Gea

Gea o Geo o Ge (in greco antico: Γῆ, Ghê), oppure Gaia (in greco ionico e quindi nel greco omerico: Γαῖα), è, nella religione e nella mitologia greca, la dea primordiale, quindi la potenza divina, della Terra.

Gaia (Gea) nella Teogonia di Esiodo

La Teogonia di Esiodo racconta come, dopo Chaos (Χάος), sorse l'immortale Gaia (Γαῖα), progenitrice dei Titani e degli dei dell’Olimpo.
Da sola e senza congiungersi con nessuno, Gaia genera Urano (Οὐρανός, Cielo stellante) pari alla Terra, generò quindi, sempre per partenogenesi, i monti, le Ninfe (Νύμφη nymphē) dei monti e Ponto (Πόντος, il Mare).
Unendosi ad Urano, Gaia genera i Titani (Τιτῆνες): Oceano (Ὠκεανός), Coio (Κοῖος, anche Ceo), Creio (Κριός, anche Crio), Iperione (Ύπέριον), Iapeto (Ιαπετός, anche Giapeto), Theia (Θεία, anche Teia o Tia), Rea (Ῥέᾱ oppure Ῥεία), Themis (Θέμις, anche Temi), Mnemosyne (Μνημοσύνη, anche Menmosine), Phoibe (Φοίϐη, anche Febe), Tethys (Τηθύς, anche Teti) e Kronos (Κρόνος, anche Crono).
Dopo i Titani, l'unione tra Gaia e Urano genera i tre Ciclopi (Κύκλωπες: Brontes, Steropes e Arges); ed i Centimani (Ἑκατόγχειρες, Ecatonchiri): Cotto, Briareo e Gige dalle cento mani e dalla forza terribile.
Urano, tuttavia, impedisce che i figli da lui generati con Gaia, i dodici Titani, i tre Ciclopi e i tre Centimani, vengano alla luce. La ragione di questo rifiuto risiederebbe, per Cassanmagnago, nella loro "mostruosità". Ecco che la madre di costoro, Gaia, costruisce dapprima una falce e poi invita i figli a disfarsi del padre che li costringe nel suo ventre. Solo l'ultimo dei Titani, Kronos, risponde all'appello della madre ed appena Urano si stende nuovamente su Gaia, Kronos, nascosto lo evira. Il sangue versato dal membro evirato di Urano gocciola su Gaia producendo altre divinità: le Erinni (Ἐρινύες: Aletto, Tesifone e Megera), le dee della vendetta, i terribili Giganti (Γίγαντες) e le Ninfe Melie (Μελίαι).
Ponto (Πόντος, il Mare) genera Nereo (Νηρεύς) detto il "vecchio", divinità marina sincera ed equilibrata; poi, sempre Ponto ma unitosi a Gaia, genera Taumante (Θαῦμᾱς), quindi Forco (Φόρκυς), Ceto (Κητώ) dalle belle guance, ed Euribia (Εὐρύβια).
Gaia e Tartaro generano Typheo (υφωεύς, anche Tifeo) "a causa dell'aurea" di Afrodite. Questo essere gigantesco, mostruoso, terribile e potente viene sconfitto dal re degli dèi (Zeus) e relegato nel Tartaro insieme ai Titani e da dove spira i venti dannosi per gli uomini. Infine Gaia unendosi a Tartaro generò Pallante (Παλλάς) un gigante che tentò di violentare Atena durante la Gigantomachia nella quale perse la vita.

Genealogia (Esiodo)

Urano

GEA

Genitali di Urano

Crono

Rea

Zeus

Era

Poseidone

Ade

Demetra

Estia

Ares

Efesto

Meti

Atena

Latona

Apollo

Artemide

Maia

Ermes

Semele

Dioniso

Dione

Afrodite

Altri miti riguardanti Gea

Apollodoro (Biblioteca I,1) sostiene che Gea abbia dapprima partorito i Centimani (Ecatonchiri) e poi i Ciclopi. Urano, il loro padre, gettò questi ultimi nel Tartaro; allora Gea gli partorì i sei Titani (Oceano, Ceo, Iperione, Crio, Giapeto e per ultimo, Crono) e le sette Titanidi (Tethys, Rea, Temi, Mnemosyne, Febe, Dione e Tia).

