought, and a darn fun read."—Paul Karasik, How To Read Nancy

"This book exists on its own singular delightful frequency of sophisticated simplicity."—Ben Acker, The Thrilling Adventure Hour

"The concept of evolution, of refinement, across generations from chaos to something perfect and good, which is at the heart of all Greek myth, is so apparent and central that this rings truer as an adaptation of myth than probably any comic I’ve ever read before."—Benito Cereno, Tales from the Bully Pulpit

“A formative tale about the act of creation in all forms — from the gods forming the universe out of the void of nothingness, down to the equally daunting prospect of the blank page for a poet's psyche — this is a fable of immense time and scope.”—Colin West MacDonald, Linoleum

Editorial Reviews

10/03/2022

Priddy (The Gift of the Magi) presents a lovely, quirky adaption of a Greek creation myth. Starting from nothingness, the Foundation Ge and Depths Tartarus emerge. Over Tartarus’s objections, change continues (with Priddy flexing the comics form beautifully to slowly add details). One change, Eros, escapes and starts dividing, creating Pontus (the fruitless deep) and Ouranus (the sky) as well as desire. Ouranus mates with Earth (presented as touch and caressing) and births plant life, but forces the disfigured beings who come out back underground—where Pontus sweeps them into a pool of dissolving mass. Eventually, better-formed children of Ouranus hide from his wrath until his son Kronos harnesses his rage and castrates his father. Priddy splices the narrative with a comedic tale of a poet suffering writer’s block, each page three long panels that borrow their stylization from Greek vase paintings. The cartoonish characters add levity (and will remind readers of Larry Gonick) to the precise art that effectively employs monochrome coloring. While following closely may prove a bit elusive for those unfamiliar with Greek myths, novice readers can still just take in the immersive, clever depiction of the inception of the universe. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly