by Quintus Aurelius Orcus on Thu Jan 02, 2003 10:23 pm
Salvete
If you are wondering why i'm posting this so quickly after one another is because this isn't just informative but people can always add things to it if they think they have something to contribute to the information. This is one part. The other part is to give good information about who these deities are and how they are seen. Some are beter know that others.
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Gaia (Gaea/ Ge)
Names & Titles:
Gaia has several names Gaia, Gaea, Gaiê, Gê, Khthon (which all means Earth). Her titles are Mater Pantôn (Mother of All) and Kourotrophe (Nurse of the Young). The Latin spelling of her name is Gaea and her Roman name is Terra/ Tellus. Meter/ Mater (Mother) and Physis (Nature) are her epithets.
Symboles:
Fruit, cornocopiae
Animal(s):
All of them.
Sacrifices:
Any grain, flowers, or plants, except for beans and aromathic herbs.
GAIA was Mother Earth, an ancient primeval goddess or Protogenos, who emerged at the creation of the universe, second only to Khaos (Air). She was depicted as a buxom, matronly woman, shown half risen from the earth, unable to completely separate herself from her element.
The Earth, in the ancient cosmology, was a disk surrounded by the river Okeanos. It was called the foundation of all, because not only trees, men, and animals, but even the hills, sea and the solid dome of the sky were supported by it. Gaia was seen as the mother of the Gods, a function that was passed down to Gaia's daughter Rhea and than to Demeter. Kybele was compared to Rhea, Demeter and Gaia and thought to be Rhea. What these Goddesses have in common is not only their agricultural function but also their mother earth function. Gaia played a big role in Titanomachia as in the Gigantomachia as the one who started these wars. She also was the one who provided Kronos or possible one of her servants with the weapons to castrate his father. One version of this myth tells us that Kronos killed his father, another tell us he only castrated his father. She did this because She couldn't stand that her children were suffering. When Kronos only released the Titans and not the Cyclops and not the Hekatonkheires, She was furious for this. When Zeus began the Titanomachy, Gaia was on his side when he released the Cyclops and the Hekatonkheires. But when Zeus imprisened the Titans She again sought to remove Zeus from Olympos with the help of Typhoeus and the Gigantes. One version of the birth of Zeus tells us that Rheia sought counsel with her parents and they advised her to give Kronos a rock instead of the baby and to hide it on Krete. Gaia, known as Earth or Mother Earth (the Greek common noun for "land" is ge or ga). She was an early earth goddess and it is written that Gaia was born from Khaos, the great void of emptiness within the universe, and with her came Eros (Himeros). She gave birth to Pontos (the Sea) and Ouranos(the Sky). This was achieved parthenogenetically (without male intervention). Other versions say that Gaia had as siblings Tartarus (the lowest part of the earth, below Hades itself) and Eros, and without a mate, gave birth to Ouranos(Sky), Ourea (Mountains) and Pontos(Sea). Ge was the original Greek earth- and mother-goddess. Because her mythology is difficult to equate with earth goddesses in the other religions, she has been suspected as being pre-Greek in origin. Still, she is a familiar primordial earth goddess married to the primordial sky god.
Gaia in Mythology
Gaia took as her husband Uranus, who was also her son, and their offspring included the Titans, six sons and six daughters. She gave birth to the Cyclopesand to three monsters that became known as the "Hekatonkheires". The spirits of punishment known as the Erinyes were also offspring of Gaia and Uranus. The Gigantes, finally, were conceived after Uranus had been castrated by his son Kronos, and his blood fell to earth from the open wound.
To protect her children from her husband, (the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires, as he was fearful of their great strength), Gaia hid them all within herself. One version says that Uranus was aghast at the sight of his offspring so he hid them away in Tartarus, which are the bowels of the earth. Gaia herself found her offspring uncomfortable and at times painful, when the discomfort became to much to bear she asked her youngest son Cronus to help her. She asked him to castrate Uranus, thus severing the union between the Earth and Sky, and also to prevent more monstrous offspring. To help Cronus achieve his goal Gaia produced an adamantine sickle to serve as the weapon. Cronus hid until Uranus came to lay with Gaia and as Uranus drew near, Cronus struck with the sickle, cutting the genitalia from Uranus. Blood fell from the severed genitals and came in contact with the earth and from that union was born the Erinyes (Furies), the Giants and the Meliae (Nymphs of the manna ash trees).