Irata con Urano che aveva gettato nel Tartaro i precedenti figli, Gea incita i Titani a sopraffare il padre: tutti accolgono l'invito di Gea tranne Oceano. Aggredito il padre, Crono lo evira.

Apollodoro (Biblioteca I,6), ci dice che Gea partorì i Giganti, in quanto adirata per la sorte subita dai Titani e sapendo che nessuno degli dèi dell'Olimpo poteva ucciderli ma solo un mortale andò alla ricerca di una pianta magica che impedisse loro di morire anche per mano degli uomini. Saputo ciò, Zeus colse per primo la pianta.
Eratostene (Catasterismi XIII), ci dice che Museo raccontò che Gea nascose in un antro la spaventosa capra, figlia del dio Helios, affidandola poi alla ninfa Amaltea (Ἀμάλθεια) la quale con il suo latte nutrì Zeus infante.
Zeus celò Elara, una delle sue amanti, dalla vista di Hera nascondendola sotto terra. Talvolta viene quindi riportato che il gigante Tizio, il figlio che Zeus ebbe da Elara, sia stato in realtà figlio di Elara e di Gea.

Gea concesse l'immortalità ad Aristeo.
Alcuni studiosi credono che Gea fosse la divinità che originariamente parlava per bocca dell'Oracolo di Delfi. Ella passò i suoi poteri, a seconda delle versioni, a Poseidone, Apollo o Temi. Apollo è il dio a cui più di ogni altro è collegato l'Oracolo di Delfi, esistente da lungo tempo già all'epoca di Omero, perché in quel luogo aveva ucciso il figlio di Gea Pitone, impossessandosi dei suoi poteri ctonii. Hera punì Apollo per questo gesto costringendolo a servire per nove anni come pastore presso il re Admeto.
Nell'antica Grecia i giuramenti fatti in nome di Gea erano considerati quelli maggiormente vincolanti, assieme a quelli in nome di Ade e del fiume infernale Stige.

Gea nell'arte

Nell'arte classica Gea poteva essere rappresentata in due modi diversi:

Nelle decorazioni vasali ateniesi veniva ritratta come una donna dall'aspetto matronale che emergeva dalla terra soltanto per metà, spesso mentre porgeva ad Atena il piccolo Erittonio (futuro re di Atene) perché lo allevasse.
Nei mosaici di epoca successiva appare come una donna che si sta stendendo a terra, circondata da un gruppo di Carpi, divinità infantili che simboleggiano i frutti della terra.

Anselm Feuerbach: Gaea (1875). Ceiling painting, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna

Tellus

Tellure è la dea romana della Terra e protettrice della fecondità, dei morti e contro i terremoti.
Il suo culto, probabilmente più antico della religione ufficiale romana, pare ricollegarsi a quello similare della Grande Madre. Veniva celebrato il 15 aprile con la festa delle Fordicidia; col tempo, tuttavia, fu associato a quello di Cerere sino a fondersi con esso.
Tellus, sempre con Cerere, è citata da Ovidio come una delle "madri delle messi" (frugum matres).

Central part of a large floor mosaic, from a Roman villa in Sentinum (now known as Sassoferrato, in Marche, Italy), ca. 200–250 C.E. Aion, the god of eternity, is standing inside a celestial sphere decorated with zodiac signs, in between a green tree and a bare tree (summer and winter, respectively). Sitting in front of him is the mother-earth goddess, Tellus (the Roman counterpart of Gaia) with her four children, who possibly represent the four seasons.

Gaia

In Greek mythology, Gaia (/ˈɡeɪ.ə/ or /ˈɡaɪ.ə/; from Ancient Greek Γαῖα, a poetical form of Γῆ Gē, "land" or "earth"), also spelled Gaea (/ˈdʒiːə/), is the personification of the Earth and one of the Greek primordial deities. Gaia is the ancestral mother of all life: the primal Mother Earth goddess. She is the immediate parent of Uranus (the sky), from whose sexual union she bore the Titans (themselves parents of many of the Olympian gods) and the Giants, and of Pontus (the sea), from whose union she bore the primordial sea gods. Her equivalent in the Roman pantheon was Terra.

