In Greek mythology, Theia (Ancient Greek: Θεία, romanized: Theía, lit. 'divine'), sometimes called Euryphaessa (Ancient Greek: Εὐρυφάεσσα lit. "wide-shining") was one of the Titans and is the goddess of clear sight, and by extension the goddess who endowed gold, silver, and gems with their brilliance and intrinsic value. She is rarely mentioned in Greek mythology, but is important for her children, like most Titans.
She was the wife of her brother Hyperion. She is mother of Helios, Selene and Eos. She is the daughter of Uranus and Gaia. She seems to be the same figure as Aethra (Ancient Greek: Αἴθρα), who is the consort of Hyperion and mother of his children in the Hyginus' Fabulae.[2]
Etymology[]
Theia means "goddess" or "divine", as "divine light". The name Theia alone means simply "goddess" or "divine"; Theia Euryphaessa (Θεία Εὐρυφάεσσα) brings overtones of extent (εὐρύς, eurys, "wide", root: εὐρυ-/εὐρε-) and brightness (φάος, phaos, "light", root: φαεσ-). The name Aethra also exemplifies her other names as it means 'bright sky' and the feminine form of Aether.
Diodorus calls Theia in his account, Basileia (Ancient Greek: Βασίλεια) which means semantically "empress" or "queen".
Family[]
Theia is one of the Twelve Titans, children of Uranus and Gaia.[3] With her brother, Hyperion, she bore Helios,[4] Selene, and Eos.[5][2]
An interesting mention of Theia's name appears in the Suda, where in the section concerning the Cercopes, they were referred to as the sons of Theia and Oceanus.[6] Some theories posit that this Theia figure might be an Oceanid and thus had incestuous intercourse with her father or was the daughter of Memnon.[7]
Mythology[]
Detail of a woman with arms outstretched to the Cercopes (unseen), possibly Theia, from an Attic Black Figure Lekythos, ca 550-500 B.C.
Once paired in later myths with her Titan brother Hyperion as her husband, "mild-eyed Euryphaessa, the far-shining one" of the Homeric Hymn to Helios, was said to be the mother of Helios (the Sun), Selene (the Moon), and Eos (the Dawn).[8] Gaius Valerius Catullus described those three lights of the heavens as "Theia's illustrious progeny" in the sixty-sixth of his carmina.[9]
Pindar praises Theia in his Fifth Isthmian ode:[4]
| “ | Mother of Helios, Theia of many names, for your sake men honor gold as more powerful than anything else; and through the value you bestow on them, O queen, ships contending on the sea and yoked teams of horses in swift-whirling contests become marvels. | ” |
–Pindar, Fifth Isthmian Ode | ||
She seems here a goddess of glittering in particular and of glory in general, but Pindar's allusion to her as "Theia of many names" is telling, since it suggests assimilation, referring not only to similar mother-of-the-sun goddesses such as Phoebe and Leto, but perhaps also to more universalizing mother-figures such as Rhea and Cybele.
Furthermore, a scholium on those lines wrote ἐκ Θείας καὶ Ὑπερίονος ὁ Ἥλιος, ἐκ δὲ Ἡλίου ὁ χρυσός, "The Sun came from Theia and Hyperion, and from the Sun came gold",[10] denoting a special connection of Theia, the goddess of sight and brilliance, with gold as the mother of Helios the sun.[11] Theia was regarded as the goddess from which all light proceeded.[12] Theia being associated with sight is continued on in the philosophical work, Greek Theology by Lucius Annaeus Cornutus, where he said that "‘Theia’ is the cause of vision".[13]
Plutarch recorded a fable-like story, The Moon and her Mother (which is sometimes categorized as an Aesopic fable), where Theia's daughter Selene asked her mother to weave her a garment to fit her measure; the mother, who goes unnamed in the entire tale, then replied that she was unable to do so, as Selene kept changing shape and size, sometimes full, then crescent-shaped and others yet half her size, never staying the same.[14]
According to sixth century BC lyric poet Stesichorus, Helios' mother lives with her son in his palace.[15]
Diodorus' account[]