After the separation of the Earth from the Sky, Gaia gave birth to other offspring, these being fathered by Pontus. Their names were the sea-god Nereus, Thaumas, Phorkys, Ceto and Eurybia. In other versions Gaia had offspring to her brother Tartarus; they were Echidna and Typhon, the later being an enemy of Zeus. Apollo killed Typhon when he took control of the oracle at Delphi , which Gaia originally provided, and then the "Sibyl" sang the oracle in Gaia's shrine. Ge was the original Greek earth- and mother-goddess. Because her mythology is difficult to equate with earth goddesses in the other religions, she has been suspected as being pre-Greek in origin. Still, she is a familiar primordial earth goddess married to the primordial sky god.
Parents:
None because she was one of the first Protogenoi who came into existence after the creation of the universe.
Offspring:
1) Ouranos, The Ourea, Pontos(without a mate) (Theogony 126)
(2) The Titanes (Okeanos, Koios, Krios, Hyperion, Japetos, Krons), the Titanides (Theia, Rheia, Themis, Mnemosyne, Tethys (by Ouranos) (Theogony 135f, Apollodorus 1.2, Diodorus Siculus 5.66.1)
(3) Dione(by Ouranos) (Apollodorus 1.2)
3) The Kyklopes, the Hekatonkheires (by Ouranos) (Theogony 135f, Titanomachia Frag 1, Apollodorus 1.2)
(4) The Erinyes, the Gigantes, the Meliai (by the blood of Ouranos) (Theogony 184)
(5) The Erinyes, the Gigantes (by the blood of Ouranos) (Apollodorus 1.3, 1.34)
(6) Nereus, Thaumas, Phorkys, Keto, Eurybia (by Pontos) (Theogony 232f, Apollodorus 1.10)
(7) Typhoeus (by Tartarus) (Theogony 819f, Apollodorus 1.39)
Offspring (Other Gods)
(1) Seilenos (Dionysiaca 29.243)
Offspring (Beasts)
(1) Arein (Pausanias 8.25.5)
(2) Python (Metamorphoses 1.438, Hyginus Fab 140)
Offspring (Giants & Men)
(1) TRIPTOLEMOS (by Okeanos) (Apollodorus 1.32)
(2) ERIKHTHONIOS (by Hephaistos) (Iliad, Apollodorus 3.188, Callimachus Hecale Frag 260)
(3) Tityos (Odyssey, Argonautica)
(4) Gegenees (Argonautica 1.901)
(5) Antaios (by Poseidon) (Apollodoros 2.115, Hyginus Fabulae 31)
(6) Kharybdis (by Poseidon) (Other references)
(7) THE HEMIKUNOI (Half-dog men), LIBYS (Libyans), AITHIOPES (Ethiopians), KATOUDAIOI (Underground-folk), PYGMAIOI (Pygmies), MELANOKHROTOI (Black-skins), SKYTHES (Skythians), LAISTRYGONES, HYPERBOREOI (Hyperboreans) (races of men born to her by Poseidon or Epaphos) (Catalogues of Women Frag 40A)
(8) Various other Earth-born Men, Giants, Monsters (Various sources)
Cult and worship:
Along with Helios, the Styx and Ouranos, She was called upon to swear an oath, an oath that couldn't be broken. In the Illiad, there is mention that black lambs were offered to Gaia by Priamos. In the conversation between Medea and her sister in the Argonautica, Gaia and Ouranos were called upon to swear an oath. Agamemnon called upon her when she offered a boar. Gaia was seen as the nurse of the young and mother of the Gods. It is told that She calmed down Zeus' rage when he struck down on Lykaon and his sons with his lightning so that the youngest was spared. She was even responsible for the upbringing of both Erechteus and Kekrops and many other eath born mean but than again, Gaia was seen as the mother of Mankind, so She had a special place in every human heart. Pausanias tells us that at the temple of Zeus in Athens, there was a temple to Kronos and Rhea with a shrine for Olympia Ge which was another name for Gaia. He also tells us that there was a sanctuary for Ge, Kourotrophe and Demeter Khloe and that by conversing with the priests one can learn all their names. He mentions that at the sanctuary of the Erinyes in Athens, there were images of Plouton (God of the Agricultural wealth), Hermes and Ge who received sacrifices by