Phanes or Protogonus was the mystic primeval deity of procreation and the generation of new life, who was introduced into Greek mythology by the Orphic tradition; other names for this Classical Greek Orphic concept included Ericapaeus
In Orphic cosmogony, Phanes is often equated with Eros or Mithras, and has been depicted as a deity emerging from a cosmic egg, entwined with a serpent. He had a helmet and had broad, golden wings.
Chronos (Time) is said to have created the silver egg of the universe, out of which burst the androgynous first-born deity Phanes, or Phanes-Dionysos. Phanes was a male God, in an Orphic hymn he is named as "Lord Priapos". Phanes was a deity of light and goodness, whose name meant "to bring light" or "to shine"; a first-born god of light who emerged from a void or a watery abyss and gives birth to the universe.
