Theia: Tracks of the Tracing Goddess

Theia, made by me.

Theia is one of my favorite goddesses belonging to the Titan generation. She was the divinity from which all light proceeded. She was the mother of sight. And above all, her name simply means "Sight" or Prophecy." Awesome.

Goddess of 'All Things BRIGHT and Beautiful' 

"Mother of the Sun, 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

We may well be aware that Theia was one of the principal Titanides (whom I discussed in my previous post), a daughter of Father Uranus of the sky and Mother Gaea of the earth. She was the wife her brother Hyperion, another kingly Titan, and the mother of three BRIGHT children: Helios (the Sun), Eos (the Dawn), and Selene (the Moon); but not necessarily in that order.

Theia's realm was the clear blue sky.

Theia was the goddess of the shining light of the clear blue sky. I am guessing that she received this power as a birthday gift from the Protogenos Aether, one of her supposed 'uncles' or cousins (?). It's really hard to tell with them. Anyway, she was thereafter called Aithre for that! (Yeah, I seriously believe that the gods can gift some of their powers to other gods, much like in the video games. Hehe). Appropriately so, she was tied in love with the most compatible mate for her, Hyperion, the Titan god of light. The pair, according to Pelasgian myth, was given by Eurynome the dominion over the Sun and its Essence... Illumination (Surprise!). 

'Eye' see you. Many sources described Theia as 'mild-eyed', perhaps in reference to her also being the goddess of sight. I even got from one source (which I lost) that her emblem was the eyes. Anyway, according to Theoi.com:

"The ancient Greeks believed that the eyes emitted a beam of light, much like a lamp, which allowed one to see whatever it fell upon. Hence Theia the mother of sight (thea), was also the mother of light-beaming sun, moon and dawn."

Symbol of Future Sight
from Magic: The Gathering

Modern Neopagans believe (source) that she was the beautiful and kind 'all-seeing' goddess (Well, being the goddess of eyesight and all) although sometimes her gifts are to be feared. As the eyes were considered to sources of power for many, Theia also became considered as a Titaness of sorcery. I've also read in another blog that some sects believe that Theia can grant the ability to see ghosts and spirits, as well as other forms of clairvoyance. Eerie.

(All her power about 'Sight' had been handed down to her son Helios, as he was later given the epithet 'Panoptes', meaning all-seeing.)

Also under this office, Theia was worshipped as Ichnaea, 'the tracing goddess' and possessed an oracle at Phthiotis (how do you even read this?!), Thessaly. There, she gave ENLIGHTENMENT to the seekers and 'shed light to the future' (Oh my, big words). Or her oracle was like an ancient version of a lost and found (just my opinion). 

Shining, shimmering, splendid. In addition to the functions mentioned above, Theia was also a goddess of glittering in particular, and of glory in general. Aside from the vast expanse of the sky and sight, Theia also had dominion over precious metals and gems. Theoi again says that she endowed gold, silver and gems with their brilliance and value. One of her titles, Theia Euryphaessa overtones a lot of brightness, a 'wide-shining' goddess all the way. Seriously, this function of hers makes me think of this:

Now, excuse me for that.

Theia In Science: The Giant Impact Hypothesis

This part is a totally quoted from our favorite Wikipedia:

The giant impact hypothesis states that the Moon was formed out of the debris left over from a collision between the Earth and a body the size of Mars, approximately 4.5 Gya (four and a half billion years ago). The colliding body is sometimes called Theia, for the mythical Greek Titan who was the mother of Selene, the goddess of the Moon.

The giant impact hypothesis is the currently-favoured scientific hypothesis for the formation of the Moon. Supporting evidence includes: the Earth's spin and Moon's orbit having similar orientations, Moon samples indicating the surface of the Moon was once molten, the Moon's relatively small iron core, lower density compared to the Earth, evidence of similar collisions in other star systems (that result in debris disks), and that giant collisions are consistent with the leading theories of the formation of the solar system. Finally, the stable isotope ratios of lunar and terrestrial rock are identical, implying a common origin.

Whatever happened to Theia?

*****WARNING BEFORE YOU CONTINUE: I got the gist of this story from Diodorus Siculus (found here) where Theia was the mortal queen called Basileia, but I absolutely MADE THIS ONE UP so as to reconcile conflicting ideas... and to suit my preferences as well. This is what I was talking about when I said not suitable for academic researches. Just sayin'.*****

So, Theia was one of the Titan princesses during the reign of King Uranus. She was the 'queenly' type of girl joined in wedlock with Hyperion, a 'kingly' type of boy who also happened to be a really wise god. Their father Uranus thought that the pair would be the most perfect candidates to his throne (Uranus never really wanted to rule forever... at least, I thought). He also chose the pair of Eurynome, a goddess almost of equal importance as him, and Ophion, her mate, to be contenders.

However, their little brother Cronus wanted the power for himself so he devised a rather wicked plan. He secretly kidnapped Hyperion and Theia's children Helios, Selene and Eos and drowned them on River Eridanus. He further deceived the couple into believing him by saying that Uranus did the deed in fear of their children's power. Hyperion then swore upon the Gaea's name (also a binding oath aside from the River Styx who was not yet given the honor back then) that he will support Cronus against his enemies ALL THE WAY without knowing what the consequences of this rash action could be. Tsk tsk. Not very wise on his part.

What happened next was the infamous Castration of Uranus.

Vasari's Castration of Uranus (source)

And the less infamous deposition of Eurynome.

As events showed, Cronus got what he wanted, and became King of the Universe (bwahaha!), but then Zeus and a group of younger gods led a rebellion against him. Hyperion and Theia was, again, ready to fight beside him; until they saw their supposedly drowned children fighting side by side with the Olympians. Hyperion was so horrified but had no choice than to act upon his words and fight the war with his traitor brother. On the other hand, Theia was equally flabbergasted that she plunged into depression, and took no part in the war.

Just before the Titanomachy ended, Theia lost all her remaining sanity; wandered through the land and just like... poof!... vanished after a thunderstorm. Her Essence from Aether was retrieved by Zeus for Helios (in memory of his mother) and himself (Oh, c'mon!).

(I am open to suggestions on how this story can be improved. Just get in touch with me.)