Gaea

**Gaea** was the Greek primordial goddess of the earth.

## Depiction

Gaea was usually depicted as a motherly, buxom woman rising from the earth. In her retinue were sometimes the Carpoi or the Horae.

## Abode

Gaea was the primordial goddess of the earth. She was also known as the great mother goddess, since all the beings of earth came from her.

## Mythology

Gaea was one of the first beings to emerge after the creation of the universe shortly after Chaos but before Tartarus and Eros. Without a consort, Gaea gave birth to several deities including Uranus and Pontus.

### Overthrow of Uranus

After giving birth to the Hecatoncheires, Uranus found them so hideous that he threw them into Tartarus. Then, Gaea gave birth to the Cyclopes and, again, Uranus threw them into Tartarus. Gaea and Uranus then had twelve titan children who Uranus was pleased with so they were allowed to roam the earth.

As the great mother, Gaea was upset with Uranus for imprisoning her eldest six children and asked her six titan sons to overthrow their father. Five cowered in fear at the idea of confronting their father but Cronus, the youngest, agreed to her request. Gaea fashioned a sickle made of the hardest metals found on earth and gave it to Cronus.

After persuading four of his brothers for help, Cronus had them hide in the four corners of the earth and wait for their father to come down from the heavens to lay with Gaea. When he did, the four brothers of Cronus grabbed onto their father while Cronus snuck underneath him and castrated him. His castrated genitals were then thrown into the sea.

### Titanomachy

Once Cronus became the ruler of the earth, he did not release his eldest siblings from their Tartarean prison like he promised his mother. This angered Gaea and so she conspired to overthrow him as well.

Since Cronus had heard a prophecy that one of his children would cause him to fall, he swallowed each of his children right after they were born. However, after Cronus' wife Rhea became pregnant with their sixth child she went to her mother, Gaea, for help saving the child from Cronus' wrath. Gaea instructed Rhea to give Cronus a stone swaddled in baby cloths to swallow instead of the actual baby. Rhea did as her mother told and Zeus was sent to live in a cave being cared for by nymphs.

After growing up, Zeus saved his siblings from their father's stomach and waged war upon his father. Eventually, the gods defeated the titans and Zeus became the new ruler of Olympus. Zeus released the Hecatoncheires and Cyclopes from Tartarus.

### Gigantomachy

Despite releasing her eldest six sons from prison, Zeus imprisoned five of Gaea's other sons (Cronus, Coeus, Iapetus, Crius, and Hyperion) within Tartarus. Once again, Gaea was angered that her sons were imprisoned so she gave birth to the Gigantes with the blood of the castrated Uranus.

Despite the best efforts of the Gigantes, they could not overpower the gods and the Olympians remained in their positions of power.

### Typhon

Still angered that her sons were imprisoned, Gaea bred with Tartarus and gave birth to the monstrous demon Typhon. Although Typhon came close to overpowering the Olympians, he was struck down by a thunderbolt of Zeus and was trapped under a mountain.

## Relationships

 Consort(s)
* **With the blood of Uranus:** The Erinyes, The Gigantes, The Meliae

**With Tartarus:** Typhon
**With Pontus:** Nereus, Thaumas, Phorcys, Ceto, Eurybia, Charybdis, Aegaeon, The Telchines
**With Zeus:** The Cyprian Centaurs
**With Aether:** Dolus, Lyssa, Penthos, Poena, Aergia
**With Poseidon:** Antaeus, The Laestrygones
**With Hephaestus:** Erichthonius
**Without a consort:** Uranus, The Ourea, Pontus, The Curetes, The Dactyls, Tityus, Argus Panoptes, The Gegenees, Alpos, Syceus, Damasen, Anax, Hyllus, Python, Nemean Dragon, Ophiotaurus, Cecrops, Palaechthon, Pelasgus, Alalcomeneus, Iarbas

## Other Names

* Gaia
* Ge
* Terra (in Roman mythology)
* Tellus (in Roman mythology)

## Sources

* Atsma, Aaron J. "Gaea." *Theoi Greek Mythology*. Theoi Project, n.d. Web. 18 May 2017.