Themis

Titaness of justice. Themis was the daughter of Uranus and Gaea. Like her mother, she was known as the earth-goddess. She later became known as the goddess of order and justice.

Themis was the second wife of Zeus. Themis became the mother of many children: the Seasons (Horae) - Eunomia ("Order"), Dike ("Justice") and Eirene ("Peace") - and the Fates (Moerae).

According to Aeschylus, Themis married her brother Iapetus (before she was the wife of Zeus), and became the mother of the Titan Prometheus.

She was also gifted with prophecy or oracles, like her mother. Delphi originally belonged to Gaea before Themis received it from her mother. Later she relinquished the oracle at Delphi to Apollo.

Justice was not only found in Olympus and on Earth, for it would also be found in the Underworld. It was her judgement that was final, whether the shade would go to the Elysian Fields or to Tartarus. Themis was seen as the seated goddess, wearing a blindfold over her eyes; the blindfold symbolised her impartiality in judgment and setting a reward or a penalty to the dead. The Erinyes or the Furies would take the guilty to Tartarus.

Themis had three attendants who also acted as judges over the souls of the dead in the Underworld. They were sons of Zeus - one of them was Aeacus, king of Aeacus and the son of Aegina, the other two were Rhadamanthys and Minos, whose mother was Europa. The three judges became minor gods of the Underworld.

More details about her life can be found in the new Mother Goddesses page.