those who received acquital on the Areapagos. Pausanias tells us also that at Phyla, Myrrhinos( Attika), Sparta (Lakedaimon), there were altars and sanctuaries to Gaia who was called Megale Thea (Great Goddess) and surnamed Gasepton and called Ge at Sparta. At Olympia, Pausanias tells us that there was aGaion, sanctuary of Ge which in more ancient days was an oracle. He also informs us that at Agaia, Arkhae there was a Gaion surnamed Eurysternos (Broadbossemed) where the woman who from time to time is priestess henceforth remains chaste, and before her election must not have had intercourse with more than one man. The test applied is drinking bull’s blood. Any woman who may chance not to speak the truth is immediately punished as a result of this test. If several women compete for the priesthood, lots are cast for the honour. He also informs us of an altar at Tegea, Arkadia of Ge.
“[Indian Deriades calls on his comrades to pray to the gods:] ‘Pray to both – stretch out your hands to the Water [of the River-God Hydsapes] and pray to Mother Gaia (Earth), and with truthful lips vow to both sacrifice after victory; at the altar let bullshaped Hydaspes hold a hornstrong bull, and let black Gaia receive a black ram [it was traditional to sacrifice black animals to the Khthonion gods].” –Dionysiaca 29.62 This tell us something about the cult parctices of Gaia. Gaia being the primordial element from which all the gods originated was worshiped throughout Greece, but later she went into decline and was supplanted by other gods. In Roman mythology she was known as Tellus or Terra. Gaia's blessing is life. All things that draw breath and nourishment, and have their homes upon the earth, do so through her. Every plant, animal, bird, fish, tree, rock is special to her. But that kind of love is impersonal. Because she cares for all things, she must consider what is best for the overall balance. And so the herd of gazelle is thinned out by the lion, because otherwise they would eat up all their food and starve to death. From the perspective of the individual gazelle this can seem cruel and uncaring - but when seen within the larger picture, we see that she does nothing needlessly, or overly cruel. Delphi was her primary cult center. The best way to honor Gaia is to care for the natural world. Clean up pollution, protect wildlife, donate time and money to ecological concerns. Recycle. Buy wholesome foods that are made without pesticides or come without all the extra packaging. Conserve energy. Carpool or walk instead of driving. Be mindful of how your actions will affect the rest of the world. The Roman goddess of the earth, equated with the Greek goddess Gaia(Terra Mater- Mother Earth) and also with the fertility goddess Ceres. Telles ("earth") had a temple on the Forum Pacis, built in 268 BCE. On her festival, the Fordicidia, held on April 15, cows (being with young) were sacrificed. On January 24 - 26 the Sementivae were held in honor of Tellus and Ceres and during these days they were called upon for protection of the seed and the sower. Fama was thought to be her daughter. "Earth". The personified Roman goddess of the earth. She is also a fertility goddess, known as Bona Dea.
Festivals:
Earth Day: 21 April (modern)
Genesios: 5 Boedromion (September-October) more info on this later.
Sources:
Encyclopedia Mythica
Theoi Project
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If any of you have any info on these festivals I mentioned. Post them here. When all of them are posted, i will sent the full complete essay to the Aediles to let them post it on the Collegium website.
valete optime in pace deorum
Quintus Aurelius Orcus
Rector ColRel
Rogator
Princeps gentis Aureliae