Etymology

The Greek name Γαῖα (Gaĩa) is a mostly epic, collateral form of Attic Γῆ (Gê), Doric Γᾶ (Gã, perhaps identical to Δᾶ Dã) meaning "Earth", a word of uncertain origin. Robert S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin. It, however, could be related to the Avestan word gaiia "life" (cf. gaēθā "[material] world, totality of creatures" and gaēθiia "belonging to, residing in the worldly or material sphere, material") or perhaps to Avestan gairi "mountain".^{[citation needed]}
In Mycenean Greek Ma-ka (transliterated as Ma-ga, "Mother Gaia") also contains the root ga-.

Mythology

Hesiod

Hesiod's Theogony tells how, after Chaos, "wide-bosomed" Gaia (Earth) arose to be the everlasting seat of the immortals who possess Olympus above, and the depths of Tartarus below (as some scholars interpret it). He then tells that Gaia brought forth her equal Uranus (Heaven, Sky) to "cover her on every side" and to be the abode of the gods. Gaia also bore the hills (ourea), and Pontus (Sea), "without sweet union of love" (i.e., with no father). Afterwards with Uranus she gave birth to the Titans, as Hesiod tells it:

She lay with Heaven and bore deep-swirling Oceanus, Coeus and Crius and Hyperion and Iapetus, Theia and Rhea, Themis and Mnemosyne and gold-crowned Phoebe and lovely Tethys. After them was born Cronos (Cronus) the wily, youngest and most terrible of her children, and he hated his lusty sire.

According to Hesiod, Gaia conceived further offspring with Uranus, first the giant one-eyed Cyclopes: Brontes ("Thunder"), Steropes ("Lightning") and Arges ("Bright"); then the Hecatonchires: Cottus, Briareos and Gyges, each with a hundred arms and fifty heads. As each of the Cyclopes and Hecatonchires were born, Uranus hid them in a secret place within Gaia, causing her great pain. So Gaia devised a plan. She created a grey flint (or adamantine) sickle. And Cronus used the sickle to castrate his father Uranus as he approached Gaia to have sex with her. From Uranus' spilled blood, Gaia produced the Erinyes, the Giants and the Meliae (ash-tree nymphs). From the testicles of Uranus in the sea came forth Aphrodite.
By her son Pontus, Gaia bore the sea-deities Nereus, Thaumas, Phorcys, Ceto, and Eurybia.
Because Cronus had learned from Gaia and Uranus that he was destined to be overthrown by one of his children, he swallowed each of the children born to him by his Titan sister Rhea. But when Rhea was pregnant with her youngest child, Zeus, she sought help from Gaia and Uranus. When Zeus was born, Rhea gave Cronus a stone wrapped in swaddling-clothes in his place, which Cronus swallowed, and Gaia took the child into her care.
With the help of Gaia's advice, Zeus defeated the Titans. But afterwards, Gaia, in union with Tartarus, bore the youngest of her sons Typhon, who would be the last challenge to the authority of Zeus^.

Other sources

According to Hyginus, Earth (Gaia), along with Heaven and Sea were the children of Aether and Day (Hemera). According to Apollodorus, Gaia and Tartarus were the parents of Echidna.
Zeus hid Elara, one of his lovers, from Hera by stowing her under the earth. His son by Elara, the giant Tityos, is therefore sometimes said to be a son of Gaia, the earth goddess.
Gaia is believed by some sources to be the original deity behind the Oracle at Delphi. Depending on the source, Gaia passed her powers on to Poseidon, Apollo, or Themis. Apollo is the best-known as the oracle power behind Delphi, long established by the time of Homer, having killed Gaia's child Python there and usurped the chthonic power. Hera punished Apollo for this by sending him to King Admetus as a shepherd for nine years.^{[citation needed]}
In classical art Gaia was represented in one of two ways. In Athenian vase painting she was shown as a matronly woman only half risen from the earth, often in the act of handing the baby Erichthonius (a future king of Athens) to Athena to foster (see example below). In mosaic representations, she appears as a woman reclining upon the earth surrounded by a host of Carpi, infant gods of the fruits of the earth (see example below).^{[citation needed]}
Gaia also made Aristaeus immortal.^{[citation needed]}
Oaths sworn in the name of Gaia, in ancient Greece, were considered the most binding of all.^{[citation needed]}
She was also worshipped under the epithet "Anesidora", which means "giver of gifts".

