- This article is about the Nereid wife of Peleus. For the Titan wife of Oceanus, see Tethys.
- This article is about the Nereid wife of Peleus. For the Titan goddess of law, see Themis.
Thetis (Ancient Greek: Θέτις, meaning disposer or "placer" (the one who places)), was a sea-nymph and the goddess of water. She was the leader of the fifty Nereids, making her a Goddess of water.
Some sources describe her as a primordial goddess and is mentioned as one of the Protogenoi and was the creator of the universe. Although this association might be due to the conflation with her grandmother Tethys which was also identified as the creator of the universe.
She is referred to by two epithets by Homer she is referred to as Argyropeza (Greek: Αργυροπεζα) meaning "Silver-footed", and she is referred to as Halosydne (Greek: Ἁλοσύδνη), meaning "sea-nourished" or "sea-born" goddess, this epithet is also applied to her sister Amphitrite.
Mythology[]
In the Trojan War Canon (Epic Cycle)[]
Thetis appeals to Zeus
Thetis is the mother of Achilles, a warrior of Greece who appears in Homer's Iliad. She and Peleus of Phthia had married; after the gods Zeus and Poseidon were attracted to Thetis but then learned from an oracle that her son would be greater than his father, which is the reason they had Peleus marry her instead. Poseidon then chose Thetis' sister Amphitrite to marry instead and she became Queen of the Seas.
A renowned incident at Thetis' and Peleus' wedding was the origin of the Trojan War in the stories by Homer and others.
Family[]
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Gallery[]
See also[]
| Protogenoi | |
|---|---|
| Hesiodic Theogony | Kháos • Gaîa • Tártaros • Eros • Nyx • Erebus • Ouranós • Ourea • Póntos • Aether • Hemera |
| Orphic Theogony | Hydros • Thesis • Physis • Phanes • Ananke • Chronos |
| Miscellaneous Accounts | Thalassa • Oceanus • Tethys • Thetis • Achlys • Caligo |