Iris

Iris was the Greek goddess – or, better yet, personification – of the rainbow, and a messenger of the gods. Hesiod makes her a daughter of Thaumas and the Oceanid Electra, and a sister of the Harpies (Hesiod, Theogony 265–269). In Homer she carries the messages of Zeus and, once, of Hera; later poets make her chiefly Hera’s servant.

The Dual Function of Iris · The Meaning of Her Name

Iris was both a personification of the rainbow and a divine messenger. The rainbow appears to connect heaven and earth, and it was fitting that its spirit should serve as the link between the gods and mortals. The goddess’ name is the Greek word iris, “rainbow,” which survives in English words such as “iridescent.”

Parents and Portrayal

Iris was the daughter of Thaumas, a son of Pontus and Earth, and the Oceanid Electra, and the sister of the Harpies Aello and Ocypete (Hesiod, Theogony 265–269; for Thaumas see also Theogony 237–239). Homer calls her “wind-footed” (podenemos) and “swift,” and says that she has golden wings (Iliad 8.398, 11.185). In Euripides she is called the servant of the gods (Euripides, Heracles 823–824). The Latin poets keep her Greek name; Virgil writes Iris in the accusative form Irim (Aeneid 4.694).

The Original Messenger: Iris Compared with Hermes

In Homer’s Iliad Iris is the messenger who carries commands between Olympus and the world below. Zeus sends her to the Trojans (Iliad 2.786–787), to Hector with orders for the battle (Iliad 11.185–195), to Hera and Athena when they set out against his will (Iliad 8.397–425) and to Poseidon, whom she tells to stop fighting (Iliad 15.158–161). In the last book Zeus sends her to Priam to tell him to ransom his son’s body, while Hermes is given the smaller task of guiding the king secretly to Achilles (Iliad 24.143–145, 24.333–338).

She also acts without a divine command. She tells Helen to come to the wall to watch the duel of Menelaus and Paris (Iliad 3.121–129); she leads the wounded Aphrodite from the battlefield (Iliad 5.353); and when Achilles prays to the winds Boreas and Zephyrus to kindle the pyre of Patroclus, Iris carries his prayer to them and they come (Iliad 23.198–211). Once Hera sends her, without Zeus knowing, to Achilles to tell him to defend the body of Patroclus (Iliad 18.166–168, 18.182–186).

The goddess Iris does not appear in the Odyssey. There the divine messages are carried by Hermes.

Iris’ Loyalty to Hera

In later poetry Iris serves Hera above all. In Euripides’ Heracles she appears with Lyssa, the spirit of madness, and says she was sent by Hera: Heracles has finished his labours, and Hera wants to put the new blood of his children on his hands. Iris orders Lyssa to drive him mad (Euripides, Heracles 822–835). In Virgil’s Aeneid, Juno sends Iris down from Olympus to release the dying Dido from her body by cutting a lock of her hair, since Dido was dying before her time (Virgil, Aeneid 4.693–705).

Iris and Her Family

Her sisters were the Harpies. In the Argonautica the Boreads Zetes and Calais chase the Harpies that torment Phineus. Iris, who sees them, forbids them to strike down “the hounds of great Zeus” and swears by the water of the Styx that the Harpies will never again approach Phineus; the Boreads obey, and the Harpies retreat to a cave in Crete while Iris returns to Olympus (Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 2.284–300).

Iris also has a duty connected with the oath of the gods: when a god tells a lie, Zeus sends her to bring the great oath of the gods, the water of the Styx, in a golden jug (Hesiod, Theogony 780–787). A verse quoted in Plutarch says that Zephyrus, the west wind, won Iris and that she bore him a son, the most beautiful of the gods (Plutarch, Of Love 20). Nonnus too calls her the wife of Zephyrus and the mother of Pothos, Desire (Nonnus, Dionysiaca 31, 47).

She also has a part in the birth of Apollo and Artemis. When Leto is in labour on Delos, the goddesses there send Iris to bring Eileithyia, promising her a great necklace, and tell her to do it without Hera knowing; Iris runs to Olympus and persuades Eileithyia (Homeric Hymn to Apollo 3.102–116).

Sources

Iris appears most often in Homer’s Iliad (2.786, 3.121, 5.353, 8.397, 11.185, 15.158, 18.166, 23.198, 24.143), in Hesiod’s Theogony (265–269, 780–787), in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo (3.102–116), in Apollonius’ Argonautica (2.284–300), in Euripides’ Heracles (822–835), in Virgil’s Aeneid (4.693–705), in a verse quoted in Plutarch’s Of Love (20) and in Nonnus’ Dionysiaca (books 31 and 47).

See Also: Hermes, Lyssa, Phineus, Anemoi, Harpies, Thaumas, Hera