*(gˆ)dom-ya or the like.^35 The Earth-goddess is also recognizable under the
name of Plataia, the eponymous nymph of Plataiai in Boeotia and a consort
of Zeus (Paus. 9. 3. 1), for this is again the Broad One, like the Indic Pr
̇
thivı ̄.
A better known consort of Zeus in Greek myth is Semele, mother of
Dionysus. This seems to be a Thracian name of the Earth-goddess, from
*ghem-ela ̄.^36 The Thracian pronunciation was probably Zemela ̄.
At Rome there was an ancient goddess Tellu ̄ s who had a place in certain
agrarian rituals. Her name is unexplained, but she was always understood to
be the Earth. From the second century on we meet references to Terra
Mater, who is not distinguished from Tellus, though this does not seem to be
a traditional name.^37
In the Norse tradition Earth (Io ̨rð, also called Fio ̨ rgyn or Hlóðyn) is named
as the wife of Odin and mother of Thor, but is not otherwise a figure to be
reckoned with.
The Lithuanian Earth-goddess is Z ̇emy ́ ̄na, celebrated as the bringer of
flowers, and a recipient of prayers and sacrifices.^38 As with the Thracian
Zemela, we recognize the old Indo-European name for the earth, extended by
means of a suffix.
Among the Slavs the Earth appears as a deity in various popular usages and
superstitions, especially under the title of mat’ syra Zemlya, ‘Mother Moist
Earth’. This is a formulaic phrase in the Russian byliny, and sura zemya‘the
moist earth’ also in Bulgarian folk songs.^39 Oaths were sworn by Earth, and
she was called to witness in land disputes.^40 This prompts us to wonder
whether Solon, when he put the goddess Earth to similar use (fr. 36. 3–5), was
doing something more than indulging in a rhetorical conceit.
Mother EarthThe Earth-goddess is widely celebrated with the title of ‘mother’. In Hittite we
find Mother Earth(-spirit) (annas Daganzipas) paired with the Storm-god of
(^35) Hertzenberg (as n. 31). For Damia cf. Hdt. 5. 82 f.; O. Kern, RE iv. 2054.
(^36) Detschew (1957), 429; U. Dukova, Orpheus 4 (1994), 7 f. The formation resembles the
Phrygian zemelo-. The dialect variations in the first element of Dionysus’ name (∆ιω–,∆ιο–,
∆εο–,Ζο–) resemble the variants in Thracian personal names (∆ιο–,∆εο–,Ζι–,Ζου–,
etc.).
(^37) Cf. S. Weinstock, RE vA. 791–806.
(^38) Rhesa (1825), 300; Schleicher (1857), 220 no. 10, cf. 221 no. 11; Usener (1896), 105;
Mannhardt (1936), 357, 402, 532, etc.; Gimbutas (1963), 192; Biezais–Balys (1973), 454.
(^39) Chadwick (1932), 37. 8, 50. 4, 60. 39, 63. 64, etc.; 237. 12 (recorded in 1619); D. and K.
Miladinovi, Baˇlgarski narodni pesni (Sofia 1981), 201, 568. U. Dukova, Orpheus 4 (1994), 10,
compares the Iranian goddess Arədvı ̄ Su ̄ra ̄ Ana ̄hita ̄.
(^40) Gimbutas (1971), 169.
- Sky and Earth 175