THE PROPHET, THE MOTHER, THE AVENGER: AN EXAMINATION OF GAIA’S CULT WORSHIP AND THE “BRICOLAGE” IN HER MYTH BY EILISH KATHLEEN DRAPER A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Classical Studies. Victoria University of Wellington 2020 The Prophet, The Mother, The Avenger: An Examination of Gaia’s Cult Worship and the “Bricolage” in Her Myth By Eilish Draper Content unavailable: Cover image - Gaia hands Erichthonios up to Athena while Hephaistos looks on. Attic red-figure pelike, Erichthonios Painter, c. 440-430 BC. London, BM E 372. Image: Reeder (1995) 256, cat. 68. Thesis submitted to Victoria University Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Classical Studies 2020. 1 2 Abstract The Prophet, The Mother, The Avenger: An Examination of Gaia’s Cult Worship and the “Bricolage” in Her Myth This thesis is a study of the cult of the Greek goddess Gaia (Gē). Gaia’s cult has long been interpreted by scholars though the lens of her mythical roles. She featured in literature as the mother of the Titans, as an oracular goddess at Delphi, and as the mythical mother of Erichthonios; she is also a force that watched over curses and oaths. Her cult has been most strongly associated with Delphi, where she was part of the Previous Owners myth, a tradition that made her the primary goddess at Delphi before Apollo took over. She is also strongly associated with Athens, where almost all of our literary evidence comes from. Early 20th century scholarship characterised Gaia as a universally-worshipped “Mother Earth” figure; more specifically, she has been identified as the Greek version of the Anatolian Mother Goddess, Kybele. Gaia’s cult worship as an oracular goddess and as a mother figure is overstated, and I argue that these associations are examples of confirmation bias. In this thesis, I examine the sources for both myth and cult to establish where the boundaries lie between the two, both through re-examination of the primary sources and through a critical appraisal of secondary discussions. To compare, I examine the positive evidence for Gaia’s cult, with a particular focus on the epigraphical evidence, including a 5th century BCE statue base and inscriptions from the 4th century BCE that describe a ἱερόν of Gaia at Delphi and Attic deme calendars that provide sacrifices to Gaia, some of which are expensive. Further evidence is offered by Pausanias and Plutarch, who attest to a sanctuary of Gaia at Delphi in the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, cults of Gē Kourotrophos and Gē Themis in Athens, and other cults of Gaia elsewhere. I also explore the significance of Gaia as the mother of Ericthonios, the autochthonous founder of Athens, in myth and Athenian literature. I conclude that Gaia was not worshipped at Delphi before the 5th century BCE. Gaia was receiving cult worship in Athens from the 5th century BCE in the form of deme sacrifices. 3 Also in Athens, Gaia’s worship as Gē Themis appears arounds the 4th century BCE, while Pausanias attests to a temple of Gē Kourotrophos on the acropolis. Before the time of Pausanias, Kourotrophos appears to be a separate deity. Finally, I conclude that Gaia rarely receives cult worship under the epithet “Meter” and cannot be identified as the Greek version of Anatolian Kybele. Cover image: Gaia hands Erichthonios up to Athena while Hephaistos looks on. Attic red- figure pelike, Erichthonios Painter, c. 440-430 BC. London, BM E 372. Image: Reeder (1995) 256, cat. 68. 4 Acknowledgements 2020 has certainly been an eventful year so far, not least because I’m finally at the end of the MA process. Researching, writing, and eventually submitting this thesis was one of the most demanding things I have ever done and I quite literally couldn’t have done it without the love and support of all the wonderful people in my life. Extra special thank you to: The FAF crew – you guys were the best, but I can’t say I’m going to miss another dreadful Happy Hour at our local. Dr Diana Burton – thank you for your expert guidance and for all the time and effort you also put into this thesis. Martina – after all the stress leading up to hand-in, it was only your company that kept me from completely losing the plot. My family – for providing me with every opportunity, encouraging me to finish what I start, and for believing in me always. Matthew – thanks for everything, not least the encouragement, the reassurances, and the coffees. A huge thanks as well to Tom, Claudia, Ziming, Flat 4C, and the VUW Faculty of Classics. 5 Table of Contents ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... 3 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER ONE: GAIA AT DELPHI .................................................................................................. 10 MYCENAEAN GAIA/BRONZE AGE ....................................................................................................... 10 5TH CENTURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE ............................................................................................ 13 THE PREVIOUS OWNERS MYTH .......................................................................................................... 15 4TH CENTURY ONWARDS ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE. ............................................................................. 22 HISTORY OF SCHOLARSHIP ................................................................................................................ 26 CHAPTER TWO: GAIA AND OTHER DIVINE FIGURES IN DELPHIC MYTH ......................................... 33 GAIA AND THEMIS .......................................................................................................................... 33 GAIA AND POSEIDON ...................................................................................................................... 41 GAIA AND DIONYSOS ...................................................................................................................... 44 GAIA AND THE SERPENT ................................................................................................................... 44 CHAPTER THREE: GAIA AT OTHER ORACLES ................................................................................ 51 CHAPTER FOUR: AUTOCHTHONY, GĒ METER, AND THE KOUROTROPHOS .................................... 57 GAIA THE MOTHER ......................................................................................................................... 60 GAIA THE MOTHER OF ALL AND MOTHER OF THE GODS .......................................................................... 63 AUTOCHTHONY ............................................................................................................................. 67 KOUROTROPHOS ............................................................................................................................ 71 GĒ KOUROTROPHOS ....................................................................................................................... 74 ATTIC DEME CALENDARS .................................................................................................................. 77 INSCRIPTIONS OUTSIDE ATTICA .......................................................................................................... 81 ANATOLIAN MOTHER GODDESS ......................................................................................................... 81 CHAPTER FIVE: GAIA’S WORSHIP IN ATHENS ............................................................................... 87 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 96 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................... 99 PRIMARY ..................................................................................................................................... 99 SECONDARY ................................................................................................................................ 101 6 Introduction “Any echoes of cultic history that may have gone into the making of a particular myth are radically reshaped and adapted, by a process of bricolage, to fit the ‘needs’, the ‘spaces’, created by the mythological schemata structuring that myth...”1 This thesis is a study of the cult of the Greek goddess Gaia, who is also known as Gē. Gaia’s cult has long been interpreted by scholars through the lens of her mythical roles and, at times, overstated. Her cult has been most strongly associated with Delphi, where myth depicts Gaia as the primary deity worshipped at the Delphic oracle at a time before Apollo took over. Scholars have used the myth to confirm their theory that Gaia received cult worship at Delphi in the Mycenaean period. Christiane Sourvinou-Inwood termed this tradition the Previous Owners myth and firmly argued that Gaia’s myth does not reflect the reality of her cult worship either at Delphi, or anywhere else in Greece.2 Throughout my thesis I have taken the systematic comparison of myth and cult history that Sourvinou-Inwood uses to expose the Previous Owners myth and applied it to other areas of Gaia’s cult. I examine the sources for both myth and cult to establish