Gaea, Mother Earth (Terjemahan)

Gaea

Gaia (bahasa Yunani Kuno: Γαῖα Gaia, bentuk puitis dari bahasa Yunani Kuno: Γῆ Gē "tanah"/"bumi") adalah dewi perwujudan dari bumi dalam mitologi Yunani. Sebagai protogenoi (dewa yang lahir pada awal mula terciptanya alam semesta )pertama yang muncul di alam semesta setelah Khaos [1], Gaia dikenal sebagai "Ibu dari Semua"; melalui hubungannya dengan Uranus, Gaia melahirkan para Titan, Kiklops, dan Hekatonkhires; melalui hubungannya dengan Pontos, ia melahirkan para dewa-dewi laut. Di Mitologi Romawi, Gaia dikenal dengan nama Terra/Tellus.

The Titans

Para Titan adalah anak dari Gaea dan Uranus. Mereka adalah para dewa pertama, mereka lebih tinggi dari gunung-gunung yang diciptakan untuk sebagai thakta mereka. Bumi dan langit sangat bangga pada mereka. Mereka terdiri dari 6 Titan,  dewa yang mulia dan mereka mempunyai 6 saudara perempuan, yang mereka ambil sebagai isteri mereka. Para Titan laki-laki terdiri dari Okeanos, Hiperion, Koios, Kronos, Krios dan Iapetos) sedangkan  6 titan wanita terdiri dari Mnemosine, Tethis, Theia, Foibe, Rhea dan Themis.

Ketika Gaea melahirkan lagi, Uranus tidak bangga. Anak mereka juga besar sekali, tapi yang lain hanya mempunyai 1 mata yang menyala ditempatkan di tengah keningnya. Mereka mempunyai 3 Cyclopes dan nama mereka adalah Lightning, Thunder dan Thunderbolt. Mereka bukan dewa yang tampan, tapi  mereka sangat kuat. Bunga api dari palu yang berat melintas di langit dan menerangi langit begitu cerah bahkan bintang milik ayah mereka pudar.

beberapa saat setelah  mother earth melahirkan 3 anak laki-laki lagi, uranus melihat mereka dengan pandangan yang menjijikan. Masing-masing dari mereka  mempunyai 50 kepala dan 100 tangan yang kuat. Ia benci melihat makhluk jelek berjalan sekitar  bumi yang indah, sehingga ia menangkap mereka dan saudara-saudara mereka Cyclopes dan melemparkan mereka ke dalam Tartarus, yang terdalam, tergelap  di bawah bumi.

Mother earth mencintai anak-anaknya dan tidak mau mengampuni suaminya atas kekejaman yang dilakukan kepada mereka. Dari batu yang paling sulit ia membuat sabit kuno dan berkata kepada anak-anaknya Titans: “ambil senjata ini dan akhiri kekejaman ayahmu dan bebaskan saudara-saudaramu.

Lima dari Titan itu takut dan gemetar tidak mau mengambil senjata itu dan menolak. Hanya Cronus, Titan termuda tapi terkuat, berani dan mengambil sabit itu. Ia menjatuhkan ayahnya. Uranus tak dapat menahan senjata yang dipegang oleh anaknya yang kuat dan dia melarikan diri dan menyerah.

Mother earth membuat Pontus, laut yang tak terbatas, suami keduanya. Dan dari perkawinan ini muncul para dewa dari kedalaman yang berair. Dan dari tanahnya yang kaya tumbuh berlimpah-limpah pohon dan bunga dan dari celah-celahnya, bidadari, binatang, dan manusia yang merayap dan sebagainya.

Cronus

Sekarang Cronus menjadi dewa dari alam semesta. Ia duduk di ketinggian gunung dan memerintah dari langit dan bumi dengan tangannya yang kokoh. Dewa yang lain mematuhi kehendaknya dan orang-orang pada saat itu menyembahnya. Inilah masa keemasannya. Orang hidup bahagia dan damai  dengan para dewanya dan dengan orang lain. Mereka tidak saling membunuh dan mereka tidak mengunci pintu mereka  karena belum pernah terjadi pencurian.

Tapi Crunus tidak membebaskan saudara-saudaranya dan mother earth marah kepadanya dan merencanakan kejatuhannya. Ia  menunggu  sampai sampai lahir dewa yang  akan lebih kuat dari Cronus seperti cronus yang lebih kuat dari ayahnya.

Cronus mengetahui rencana ibunya, jadi setiap saat, ketika  Titaness Rhea, isterinya melahirkan, ia mengambil dewa yang baru lahir dan menelannya agar semua keturunannya aman dalam dirinya, ia tidak perlu takut.

