Themis: Justice Will Prevail

Themis by me.

In one of my previous posts, I have mentioned that only two of the six original Titanides never left for mankind's benefit after the Titanomachy: one was Mnemosyne, and the other was Themis. Themis, I must say, is one enduring goddess--being one of a few who have actually met Uranus; ruled a part of the cosmos under Cronus; survived the Titanomachy; and served during the reign of Zeus. Aside from that of the Olympians, representations of her are also still quite popular up to the present times.

Themis was the eldest daughter of Uranus and Gaea, according to many ancient writers. (I am having hints from various sources that Oceanus was the eldest Titan, Hyperion the second, Themis the third... Cronus the youngest, I'll update you when I'm done with my interpolation.^^)

An early bride of Zeus (again?), she was the mother of the Horae or Seasons, and, according to many sources (although I don't particularly agree) the Moirae or Fates.

(I'll discuss the reason on why I differ with the Moirae's parentage in their own article. Soon.) 

The Daily Prophet (non-HP edition)

To Themis
- Fumigation from Frankincense -

Illustrious Themis, celestial born flower of Earth,
I invoke the Virgin with beautiful eyes.

You were first to grant the gift of prophesy to man,
and in the deep recesses of sacred Pytho,
You ruled alone and renowned.

From Your power flows the inspiration
that You gave to Apollo and the oracles.
Light formed, divine Majestic Virgin,
You taught mortals the rites of Initiation,
And in Your wanderings in the night
the Choirs of Dionysus are Your joy.

You reveal the holy honors of Powers Divine,
Be present, Goddess, hear our prayer,
and visit these mystic rites with Your favor.

 -Orphic hymn to Themis, from Sybilline Order 

As the firstborn daughter of the Universe's power couple, Themis received quite a lot of favors. First off, she inherited her mother's ability to ACCURATELY tell the future. Yes, her sisters were also prophetic goddesses; but she had a lot more talent when it comes to that. She was at first THE goddess of prophecy; in contrast with the other prophetic deities. She presided over the most ancient earthly oracles, including Olympia and Dodona. To add to that, she had also received the Oracle of Delphi, 'homerically' called Pytho, from Gaea herself. (Mother Earth used to own the oracle herself.)

Themis used to be 'The Voice'
of Delphi. No copyright infringement
intended here babies. I got the logo here.

From there, she became 'The Voice' who, as Theoi Project says:

first instructed mankind in the primal laws of justice and morality, such as the precepts of piety, the rules of hospitality, good governance, conduct of assembly, and pious offerings to the gods.

 (The show is such a hit here in our country; I can't help putting--and modifying-- it here. Teehee. Peace!)

So yeah, Themis did a really cool job as the oracular voice of the earth. In fact, she uttered several of the most famous prophecies involved in the sagas of the gods in Greek mythology. These included:

• the prophecy of the fall of the Titans;
• the prophecy of the son of Thetis;
• the prophecy of the liberation of Prometheus;
• the prophecy of the theft of the Golden Apples;
• the prophecy of Deucalion's stone-born men;
• the prophecy of the sons of Callirhoe (I didn't know this); and
• the prophecy of the death of the Gigantes

(Source: http://www.theoi.com/Titan/TitanisThemis.html. It's basically the same link as above. Hehe.)

Themis grew very famous because of her rather 'sensational' visions. People flocked around her oracles especially in Delphi that she decided to employ her sister Phoebe to handle some of her clients, and become her temple associate. Having prophesied the loss of her brothers, she chose to bet on the winning side. Eventually, she was promoted to become the new king Zeus' personal adviser. Themis then left Phoebe the Delphic Oracle who in turn handed it down to her grandson, Apollo.

Sitting by Zeus' throne, Themis still continued to become a goddess of foresight in Olympus.

Bringing order in the court

The Titaness Themis was more popularly known as the steadfast goddess of divine justice, law and order. The origin of this power may have been Eurynome the Creatrix. According to the myth where she created the seven planetary powers, Themis was paired with an obscure Titan named Eurymedon. Both of them were given the dominion over the planet Jupiter and the power over law.

According to Wikipedia, Themis means "divine law", those rules of conduct long established by custom, rather than human ordinance. As such, Journeying to the Goddess says that she regulated the karmic order in the cosmos and presided over matters of moral judgment (a role very similar to that of the earlier Egyptian Goddess Ma'at, based on what I've read here).

And also, NEVER EVER confuse Divine Justice with these:

(Sorry. I know that was a bad joke.)

On a more serious note, Maya del Mar on her Daykeeper Journal says that:

In later Greek mythology, transferred to Mount Olympus, she personified the social order of law and custom, a reminder that social order is ultimately dependent on the natural order of the earth. Themis is a grounded, earthly goddess who is also comfortable moving through the shifting, mantic world of dreams. She is deep wisdom familiar with both the depths of earth and the heights of sky: a guide into the soul.

Themis 2.0 - Up in Olympus

As a goddess of the old order, it is an impressive feat for Themis to survive the transition and even gain her spot among the younger and fresher goddesses of the heavens. Let's see what has become of her after the Titan War.

Themis, Hermes, Zeus, Nike,
and Athena (source)

A higher office. From the earthly oracles, Themis was promoted to become one of Zeus' staff when the top god assumed the throne of lordship. She served as his first personal counselor (Athena became the second later on) and was the one who convened and dissolved the assemblies of the gods.

(Rumor has it that Themis helped Zeus plot the Trojan War to remedy the problems on overpopulation! O.o)

What's more? She was... ssshhh... his lover. They even had children! But that was before his marriage to Hera, so yeah, no worries. Themis is in a safe place.

God Checker wittily describes what happened just before Zeus' marriage to Hera:

A peaceful separation settlement seems to have been arrived at and she and ZEUS remained good friends.

Being a wise woman herself, Themis did just the soundest decision.

A lower office. Themis as Divine Justice represented justice not only on heaven and earth, but also in the Underworld. I've read from the Goddess Guide that she sat in judgment of the recently deceased and decided whether they were sent to Tartarus or the Elysian Fields. But as Themis always takes office in Olympus, she had the Three Judges of the Underwold (Minos, Aeacus and Rhadamanthys) fill in the position for her.

Among the A-list. Themis was one of the oldest and most revered goddesses in Olympus. Her epithet Eugenes ("High Born") suggests her high status. Also, as revealed by her title Hiera (meaning "reverend"), she was one of the only few goddesses whom the prima donna queen Hera revered. Even the High Ladies of Olympus, Hestia and Demeter, call her their Lady.

A goddess in Rome. Only a few Titans successfully made it to the Classic Roman Pantheon. One of them was Themis, where she was known as JUSTITIA (hence, justice... duh). As such, she was the embodiment of the divine rightness of law; and the personification of the moral force in judicial systems. She could have logically been the world's (and beyond's) first lawyer.

The name Justitia was also used by one of Themis’ daughter, Dike, in her office as the Roman goddess of Human Justice – implying that she looked up to her mother as her role model. Not a bad choice, actually.

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Justice and order, up to this day, are of extreme importance to humanity. Without them, the world would once again plunge in chaos and confusion. This could be the reason why, unlike the other Titanides, Themis never left.