Tethys: Nursing Mother of 'Pearls'

My Tethys.

Tethys I call, with eyes cærulean bright,

Hid in a veil obscure from human sight;

Great Ocean's empress, wand'ring thro' the deep,

And pleas'd with gentle gales, the earth to sweep;

Whose blessed waves in swift succession go,

And lash the rocky shore with endless flow:

Delighting in the Sea serene to play,

In ships exulting and the wat'ry way.

Mother of Venus, and of clouds obscure,

Great nurse of beasts, and source of fountains pure.

O venerable Goddess, hear my pray'r,

And make benevolent my life thy care;

Send, blessed queen, to ships a prosp'rous breeze,

And waft them safely o'er the stormy seas. 

Orphic Hymn (Translation by Thomas Taylor) 

 (Courtesy: In Her Name)

In addition to Theia and Rhea, Tethys may also be considered another Titan queen (She was even called 'empress' on the hymn above). A mother of 3,000 (yes, seriously.... I'll discuss this later), this goddess just fits the bill to be called the Great Nurse of Greek Mythology.

Water under the bridge

Tethys' cult may have been largely forgotten, but there are still a handful of things about her that are worth mentioning.

Ancient sources agree that Tethys was one of the principal Titanides, a daughter of Uranus and Gaea. According to one source that I've read (which I lost, oops), she was their second daughter after Themis. She was attractive and cherished by both of her parents. At first, she was a goddess of rivers, as well as the distributor of FRESH WATER which nourished the earth. I am speculating that she acquired this power as a blessing from the Protogena Thesis, a creation goddess who was also a female aspect of the bi-gendered god Phanes.

(Source: click here)

She was married to her older brother Oceanus, the god of the sources of all the earth's fresh water. Upon their marriage, the Protogenoi (first-born gods) gifted them with their very own realm: the earth-encircling freshwater stream they called Ocean (which, I THINK, was originally from Hydros, a very very passive primeval water god). There, they ruled quite independently from the hustles and bustles of Heaven (then ruled by Uranus), Earth (by Gaea) and Sea (Pontus).

Furthermore, according to the Pelasgian myth (thanks Paleothea!) narrating the story of how the goddess Eurynome gave everyone everything, Tethys and Oceanus received dominion over the Planet Venus and its Essence of love. The planetary power seemed VERY appropriate for them, considering the number of children they have had; Tethys is surely one prolific woman!

(She must've gotten the trait from her mother Gaea.)

Tethys, like the other Titanides remained neutral during the Titanomachy (Although she served as Hera's protector up until then). Thus, she still retained her powers after her brothers' downfall.

And the river flows to the sea. As what I have pointed out earlier, Tethys had started out as a freshwater goddess, as opposed to the salty sea. But as time passed by, people came to identify her also as a deity of the brine. Yeah, I know it's because of the Ocean stream being identified with the Atlantic Ocean, geography becoming more accurate and stuff, but I still came up with a more dramatic story for this:

(ALERT: I composed this one. No historical references. Just sayin'.)

As a royal couple, Tethys and Oceanus wanted only the best of the best for their children. Of course they allowed their children to be with whomever they want, although they would prefer it if they marry those who belong to their caste, and who are worthy of their reputation.

In one instance, they betrothed their daughter Doris to the crowned prince Nereus, son of Pontus (who was the Sovereign of the Seas back then). Part of the prenuptial agreement stated that they had to share in the dominion over the Sea (pratical parents, actually). With their daughter now the crowned princess of the sea, the couple held some sway over the briny waters. Time passed and they eventually acquired the rule of it; both of them becoming embodiment of ALL the waters in the world (the Sea and the Ocean still remained two separate kingdoms, though). In this guise, Tethys came to be identified with Thalassa, the real female embodiment of the sea.

Nereus and Doris' wedding might have looked like this.
Credits  to Maui Wedding for this pic.

(The prenup proved to be disadvantageous on Pontus' side, as he clearly did not acquire powers over the realm of freshwater. Oh, well, he might have just been a typical old man who only wanted to have grandchildren.)

Fortunately for Doris, Nereus was a loving and faithful husband. A proof of their happiness is their fifty Nereid daughters. (Why do water gods always have tons of children???)

Had I been there, I would've suggested this to be part of their wedding soundtrack:

The more, the merrier: Tethys' family motto

No shortage of sons and daughters
Tethys was notably a nurturing goddess of fertile ocean. True enough, she and her husband, Oceanus, were among (if not THE) the busiest couples ever documented in myth. Together, they had parented a staggering number of:

• 3,000 OCEANID DAUGHTERS, nymphs and goddesses of the Great River; and
• ALL THE RIVER GODS in the world (Some say, they also numbered 3,000 but who knows? There could have been more.)

And yes, those two could populate an entire continent with just their immediate family. I was planning to name every one of them here, but then again I thought... better not. And seriously, these guys here need some serious and in-depth family planning advice.

Being a dutiful mother to these lot, she fed her children's streams by drawing water from Oceanus through subterranean aquifers (Thanks, Theoi for that one!). Awww... a mother's love!

On fostering the Queen
Tethys' nurturing quality was not just exemplified in raising her own children, but her sister Rhea's daughter as well. She raised and educated Hera back when she was still a little Titan princess. One of the proudest nanny moments for Tethys must have been when her goddaughter Hera was crowned Queen of Olympus (I can almost see her getting teary-eyed, tsss).

Ursa Major and Ursa Minor by Helen Glazer

A long time after, Hera was so displeased with one of Zeus' extramarital affairs (again, mythology readers have grown used to it) that she came down to Tethys to ask for help. According to Theoi.com:

Tethys, to honour her foster-daughter Hera, forbade the constellation Ursa Minor to set into the waters of Oceanus.

*A little background on the story, the Ursa Major used to be Zeus' lover Callisto who was changed to a bear, was accidentally shot by her son (who was also changed to a bear as Ursa Minor), and was placed in the sky as a constellation.*

Tethys, as the goddess-wife of the great earth-encircling River Oceanus, oversaw the rising and setting of the heavenly bodies--the Sun, Moon, Dawn, Starry Constellations, and Clouds. As such, she cursed both the constellations forever to circle the sky and never drop below the horizon, hence explaining why they are circumpolar.

The last few drops of Tethys

When the Olympians came to power, Oceanus and Tethys had to relinquish the rule of the seas to the upstart god Poseidon. The couple went back to their home turf, Ocean, and lived (or are still living) their retired lives undisturbed.

Postscript: Scientific Tethys(es?)

Astronomical/Astrological
symbol of Tethys. (Source)

To the Einsteins and Galileos out there, Tethys may refer to TWO distinct bodies:

• Tethys Moon in Saturn, discovered by Giovanni Domenico Cassini in 1684.
• Tethys Sea, a ancient body of water that existed between the continents of Gondwana and Laurasia during much of the Mesozoic era, before the opening of the Indian and Atlantic oceans during the Cretaceous period.

Interesting how scientific people name things.