In early Greek mythology, Gaea was the principle of order, equivalent of the Mesopotamian APSU, set against CHAOS, or URANUS. She appears first in Attica. She is created by the primordial beings AETHER and HEDERA, Heaven and Earth and, encouraged by EROS, she becomes the mother of PONTOS (the sea) and OURANOS/URANUS (heaven), sometimes Uranus's wife. She is the mother of CRONUS and RHEA. She is the primal goddess EARTH, mother of all. On the dark side, she created the race of the TITANS and the underworld monster TYPHON. As the Greek pantheon developed GAEA declined in importance but maintained a role as a marital guardian and binder of oaths. Her oracle at Delphi predated that of APOLLO. Later still she becomes the equivalent of DEMETER, the corn-mother whose daughter is corn-spirit KORE. See TERRA MATER and TELLUS
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