Image 11: MAN
From here on Man enters Gaia’s realm. In creating Man–her most wondrous creation, Gaiahas created the catalyst for the end of the Earth as we know it, and of herself. The imagehere is a highly ironic reinterpretation of Michelangelo’s “The Creation of Adam”, whereup- on Gaia is depicted as “God”, wrapped in a swirling veil, while Man (Adam) is out of frameon the lower left. Gaia’s right arm is outstretched to impart the spark of life from his own finger into that of Man.
Image 12: SIN
Sin and suffering is traced to its earthly origins and causes. In creating Man, Gaia’s purpose forMan–to sit harmoniously alongside the Earth, has been undermined. A black veil, intertwined snake like along Gaia’s body suggests the impending suffocation of the planet. We see an al- lusion to hangman’s noose forming. Man is the tumor who has fallen from a state of innocent obedience to a state of guilty disobedience.
Image 13: POLEMOS
The first of Man’s sins manifests itself in Polemos (War), as armed conflict begins to destabi- lize the Earth’s precise balance. Gaia represents the physical or violent and untamed aspectof war by mimicking Ares (the God of War). Through wearing his helmet, whilst sporting ashield, which acts as a symbol of aggression but also a symbol of protection held by Gaia to protect her Earth from Man’s military destruction and mortality.
Amartia
SIN derives from the Greek, “to miss the mark” or “to err”. In tragedy, Amartia is commonly understood to refer to the protagonist’s error ortragic flaw that leads Man in this case to a chain of plot actions culminating in a reversal of Gaia’s good fortune to bad. This flaw is an error resulting from ignorance, and an error of judgement resulting in acts of sin.