An unorthodox version of the myth presented by Diodorus identified Theia as Basileia, meaning 'queen'. In this account Basileia was the eldest daughter of king Uranus, who excelled in prudence and rearer her own brothers, earning the epithet 'Great Mother' from them. She succeeded her father to the throne, and took her brother Hyperion to husband in order to produce heirs. With him Basileia had two children, Helios and Selene, both admired for their beauty and chastity. But Basileia and Hyperion's other brothers grew envious of their happiness and feared Hyperion would try to seize all the royal power for himself, so they killed Hyperion and threw Helios into the Eridanus river, where he drowned. When Selene discovered that, she threw herself off the roof.[16]
Basileia meanwhile searched all over the river for her son's body, and fatigued she fell asleep. Helios then appeared to her in a vision and urged her to cease her mourning, for the brothers would have the punishment they deserved, while he and his sister "would be transformed, by some divine providence, into immortal natures," so that what known as the "holy fire" in the heavens would now be called Helios ("the Sun"), while "Mene" would be Selene ("the Moon"). When she woke up she recounted the dream and her woes to the common crowd that had gathered, asking them to give her dead loved ones the same honors as they did to gods. Then a frenzy overtook her and she grabbed her daughter's playthings and began to wander over the land. When she passed from sight, the people did as told and erected altars to her, and would pound kettledrums and cymbals to honor her.[16]
Diodorus' account was continued on in Eusebius' work Preparation of the Gospels, where she is referred to again as Basileia, and was the daughter of Uranus and Titaea/Ge and consorted with her brother Hyperion and had by him Helios and Selene. Eusebius also said that Basileia was referred to as Pandora.[17]
Ancient Depictions[]
In the east Gigantomachy frieze of the Pergamon Altar, the figure of the goddess preserved fighting a youthful giant next to Helios is conjectured to be his mother Theia.[18]
A Theia figure has been found at the Necropolis of Cyrene.[19]
In Popular Culture[]
In Television[]
- Theia appears in the seventh episode of season one of the American sword-and-sorcery television series Xena: Warrior Princess, She is portrayed by Amanda Tollemache
In Science[]
- Theia's mythological role as the mother of the Moon goddess Selene is alluded to in the application of the name to a hypothetical planet that, according to the giant impact hypothesis, collided with the Earth and created the Moon, paralleling the mythological Theia's role as the mother of Selene.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ LIMC 617 (Theia 1); Kunze, pp. 916–917; Honan, p. 20
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hyginus, Fabulae Preface 13
- ↑ Hesiod, Theogony 133; Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1.1.3; Clement of Alexandria, Recognitions 31.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Pindar, Isthmian Odes 5.1 ff
- ↑ Hesiod, Theogony 371–374; Apollodorus, 1.2.2
- ↑ Suda s.v. “Cercopes.”
- ↑ KERKOPES from The Theoi Project
- ↑ Homeric Hymn to Helios 1-8
- ↑ Catullus, Odes 66.44
- ↑ Scholia on Pindar I.5.3.
- ↑ Pindar (1892). Isthmian odes of Pindar, edited with introduction and commentary by J. B. Bury, M.A. Translated by J. B. Bury. Macmillan and Co. p. 92.
- ↑ Smith, s.v. Theia
- ↑ L. Annaeus Cornutus, Greek Theology, 31
- ↑ Plutarch, Moralia, Septem Sapientium Convivium 14.1
- ↑ Athenaeus, Scholars at Dinner 11.38
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica 3.57.2-8
- ↑ Eusebius, Preparation of the Gospels, 2.2.21
- ↑ LIMC 617 (Theia 1); Kunze, pp. 916–917; Honan, p. 20
- ↑ Joyce Reynolds and James Copland Thorn (2005). "Cyrene's Thea figure discovered in the Necropolis". Libyan Studies. 36: 89–100.
[]
| Titans | |
|---|---|
| Parents | Ouranós • Gaîa |
| Elder Titans | Coeus • Crius • Cronus • Hyperion • Iapetus • Oceanus |
| Elder Titanesses | Phoebe • Mnemosyne • Rhea • Theia • Themis • Tethys |
| Coeonides | Asteria • Leto |
| Crionides | Astraeus • Pallas • Perses |
| Hyperionides | Eos • Hḗlios • Selene |
| Iapetonides | Atlas • Epimetheus • Menoetius • Prometheus |
| Oceanides | Oceanids (Clymene • Metis • Styx • Rhode) • Potamoi |
| Third Generation | Hecate • Astraea • Anemoi • Astra Planeta • Kratos • Nike • Bia • Zelus |
| Miscellaneous Titans | Dione • Anytos • Ophion • Eurynome (wife of Ophion) • Lelantos • Melisseus • Titan (brother of Helios) • Olymbros • Syceus • Titanic Muses |
| Topics | Overthrowing of Ouranós • Titanomachy |