Gaea, << JEE uh >>, sometimes spelled Gaia, was a goddess in Greek mythology who represented Earth. She was one of the earliest and most elementary of the gods and goddesses. Most of the rest of the gods and goddesses descended from her. Gaea was a mother figure who represented Earth’s limitless power to give birth to life. As both a goddess and as Earth itself, Gaea appears in many myths that explain the natural order of things.
In the 700’s B.C., the Greek poet Hesiod recorded the earliest Greek creation myth in his poem Theogony. In this work, Gaea emerged from the emptiness represented by Chaos. Gaea’s first children were hers alone, having no father. Like her, these children were representations of nature. They were Uranus, the sky; Urea, the mountains; and Pontus, the sea. Uranus became Gaea’s husband. The two became parents to a generation of early gods known as the Titans.
Uranus hated his children and hid them deep inside Gaea herself. In anger, Gaea made plans with her youngest son Cronus to punish his father. After creating metal, Gaea fashioned a sickle and gave it to Cronus. When Uranus came to bed, Cronus castrated him, removing part of his sex organs, and became king of the gods. Cronus, like his father, also feared his children, swallowing them to prevent his own overthrow. Again Gaea thwarted the plan, keeping Cronus’s son Zeus hidden from him. When Zeus was grown, he overthrew Cronus to become the king of the gods.
In later myths, Gaea was portrayed as a wise counselor. She gave Zeus the advice he needed to win wars against the Titans. She advised the rest of the gods to choose Zeus as their ruler. A creator by nature, Gaea also gave birth to more frightening beings. These creatures included the Erinyes, also known as the Furies; the Giants; and Typhon, a fearsome monster later defeated by Zeus.
