it's where all of creation sprouted (came from),

but what exactly is it?

Like an Abyss/Chasm, or something like an empty void? Or in a way can be similarly seen like the big bang where creation was a lump of mess that took time to form itself?

Does it have any ties with the sea (for the early people who created the myth)? (like Egyptian and Sumerian myth where things all began from the sea)

To us it's a mythology, but to them it was a religion just as real as Islam is to Muslims or Hinduism to Hindus. I've seen on an old thread from AskHistorians that we don't know what they called it but I'm hoping that the folks here might have an answer.

Shoutout to @jens-holland on Tumblr for sharing their ideas for this discussion!

So many on the internet love demonizing the Greek hero Perseus, mostly because of his killing of Medusa, which I'm sure you know all about and I should tell you her tragic backstory doesn't happen in the original Greek myths. But anyways, because of this, Perseus is often painted in a bad light for everything he does despite being probably one of the most noble Greek heroes, one being his rescue and marriage to Princess Andromeda. See, there are some who find the fact he asked Andromeda's father for her hand in marriage before rescuing her as proof of him being a jerk and treating Andromeda as his prize. And not gonna lie, at first, this did rub me the wrong way too.

But here's the thing we need to remember: this is ancient times, their norms and standards are very different from us now. So things that may seem weird and problematic to us might not have been for those in that time, in fact it might have been seen in a positive or progressive light.

It could be said that Perseus was actually being very respectful of Andromeda's virtue and her status as a dependent of her parents. He's following all of the cultural rules at that time. My friend had this idea if her chained to the rock is a metaphor for her unmarried status/being bound to her father's house, so Perseus freeing her is in a way symbolic of him taking her under his protection. And considering that, I started to wonder if maybe her being sacrificed to the sea monster Cetus could possibly be interpreted as her being married off to her uncle, Phineus.

Because keep in mind, while uncle-niece marriages were pretty common occurances, many Greeks didn't like the fact this was a norm.
I have seen it said that he Hades and Persephone myth was probably meant as a commentary of this uncle-niece marriage situation that often happened in Ancient Greece. So considering Perseus is meant to be a very noble and ideal Greek hero, why not add to that by having him rescue a young woman from a terrible marriage and make her end up with a good caring husband and loving relationship instead?

So in one of the first few books of the Iliad when Helen is telling Priam who all the greeks are she thinks Castor and Pollux hated her and didn't come to save her. But Helen's brothers died before she left Sparta because the whole marriage issue started after she was the only heir of Sparta.

I need help remembering which myth or piece of ancient literature features a mortal cheating a prophecy.

My ancient greek professor was talking about the role of prophecies in mythology, and how they practically always come true in the end. Once someone learns about a prophecy about them, the very actions they take to try to avoid it eventually end up fulfilling it (like Oedipus' case).

But she mentioned ONE exception.

I can't remember if it was an obscure myth, a poem, or a fragment, but it was the only instance where a mortal manages to rewrite his own fate. According to the prophecy about him, he learns he's going to commit some terrible act that he wants to avoid at all costs, like hurting someone else, for example. And to prevent his fate from being fulfilled, he takes his own life, much sooner than expected, before the prophecy can even come true. And because he's dead, noone can fulfill his prophecy. The prophecy is null. He cheated Fate.

I was blown away by how he had simply stopped himself from doing what the prophecy said (even if it meant suicide), when usually mortals are completely under Fate's control.

What was his name? What myth could this be? Please, help me find this story, thank you