Gaia is the Primordial Goddess and personification of the Earth in Greek Mythology.
Role and Significance[]
Genealogy and Family[]
Gaia is one of the oldest deities in the Greek Pantheon, having emerged from the void of Chaos, with her three siblings, Nyx, Erebus and Tartarus. She was titled "the mother of the gods" for she gave birth to many important deities. By herself Gaia had Uranus, The Ourea, Pontus, The Kouretes and The Dactyloi, with Uranus she bore The Twelve Titans, The Cyclopes, Aitna and The Hecatonchieres, with Pontus she bore Nereus, Thaumas, Phorcys, Ceto and Eurybia and with Tartarus she bore The Gigantes and Typhoeus. Some of Gaia's other children are Erichtonius by Hephaestus and Laestrygon and Antaios by Poseidon. The Meliae were also born from the drops of blood that fell on Gaia [Earth] when Cronus castrated Uranus. Gaia is an ancestor of all the Titan Gods and a grandmother or great grandmother to all members of The Twelve Olympians.
Story[]
- Gaia the Earth emerged from the void Chaos, her first children were Uranus, the primordial god of the sky, The Ourea (gods of the mountains), Pontus, the god of the sea and The Kouretes and Dactyloi (gods of the wild mountainside and inventors of beekeeping, hunting, shepherding and metalworking).
- Whether through physical intercourse or through simple touch and merging of their elements, Gaia would have several children with Uranus and Pontus.
- Gaia became fed up with Uranus for imprisoning his and Gaia's children the Hecatonchieres and the Cyclopes monsters inside of her because of his displeasure with their appearance, this would lead to Gaia, commanding the help of her godly children The Twelve Titans to punish Uranus and free the monsters and giants. The only child brave enough to take Gaia's sickle and attack Uranus, was Cronus, the King of the Titans and god of the harvest who would meet with Uranus at the sea and cut off his genitals which after falling into the sea merged to create, Aphrodite and The Erinyes. Cronus however did not ever free the monsters.
- Gaia would have some of her later children through accident, such as Erichthonius, the future king of Athens, who would be born from a tissue containing Hephaestus' semen falling to the ground and fertilising Gaia.
- There is also Orion, a giant hunter; who was born of Gaia and an oxhide soaked with the urine of Zeus, Poseidon and Hermes, that these gods buried into the earth in the hopes of giving King Hyrieus- a son and heir, (through fertilising Gaia).