- This article is about the Oceanid. For other uses, see Electra (disambiguation).
In Greek mythology, Electra (Ancient Greek: Ἠλέκτρα, lit. 'amber') is one of the 3,000 Oceanids, water-nymph daughters of Oceanus and Tethys and the wife of Thaumas. She was the mother of the Harpies, Iris and Arke.
Mythology[]
Along with her sisters, Electra was one of the companions of Persephone when the daughter of Demeter was abducted by Hades.
Family[]
According to Hesiod, she was the wife of Thaumas, and by him, the mother of Iris, the goddess of rainbows and a messenger for the gods, and the Harpies.
The names of Electra's Harpy daughters vary. Hesiod and Apollodorus named them Aello and Ocypete. Virgil named Celaeno as one of the Harpies. However, while Hyginus' Fabulae Preface had the Harpies, Celaeno, Ocypete, and Podarce, as daughters of Thaumas and Electra, at Fabuale 14.18, the Harpies were said to be named Aellopous, Celaeno, and Ocypete, and were the daughters of Thaumas and Ozomene. Ozomene may have been a secondary name for Electra, meaning "many-branches."
The late 4th-early 5th century poet Nonnus gives Electra and Thaumas two children: Iris, and the river god Hydaspes.