Interpretations

Some modern sources, such as James Mellaart, Marija Gimbutas and Barbara Walker, claim that Gaia as Mother Earth is a later form of a pre-Indo-European Great Mother, venerated in Neolithic times. Her existence is a speculation, and controversial in the academic community. Some modern mythographers, including Karl Kerenyi, Carl A. P. Ruck and Danny Staples interpret the goddesses Demeter the "mother," Persephone the "daughter" and Hecate the "crone," as aspects of a former Great goddess identified by some^[who?] as Rhea or as Gaia herself. In Crete, a goddess was worshiped as Potnia Theron (the "Mistress of the Animals") or simply Potnia ("Mistress"), speculated^{[by whom?]} as Rhea or Gaia; the title was later applied in Greek texts to Demeter, Artemis or Athena. The mother-goddess Cybele from Anatolia (modern Turkey) was partly identified by the Greeks with Gaia, but more so with Rhea and Demeter.

Neopaganism

Many Neopagans worship Gaia. Beliefs regarding Gaia vary, ranging from the belief that Gaia is the Earth to the belief that she is the spiritual embodiment of the earth, or the Goddess of the Earth.

Modern ecological theory

The mythological name was revived in 1979 by James Lovelock, in Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth; his Gaia hypothesis was supported by Lynn Margulis. The hypothesis proposes that living organisms and inorganic material are part of a dynamical system that shapes the Earth's biosphere, and maintains the Earth as a fit environment for life. In some Gaia theory approaches, the Earth itself is viewed as an organism with self-regulatory functions. Further books by Lovelock and others popularized the Gaia Hypothesis, which was embraced to some extent by New Age environmentalists as part of the heightened awareness of environmental concerns of the 1990s.

Family

Olympian descendants

Olympians' family tree

Uranus

Gaia

Uranus' genitals

Cronus

Rhea

Zeus

Hera

Poseidon

Hades

Demeter

Hestia

Ares

Hephaestus

Metis

Athena

Leto

Apollo

Artemis

Maia

Hermes

Semele

Dionysus

Dione

Aphrodite

Children

Gaia is the personification of the Earth and these are her offspring as related in various myths. Some are related consistently, some are mentioned only in minor variants of myths, and others are related in variants that are considered to reflect a confusion of the subject or association.

GAIA'S OFFSPRING
Consort	Children	Consort	Children	Consort	Children	Consort	Children	Consort	Children
No father	• Uranus	Uranus	• Erinyes*	Tartarus	• Typhon	Oceanus	• Triptolemos	Unknown	• Lesser Giants
	• Pontus		1. Alecto		• Echidna	Aether	• Uranus		1. Tityos
	• Ourea		2. Megaera		• Campe (presumably)		• Personifications		2. Orion
	• Nesoi		3. Tisiphone		• Giants		1. Deceit (Dolos)		3. Argus Panoptes
Uranus	• Titans		• Gigantes*		1. Enceladus		2. Grief (Algos)		4. Alpos
	1. Oceanus		1. Porphyrion		2. Coeus		3. Wrath (Lyssa)		5. Sykeus
	2. Coeus		2. Alcyoneus		3. Astraeus		4. Lamentation (Penthus)		6. Damasen
	3. Crius		3. Ephialtes		4. Pelorus		5. Falsehood (Pseudologoi)		7. Anax
	4. Iapetus		4. Eurytus		5. Pallas		6. Oath (Horkos)		8. Hyllus
	5. Hyperion		5. Clytius		6. Emphytus		7. Vengeance (Poine)		9. The Gegenees
	6. Theia		6. Mimas		7. Rhoecus		8. Intemperance (Intemprentia)		• Monsters and Animals
	7. Themis		7. Pallas		8. Agrius		9. Altercation (Amphillogia)		1. Python
	8. Tethys		8. Polybotes		9. Ephialtes		10. Forgetfulness (Lethe)		2. Colchian dragon
	9. Phoebe		9. Enceladus		10. Eurytus		11. Slot (Aergia)		3. Nemean dragon
	10. Mnemosyne		10. Hippolytus		11. Themoises		12. Fear (Deimos)		4. Ophiotauros
	11. Rhea		11. Gration		12. Theodamas		13. Pride (Superbia)		5. Scorpios
	12. Cronus		12. Agrius		13. Otus		14. Incest (Incestum)		6. Arion
	• Cyclopes		13. Thoas		14. Polyboetes		15. Combat (Hysminai)		7. Caerus
	1. Arges		• Elder Muses		15. Iapetus	Poseidon	• Antaeus		• Autochthons
	2. Brontes		1. Mneme	Pontus	• Ceto		• Charybdis		1. Cecrops
	3. Steropes		2. Melete		• Phorcys		• Laistrygon		2. Palaechthon
	• Hecatonchires		3. Aoide		• Eurybia	Hephaestus	• Erichthonius of Athens		3. Pelasgus
	1. Briareus		• Telchines		• Nereus	Zeus	• Manes		4. Alalcomeneus
	2. Cottus		1. Actaeus		• Thaumas		• Iarbas		5. Dysaules
	3. Gyes		2. Megalesius		• Telchines		• Cyprian Centaurs		6. Cabeirus
	• Meliae*		3. Ormenus	Unknown	• Prometheus	Unknown	• Silenus		7. Phlyus
	• Curetes*^		4. Lycus	Unknown	• Pheme	Unknown	• Kreousa		8. Leitus
	• Aristaeus		• Aetna

