Terra (mythology)

Terra
The personification of the Earth
Terra reclining with the Seasons, accompanied by Aion-Uranus within a zodiac wheel (mosaic from Sentinum, AD 200–250, Glyptothek).
Other names	Tellus
Abode	Earth
Symbol	Fruit, flowers, cornucopia, cattle
Personal information
Parents	Chaos Aether and Dies (Hyginus)
Siblings	Caelus (Hyginus)
Consort	Caelus
Children	Saturn, Ops, Janus
Equivalents
Greek equivalent	Gaia
Indo-European equivalent	Dʰéǵʰōm
Albanian equivalent	Dhé[1]

In ancient Roman religion and mythology, Tellus Mater or Terra Mater^[a] ("Mother Earth") is the personification of the Earth. Although Tellus and Terra are hardly distinguishable during the Imperial era,^[2] Tellus was the name of the original earth goddess in the religious practices of the Republic or earlier.^[3][4] 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.^{[5][6]: 7.2} She is regularly associated with Ceres in rituals pertaining to the earth and agricultural fertility.

The attributes of Tellus were the cornucopia, bunches of flowers, or fruit. She was typically depicted reclining, or rising, waist high, from a hole in the ground.^[7] Her male complement was a sky god such as Caelus (Uranus) or a form of Jupiter. Her Greek counterpart is Gaia,^[8] and among the Etruscans her name was Cel. Michael Lipka has argued that the Terra Mater who appears during the reign of Augustus is a direct transfer of the Greek Ge Mater into Roman religious practice, while Tellus, whose ancient temple was within Rome's sacred boundary (pomerium), represents the original earth goddess cultivated by the state priests.^{[9]: 151–152 ff}

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