The Allusion Of Gaia In Ayn Rand's 'Anthem'

Hannah Hardin
Ms. Cooley
English 6th
06 February 2023
Gaia
In a world where individuality has been almost completely destroyed, two people feel a connection as neither of them feel like they belong to what society has become. In Anthem, Rand uses the allusion Gaia to help the reader understand why Equality 7-2521 changes his partner's name from Liberty 5-3000 to Gaia, which is the goddess of the Earth and mother of all life. This signifies that they are starting over and making a new way of life.
Gaia is the goddess of the Earth and mother of all life. “ born at the dawn of creation. Gaia was the great mother of all creation” (“Gaea”). She is from Greek mythology and she gave birth to the heavens, sea, mountains, monsters, Titans, and giants;

Equality renamed himself Prometheus and suggested that Liberty should change her name to Gaea after the goddess of the Earth and mother of all life. “And I have read of a goddess, I said, who was the mother of the earth and of all gods. Her name was Gaea. Let this be your name, my Golden One, for you are to be the mother of a new kind of gods.” (99) Liberty's new name Gaea is very fitting since she will bring the first generation of this new society into the world, just as her namesake brought life into the universe. Gaea is also now pregnant with Prometheus's child, making her connection to her namesake even more evident. They plan to grow food to sustain themselves and recruit others from the city who do not fit in or conform to the idea that everyone is the same and there is no individuality. “ I shall take my food from the earth by the toil of my own hands.”(99) “ I shall call to me all the men and the woman whose spirit has not been killed within them and who suffer under the yolk of their brothers.”(101) Gaea and Prometheus are creating a new society where people can embrace their individuality and thrive without