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.

The First Week So Far

The last week had been such a blessing to me and my 'mythological' life.

As a stay-at-home boy and a total geek, I didn't have many people with whom I can share my thoughts about a seemingly nerdy and boring subject very dear to my heart... that is, MYTHOLOGY. Ever since I was 9 years old, I have felt the 'ichor' flowing through my veins, seeping through my soul and becoming part of my whole being. I've been living with myth and in myth for more than half of my life. And I regret nothing about it. In fact, I feel really really grateful to God (the one true God whom I adore and worship) for the gift of intelligence, as well as the fire of passion and enthusiasm, that He has endowed me with.

Unfortunately, only a few among everyone I know appreciate this.

This whole blogging thing isn't new to me. I had read many different blogs about different topics in the past, but it has never occurred to me to write one of my own just until recently. I am really thankful that I got to try it. This amazing piece of technology allowed me to open up that part of me which I often suppress out of fear of  feeling out of place, or ostracized. As what I've said, the topic on mythology and folklore are very close to me that I try to pour my heart out in every article that I post here. Thankfully, my efforts are not in left in vain.

I am really extremely happy that many people from around the world have already visited my blog, and share their thoughts on it. For the past week, I have had great conversations and discussions (even debates) about mythology, and I feel more than satisfied about them. Yes, it may not be easy and not practically (and financially) rewarding, but it is where and how I am happy.

And so, I want to thank everyone who has spared a little of their time to look into the thoughts of a geeky, aloof and jobless (I pray this one won't be for long) young man. I believe that upon reading my posts, I have shared with you a part of me. And I promise you that you can expect more interesting (?), informative and imaginative articles about the gods and goddesses of mythology from yours truly.

Again, thank you very much.

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.

Phoebe: The Woman in the Moon

Phoebe. Drawn by me.

Sad to say, there aren't a lot of sources giving a hoot about Phoebe's awesomeness as a goddess. People almost always put her in the background. Not too good a publicity for a personage who could have easily been the original Sailor Moon.

Just another woman of light? From a woman whose name means "bright" and "radiant," she might as well have been a Titan goddess of light, alongside Theia.  According to some reliable sources, those two sisters were actually the best of friends (And, I find it so sweet!). 

I am guessing that their bonding moments could have included sun bathing, moon gazing, reading beauty magazines, and test driving the Sun and Moon chariots which they actually built! (I got that last bit from here.)

Moony-Eyed Over Phoebe

True enough, this goddess was a lot of wonders. Phoebe was a top Titanide, a daughter of Heaven and Earth; making her a princess. She was married to Coeus, the Titan of Intellect, and had the hotties Leto and Asteria for children. Now hers is another uber-BRIGHT family.

(Source: click here)

Her Lunar Legacy. One site says that Phoebe was never actually a moon goddess. But I beg to disagree. According to Pelasgian Myth (I got this one from Paleothea), the Supreme Goddess Eurynome gave Phoebe and the Titan Atlas (I'm really curious about this pairing. Since Phoebe was not partnered with Coeus this time, it could have been that they were not yet married during the distribution of powers), the dominion over the Moon and its Essence, Enchantment.

No wonder, many witches (both ancient and modern) draw seriously poppin' powers from the Moon.

According to the Official Guide to the Mythological Universe, some of the perks that Phoebe enjoyed as moon goddess included: the mystical powers to fly, the ability to conjure a silver light, and the ability to attract and repel objects (perhaps in reference to the moon's gravitational pull).

Like Grandmother, Like Granddaughters. Yeah, so Phoebe was the grandma of two of the most powerful goddesses of Ancient Greece:

• Hecate, goddess of witchcraft and sorcery, daughter of Asteria; and
• Artemis, goddess of hunting and chastity, daughter of Leto (don't worry, I'll be discussing Apollo later).

In addition to that, she also served as Selene's foster mother after her biological mother, Theia, had gone all nuts and vanished (you might want to read her full story here).

(ALERT: I just made up the Selene thingie. No reliable sources found. Beware.)

Phoebe loved her granddaughters so much that decided to give up her being the moon goddess for the girls. She separated her Moon Power into three, and gave each one to them. And so, the moon has got three forms. As Edith Hamilton (I'm quite sure everybody has read her in school) puts it:

Selene in the sky, Artemis on earth, Hecate in the lower world and in the world above when it is wrapped in darkness. 

Mythology, p 32

Yeah, talk about awesome family heirlooms.

