What is "erebus"

Erebus \Er"e*bus\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ?.]

1. (Greek Myth.) A place of nether darkness, being the gloomy space through which the souls passed to Hades. See Milton's ``Paradise Lost,'' Book II., line 883.

2. (Greek Myth.) The son of Chaos and brother of Nox, who dwelt in Erebus.

   To the infernal deep, with Erebus and tortures vile.
   --Shak.

in Homer, etc., the place of darkness between Earth and Hades, from Latin Erebus, from Greek Erebos, which is of unknown origin, perhaps from Semitic (compare Hebrew erebh "sunset, evening"), or from PIE *regw-es- "darkness" (cognates: Sanskrit rajas "the atmosphere, thick air, mist, darkness;" Gothic rikwis "darkness"). Used figuratively of darkness from 1590s.

In Greek mythology, Erebus , also Erebos (, "deep darkness, shadow"), was often conceived as a primordial deity, representing the personification of darkness; for instance, Hesiod's Theogony identifies him as one of the first five beings in existence, born of Chaos. Erebus features little in Greek mythological tradition and literature, but is said to have fathered several other deities with Nyx; depending on the source of the mythology, this union includes Aether, Hemera, the Hesperides, Hypnos, the Moirai, Geras, Styx, Charon, and Thanatos.

In Greek literature the name Erebus is also used of a region of the Greek underworld where the dead pass immediately after dying, and is sometimes used interchangeably with Tartarus.

The perceived meaning of Erebus is "darkness"; the first recorded instance of it was "place of darkness between earth and Hades". The name Ἔρεβος itself originates from PIE *hregʷ-es/os- "darkness" (cf. Sanskrit rájas, Gothic riqis, Old Norse røkkr).

According to the Greek oral poet Hesiod's Theogony, Erebus is the offspring of Chaos, and brother to Nyx: "From Chaos came forth Erebus and black Night; but of Night were born Aether and Day, whom she conceived and bore from union in love with Erebus." Hesiod, Theogony (120–125)

The Roman writer Hyginus, in his Fabulae, described Erebus as the father of Geras, the god of old age.

Erebus is a crater lying situated within the Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle (MC-19) region of the planet Mars, this extraterrestrial geological feature was visited by the Opportunity rover on the way to the much larger crater Victoria. It is named after the polar exploration vessel HMS Erebus which was used by James Clark Ross in 1841 to discover the Great Ice Barrier, now known as the Ross Ice Shelf. The rover was in the immediate vicinity of the crater from approximately sol 550 to 750 (October 2005 to March 2006).

This crater features two other minor named outcrops on the edges of this topographical depression. These include Payson Ridge and Olympia Ridge (see gallery below).

Erebus is located roughly 2,500 meters south of the much smaller crater Vostok, which was previously visited by Opportunity. It is surrounded by what scientists are describing as "etched terrain", a region where rocks peek out from under the sand of Meridiani Planum.

Erebus is about 350 meters wide, twice as large as the crater Endurance. However, it is very old and eroded, and is barely visible from the ground; it appears merely as a number of flat rocky outcrops encircling a region of dunes.

Ridge, Erebus Crater, Mars Opportunity Rover.jpg|An outcrop named "Payson", on the western edge of Erebus. Image:PIA03621-Opportunity Rover-Olympia Panorama.jpg|"Olympia" outcrop on northwestern margin of Erebus Image:Erebus 360 L257atc-B652R1.jpg|Color panorama taken by Opportunity on the rim of Erebus. The crater itself can be seen in the center of the pan, at the top.

Erebus is a genus of moths in the Erebidae family.

Erebus is the Greek god of darkness as well as a region of the Greek underworld.

'''Erebus ''' may also refer to:

• Erebus (crater), a crater on Mars named after the ship
• Erebus (moth), a genus of noctuid moths
• HMS Erebus, five ships of the Royal Navy, most famously:
  • HMS Erebus (1826), a part of Franklin's failed expedition to find the Northwest Passage
• Mount Erebus, an Antarctic volcano named after the ship
• Mount Erebus disaster, a DC-10 crash on the mountain in 1979
• Erebus: The Aftermath, a New Zealand television miniseries about the accident
• Erebus: Operation Overdue, a New Zealand documentary about the disaster
• Erebus haunted attraction, located in Pontiac, Michigan, United States
• Erebus Motorsport, an Australian motor racing team
• "Erebus", a 2004 song by The Amenta, from the album Occasus