* Some said that those marked with a * were born from Uranus' blood when Cronus castrated him.
^ Kouretes were born from rainwater (Uranus fertilizing Gaia)

Other Appearances

In the 90's cartoon Captain Planet, Gaia is the "spirit of the earth," who aids the Captain Planeteers with their quest to save the environment.

Gaia hands her newborn, Erichthonius, to Athena as Hephaestus watches - an Attic red-figure stamnos, 470–460 BC

Terra

In ancient Roman religion and myth, Tellus Mater or Terra Mater ("Mother Earth") is a goddess of the earth. Although Tellus and Terra are hardly distinguishable during the Imperial era, Tellus was the name of the original earth goddess in the religious practices of the Republic or earlier. The scholar Varro (1st century BC) lists Tellus as one of the di selecti, the twenty principal gods of Rome, and one of the twelve agricultural deities. She is regularly associated with Ceres in rituals pertaining to the earth and agricultural fertility.
The attributes of Tellus were the cornucopia, or bunches of flowers or fruit. She was typically depicted reclining. Her male complement was a sky god such as Caelus (Uranus) or a form of Jupiter. A male counterpart Tellumo or Tellurus is mentioned, though rarely. Her Greek counterpart is Gaia, and among the Etruscans she was Cel. Michael Lipka has argued that the Terra Mater who appears during the reign of Augustus is a direct transferral of the Greek Ge Mater into Roman religious practice, while Tellus, whose temple was within Rome's sacred boundary (pomerium), represents the original earth goddess cultivated by the state priests.
The word tellus, telluris is also a Latin common noun for "land, territory; earth," as is terra, "earth, ground". In literary uses, particularly in poetry, it may be ambiguous as to whether the goddess, a personification, or the common noun is meant.
This article preserves the usage of the ancient sources regarding Tellus or Terra.

Name

The two words terra and tellus are thought to derive from the formulaic phrase tersa tellus, meaning "dry land".^{[citation needed]} The etymology of tellus is uncertain; it is perhaps related to Sanskrit talam, "plain ground".
The 4th-century AD Latin commentator Servius distinguishes between tellus and terra in usage. Terra, he says, is properly used of the elementum, earth as one of the four classical elements with air (Ventus), water (Aqua), and fire (Ignis). Tellus is the goddess, whose name can be substituted (ponimus ... pro) for her functional sphere the earth, just as the name Vulcanus is used for fire, Ceres for produce, and Liber for wine. Tellus thus refers to the guardian deity of Earth and by extension the globe itself. Tellus may be an aspect of the numen called Dea Dia by the Arval priests, or at least a close collaborator with her as "divinity of the clear sky."
Varro identifies Terra Mater with Ceres:

Not without cause was the Earth (Terra) called Mater and Ceres. It was believed that those who cultivated her led a pious and useful life (piam et utilem ... vitam), and that they were the sole survivors from the line of King Saturn.