In the Navel (Pun Intended)

Ruins of the Oracle at Delphi, the so-called 'navel of the earth' (Source)

Aside from being the original goddess of the moon, Phoebe was also a prophetic goddess of the famous Delphic Oracle, which was called the 'navel of the earth'. In this case, she was the 'temple associate' of Themis, the oracle's main goddess during the reign of Cronus. The ever reliable Theoi Project relates that Phoebe in the Oracle of Delphi:

... probably spoke with the prophetic voice of her mother Earth, while her husband Koios or Polos (literally "axis of heaven"), was the Titan who uttered the prophecies of his father the Sky. The daughters of the pair--Asteria and Leto--may have represented the oracles of darkness and light.

 As a really bright goddess, Phoebe opted not to take part in the gruesome Titanomachy. You could just imagine her chillin' at Delphi with Themis (who quietly supported the younger gods, BTW). After Zeus' victory against the Titans, Themis got hired to be King Zeus' personal adviser and was transferred to work in Olympus. Phoebe thereafter became the principal goddess of the Delphic Oracle. She was even made the goddess of all earth-based prophecies. Checking from God Checker, I also found out that Phoebe became a:

Goddess of Wise Counsel, Thoughtful Replies and Snappy Answers.

(Nice employment benefits for Phoebe, actually.) 

When her daughter Leto gave birth to the twins Apollo and Artemis, the proud grandmother Phoebe was so delighted that she decided to give her only grandson Apollo her Oracle as a birthday present.

What's left of her

Phoebe was such a generous goddess that she gave away all her powers and offices to her grandchildren (and one of her nieces). You might think that all that's left of her is her NAME.

Uhhh... just so you know, she gave that one away, too:

• Apollo became popularly known as Phoebus Apollo (Some people even say that it was his full name.); and
• Artemis as the goddess of the moon also became called Phoebe.

After that, we can only guess that Phoebe (like Theia) also just vanished; her Essence, which continued to exist within the three younger goddesses, became the light that makes the moon shine. Sweet.

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Meanwhile, let us get nostalgic about the good old days of Phoebe (and our own) with this little known (but very pleasing, I say) instrumental made by a project called Windsor Airlift:

Mnemosyne: Remembering the Titan Muse

My own version of Mnemosyne.

"Mnemosyne I call, the Queen, consort of Zeus, Mother of the sacred, holy and sweet-voiced Muses. Ever alien to her is evil oblivion that harms the mind, she holds all things together in the same dwelling place, in the mind and soul of mortals, she strengthens the powerful ability of humans to think. 

Most sweet, vigilant, she reminds us of all the thoughts that each one of us is for ever storing in our hearts, overlooking nothing, rousing everyone to consciousness. But, blessed goddess, awaken for the initiates the memory of the sacred rite, and ward off forgetfulness from them."

- Orphic Hymn to Mnemosyne

People nowadays only recall Mnemosyne as the mother of the more famous Muses. Or perhaps as the root word of the word mnemonics. But there's more to her than that. She was a Titan princess, an ancient diva and a really foxy lady.

'In Loving Memory' of Mnemosyne

Please don't be misled by the title, Mnemosyne did not just die. In fact, she was one of only a few Titans whose blessing stayed with mankind the longest. Why so? Because Mnemosyne is MEMORY, that one gift that distinguishes us, humans, from other creatures in the world.

A little information about her family, she was a principal Titaness, daughter of Father Uranus and Mother Gaea. She had no legal husband, but was 'god-fondled' by Zeus from whom she became the mother of the NINE muses, patronesses of the arts. If you're curious about this affair, just read on. I'm gonna tell their story later.

Also, aside from her hall in Othrys (the home of the Titans), Mnemosyne used to own a villa on the hills of Eleuther. It was where she conceived her nine lovely daughters (Source).

Memoirs of a Diva. Once upon a time, Mnemosyne was a member of the divine trio (at one time a quartet, even a quintet) known as the TITAN MUSES. As daughters of King Uranus and the goddesses of music, they were like the most famous superstars of that time. The band was composed of:

• Melete, the Muse of Practice;
• Aoide, the Muse of Song; and
• Mneme (Mnemosyne's 'nickname'), the Muse of Memory

(Fans back then must have realized that just saying her name can be a real pain in the ass so they had to call her something shorter and easier to remember. Orz)

The other two former members of the group were:

• Arche, the Muse of Beginning; and
• Thelxinoe, the Muse of Charm.

As a diva goddess, Mnemosyne possessed great powers in the strength of her voice, enabling her to create sonic effects to shatter glass or to hypnotize others with a word (Source). Just imagine modern rock concerts  having the same effect.

