Gaea

Gaea was a Greek primordial goddess. In Roman mythology, Gaea was known as Terra.

Abode
Gaea was the primordial goddess of the earth.

Depiction
In Greek vase paintings, Gaea was depicted as a mother-like and buxom women that was rising from the earth. In mosaic art she is depicted as reclining, wearing green, and being in the company of grain spirits, the Carpi.

Parentage
Although typically considered to have emerged after the creation of the universe and having no parents, Hyginus considers her to be a child of Aether and Hemera.

Downfall of Uranus
Gaea was one of the first deities to emerge after the creation of the universe. After her creation, she mothered several children without a father, one of whom was Uranus. Gaea and Uranus married and they had several sets of children. Their first set of children with the Titans. There were twelve Titans and they were very beautiful deities. The second set of children that Gaea bore were the Cyclopes. There were three Cyclopes but each only had one eye in the middle of their forehead. Gaea loved them just as she loved the Titans, but Uranus thought they were ugly and he threw them into Tartarus, causing Gaea great amounts of pain. The third and final set of children that Gaea had were the Hecatoncheires. There were three deities in this set and they each had fifty heads and one hundred arms. Again, Gaea loved them but Uranus hated them and threw them into Tartarus, causing Gaea even more pain.

Gaea grew resentful of Uranus and went to her six Titan sons and asked them to take a sickle that she had made from the hardest materials in the earth and to overthrow their father. Her eldest five sons were too afraid to challenge their father, but her youngest, Cronus, willingly took the sickle. Cronus recruited the help of four of his brothers and devised a plan to overthrow their father. When Uranus came down from the sky to lay with Gaea, the four brothers of Cronus, who were all at the four pillars of the earth, grabbed onto their father and held him in place. Cronus snuck underneath Uranus and castrated his father and threw his genitals into the sea, creating the sea foam.

Attempted Overthrowings of Zeus
After Cronus was overthrown by his own children, just like how Cronus overthrew his father, Zeus put the Titans that had fought against him in Tartarus. Even though he released the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires, the Titans were now in Tartarus, which angered Gaea.

From the blood of the castrated Uranus falling upon the earth, the Giants were born and Gaea had them attack the Olympians by stacking several mountains on top of each other. Although there were many Giants, they were eventually defeated by the Olympians.

Gaea also coupled with Tartarus and mothered the gigantic monster Typhon, which she sent to attack Mount Olympus. Many of the gods fled at the sight of Typhon but Zeus remained and attacked Typhon. Eventually, Zeus knocked Typhon down by throwing a hundred lightning bolts at him and trapping him under Mount Etna.

Tityus
Zeus had an affair with Elara and had to hide her under the earth from Hera. Tityus was born and is sometimes said to be the child of Gaea, since she was the goddess of the earth.

Relationships

 * Spouse(s): Uranus
 * Lover(s): Aether, Tartarus, Pontus, Poseidon
 * Children with no father: Uranus, The Ourea, Pontus, The Dactyls, Tityus (see 'Mythology' above), Argus Panoptes, Alpus, Syceus, Damasen, Anax and Asterius, Hyllus, Python, Nemean Dragon, Stygian Bull, Scorpius, Cecrops
 * Children with Uranus: The Cyclopes, The Hecatoncheires, Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Cronus, Iapetus, Tethys, Phoebe, Mnemosyne, Theia, Rhea, Themis
 * Children with the blood of Uranus: The Erinyes, The Gigantes, The Meliae, The Curetes
 * Children with Aether: Dolus, Lyssa, Penthos, Poena, Aergia
 * Children with Tartarus: Typhon
 * Children with Pontus: Nereus, Thaumas, Phorcys, Ceto, Eurbyia, Aegaeon, The Telchines
 * Children with Poseidon: Charybdis, Antaeus, The Laestrygones, The Gegenees
 * Children with Zeus: Cyprian Centaurs, Manes
 * Children with Hephaestus: Erichthonius
 * Children with an unknown consort: The Elder Muses
 * Descendents: The Cynocephali