Gaia
Mosaic Glyptothek Munich (Aion and Gaia 200-250 BC)
Reference page: Repertory of Cults and Myths
Gaia or Gea is the earth, seen as the primordial element from which everything springs, even the divine lineages. Of all the female deities considered great mothers, Gaia is probably the oldest. Gaia was born from Chaos, she generated Uranus (the sky), the mountains and Pontus (the sea). After the birth of Uranus united with him and from their union were born not powers of nature but real gods: the six Titans, the six Titanides and the Cyclops (Arge, Sterope, and Bronte who were divinities linked to lightning, lightning and to thunder). Also from the union with Uranus were born the Hecatonchires, giants with a hundred arms. Uranus, however, segregated the Hecatonchires and the Cyclops in the depths of the earth, their mother. This must not have pleased Gaia that she decided to take revenge on her by instigating her youngest son, Cronos, to dethrone Uranus. To this end, she provided him with a sharp sickle with which Cronos emasculated her father who was about to join Gaia. The blood that came out made the earth fertile and, mixed with the waves of the sea, contributed to the birth of Aphrodite.
Gaia represents not only the earth but also the dead, as those who die return to the womb of mother earth. It is easy to imagine how the earth, from which everything springs, was soon considered the universal mother, the primordial generator of all the gods. Later, on the basis of the Hellenic conception that personified the various aspects of nature, the figure of Gaia with her characteristics was absorbed by other divinities such as Demeter or Cybele, who had, compared to Gaia, a more human typology and therefore closer to the popular imagination.
In Sicily, there was an outdoor sanctuary, with an altar of Gaia, located in Syracuse, right on the tip of the island of Ortigia, outside the walls. From this sanctuary the departing sailors took a cup which was then thrown into the sea as soon as the last visible point of the earth disappeared, that is the golden shield of the pediment of the temple of Athena (Athenaeus, XI 462). The remains of a sanctuary, in which the cult of the goddess was associated with that of Dionysus and Pluto, are found in Morgantina, as we have seen when talking about Hermes.
Extract from the Book ” Cults of Ancient Sicily” by Ignazio Caloggero ISBN: 9788832060102 © 2022 Centro Studi Helios srl