Ovid distinguishes between Tellus as the locus ("site, location") of growth, and Ceres as its causa ("cause, agent"). Mater, the Latin word for "mother," is often used as an honorific for goddesses, including Vesta, who was represented as a virgin. "Mother" therefore expresses the respect that one would owe a mother, though Tellus and Terra are both regarded as mothers in the genealogical sense as well.

Temple

The Temple of Tellus was the most prominent landmark of the Carinae, a fashionable neighborhood on the Oppian Hill It was near homes (domūs) belonging to Pompey and to the Cicero family.
The temple was the result of a votum made in 268 BC by Publius Sempronius Sophus when an earthquake struck during a battle with the Picenes. Others say it was built by the Roman people. It occupied the former site of a house belonging to Spurius Cassius, which had been torn down when he was executed in 485 BC for attempting to make himself king. The temple constructed by Sophus more than two centuries later was most likely a rebuilding of the people's. The anniversary (dies natalis) of its dedication was December 13.
A mysterious object called the magmentarium was stored in the temple, which was also known for a representation of Italy on the wall, either a map or an allegory.
A statue of Quintus Cicero, set up by his brother Marcus, was among those that stood on the temple grounds. Cicero claims that the proximity of his property caused some Romans to assume he had a responsibility to help maintain the temple.

Festivals

Festivals celebrated for Tellus were mainly concerned with agriculture and often connected with Ceres. In January, both goddesses were honored as "mothers of produce" at the moveable feast (feriae conceptivae) of Sementivae, a festival of sowing. On December 13, the anniversary of the Temple of Tellus was celebrated along with a lectisternium (banquet) for Ceres, who embodied "growing power" and the productivity of the earth.
Tellus received the sacrifice of a pregnant cow at the Fordicidia, a festival pertaining to fertility and animal husbandry held April 15, in the middle of the Cerialia (April 12–19). Festivals for deities of vegetation and the earth cluster in April on the Roman calendar. The institution of the Fordicidia was attributed to Numa Pompilius, the Sabine second king of Rome. During a time when Rome was struggling with harsh agricultural conditions, Numa was instructed by the rustic god Faunus in a dream that a sacrifice to Tellus was needed. As is often the case with oracles, the message required interpretation:

"By the death of cattle, King, Tellus must be placated: two cows, that is. Let a single heifer yield two lives (animae) for the rites."

Numa solved the riddle by instituting the sacrifice of a pregnant cow. The purpose of the sacrifice, as suggested by the Augustan poet Ovid and by the 6th-century antiquarian John Lydus, was to assure the fertility of the planted grain already growing in the womb of Mother Earth in the guise of Tellus. This public sacrifice was conducted in the form of a holocaust on behalf of the state at the Capitol, and also by each of the thirty curiae, the most ancient divisions of the city made by Romulus from the original three tribes. The state sacrifice was presided over by the Vestals, who used the ash from the holocaust to prepare suffimen, a ritual substance used later in April for the Parilia.
During the Secular Games held by Augustus in 17 BC, Terra Mater was among the deities honored in the Tarentum in the Campus Martius. Her ceremonies were conducted by "Greek rite" (ritus graecus), distinguishing her from the Roman Tellus whose temple was within the pomerium. She received the holocaust of a pregnant sow. The Secular Games of 249 BC had been dedicated to the underworld deities Dis pater and Proserpina, whose underground altar was in the Tarentum. Under Augustus, the Games (ludi) were dedicated to seven other deities, invoked as the Moerae, Iuppiter, Ilithyia, Iuno, Terra Mater, Apollo and Diana.

