Themis is the Titan Goddess and personification of justice, divine order, fairness, law, and custom, who is also associated with oracles and prophecies, including the Oracle of Delphi.
Genealogy and Family[]
Themis is a first-generation Titaness, being a goddess daughter of Gaia and Uranus.
She went on to marry Zeus, King of the Gods, as his second wife (after Hera) which helped to strengthen his claim to the throne. The couple had at least nine daughters together, who are each members of The Horae with The Hours. Additionally in some accounts she and Zeus are also identified as the parents of The Moirai (goddesses of fate).
Role[]
Themis creates and maintains law and order for the gods and beyond and makes sure everything is in place and done morally correct.
Themis gives informative advice to the other gods and goddesses and will warn them of any bad outcomes and consequences to their actions and the future it can create.
Themis is also a very prophetic goddess, with the ability to predict the future accurately, Themis even built the Oracle at Delphi and was its Oracular. Though later passed the ownership and management of the Oracle to her grand-nephew Apollo, who became associated with it.
Stories[]
Themis appears several times in records of Greek Mythology, where she can be a motherly, benevolent figure and a stern authority figure. Themis is also a key advisor to the gods, who answers their concerns and warns them of any misfortunes or consequences their actions may cause with her prophecies. She was recorded to get these prophecies from visions. A unique gift.
Accounts of Themis in Greek Mythology include:
- Her warning to Zeus with a prophecy that with Metis, the goddess of Intelligence, he would have a powerful daughter, and an even more powerful son, who would threaten his father's place as the King of the Gods.
- Her warning the gods of an oncoming civil war in Thebes and the misfortunes that would come with it (according to Ovid's Metamorphoses)
- She also warned the gods, Zeus and Poseidon not to marry the Nereid, Thetis as "her son will be more powerful than his father".
- Furthermore, according to the poet, Ovid it was Themis rather than Zeus who told Deucalion to throw the bones of "his Mother" over his shoulder to create a new race of humankind after the deluge.
- Also according to Ovid, Themis prophesied that a son of Zeus will steal golden apples from the orchard of Atlas.
- In Homer's Iliad she is tasked with calling the gods to council on Olympus by Zeus.
- Themis was also present at Delos to witness the birth of Apollo, and nursed him with nectar and ambrosia.
- In De Astronomica, Hyginus lists Themis, in addition to the nymph Amalthea, as the foster-mother and nurse of the young Zeus. In a fragment of Pindar, Themis was brought from the springs of Oceanus by the Moirai (in this version not her daughters) to Olympus, where she became the first wife of Zeus (rather than the second), and by him the mother of the Horae.
- According to the lost Cypria by Stasinus of Cyprus, Themis and Zeus together plotted the start of the Trojan War. According to Quintus Smyrnaeus, when the gods defied the orders of Zeus and started fighting each other after the creation of the Trojan Horse, Themis stopped them by warning them of Zeus's wrath.
- In the Orphic "Rhapsodic Theogony", or Rhapsodies, (first century BC/AD) Nyx (Night) prophesied that Themis would remain a virgin until Rhea gave birth to a child of Cronus.
- In the story of Zeus, Themis, alongside the Moirai, once stopped Zeus from killing thieves who attempted to steal honey from the sacred Dictaean cave, as it would be considered impious for anyone to die in the cave. Thus, Zeus instead turned the thieves into birds.
- Themis also played a role in Eros growing up; Aphrodite who was worried about her son, Eros, staying a child forever, brought him to Themis. Themis told Aphrodite to give Eros a brother, as he wasn't growing because of his solitude. Aphrodite then gave birth to Anteros, and Eros grew whenever he was near him.
Significance[]
Themis had several temples in ancient Greece. She had temples at the oracular shrine of Zeus at Dodona, at Tanagra, in Athens nearby to the Acropolis, a temple in Rhamnous beside one of Nemesis, and a Temple of Themis Ikhnaia in Phthiotis, Thessalia and a sanctuary at Thebes. Themis also had an altar in Olympia: "On what is called the Stomion (Mouth) the altar to Themis has been built." Themis was sometimes depicted in the sanctuaries of other gods and may have shared temples with them occasionally, and she is mentioned to have shared a temple with Aphrodite in Epidauros: "Within the grove [of the sanctuary of Asklepios (Asclepius) at Epidauros] are a temple of Artemis, an image of Epione, a sanctuary of Aphrodite and Themis, a race-course."
The temple of Themis in Athens is found west of the theater of Dionysus. Themis' temple in Dodona is tetrastyle pronaos in antis with a cella, an entrance on the northside and outside was a large altar.
Personality[]
Themis is a mature, powerful, senior goddess, a natural leader with high morals and values. Since she decided to ally with the Olympians, and turned her back on The Titans, she became an extremely loyal, helpful, and dutiful goddess to them, asking for nothing in return. Though Themis is seen as the figurehead of divine law and order and the rule maker of the gods, she can also be motherly, kind, caring and nurturing especially towards the deities, shown several times-such as when she raised a young Zeus and nursed the baby Apollo.
Appearance[]
Themis is often depicted as a woman dressed smartly in Greek robes and appears as an authority figure.
Occasionally she has been depicted wearing a blindfold and holding a weighing scale, and holding a sword in the other hand. The weighing scale is the scale to see if there is any balance, and she uses her blindfold because the weighing scale guides her itself.
Relationships[]
Gaia- Gaia is Themis' mother.
Uranus- Uranus is Themis' father
Zeus- Zeus is one of Themis' nephews as well as her eventual husband. Seemingly they are in love and together they had nine daughters, Thallo, Auxo, Karpo, Irene, Dike, Eunomia, Orthosie, Pherusa and Euporie, in some accounts, The Moirai are their daughters too. Zeus' marriage to Themis helped to solidify his position as 'the King of the Gods'.
Powers[]
As a goddess, Themis has eternal youth, immortality and perfect health, she is immune to diseases and disorders humans suffer with and does not require sleep.
Powers unique to her include:
- Prophesying the future with visions
Titles, Epithets and Other Names[]
According to some sources, Themis had an alternate name, Ichnaea (Greek Ἰχναῖα, translit. Ichnaîa), meaning “tracker.” Some speculated that this name reflected her role as an all-observing goddess of justice.[3] However, the name could have simply come from the Thessalian town of Ichnae, where Themis was worshipped as “Ichnaean Themis.”
Themis had a handful of epithets related to her function as a goddess of justice, including ἱερά (hierá, “holy”), σώτειρα (sṓteira, “savior”), and εὔβουλος (eúboulos, “well-counseling”) οr ὀρθόβουλος (orthóboulos, “straight-counseling”).
Modern Depictions[]
Themis in modern-day depictions is often called "Lady Justice" and statues of her can be found outside many courthouses.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
Her name "Themis" is spelt as Θέμις in Ancient Greek and means Law, Justice Custom.
One of Themis' daughters, Eunomia, has very similar responsibilities, to her, creating law and order on behalf of mortals, compared to Themis who instead establishes divine law and order (for the gods and goddesses).