The Beginning Of Genesis

See here, specifically the third quotation, which, for convenience, I will repeat here:

"The story is of a man, a woman, and a world. But ghosts pass through it, and gods. Time does, which is more mysterious than any of these."
-Poul Anderson, Genesis (New York, 2001), p. 3.

We are informed that the "...story..." of this novel is about:

a man
a woman
a world
ghosts
gods
time
mystery

That is very comprehensive. Virgil begins the Aeneid:

"Arma virumque cano..."
(I sing of arms and a man...)

I agree that time is the most mysterious item. It encapsulates the others. Gods come and go. The immortals of Anderson's The Boat Of A Million Years convert to Christianity when it is expedient to do so but also outlast that god. A Time Patrolman says:

"'Know that against time the gods themselves are powerless.'"
-Poul Anderson, The Time Patrol (New York, 1991), p. 284.