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In Greek mythology, Iris is the personified
goddess of the rainbow. She is regarded as the messenger of the
gods to humankind, and particularly of the goddess Hera whose
orders she brought to humans. She is able to change shapes and
when delivering messages to mortals Iris assumes the appearance of
a mortal known to those who receive the message.
Iris is the daughter of the Titan Thaumas and the nymph Electra.
Thaumas (his name means "wonder") is a Greek sea god and the son
of Pontus and Gaia (Mother Earth). By the Oceanid Electra he
fathered the Harpies and Iris.
Iris once saved her siblings from
death. The Harpies were loathsome winged female creatures who
daily would swoop down and eat and befoul the food of the blind
seer Phineus. When the Argonauts Calais and Zetes, winged sons of
the North Wind, Boreas, caught up with the Harpies and were about
to kill them, Iris appeared and beseeched the sons of Boreas to
spare the lives of the Harpies. She promised that if they let them
live, the Harpies would never again bother Phineus.
One of her tasks is to deliver the sacred water of Styx. When
quarrel arises among the gods, and when anyone among the Olympians
lies, then Zeus sends Iris to the river Styx in the Underworld to
bring in a golden jug the oath of the gods.
Zeus caused oaths to be sworn by the water of Styx. If any of the
gods drinks of her water and is untrue, he/she lies breathless for
a year, never tastes Ambrosia and Nectar and lies down spiritless
and voiceless. After spending thus one year in sickness he/she is
cut off for nine years from the gods' councils and feasts and
cannot return until the tenth year.
In Homer's Iliad, Zeus sent Iris with
a message for King Priam of Troy, instructing him to secretly come
to the enemy Greek ships and, with the help of gifts, persuade
Achilles to give up the body of Priam's son Hector, whom Achilles
had slain in battle.
Iris also was the one who delivered the bad news to the jilted
husband Menelaus that Paris had ran away with his wife, Helen,
which started the Trojan War. Hera sent Iris flying to the island
of Crete with news of the elopement, prompting Menelaus to raise
an army and invade Troy.
Speaking of bad news, at the request of Hera, Iris also came to
Hypnos, the god of Sleep, to ask him to fashion a shape resembling
Ceyx, which appearing before Ceyx's wife Alcyone, would inform her
of her husband's death. He had drowned and Alcyone didn't know it.
Before Zeus sent a flood to punish some evil humans, he destroyed
their crops with the help of Iris. Zeus shut the North Wind
(Boreas) up in the cave of Aeolus and let the wet and rainy South
Wind (Notus) loose. Meanwhile Iris drew up water feeding it to the
clouds. By way of this method all crops were destroyed, and the
work of a whole year amounted to nothing.
In Greek mythology, Iris is the personified goddess of the
rainbow. She is regarded as the messenger of the gods to
humankind, and particularly of the goddess Hera whose orders she
brought to humans. She is able to change shapes and when
delivering messages to mortals Iris assumes the appearance of a
mortal known to those who receive the message.
Iris is the daughter of the Titan Thaumas and the nymph Electra.
Thaumas (his name means "wonder") is a Greek sea god and the son
of Pontus and Gaia (Mother Earth). By the Oceanid Electra he
fathered the Harpies and Iris.
Iris once saved her siblings from
death. The Harpies were loathsome winged female creatures who
daily would swoop down and eat and befoul the food of the blind
seer Phineus. When the Argonauts Calais and Zetes, winged sons of
the North Wind, Boreas, caught up with the Harpies and were about
to kill them, Iris appeared and beseeched the sons of Boreas to
spare the lives of the Harpies. She promised that if they let them
live, the Harpies would never again bother Phineus.
One of her tasks is to deliver the sacred water of Styx. When
quarrel arises among the gods, and when anyone among the Olympians
lies, then Zeus sends Iris to the river Styx in the Underworld to
bring in a golden jug the oath of the gods.
Zeus caused oaths to be sworn by the water of Styx. If any of the
gods drinks of her water and is untrue, he/she lies breathless for
a year, never tastes Ambrosia and Nectar and lies down spiritless
and voiceless. After spending thus one year in sickness he/she is
cut off for nine years from the gods' councils and feasts and
cannot return until the tenth year.
In Homer's Iliad, Zeus sent Iris with a message for King Priam of
Troy, instructing him to secretly come to the enemy Greek ships
and, with the help of gifts, persuade Achilles to give up the body
of Priam's son Hector, whom Achilles had slain in battle.
Iris also was the one who delivered the bad news to the jilted
husband Menelaus that Paris had ran away with his wife, Helen,
which started the Trojan War. Hera sent Iris flying to the island
of Crete with news of the elopement, prompting Menelaus to raise
an army and invade Troy.
Speaking of bad news, at the request of Hera, Iris also came to
Hypnos, the god of Sleep, to ask him to fashion a shape resembling
Ceyx, which appearing before Ceyx's wife Alcyone, would inform her
of her husband's death. He had drowned and Alcyone didn't know it.
Before Zeus sent a flood to punish some evil humans, he destroyed
their crops with the help of Iris. Zeus shut the North Wind
(Boreas) up in the cave of Aeolus and let the wet and rainy South
Wind (Notus) loose. Meanwhile Iris drew up water feeding it to the
clouds. By way of this method all crops were destroyed, and the
work of a whole year amounted to nothing.
Many other gods followed Iris and they came offering Demeter all
kind of gifts and privileges if she would return, but she could
not be persuaded. Rejecting all their words Demeter declared that
she would never set foot on Olympus again, nor let the earth bear
fruit, until she beheld with her own eyes her daughter Persephone.
Eventually Hades agreed to allow Persephone to reunite with
Demeter and spend most of the year with her mother.
With the West wind called Zephyrus,
Iris is said to have given birth to Eros (also said to be the son
of Aphrodite) and Pothos, which is the personification of Longing,
a being of inconstant mood, and an attendant of Aphrodite.
Iris is portrayed as a young woman with wings and her attributes
are a herald's staff and a water pitcher. In artwork she appears
mainly on Greek vases. Her male counterpart was called Irus.
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