Gaia Age Of Mythology
Ashlie Hagenson
The Greek name Γαῖα (Gaia .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-smallfont-size:85%.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-smallfont-size:100%Ancient Greek: [ɡi̯.a] or [ɡj.ja]) is a mostly epic, collateral form of Attic Γῆ (Gē [ɡɛ̂ː]), and Doric Γᾶ (Ga [ɡː]),[4] perhaps identical to Δᾶ (Da [dː]),[7] both meaning "Earth". Some scholars believe that the word is of uncertain origin.[8]Beekes suggested a probable Pre-Greek origin.[9] M.L.West derives the name from the Indo-European form *dʰǵʰōm (earth). Greek: gaia (
The Greeks invoked Gaia in their oaths, and she should be aware if one broke his oath. In the Homeric poems she appears usually in forms of oath. In Iliad the sacrifice of a black lamb is offered to Gaia and she is invoked in the formula of an oath.[12][13] Homer considers her a physical distinct existence not clearly conceived in anthropomorphic form. Gaia does not seem to have any personal activity. In Iliad Alpheia beats with her hands the bountiful ("polyphorbos") earth, but she calls Hades and Persephone to avenge her against her son [14] In the poems of Hesiod she is personified. Gaia has a significant role in the evolution of the world.[15] She is the nurse of Zeus, and she has the epithet "Kourotrophos". Kourotrophos was the name of an old goddess who was subordinate to Ge. Dieterich believed that Kourotrophos and Potnia theron construct precisely the mother goddess. Ge is also personified in the myths of Erichthonius and Pluto.[16] Erichthonius is early mentioned in the Catalogue of ships. He is born by the Homeric earth which produces fruits and cereals (zeidoros arura). The name of Erichthonius includes chthon which is not the underground kingdom of the dead, but the Homeric earth.[17][18][19]
In ancient times the earth was considered a plane or a flat disk with a wide extent.[13] The earth-goddess can be identified with the nymph "Plataia" (broad one) in Plataea of Boeotia as the spouse of Zeus.[20] Homer uses the form "eureia chthon" (broad earth). Hesiod speaks for the broad-breasted earth, ("eurysternos") the sure seat of all immortals.[21] The same epithet appears in her cults at Delphi and Aegae in Achaea. In the Homeric hymn her conception is more clear and detailed. She is the Mother of the Gods, the goddess that brings forth life and blesses men with children. She is called "pammе̄tōr", the all-mother who nourishes everything. This conception is closer to the popular belief.[22][13] In the hymn to Apollo she is called "pheresvios" (life giving) [23] The "mother of the gods" is a form of Gaia. According to Pausanias an epithet of Ge in Athens is "the Great goddess", which is an apellation of the "Mother of the gods". She is related to the mystery cult of Phlya which seems to be original. At Athens Gaia had the cult-title Themis. In the Ashmolean Museum a vase shows Pandora (all-giving) rising from the earth and according to some scholars she may be identified with Gaia . "Anesidora" (sending up gifts) on a vase in the British Museum is an epithet of Gaia.[24][25]
Traditionally "gaia" means "earth" and chthon, "under or "beneath the earth" however chthon has occasionally the same meaning with the earth. Pherecydes uses the name Chthonie for the primeval goddess who later became Ge and Musaeus the same name for the oracular goddess of Delphi.[20] Homer uses the for chthon the epithets "euryodeia" (broad-seated) and "polyvoteira" (all-nourishing) which can also be used for the earth.[21] In some plays of Aeschylus "chthon" is the earth-goddess Gaia.[20][26][27]
The tragic poets usually describe Gaia as mother of all, all-nourishing and all-productive who must be honoured. In Aeschylus' Prometheus Unbound, Gaia is the mother mother of all ("pammetor") and in a fragment of Euripides chthon has the same epithet.[28] In Persai of Aeschylus offerings are recommended to Ge and the spirit of the departed. She is called "pamphoros", (all bearing).[21][29] In Choephori, Electra in her prayer describes Gaia as an avenger of wrong.[30] Sophocles in Philoctetes calls Gaia "pamvōtis" (all nourishing) [21][31] A famous fragment of Danaides describes the sacred marriage between heaven and earth. Ouranos and Gaia are cosmic powers and natural processes.[32] In Chrysippus of Euripides Gaia is the mother of all in a philosophical poetic thought. "Gaia receives the drops of rain bearing the mortals and bearing food and beasts, therefore she is rightly called "mother of all". Aether of Zeus bears men and gods. Everything which is born by the earth returns to the earth, and everything born from aether returns to the sky. Nothing is destroyed, but it is transformed to another form.".[33][30] An inscription on a gravestone in Potidaia mentions: " Aether receives the souls and "chthon" receives the bodies". According to Plutarch: " The name of Ge is beloved to every Greek and she is traditionally honoured like any other god":[30]
