A fair goddess

This time, I will talk about a goddess who was important in shaping the order and, obviously, about her relationship with Zeus who, as you might expect, had a lot to do with this. I’m talking about the titan Themis.

Her name means “law of nature.” She represented justice and equity. When they ignored her, Nemesis used to bring a just punishment.

They used to represent her with a scale, a sword and blindfolded. Does it sound familiar to you? However, the representations of justice, as we know them today, come from the Romans. In fact, there was no exact parallel: The closest thing the Romans had to Themis was Iustitia, which means justice. Civilians made an abstract interpretation of Roman law: it did not have so much to do with myths. So the representations at the entrance of the courts correspond to Iustitia, rather than Themis.

Going back to Themis, she built the Oracle at Delphi and was a fortune teller there. She was also present on Delos, as a witness to the birth of Apollo.

Themis and Zeus

Zeus had three intimate encounters with her, from which three litters of children were born.

From the first encounter the Hours were born. They marked the rhythm of the seasons of the year: They decided when to sow, when the first shoots should appear, when the fruits should appeared and when it was time to harvest. The first was Eunomia, which means discipline or good government. The second was Dike or “terrestrial justice.” The third, Eirene, represented peace.

From the second encounter, some not so pleasant daughters were born: The Moiras, goddesses of destiny and with them life and death were born. The first was Clotho, the spinner. She spun the thread of life for every mortal. The second was Lachesis, who determined the length of the thread and thus decided the fate of mortals. The third was Atropos, the inexorable. She cut the thread where Lachesis told her to. That was how she ended the life of the mortal in question.

From the third encounter some beautiful maidens were born.They sang and danced to the rhythm of a melody that only they could hear. They were the nymphs. There were nymphs of water, air, flowers, trees, caves, mountains… They populated nature with sounds and colors. Among them were the Hesperides, who are mentioned in the myth of Hercules.