Drawing by Rei Inamoto.

Gaea

Gaea was the great deity of the early Greeks. She represented the Earth and was worshipped as the universal mother who had created the Universe and gave birth to both the first race of gods (the Titans) and the first humans.

In the creation story of the ancient Greeks, Chaos preceded all things. Chaos was composed of Void, Mass, and Darkness in confusion. Then Earth, personified as Gaea, came into existence. From Mother Earth then sprang the starry heavens, personified as the god Uranus, and the mountains, plains, seas and rivers that make up the Earth as we know it today. Uranus, the god of the sky became her husband.

Uranus was afraid one of his children would take the throne, so he forced all of them to stay hidden beneath the earth. Gaia devised a plan for her son, Kronus, to ambush Uranus. Cronus eventually became the new supreme god. Later, he suffers a similar feat at the hands of Zeus.

Gaea, or Mother Earth, was the oldest of the divinities of the early Greeks. She was the supreme goddess whose majesty was acknowledged by humans and gods alike. She presided over marriages and oaths and was honored as a prophetess.

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