Hesiod's Theogony tells how, after Chaos, "wide-bosomed" Gaia (Earth) arose to be the everlasting seat of the immortals who possess Olympus above.[34] And after Gaia came "dim Tartarus in the depth of the wide-pathed Earth", and next Eros the god of love.[35] Hesiod goes on to say that Gaia brought forth her equal Uranus (Heaven, Sky) to "cover her on every side".[36] Gaia also bore the Ourea (Mountains), and Pontus (Sea), "without sweet union of love" (i.e., with no father).[37]
She lay with Heaven and bore deep-swirling Oceanus, Coeus and Crius and Hyperion and Iapetus, Theia and Rhea, Themis, and Mnemosyne and gold-crowned Phoebe and lovely Tethys. After them was born Cronos (Cronus) the wily, youngest, and most terrible of her children, and he hated his lusty sire.[38]
According to Hesiod, Gaia conceived further offspring with her son, Uranus, first the giant one-eyed Cyclopes: Brontes ("Thunder"), Steropes ("Lightning"), and Arges ("Bright");[39] then the Hecatonchires: Cottus, Briareos, and Gyges, each with a hundred arms and fifty heads.[40] As each of the Cyclopes and Hecatonchires were born, Uranus hid them in a secret place within Gaia, causing her great pain. So Gaia devised a plan. She created a grey flint (or adamantine) sickle. And Cronus used the sickle to castrate his father Uranus as he approached his mother, Gaia, to have sex with her. From Uranus' spilled blood, Gaia produced the Erinyes, the Giants, and the Meliae (ash-tree nymphs). From the testicles of Uranus in the sea came forth Aphrodite.[41]
Because Cronus had learned from Gaia and Uranus that he was destined to be overthrown by one of his children, he swallowed each of the children born to him by his Titan older sister, Rhea. But when Rhea was pregnant with her youngest child, Zeus, she sought help from Gaia and Uranus. When Zeus was born, Rhea gave Cronus a stone wrapped in swaddling-clothes in his place, which Cronus swallowed, and Gaia took the child into her care.[43]
With the help of Gaia's advice,[44] Zeus defeated the Titans. But afterwards, Gaia, in union with Tartarus, bore the youngest of her sons Typhon, who would be the last challenge to the authority of Zeus.[45]
The god Hephaestus once attempted to rape Athena, but she pushed him away, causing him to ejaculate on her thigh. Athena wiped off the semen and threw it on the ground, which impregnated Gaia. Gaia then gave birth to Erichthonius of Athens, whom Athena adopted as her own child.[50]
Nonnus describes a similar myth, in which Aphrodite fled from her lustful father Zeus, who was infatuated with her. As Zeus was unable to catch Aphrodite, he gave up and dropped his semen on the ground, which impregnated Gaia. This resulted in the birth of the Cyprian Centaurs.[51]
Gaia resented the way Zeus had treated her children, the Titans, so she brought forth the Gigantes to fight Zeus. It was prophesied that the Gigantes, who were born from Uranus's blood, could not be killed by the gods alone, but they could be killed with the help of a mortal. Hearing this, Gaia sought for a certain plant that would protect the Gigantes even from mortals. Before Gaia or anyone else could get it, Zeus forbade Eos (Dawn), Selene (Moon) and Helios (Sun) to shine, harvested all of the plant himself, and had Athena summon the mortal Heracles, who assisted the Olympians in defeating the Gigantes.[52]
According to Hesiod, in his lost poem Astronomia,[53] Orion, while hunting with Artemis and her mother Leto, claimed that he would kill every animal on earth. Gaia, angered by his boasting, sent a giant scorpion to kill him, and after his death, he and the scorpion were placed among the stars by Zeus.[54] According to Ovid, Gaia for some reason sent the scorpion to kill Leto instead, and Orion was killed trying to protect her.[55]
According to little-known myth, Elaea was an accomplished athlete from Attica who was killed by her fellow athletes, because they had grown envious of her and her skills; but Gaia turned her into an olive tree as a reward, for Athena's sake.[57] Gaia also turned the young Libanus into rosemary when he was killed by impious people.[58]
It seems that the worship of the "earth" was indigenous in Greece.[61] However it is doubtful if the mother-religion is rooted to the Pre-Greek population.[62] In classical times Ge was not an important deity and she didn't have any festivals. She was usually honoured together with other gods or goddesses.[13] Local cults of Gaia are rare and only some of them can be mentioned from the existing evidence.
Elements of a primitive cult of Gaia appear at Dodona in Epirus. It seems that in an old religion the earth goddess was worshipped together with the sky-god (Zeus).[63] At Thebes there was cult of "Gaia Makaira Telesforos". Telesforos means "bringing fruits to perfection".[64] The earth goddess had powers over the ghosts and the dreams which come from the underworld, therefore she acquired oracular powers. These conceptions are evident in her cults at Delphi, Athens and Aigai of Achaea. An inscription "ieron eurysternou" (sunctuary of the broad-bossomed), is mentioned at Delphi by Mnaseas.[65] A temple of Ge was built to the south of the temple of Apollo. "Eutysternos" is a surname of Ge and it had an earlier use by Hesiod. It was also given to her in her worship at the Achaean Aegai.[65]
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