Editing Earth (classical element) (section)

==European tradition==
[[File:La Terre Benoit Massou original.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.7|''Earth'' (1681) by Benoît Massou, a statue of the ''[[Grande Commande]]'', with allegorical attributes inspired by [[Cesare Ripa]]’s ''Iconologia''.]]
Earth is one of the four [[classical element]]s in ancient [[Greek philosophy]] and science.  It was commonly associated with qualities of heaviness, matter and the terrestrial world.  Due to the [[hero cult]]s, and [[chthonic]] [[List of Greek deities#Chthonic deities|underworld deities]], the element of ''earth'' is also associated with the sensual aspects of both life and death in later [[occultism]].

[[Empedocles]] of Acragas {{nowrap|(c. 495 –}} {{nowrap|c. 435 BCE)}} proposed four ''[[arche|archai]]'' by which to understand the [[cosmos]]: ''[[Fire (classical element)|fire]]'','' [[Air (classical element)|air]]'', ''[[Water (classical element)|water]]'', and ''earth''. [[Plato]] (427–347 BCE) believed the elements were geometric forms (the [[platonic solid]]s) and he assigned the [[cube]] to the element of ''earth'' in his dialogue ''[[Timaeus (dialogue)|Timaeus]]''.<ref>Plato, ''Timaeus'', chap. 22–23; [[Gregory Vlastos]], ''Plato's Universe'', pp. 66–82.</ref> [[Aristotle]] (384–322 BCE) believed ''earth'' was the heaviest element, and his theory of ''[[Aristotelian physics#Natural place|natural place]]'' suggested that any ''earth–laden'' substances, would fall quickly, straight down, towards the center of the ''cosmos''.<ref>[[G. E. R. Lloyd]], ''Aristotle'', chapters 7–8.</ref>

In Classical [[Greek mythology|Greek]] and [[Roman mythology|Roman]] myth, various goddesses 
represented the Earth, seasons, crops and fertility, including [[Demeter]] and [[Persephone]]; [[Ceres (Roman mythology)|Ceres]]; the [[Horae]] (goddesses of the seasons), and [[Proserpina]]; and [[Hades]] ([[Pluto (mythology)|Pluto]]) who ruled the souls of dead in the [[Underworld]].

In [[Medicine in ancient Greece|ancient Greek medicine]], each of the [[four humours]] became associated with an element. [[Melancholia|Black bile]] was the humor identified with earth, since both were cold and dry. Other things associated with earth and black bile in ancient and [[Medieval medicine of Western Europe|medieval medicine]] included the season of fall, since it increased the qualities of cold and aridity; the melancholic temperament (of a person dominated by the black bile humour); the [[Femininity|feminine]]; and the southern point of the compass.

[[Image:earth symbol (alchemical).svg|thumb|left|upright=0.4|Alchemical symbol for earth]]

In [[alchemy]], earth was believed to be primarily dry, and secondarily cold, (as per Aristotle).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://chemed.chem.purdue.edu/genchem/history/aristotle.html|title=Aristotle|website=chemed.chem.purdue.edu|access-date=2019-04-18}}</ref> Beyond those classical attributes, the chemical substance [[salt]], was associated with earth and its [[alchemical symbol]] was a downward-pointing triangle, bisected by a horizontal line.