Tapi Rhea sedih. Kelima saudaranya yang telah menikah dengan Titan yang lain dikelilingi oleh anak-anak mereka, sedangkan ia sendirian. Ketika Rhea mengharapkan anak yang keenam, ia meminta kepada mother earth untuk menolongnya untuk menyelamatkan anaknya dari ayahnya. Inilah saatnya yang ditunggu-tunggu oleh mother earth. Ia membisikan sebuah nasehat dan Rhea pergi sambil tersenyum.

Begitu Rhea melahirkan ananknya, dewa Zeus, dia menyembunyikannya. Lalu ia membukus batu dan memberikan kepada suaminya untuk menelannya bukan anaknya. Cronus tertipu dan menelan batunya. Zeus kecil telah dibawah jauh ke gua rahasia di pulau Crete. Cronus yang tua tidak pernah mendengar tangisan anaknya karena mother earth membuat keributan para peri di sekitar gua. mereka mengalahkan suara lainnya dengan pedangnya.

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[1] Dalam arti modern, kaos berarti sebuah kekacauan, tidak adanya aturan atau tata tertib. Selain itu, Khaos juga dapat berarti "kekosongan yang luas atau jurang", dimana pengertian tersebut dapat diartikan bahwa Khaos juga melambangkan suatu tatananbaru yang muncul mengenai penggabungan yang berlawanan atau terpisah jauh, sepertin langit dan bumi serta dewa dan manusia.

The Titans

The Titans were the first children of mother earth. They were the first gods, taller than the mountains she created to serve them as thrones, and both earth and sky were proud of them. There were six Titans, six glorious gods, and they had six sisters, the Titanesses, who, they took for their wives.

when Gaea again gave birth, Uranus was not proud. Their new children were also huge, but each had only one glowing eye set in the middle of his forehead. They were not handsome gods, but tremendously strong smiths. Sparks from their heavy hammers flashed across the sky and lit up the heavens so brightly that even their father's stars faded.

After a while mother earth born three more sons. Uranus looked at them with disgust. each of them had fifty heads and a hundred strong arms. He hated to see such ugly creatures walk about an lovely Earth, so he seized then and their brothers the Cyclopes and flung them into Tartarus, the deepest, darkest pit under the earth.

Mother earth loved her children and could not forgive 
her husband for his cruelty to them. out of hardest flint she fashioned a sick and spoke to her sons the Titans :

"Take this weapon, make end to your father's cruelty and set your brother free."
Fear took hold of five of the Titans and they trembled and refused. Only Cronus, the youngest but the strongest, dared to take the sickle. He fell upon his father. Uranus could not withstand the weapon wielded by his strong son and he fled, giving up his powers.

Mothers Earth made Pontus, the boundless seas, her second husband and from this union sprang the gods of the watery depths. and from her rich ground grew an abundance of trees and flowers and, out of her crevices, sprites, beasts, and early man crept forth.

GAEA, Mother Earth.

Gaea, the Earth, came out of darkness so long ago that nobody knows when or how. Earth was young and lonesome, for nothing lived on her yet. Above her rose Uranus, the Sky, dark and blue, set all over with sparkling stars. He was magnificent to behold, and young Earth looked up at him and fell in love with him. Sky smiled down at Earth, twinkling with his countless stars, and they were joined in love. Soon young Earth became Mother Earth, the mother of all things living. all her children loved their warm and beautiful mother and feared their mighty father Uranus, lord of the universe.

In olden times (Greek history)

when men still worshiped ugly idols, there lived in the land of Greece a folk of shepherds and herdsmen who cherished light and beauty. they did not worship dark idols like their neighbors, did created instead their own beautiful, radiant gods.
The Greek gods looked much like people and acted like them, too, only they were taller, handsomer and could do no wrong.
Fire-breathing monsters and beasts with many heads stood for all that was dark and and wicked, They were for gods and great heroes to conquer.
The gods lived on top of Olympus, a mountain so high and steep that no man could climb it and see them in their shining palace. But they often descended to earth, sometimes in their own shapes, sometimes disguised as human or animals.
Mortals worshiped the gods and the gods honored Mother Earth. They had all sprung from her, for she was the beginning of all life.

Homer and Greek Mythology ( C. 900 B.C)

Homer was a bard, a professional poet who recited his poem. He composed The Iliad dan The Odyssey. Homer is thought to have been blind. It is thought that his works were only written down near the end of his life.
The early Greeks had myths or legends that explained the world around them. For instance, Zeus was the greatest god. He was the god of the heavens. Athena was the goddness of wisdom and Ares the god of war. These gods were believe to be very much like humans, but more powerful. According to the Greeks' beliefe, the main difference was that humans died, but these gods lived forever. We can learn much about early Greeks from he beautiful writings left to us by Homer.

