Hemera: Little Miss Sunshine

This is Hemera from my imagination.

Hemera belonged to a class known as Protogenoi--the first generation of gods who played important roles in the creation of the cosmos. Like many of her 'relatives', she grew too old beyond retirement age and had been gradually forgotten in the godly happenings. Nevertheless, I still like this goddess very much.

It's a beautiful Day!

I just thought Michael Buble could set up the mood for you:

Or maybe you're a Lee DeWyze person (wherever he is right now):

Whatever. Now, back to the story.

Our girl Hemera here was the daughter of the primeval gods Erebus (Shadow) and Nyx (Night), and the sister-wife of Aether (Air). In contrast to her 'dark' parentage, this goddess was all about brightness (which made me think of  the phrase, "darkest before the dawn.). Hemera was then the goddess of light, warmth and day. She was called Dies by the Romans.

She was a totally sunny goddess who always had a positive outlook in life. As what I have read from Greekgods.info:

She brightened the dark with her morning greeting over the earth.

Quite a happy camper, I must say.

Hemera's job was to pull away the dark curtains of Erebus every morning to let her brother Aether's light shine forth. As a deity who brings morning, she also came to be considered as the goddess of new beginnings. (Source)

I personally think that that was the reason why the two of them eventually fell for each other. You know, having to see each other every day for eternity and stuff. As events showed, the two finally got married and had a daughter named Thalassa, the female personification of the sea.

A special case of parent issues

Back in the days when the universe was still young, Hemera used to reside with her mother in Tartarus, in the depths of the Underworld. However, due to their conflicting work schedules, the two deities never met each other at home.

Hemera left Tartarus just as Nyx entered it; when Hemera returned, Nyx left. According to Hesiod's  Theogony, Nyx and Hemera draw near and greet one another as they pass the great threshold of bronze: and while the one is about to go down into the house, the other comes out at the door.

But that was an allegory. Literally, it must have looked like this:

(and I just got dizzy @_@)

That could have brought a somewhat frictional relationship between the mother and daughter. (Not that they wanted it, of course!)

Breaking Dawn

NOTE: This part has nothing to do with Stephenie Meyer's novel about freakin' vampires. I have nothing against Ms. Meyer, though.

As what I have pointed out in my previous posts, the gods are vulnerable to losing their powers either as a result of seizure or of voluntary surrender. What happened to Hemera and her husband Aether was an example of the latter.

A really beautiful photo entitled

Orange Thought by ~chloh

Aether was the first of the couple to rest; having finally gotten the tad of being the literal Light. The god gave away his powers to his favorite niece, the Titaness Theia, as a birthday present. As a Protogenos himself, he could not just have faded away. Instead, he became the brass walls that fortified both Olympus and Tartarus.

As for Hemera, she still went on with her life, but felt that it was never the same without Aether. So, when Theia went to ask her to bless her newborn daughter Eos, Hemera willingly gave all her powers to the young goddess.

After that, she transformed into a celestial veil. We would later find Eos drawing back this veil every morning to make way for his brother Helios, the Sun.

And so, a wall and a curtain. That's what became the two of them. Nice ending.

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.)