Information about Iris (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Iris is the personification of the the rainbow and messenger of the gods. As the sun unites Earth and heaven, Iris links the gods to humanity. She travels with the speed of wind from one end of the world to the other^[1], and into the depths of the sea and the underworld.

In myth

Iris is the personal messenger of Hera and Zeus, queen (and king) of the gods. She is Hera's agent from Mount Olympus to the mortal world. She is also associated with Hermes, another messenger god. Like Hermes, she bears wings and carries messages to mortals.

Greco-Roman pantheon

Iris is frequently mentioned as a divine messenger in the Iliad which is attributed to Homer, but does not appear in the other work attributed to him, the Odyssey, where Hermes fills that role. Like Hermes, also known as Mercury, Iris carries a caduceus or winged staff. By command of Zeus, the king of the gods, she carries a ewer of water from the Styx, with which she puts to sleep all who perjure themselves. She is also represented as supplying the clouds with the water needed to deluge the world, consistent with her rainbow identity.

According to Apollonius Rhodius, Zetes and Calais who numbered amongst the Argonauts, delivered the prophet Phineas from the attentions of the tormenting Harpies. The Boreads' pursuit of the Harpies ended at the Strophades (`Islands of Turning'), where they were turned back, repelled by Iris. This eventful 'turning' may have resulted in the Islands' name.

Iris

They sent the winged heroes, the Boreads, after the harpies. They succeeded in driving the monsters away but did not kill them, as a request from the goddess of the rainbow, Iris, who promised that Phineas would not be bothered by the harpies again. It is said that the Boreads were turned back by Iris at the Strophades.[1] As thanks, Phineas told the Argonauts how to pass the Symplegades.

According to Hesiod's Theogony, Iris is the daughter of Thaumas and the ocean nymph Electra, an Oceanid. Her sisters are the Harpies, Aello and Ocypete. Iris is married to Zephirus, who is the god of the west wind. Their son is Pothos (Nonnus, Dionysiaca). In some records she is a sororal twin to the Titaness Arkhe (arch), who flew out of the company of Olympian gods to join the Titans as their messenger goddess during the Titanomachy, making the two sisters enemy messenger goddesses. Iris was said to have golden wings, whereas Arkhe had iridescent ones. She is also said to travel on the rainbow while carrying messages from the gods to mortals. During the Titan War, Zeus tore Arkhe's iridescent wings from her and gave them as a gift to the Nereid Thetis at her wedding, who in turn gave them to her son, Achilles, who wore them on his feet. Achilles was sometimes known as podarkhes, or "wing-footed with Arkhe's wings". Not much is written about Iris' twin sister.

According to the Dionysiaca of Nonnos, Iris' brother is Hydaspes (book XXVI, lines 355-365).

In Euripides play Heracles Iris appears alongside Madness, cursing Heracles with the fit of madness in which he kills his three sons and his wife Megera.

Poetic titles and epithets: Chrysopteron (Golden Winged), Aellopos (storm footed), Podas Ã´kea (swift footed) or PodÃªnemos Ã´kea (wind-swift footed), and Thaumantias or Thaumantos (Daughter of Thaumas, Wondrous One).

Representation

Iris is represented either as a rainbow, or as a young maiden with wings on her shoulders (see Iris Clipart). The attributes which most often identify Iris in classical art are the wings, the caduceus, and a vase, representing the ewer or urn which holds the Styxian water.

Derivations and portrayals

The word iridescence is derived in part from the name of this goddess.
The 7 Iris asteroid is named after the messenger.
"Arco iris" and "arco-Ãris" are the words for "rainbow" in Spanish and Portuguese, respectively.
In 1946, Iris was depicted on a 50-franc airmail stamp in France. This was accompanied the same year by a 40-franc airmail stamp depicting a centaur shooting an arrow into the sky.
Iris appears in the Disney movie Fantasia at the end of the segment featuring the Pastoral Symphony by Beethoven.

References

1. ^ The Iliad, Book II, "And now Iris, fleet as the wind, was sent by Jove to tell the bad news among the Trojans."

External links

Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica by Hesiod (English translation in the Project Gutenberg online book catalog)
The Iliad by Homer(English translation in the Project Gutenberg online book catalog)
The Argonautica by c. 3rd cent. B.C. Apollonius Rhodius (English translation in the Project Gutenberg online book catalog)
Aaron Atsma, The Theoi Project: IRIS Goddess of the Rainbow & Messenger of the Gods
Greek Mythology Link by Carlos Parada, author of Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology
Ancient World Mapping Center Strophades Inss.

Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the Ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices.
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The Rainbow
Author D.H. Lawrence
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Publisher
Publication date 1915
Followed by Women in Love The Rainbow is a 1915 novel by British author D.H. Lawrence.
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Scientists and Engineers for America, a pro-science political advocacy group.
Schoof-Elkies-Atkin algorithm
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (IATA: SEA, ICAO: KSEA)
Sea Education Association

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underworld is a generic term approximately equivalent to the lay term afterlife, referring to any place to which newly dead souls go.

See also: and

Aztec mythology Mictlan
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Mount Olympus (Greek: Όλυμπος; also transliterated as Mount Ã“lympos, and on modern maps, Ã“ros Ã“limbos) is the highest mountain in Greece at 2,919 meters high (9,576 feet)^[1].
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Hermes (Greek, Ἑρμῆς, IPA: /ˈhɝmiːz/), in Greek mythology, is the Olympian god of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and
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iLiad is an electronic handheld device, or e-book device, which can be used for document reading and editing. Like the Sony Reader, the iLiad makes use of an electronic paper display.

Description

Main specifications:

an 8.1-inch (20.

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Homer is the name given to the purported author of the early Greek poems the Iliad and the Odyssey. It is now generally believed that they were composed by illiterate aoidoi (rhapsodes) in an oral tradition in the 8th or 7th century BC.
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The Odyssey (Greek Οδύσσεια (OdÃºsseia)) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to the Ionian poet Homer. The poem is commonly dated circa 800 to circa 600 BC.
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Mercury (IPA: /ˈmɜːkjəri/, Latin: Mercurius listen (help info )
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caduceus (/kəˈduːsiəs/, -ʃəs, -ˈdjuː-; kerykeion in Greek is a (sometimes) winged staff with two snakes wrapped around it.
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Zeus (in Greek: nominative: Ζεύς ZeÃºs, genitive: Διός DiÃ³s
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River Styx" (Στυξ) is a river which formed the boundary between Earth and the Underworld, Hades. It circles Hades nine times. The rivers Styx, Phlegethon, Acheron and Cocytus all converge at the center of Hades on a great marsh.
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Apollonius of Rhodes, also known as Apollonius Rhodius (Latin; Greek Ἀπολλώνιος Ῥόδιος Apollōnios Rhodios
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Boreads, in Greek mythology, were Calais and Zetes (also Zethes). They were the sons of Boreas and Oreithyia, daughter of King Erechtheus of Athens. They were winged heroes.
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Argonauts (Ancient Greek: Αργοναύται) were a band of heroes who, in the years before the Trojan War, accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece.
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In Greek mythology, Phineas (also spelled Phineus) was a King of Thrace. The name 'Phineas' or 'Phineus' may be associated with the ancient city of Phinea (or Phineopolis) on the Thracian Bosphorus.
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Harpy

Creature

Name: Harpy
AKA: Snatcher
Classification
Grouping: Legendary creature
Sub grouping: Hybrid
Similar creatures: Siren, sphinx, centaur
Data
Mythology: Greek
Habitat: Air Harpy (from Latin: Harpyia
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Hesiod (Greek: Ἡσίοδος Hesiodos) was an early Greek poet and rhapsode, who presumably lived around 700 BC.
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Theogony (Greek: Θεογονία, theogonia = the birth of God(s)) is a poem by Hesiod describing the origins and genealogies of the gods of the ancient Greeks, composed circa 700 BC.
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In Greek mythology, Thaumas ("wonder") was a sea god, son of Pontus and Gaia. He was the father of the harpies, Hydaspes and Iris with Electra.

Thaumas was also the name of a centaur.
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Electra was daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra in Greek mythology. Electra or Elektra may also refer to:

Greek myth

Electra (Pleiad), one of the Pleiades
Electra, an Oceanid
Electra, one of the Danaids, daughter of Danaus and Polyxo.

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In Greek and Roman mythology, the Oceanids were the three thousand daughters of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys. One of these many daughters was also said to have been the wife of the god Poseidon, typically named as Amphitrite.
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Aello was one of Hippolyte's Amazons in Greek mythology. She was the first to attack Heracles when he came for Hippolyte's girdle. Unfortunately, Heracles was wearing the Nemean Lion skin from his first labor, making him invulnerable.
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