Gaia.

This is just a short entry in relation to the one posted previously about Zeus. The picture I have chosen to support this blog entry is Oberon Zell’s interpretation of the ‘Mother Nature’ goddess to the Ancient Greeks - ‘Gaia’ (the image has the same name). It may not seem obvious to the contemporary reader why I am giving Gaia (a relatively unknown Ancient Greek deity in today’s society) a blog posting of her own. I have purposely placed this blog entry following my posting regarding Zeus as the sovereign deity. Gaia is described by Homer (in his Homeric Hymns) as ‘the eldest of all beings’ - she is the very first deity, preceding even Zeus and she has no parentage, she is born out of 'chaos' (more information can be found on this creation myth in Hesiod's Theogony, which can be found at http://old.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130). These technicalities set Gaia aside from all deities and she can be envisaged as operating on a level beyond polytheism as the sustainer of all creation. Gaia is technically the Ancient Greek equivalent to the Christian God - she is the creator of existence in the same way that Christians believe their God to be. Although it appears that Gaia could claim a right to sovereignty or at least a more esteemed position than she seems to hold in the pantheon, she does not challenge Zeus’ rule. However, it is still interesting to note that the ‘first’ Greek deity is not Zeus, and also that it is a female.

For some more information about Gaia, http://www.kheper.net/topics/Gaia/goddess.htm has some basic, introductory comments on the goddess.