The myth of Themis, the goddess of justice

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The myth of Themis speaks about the personification of justice in a woman who is able to see beyond and seeks maximum equanimity in her judgments.

The myth of Themis is the myth of the goddess of justice, order and natural or divine law. In fact, the word Themis In Greek it meant ‘natural law’, which was considered stronger than the laws created by the gods. Even so, this deity ruled both areas.

According to the myth of Themis, this goddess directed the natural order of the union between a man and a woman and family ties. She was in charge of guiding people on the right path. indicating what good habits were and making sure everyone followed the laws. She was considered generous, kind and wise.

The myth of Themis also indicates that this goddess was endowed with the gift of prophecy and clairvoyance.. She was capable of knowing all the secrets, even those that were hidden from Zeus, god of gods. Likewise, she served as protector of the oppressed and rector of due hospitality.

“Those settler presidents are real head-slicers; They cut off a neck with the same ease as a crow throws nuts, whether it is fair or not, they do not stop in their minds; rigorism wears, like Themis herself, a blindfold”.

-Marquis de Sade-

The origin of the myth of Themis

The goddess Themis was a titan, daughter of Uranus, the titan who personified the sky; and Gaea, the personification of the Earth. She had five siblings: Phoebe, Mnemosyne, Rhea Thea and Thetis. All of them appear at the very origin of Greek mythology.

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The myth of Themis says that she was a beautiful woman, dressed in a white tunic and frequently depicted with a blindfold; this is considered a symbolization of his equanimitybut also an expression of his capacity for prophecy, which did not need his eyes to see.

Themis ensured a good relationship between men and women: she was the one who offered a glass of wine to Hera when she returned distressed by the threats that Zeus made to her.

Themis carries a scale in her hand which represents justice: He weighs the good and the bad, the evil and the good, the arguments of all parties and this allows him to give his verdict. She is sometimes represented with a sword in her hand, a symbol of punishment for those who ignore the law (a job that corresponds to the primordial goddess Nemesis or Ramnusia); other times she carries a cornucopia, a sign of prosperity.

The Oracle of Delphi

Although the Oracle of Delphi was dedicated to Apollo, Themis was one of the goddesses who was behind it, exercising his divinatory arts. In fact, this deity received the oracle from her mother, Gaea, and after a time it was she who gave it to Apollo, although other versions indicate that the god had to defeat a dragon to take possession of it.

The Oracle of Delphi was the most famous in Greece. It is said that there was a crack from which vapors came out and that a shepherd noticed that his goats were behaving strangely when they approached the place. The shepherd approached and when he was there he began to prophesy. The story spread and people came from all over, also to prophesy.

Themis and Zeus

Themis was the second wife of Zeus, after the latter abruptly ended his union with Metis., which represented intelligence and cunning. Gaia had warned Zeus that Metis would give birth to two sons and that one of them would take power away from her, just as Zeus himself had done with Cronus, her father. So Zeus swallowed his first wife and ended the problem.

Themis and Zeus had several children: the Fates (or Fates) and the hours of work (Horae) or seasons. In some versions Astraea (another personification of justice), the nymphs of the river Eridanus and the Hesperides are also counted in the offspring. There are certain versions of the myth of Themis that indicate that she had Iapetus as a lover and that together they were the parents of Prometheus, the titan who stole fire to give it to mortals.

Themis is said to have been on Earth during the reign of Cronus, god of eternal time, during what was known as the Golden Age. Then came the Silver Age and then the Iron Age. During the latter, men became evil and violent, which horrified the goddess.

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That is why Themis escaped and went to the highest heaven; Zeus, who understood it, turned it into the constellation known as Virgo.. In a large part of the judicial courts of the West the figure of Themis is still used as a symbol of justice.