Prayers and rituals

The sacrum ceriale ("cereal rite") was carried out for Tellus and Ceres by a flamen, probably the Flamen Cerialis, who also invoked twelve male helper gods. According to Varro, the two goddesses jointly received the porca praecidanea, a pig sacrificed in advance of the harvest. Some rites originally pertaining to Tellus may have been transferred to Ceres, or shared with her, as a result of her identification with Greek Demeter.
Tellus was felt to be present during rites of passage, either implicitly, or invoked. She was perhaps involved in the ceremonies attending the birth of a child, as the newborn was placed on the ground immediately after coming into the world.^{[citation needed]} Tellus was also invoked at Roman weddings.
Dedicatory inscriptions to either Tellus or Terra are relatively few, but epitaphs during the Imperial period sometimes contain formulaic expressions such as "Terra Mater, receive me." In the provincial mining area of Pannonia, at present-day Ljubija, votive inscriptions record dedications to Terra Mater from vilici, imperial slave overseers who ran operations at ore smelting factories (ferrariae).
These are all dated April 21, when the founding day (dies natalis, "birthday") of Rome was celebrated, perhaps reflecting the connection between the Parilia on April 21 and the Fordicidia as a feast of Tellus. The emperor Septimius Severus restored a temple of Terra Mater at Rudnik, a silver mining area of Moesia Superior. Measuring 30 by 20 meters, the temple was located at the entrance to the work zone.

Iconography

Tellus is often identified as the central figure on the so-called Italia relief panel of the Ara Pacis, which is framed by bucrania (ornamental ox heads) and motifs of vegetative and animal fertility and abundance.

Tellumo

Tellumo is identified by St. Augustine as the male counterpart of Tellus. A Tellurus is named uniquely by Martianus Capella (1.49).

In science

In several modern Romance languages, terra (or French terre) is the name of planet Earth. Following post-classical Latin astronomical terminology, Earth is sometimes referred to as "Terra".

A dedicatory inscription to Terra Mater fulfilling a vow (votum), 1st century AD.

Anonymous (Roman Empire) - Walters Art Museum: Home page Info about artwork

This stele has a Latin inscription. On the right end is a ring, on the left a vase. The back is cut off and the base and top are unfinished.

Ein Kapitell, die Erdenmutter Gaia darstellend, im Paradies der Abteikirche Maria Laach. Glees (RP), Denkmalzone Maria Laach.

738 woodcuts illustrating the work A Dictionary of Roman Coins, Republican and Imperial (1889).

Apollo, Tityos and a goddess (probably Gaia defending her son, or Leto). Attic red-figure kylix, 460–450 BC.

Pittore di Pentesilea

Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC. Roman, 220-230 A.D. Dionysus on a panther with his attendants, the four seasons as winged youth, Tellus (the Earth) and Oceanus (A river), reclining.

Rosemania

Arabischer Maler um 730

Missorium Théodose dt Tellus

Black-figure lekythos. Bust of a woman between large snakes. Ritsona, 520-500 BC. Archaeological Museum of Thebes.

Roma, museo dell'Ara Pacis, piano terreno. Calco di rilievo romano della dea Roma, da Cartagine, conservato al Louvre. Foto di Giovanni Dall'Orto, 30 marzo 2008.

Reliéf na budove na Štúrovej ulici v Bratislave
Gaja
Peter Zelizňák

Statua loricata con oceano e tellus sulla corazza, 20-1 ac ca., dal campo della mgna mater,

Ancient Roman statues in the Museo Ostiense (Ostia Antica)

Sailko

Detail from a sarcophagus depicting a Mother Earth figure (3rd century AD).

Marie-Lan Nguyen (2011)

Allegory of Mother Earth, detail of the front of a sarcophagus with the triumph of Dionysos and the Seasons. Roman artwork of the Late Imperial (Gallienic) period. Said to be from Rome.

Coptic textile with representation of Gaia-Isis in a medallion (Egypt. 4th century AD, 25 cm diam) Hermitage Museum

sconosciuto

Gaia the Earth Goddess Tapestry (Elemental Series)

The attributes of the central figure on this panel of the Ara Pacis mark her as an earth and mother goddess, often identified as Tellus.

original photo by Chris Nas : File:AraPacisReliefTellusMater.JPG. - Photo taken by Chris Nas

On the eastern side of Ara Pacis is a relief of Tellus Mater, the Roman earth-goddess

Terra (or Tellus or Mother Earth)

Attic red-figure calyx-krater, 410-400 B.C. Gaia. Detail from Gigantomachy.

Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher - Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher: Ausführliches Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie

A rendition of life on planet earth

GAIA

Mearone - Mearone's free image collection

Titan Atlas and Gaea, Apulian red-figure volute krater C4th B.C., Dallas Museum of Art

Gaia, by Marcia Snedecor

Melian clay relief, about 460 B.C. Gaia offers Erichthonios to Athena. On the right, Kekrops.Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher - Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher: Ausführliches Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie