Gaia (mythology) Gaia In Greek Mythology Consorts/Children Of

Gaia ("land" or "earth", also spelled Ge or Gaea) in Greek mythology embodies the fertility of the Earth. Some people believe that Gaia is a later form of a pre-Indo-European Great Mother who was venerated in Neolithic times, but this theory is not widely accepted by scholars. This belief is a feature of modern Neopagan "Goddess" worship, which is discussed at Goddess, with further links.

Some mythographers prefer to see a discrete identity of an Earth Mother separately embodied in each name, and even in the individual endemic epithets that were only applied to goddesses at certain locations, and who were worshipped in rituals that also varied from site to site.

Some people believe that Greek goddesses Demeter the "mother", Persephone the "daughter" or Hecate the "crone" were three aspects of the goddess who could be identified as Rhea. In Anatolia (modern Turkey), Rhea was known as Cybele. The Greeks never forgot that Gaia's ancient home was Crete, where she had been worshipped as Potnia Theron, the "Mistress of the Animals" or simply Potnia , a figure for which little concrete is currently known.

In Rome the imported goddess Cybele was venerated as Magna Mater, the "Great Mother" and identified with Roman CeresFor other uses, see Ceres (disambiguation). Ceres in Roman mythology, equivalent to the Greek Demeter (which see for more details), daughter of Saturn and Rhea, wife-sister of Jupiter, mother of Proserpina by Jupiter, sister of Juno, Vesta, Neptune and Pl, the grain goddess who was an approximate counterpart of Greek Demeter, but with differing aspects and venerated with a different cult.

The idea that the fertile earth itself was female, nurturing mankind, was not limited to the Mediterranean. In Norse mythologyArdre image stones from Gotland, ca. 750 AD Norse mythology Viking mythology or Scandinavian mythology refer to the pre- Christian religion, beliefs and legends of the Scandinavian people. It is the best-known version of the ancient Germanic mythology, wh the Great Mother, the mother of ThorThor or (ON), Thunor (OE), Donar or Donner (German) is the red-haired and bearded god of thunder and lightning in Germanic and Norse Mythology, the son of Odin and Jord. While Odin is the god of the powerful and aristocratic, Thor is much more the god of himself, was known as JordIn Norse mythology, Jord was the goddess of the Earth. She was married to Odin and mother of Thor. Alternative: Hlodyn, Fjorgyn, Jord. See also Nerthus Gaia (mythology) Norse mythology., Hlódyn, or Fjörgyn.

In Lithuanian mythologyLithuanian mythology is very close to Latvian mythology. Lithuanian gods, goddesses and spirits: # AuSautas # AuSlavis # AuSra # AuSrine # Austrinis # Austeja # Aitvaras # ASvieniai # AuStaras # Bangputys # Baubas # Baubis # Berzulis # Blizgulis # Breksta Gaia - Žeme is daughter of Sun and Moon. Also she is wife of Dangus ( VarunaThis article is about the god. See 20000 Varuna for the trans-Neptunian object. In Vedic religion, Varuna ("he who covers", referring to the sky) is one of the most important gods in the pantheon, and chief of the asuras. In pre- Vedic era, he was probabl).

Unlike Zeus, a roving nomad god of the open sky, Gaia was manifest in enclosed spaces: the house, the courtyard, the womb, the cave. Her sacred animals are the snake, the lunar bull, the pig, and bees. In her hand the narcotic poppy may be transmuted to a pomegranate.

Gaia was the daughter of ChaosIn Greek mythology, Chaos or Khaos is the primeval state of existence from which the first gods appeared. In Greek it is , which is usually pronounced similarly to "house", but correctly in ancient Greek as "k-ha-oss"; it means "gaping void", from the ver, or according to another version AetherAether has several meanings. Physics and philosophy In physics and philosophy, aether (also spelled ether) was once believed to be a substance which filled all of space. Aristotle included it as a fifth element on the principle that nature abhorred a vacu and Hemera, and the mother of Uranus (also her husband), Ourea and Pontus. Uranus and Pontus were born of Gaia alone, without a father.

1 Gaia in Greek mythology

With Uranus, Gaia had three sets of children: one-hundred armed giants called Hecatonchires and one-eyed giants called Cyclopes were the youngest, and significantly later, the Titans. Occasionally, the Erinyes were considered a fourth set of children by Gaia and Uranus.

Uranus hid the ( Hecatonchires) and the Cyclopes in Tartarus so that they would not see the light, rejoicing in this evil doing. This caused pain to Gaia (Tartarus was her bowels) so she created grey flint (or adamantine) and shaped a great sickle and gathered together Cronus and his brothers to ask them to obey her. Only Cronus was willing to do the deed, so Gaia gave him the sickle and set him in ambush. Cronus jumped out and lopped off his father's testicles, casting them behind him. From his blood on the Earth came forth the Gigantes, Erinyes and Meliae. From the testicles of Uranus in the sea came forth Aphrodite. For this, Uranus called his sons Titans, meaning "strainers" for they strained and did presumptuously a fearful deed, for which vengeance would come afterwards.

After Uranus' castration, Gaia gave birth to Echidna and (sometimes) Typhon by Tartarus. By Pontus, Gaia birthed Nereus, Thaumas, Phorcys, Ceto and Eurybia.

As Uranus had been deposed by his son Cronus, so was Cronus destined to be overthrown by his son. To prevent this, he swallowed his children as soon as they were born. Gaia gave Cronus' wife, Rhea, the idea to save the last child, Zeus, by giving Cronus a stone wrapped up like a baby. Gaia then raised Zeus (according to some versions of the story), who eventually rescued his brothers and sisters from within Cronus' body, as well as releasing the Cyclopes, Hecatonchires, and Gigantes from Tartarus. Together, Zeus and his allies overthrew Cronus.

When Apollo killed Gaia's child, Python, she punished him by sending him to King Admetus as a shepherd for nine years.

Zeus hid Elara, one of his lovers, from Hera by hiding her under the earth. His son by Elara, the giant Tityas, is therefore sometimes said to be a son of Gaia, the earth goddess, and Elara.

Gaia also made Aristaeus immortal.

Gaia is believed to be the original deity behind the Oracle at Delphi. She passed her powers on to, depending on the source: Poseidon, Apollo or Themis.

1.1 Consorts/Children of Gaia

2 Gaia in modern ecological theory

The mythological name was revived in 1969 by James Lovelock for his Gaia hypothesis, which was later developed by Lynn Margulis into a Gaia theory. The hypothesis proposes that living organisms and inorganic material are part of a dynamic system that shapes the Earth's biosphere. Earth itself is viewed as an organism with self-regulatory functions.

The theme behind the movie adapts this philosophy of Gaia, which is also embraced within parts of the New Age and movement, and by some environmentalists.

In the game , werewolves are supposed to be Gaia's weapons against the Wyrm, a representation of ecological destruction.

The cartoon series Captain Planet and the Planeteers features a personification of Gaia, whose well-being is dependent on the state of the environment worldwide.

3 References

Carl A.P. Ruck and Danny Staples, The World of Classical Myth, 1994.

Greek goddesses Nature goddesses

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