On a more serious note, Mnemosyne used this gift to give kings and poets their powers of authoritative speech. In Rome, the name Moneta served as her cognate derived from Latin monēre (which means to remind, warn, or instruct).

Being her Uranus' favorite daughter, Mnemosyne was so affected by her father's ousting that she did not readily accept the position in the Titan Council offered to her by Cronus. Her office was filled in by the Oceanid Dione until the time Mnemosyne was ready. 

A Goddess to Remember. Mnemosyne’s work was not all glitz and glam – as, in actuality, she was one on the geeky side. She was at first the inventress of language and words. According to Goddess Gift:

She was given responsibility for the naming of all objects, and by doing so gave humans the means to dialog and to converse with each other. 

In addition to that, she was also the goddess of memory and remembrance. Her role was very important, so to speak, especially in the ancient times when writing and literacy had not yet been invented. She represented the rote memorization required to preserve the stories of history and sagas of myth. As such, she became the owner of all the tales (Even though, there are not much stories about herself).

Mnemosyne embodied an oral culture that communicated the soul through their stories and metaphors. Back then, it was critical to the well-being of an individual or a society who had to rely solely on the lessons passed on in an oral history. However, as Maicar’s Greek Mythology Link puts it:

Mnemosyne is a great goddess, not only in the illiterate era when minstrels sang relying on what they found printed in their hearts, but at all times. For the mere act of being could not be apprehended without her; and man, in order to be, must be able to remember that he is, lest his very identity vanishes behind the clouds of inexplicable confusion. And once he remembers who he is, he still needs Memory in order to acquire and practise any science, art, or skill. For also knowledge is inseparable from Memory, by which all things that are and have been may be learned and recalled.

And that was how crucial her role was. Phew. Big responsibilities.

Mnemosyne lays Nonuplets

(Trivia: Nonuplets - Nine Twins, say... the Muses) 

This must have made the headlines back then. But, yeah, anything could be a headline when you're living in a world of gods. But how did this tale come to be? I found a nice story set after the Titanomachy regarding the birth of the nine Muses at Goddess Gift (I'm using this site quite a lot these days). It goes like this:

After Zeus led the war against the Titans and established himself as the leader of the Olympians, he feared that, even though he might be immortal, his great victories and decisions might soon be forgotten.

Longing for a way to preserve the memory of his many great feats, he dressed as a shepherd and went to find Mnemosyne. They slept together for nine nights before he returned to his home on Mount Olympus. (By the way, Zeus was still single so this was not one of his famous extramarital affairs.)

Zeus got his wish. Nine months later Mnemosyne gave birth for nine days, each day delivering a daughter. Collectively they were known as the Muses and were described as "having one mind, their hearts set upon song and their spirit free from care".

No banquet on Mount Olympus was complete without them. Seated near the throne of their father, they entertained the guests, singing not only of the greatness of Zeus, but about the marvelous feats of the Greek heroes and the creation of the heavens and the earth and all its wondrous creatures. 

And thus, Mnemosyne became the Mistress of the Arts, and the number 9 became her sacred number. The convenience that is Greek mythology. Tsk. Tsk.

... And the goddess lies LOW

After so many things that had happened in her divine life and her daughters having become full blown celebrities themselves, Mnemosyne decided to step out of the lime light. She became a minor oracular goddess in the oracle of Trophonius at Lebadeia; just like her sisters. 

Also, in her decision to lie low, she got really low like Underworld low. Mnemosyne presided over the Pool of Memory in Hades, counterpart to the River of Oblivion, Lethe. The ancients believed that when one died and crossed into the Underworld one would be given a choice . . . whether to drink from the river Lethe where you would forget all the pains and terrors of your previous life (and with them, the lessons they brought), or whether to drink from the Mnemosyne, the spring of memory. Those who chose to forget had to be reborn, to return to earth to learn the lessons they needed.  Those who had chosen to remember were admitted to the Elysian Fields where they would spend eternity in comfort and peace.

Sacred springs and fountains thereafter became sacred to her.

What a nice retirement for a nice goddess.

Remember not to forget. Even so, Mnemosyne stayed in our memory… to literally help our memory. From her name (or she was named after it… either way is fine by me) came our modern word Mnemonics. According to the FREE Dictionary (Hallelujah, it’s free):

mne·mon·ic (n-mnk)

adj. Relating to, assisting, or intended to assist the memory.

n. A device, such as a formula or rhyme, used as an aid in remembering.

And that’s Mnemosyne for us all.