Thaumas

Thaumas was a sea god in Greek mythology, a son of Pontus (Sea) and Gaea (Earth). In Hesiod’s Theogony he married the Oceanid Electra, and their children were Iris, the swift messenger of the gods, and the Harpies Aello and Ocypete. No myth tells of anything he himself did; he is known through his family.

Parents and Siblings

Hesiod says that Pontus fathered Nereus, the eldest of his children, and then, mating with Gaea, he fathered great Thaumas, proud Phorcys, fair-cheeked Ceto and Eurybia, who has a heart of flint (Hesiod, Theogony 233–239). Apollodorus gives the same list of children of Pontus and Earth: Phorcus, Thaumas, Nereus, Eurybia and Ceto (Apollodorus 1.2.6). Thaumas is therefore the brother of Nereus, Phorcys, Ceto and Eurybia, who are among the older sea deities. Nereus is the one Hesiod calls “the Old Man of the Sea” (Theogony 233–236); Thaumas is not given any rule over the sea.

Wife and Children

Hesiod says that Thaumas married Electra, daughter of deep-flowing Oceanus. She bore him swift Iris and the fair-haired Harpies, Aello (“Storm-swift”) and Ocypete (“Swift-flier”), who on their swift wings keep pace with the winds and the birds (Hesiod, Theogony 265–269). Apollodorus gives the same children of Thaumas and Electra (Apollodorus 1.2.6).

Iris

Iris is the child of Thaumas who is best known. Hesiod calls her “the daughter of Thaumas, swift-footed Iris,” who travels with messages over the broad back of the sea; when strife arises among the gods, Zeus sends her to fetch the water of the Styx in a golden jug for the great oath of the gods (Theogony 780–786). In the Iliad she brings messages from Zeus to the Trojans (Iliad 2.786–787). The name Iris is also the Greek word for the rainbow, which Homer describes as a sign set by Zeus for mortals, a portent of war or of a bitter storm (Iliad 17.547–549). Later poets keep the family name: Ovid calls her Iris, the child of Thaumas, when she purifies Juno with sprinkled water after the goddess’s visit to the Underworld (Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.479–480), and Callimachus calls her the daughter of Thaumas when she keeps watch for Hera and sits beside her throne (Callimachus, Hymn to Delos 67, 232).

The Harpies

The Harpies, Aello and Ocypete, are the other children of Thaumas and Electra; Hesiod describes them as long-haired winged beings who fly with the winds and the birds (Theogony 267–269). Their pursuit of the blind king Phineus belongs to the voyage of the Argonauts and is told on the Harpies page.

The Meaning of the Name

The Greek word thauma means a wonder or marvel, and Thaumas is connected to it. In Plato’s Theaetetus, Socrates says that wonder is the only beginning of philosophy, and that the one who said Iris was the child of Thaumas made a good genealogy (Plato, Theaetetus 155d). Plato’s remark is a play on the name and not a myth about Thaumas himself.

Thaumas Sources

Hesiod, Theogony 233–239, 265–269, 780–786; Homer, Iliad 2.786–787, 17.547–549; Apollodorus, Library 1.2.6; Plato, Theaetetus 155d; Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.479–480; Callimachus, Hymn 4 (to Delos) 67, 232.

See Also: Pontus, Gaea, Harpies, Iris, Electra, Nereus, Phorcys, Ceto, Eurybia