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Gaia (god)
| Gaia | |
|---|---|
Personification of the Earth | |
 Gaia pleading for her sons the Gigantes (Giants), detail of the Gigantomachy frieze, Pergamon Altar, Pergamon museum, Berlin | |
| Other names | Ge Gaea Chthon |
| Greek | , |
| Symbol | Fruit |
| Parents | None (Hesiod)[1] |
| Consort | Uranus, Pontus, Tartarus |
| Offspring | Uranus, Pontus, the Ourea, the Hecatonchires, the Cyclopes, the Titans, the Gigantes, Nereus, Thaumus, Phorcys, Ceto, Eurybia, Tritopatores, Typhon |
| Roman equivalent | Terra |
In Greek mythology, Gaia (/ˈɡeɪə, ˈɡaɪə/;[2] Ancient Greek: Γαῖα, romanized: Template:Grc-transl, a poetic form of Γῆ (Template:Grc-transl), meaning 'land' or 'earth'),[3] also spelled Gaea (/ˈdʒiːə/),[2] is the personification of Earth.[4] She is the mother of Uranus (Sky), with whom she conceived the Titans (themselves parents of many of the Olympian gods), the Cyclopes, and 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.[5]
Etymology[edit]
The Greek name (Gaia grc or el) is a mostly epic, collateral form of Attic Γῆ (Gē el), and Doric Γᾶ (Ga el),[3] perhaps identical to Δᾶ (Da el),[6] both meaning "Earth". Some scholars believe that the word is of uncertain origin.[7] Beekes suggested a probable Pre-Greek origin.[8] M.L. West derives the name from the Indo-European from *dʰéǵʰōm (earth). Greek: gaia (<*gm-ya), chamai (χαμαί) on the earth, Hittite: tekan, Tocharian: tkam, Phrygian zemelo, Proto-Slavonic:*zem-yã, Avestan: za (locative: zemi), Vedic: ksam, .[9]
In Mycenean Greek Ma-ka (probably transliterated as Ma-ga, "Mother Gaia") also contains the root ga-.[8][10]
Reference[edit]
- ↑ Hesiod, Theogony 116–122 states that Gaia, Tartarus and Eros come after Chaos, but this does not necessarily mean they are the offspring of Chaos. Gantz, pp. 4–5 Archived 2023-09-24 at the Wayback Machine writes that, "[w]ith regard to all three of these figures—Gaia, Tartaros, and Eros—we should note that Hesiod does not say they arose from (as opposed to after) Chaos, although this is often assumed". Hard 2004, p. 23 says that "[a]lthough it is quite often assumed that all three are born out of Chaos as her offspring, this is not stated by Hesiod nor indeed implied, governed by the same verb geneto ('came to be'). Gaia, Tartaros and Eros are best regarded as being primal realities like Chaos that came into existence independently of her". Similarly, Caldwell, pp. 3, 35 says that the Theogony "begins with the spontaneous appearance of Chaos, Gaia, Tartaros, and Eros (116–122). By their emergence from nothing, without sources or parents, these four are separated from everything that follows."
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wells, John (3 April 2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.). Pearson Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 [1], [2], [3]. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project.
- ↑ Smith, "Gaea".
- ↑ Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia, The Book People, Haydock, 1995, p. 215.
- ↑ [4] in Liddell and Scott.
- ↑ Harper, Douglas. "gaia". Online Etymology Dictionary.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Robert S. P. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Brill, 2009, pp. 269–270 (s.v. "γῆ").
- ↑ M.L.West (2007). Indoeuropean poetry and myth, pp.173-174 .Oxford University Press, p.174
- ↑ "Paleolexicon". Retrieved 21 April 2012.