Minoan Culture ( c. 2200 B.C - 1450 B.C )

             The First European civilization began with the Minoans on the island of Crete. The Minoans were named after a character from Greek mythology named King Minos. The name Minos may also have been a title for their leaders similar to "Pharaoh" in Egypt.

             The Minoans build their towns on the coast where there was rich farm land. They traveled by sea and traded their pottery and other goods with Egypt, Syria, and the southern islands of the Aegean. The largest palace was built and rebuilt in their capital city, Knossos.

            It appears they believed in life after death, as the dead were buried with possessions to take to the afterlife. They developed an early Greek alphabet known as "Linear A" They were a hedonistic (pleasure-seeking) culture. Many paintings portray festivals including some depicting "bull-leaping." Apparently the culture anded from a combination of volcanic activity and attack from the Myceneans

Knosos

Knossos in Crete was one of the westrn world's earlies cities. During its great age, from just after 2000 until 1400 B.C, it had small two storied houses packed along narrow streets.
 The population of

Knossos and Aminsos may have reached 100.000 - extremely large for that time. Knosos has been major archeologist, Arthur Evans, in 1990. Digging has revealed evidence  of sophisticated culture, one that benefited from a system of running water carried in day pipes..

Phoenician Civilization and the Alphabet ( c. 1200 B.C-1000 B.C)

       Originally desert nomand, the Phoenicians ( the Canaanites of the Bible) lived in the land of Canaan. About 1200 B.C. they began to be called Phoenicians, named from the Greek word phoinos, or red, because of a wonderful reddish-purple dye they puduced. The Phoenicians were merchants and traders and made extensive use of the sea to transport goods to and from their land. Due to their advanced ships, they were known as the greaters seafarers of the ancient world.
      The Phoenician Alphabet was their most important contribution to civilization. This, the firs known alphabet, became the basis of our own 26 letter alphabet. However, their alphabet had 30 consonants and no vowels.
       The Phoenician founded colonies at Sardinia, Utica, and Carthage. Chartage would emerge as a powerful trading empire whose conflicts with Rome would result in the Punic Wars.

The Trojan Horse (1)

It is three thousand years ago in the land now called Turkey. Asherpherd stands above a grassy field, watching his sheep. To the west the sea sparkles in the sunlight. To the east the dusty plain stirs in the wind.

About four miles from the sea there is a great stone wall built on a hill. Inside the wall there is a rich, proud kingdom.

It is the ancient kingdom of Troy. The wall around Troy is there to protect the city. It is made of stones that men cut and fit together. In some places it is very high and very thick. The lower part of the wall is covered with limestone. The limestone makes the wall slippery. Climbing up the wall is impossible.
At the top of the wall there are places where the trojan bowmen can stand. Here they can pull back their bowstrings and let their arrows fly. So going over the wall is impossible too!

There is only one way into Troy-through the great double gate. Shepherds go through, with their carts full of vegetables. Traders go through, with their treasures of gold and silver and bronze.

Gatekeepers guard the gate day and night. If a hosetile army is coming across the plain, the close the gate and push the bolts. Behind the stone wall. Troy is save.

Troy is an important city in the ancient world. And Priam, the king of Troy, is a very powerful ruler. He has many allies. He rules the land and sea for miles around. But King Priam is not content. He want to be more powerful than the Greeks, who live far away across the Aegean Sea.

The Greeks speak the same language as the Trojans and believe in the some gods as the Trojans. But they are enemies, not Friends!

The land where the Greeks live is Rocky and Hilly. They cannot grow enough wheat. They must sail to Asia to buy more. But to get to Asia the Greeks must pass through a narrow channel of water that connects the Aegean Sea with the black Sea. Troy is located at the very entrance to this Channel.

King Priam takes advantage of this! When a Greek ship full of cargo sails past Troy, the Trojans stop it. They demand a toll. If the Greeks want to go by, they must pay!

Cargo ship are big and heavy. They are not made to go fast like warship. So the Greeks have to pay the toll-with bags of wheat, jars of oil, bars of gold.

The Greeks are furious. Why Should they have to pay to use the cahnnel? The sea is  free. If the Trojans keep this up, there will be war!
But King Priam is not afraid. There is a great stone wall around his city. No one- not even a Greek army- can get into Troy.