Iris
April 2nd, 2008 by sabrina
Iris is the Greek Goddess of the rainbow. She is the daughter of the Titan Thaumas, a sea God, and a cloud nymph named Elektra, and sister of the Harpies. Just as a rainbow links heaven to earth, Iris links the Gods to humans—she is their messenger. She is usually shown with wings and a staff, and she carries a pitcher which contains water from the River Styx. With a sea God for a father and a cloud nymph for a mother, Iris connects the sea to the sky, and it was said that the waters in her pitcher replenished the clouds.
Iris is married to Zephyros, God of the west wind, and with him is mother of Pothos, the God of sexual longing and desire. She figures in many myths in her role as messenger of the Gods, mostly carrying messages for Hera and Zeus. Epithets associated with Iris include Khrysopteron (golden-winged), Aellopus (swift-footed), and Thaumantias (daughter of Thaumas).
This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008 at 8:13 pm and is filed under Greek. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
October 18th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
nice story
March 17th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
HI, Sabrina. I just used your description about Iris on the weekly meme I join, and linked it to your page, hope you don’t mind!
Kisses from Nydia.
May 17th, 2010 at 7:38 pm
I love how Iris is said to carry a pitcher that has water from the River Styx. I hear that if you bathe in the Styx, you become immortal- for a time, and you have to choose a place (like the small of your back) to hold you mortal. and you have to focus on something you love to tie you to your mortal life. if you dont, you’ll dissolve into the currents. (the styx’s water is very painful) you have to keep a focus on something that ties you to your mortal life- or you will die. Remember Achilles- the greatest warrior that died from a wounded heel.he chose his heel as a place on his body that kept him mortal. then someone shot an arrow and hit his mortal spot and he died.
May 17th, 2010 at 7:39 pm
Oh, well that sucks…..:(