more Hubble images here

Of darkness an egg, from the whirlwind conceived
Was laid by sable-plumed Night
And from that egg, as the seasons revolved
Sprang Love, the entrancing, the bright ...
Aristophanes, from 'The Birds'

Years ago when I was studying art history I came across a book in the university library about Botticelli's La Primavera. The book explained the painting in relation to the theories of the neo-Platonist philosophers in Florence at the time it was painted, but somewhere in it I found the above lines by Aristophanes. They stuck in my memory and a few years later I tried - unsuccessfully - to make a painting based on them. When I saw the image from the Hubble telescope (above) it reminded me of the failed painting, which was not dissimilar in some ways. I've never actually read 'The Birds' and always assumed the quote was about the creation of the Universe, but this version by Swinburne suggests it's about the birth of Eros, which may, of course, be the same thing:

First thing first-born of the black-plumed Night was a wind-egg hatched in her bosom,
Whence timely with seasons revolving again sweet Love burst out as a blossom,
Gold wings glittering forth of his back, like whirlwinds gustily turning.

Anyway, it makes me wonder whether all the scientific investigations into the origins of the Cosmos will ever come up with anything more plausible or profound. I doubt it somehow. There is nothing new under the sun.