THEMIS

THEMIS.

Themis, who has already been alluded to as the wife of Zeus, was the
daughter of Cronus and Rhea, and personified those divine laws of justice
and order by means of which the well-being and morality of communities
are regulated. She presided over the assemblies of the people and the
laws of hospitality. To her was intrusted the office of convoking the
assembly of the gods, and she was also mistress of ritual and ceremony.
On account of her great wisdom Zeus himself frequently sought her counsel
and acted upon her advice. Themis was a prophetic divinity, and had an
oracle near the river Cephissus in Bœotia.

She is usually represented as being in the full maturity of womanhood,
of fair aspect, and wearing a flowing garment, which drapes her noble,
majestic form; in her right hand she holds the sword of justice, and in
her left the scales, which indicate the impartiality with which every
cause is carefully weighed by her, her eyes being bandaged so that the
personality of the individual should carry no weight with respect to the
verdict.

This divinity is sometimes identified with Tyche, sometimes with
Ananke.

Themis, like so many other Greek divinities, takes the place of a more
ancient deity of the same name who was a daughter of Uranus and Gæa. This
elder Themis inherited from her mother the gift of prophecy, and when she
became merged into her younger representative she transmitted to her this
prophetic power.