Gaia

In Greek mythology, Gaia, also spelled Gaea, is the personification of the Earth. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parthenogenic—of all life. She is the mother of Uranus (Sky), from whose sexual union she bore the Titans (themselves parents of many of the Olympian gods), the Cyclopes, the Giants; as well as of Pontus (Sea), from whose union she bore the primordial sea gods. Her equivalent in the Roman pantheon was Terra.
Zeus forbade Eos, Selene, and Helios from shining, harvesting all of the plant himself and summoning mortal Heracles to help defeat the Giants. According to Hesiod, Gaia sent a giant scorpion to kill Orion, who was later placed among the stars by Zeus.
Gaia pitied Pitys, an Oread nymph, and transformed her into a pine tree. Elaea, an accomplished athlete from Attica, was turned into an olive tree as a reward for Athena's sake. Gaia also turned the young Libanus into rosemary when he was killed by impious people. Zeus hid Elara, one of his lovers, from Hera by stowing her under the earth, and his son by Elara, the giant Tityos, is sometimes said to be a son of Gaia. Gaia also made Aristaeus immortal.
As the physical representation and embodiment of Earth (which is from where all physical constant, and even some lesser universal constant, coexist), she is worthy of being an absolute mother, equal to the universe itself, and not a single universe from a hierarchy of universes, but all layers and universes as she exists as a single causality in all this layers, and even with just one body, is able to create timelines on each layers, with each of this layers being transcendent to the one below, just like how Gaia transcends the layers themselves which are as large as an Inaccessible cardinal.
==Overview==
Gaia, a Greek goddess, was invoked in oaths and played a significant role in the evolution of the world. In Homeric poems, she appears in forms of oaths and is often personified. Gaia is the nurse of Zeus and has the epithet "Kourotrophos," which was an old goddess subordinate to Ge. Ge is also personified in the myths of Erichthonius and Pluto, who are born by the Homeric earth that produces fruits and cereals.
In ancient times, the earth was considered a plane or flat disk with a wide extent. Gaia can be identified with the nymph "Plataia" in Plataea of Boeotia as the spouse of Zeus. Homer uses the form "eureia chthon" (broad earth) and "eurysternos" (the sure seat of all immortals). Her conception is more clear and detailed in the Homeric hymn, where she is the Mother of the Gods, the goddess that brings forth life and blesses men with children.
Gaia is related to the mystery cult of Phlya, which seems to be original. At Athens, Gaia had the cult-title Themis. In some plays of Aeschylus, "chthon" is the earth-goddess Gaia. Tragic poets usually describe Gaia as the mother of all, all-nourishing, and all-productive who must be honored. In Promitheus of Aeschylus, Gaia is the mother mother of all ("pammetor"), and in a fragment of Euripides, chthon has the same epithet. Offerings are recommended to Ge and the spirit of the departed in Persai of Aeschylus, and in Choephori, Electra describes Gaia as an avenger of wrong. Sophocles in Philoctetes calls Gaia "pamvōtis" (all nourishing), and a famous fragment of Danaides describes the sacred marriage between heaven and earth.
Ouranos and Gaia are cosmic powers and natural processes, with Gaia being the mother of all in a philosophical poetic thought. She receives rain, food, and beasts, and is referred to as the mother of all. Aether of Zeus bears men and gods, and everything born by the earth returns to the earth, while everything born from aether returns to the sky. Ge is beloved by every Greek and is traditionally honored like any other god.
Gaia, the original deity behind the Oracle at Delphi, is believed to have passed her powers on to Poseidon, Apollo, or Themis. Apollo, the oracle power behind Delphi, was killed by Gaia's child Python and usurped the chthonic power. Hera punished Apollo by sending him to King Admetus as a shepherd for nine years. Gaia had at least three sanctuaries in Greece, including a temple of Ge Eurusternos near Aegae in Achaia, a sanctuary of Ge Gasepton in Sparta, and a sanctuary of Ge Kourotrophe at Athens.
Altars and sacred spaces were also found in the sanctuaries of other gods, such as Eileithyia in Tegea, Phlya and Myrrhinos under the name Thea Megale (Great goddess), and Olympia, which also had an oracle to Gaia. Gaia's statues were naturally found in the temples of Demeter, such as the Temple of Demeter in Achaia.
The Temple of Zeus Olympios in Athens reportedly had an enclosure of Ge Olympia, with a floor opening to the width of a cubit, and a bed filled with wheat mixed with honey. Thentuary of Zeus Olympios was built by Deukalion (Deucalion), and evidence suggests that Deukalion lived at Athens.
In Athens, there was a statue of Gaia on the Acropolis depicting her beseeching Zeus for rain, as well as an image of her close to the court of the Areopagos, alongside statues of Plouton and Hermes, by which sacrifice those who received an acquittal on the Areopagos.
Category:Goddess
Category:Religion
Category:Greek Pantheon