Eurybia

Eurybia was a goddess in Greek mythology, a daughter of Pontus (the Sea) and Gaia and the wife of the Titan Crius. She is one of the minor figures in Hesiod’s Theogony, where she is the mother of Astraeus, Pallas and Perses. She has no myth of her own in the ancient sources. Her name is Greek for “wide force”.

Family

Hesiod lists Eurybia among the children of Pontus (the Sea) and Gaia (Earth): Nereus, Thaumas, Phorcys, Ceto, and Eurybia, who has “a heart of adamant in her breast” (Hesiod, Theogony 233–239). Apollodorus likewise calls her the daughter of Pontus and Earth (Apollodorus, Library 1.2.2, 1.2.6). Her brothers and sister were thus sea gods and sea monsters, and she is a half-sister of the Titans, who were the children of Uranus and Gaia and are listed by Hesiod without her (Theogony 132–138).

Crius and Their Children

Eurybia married the Titan Crius, and they had three sons: Astraeus, Pallas and Perses, “who was preeminent among all in wisdom” (Theogony 375–377; Apollodorus, Library 1.2.2). Because of this marriage she is counted with the Titans, although Hesiod does not list her among the children of Uranus and Gaia.

Through her sons she was the grandmother of many gods:

• Astraeus and Eos, the Dawn, had the winds Zephyrus, Boreas and Notus, and the Morning Star and the shining stars of the sky (Theogony 378–382).
• Pallas and Styx, daughter of Oceanus, had Zelus, Nike, Kratos and Bia, who always sit beside Zeus (Theogony 383–388).
• Perses and Asteria had Hecate (Theogony 409–411).

Role in the Myths

Hesiod and Apollodorus mention Eurybia only to give her family and her children. In these accounts she takes no part in the Titanomachy and has no story of her own, and she is not said to rule the sea or any part of it.

Eurybia Sources

Hesiod, Theogony 132–138, 233–239, 375–388, 409–411; Apollodorus, Library 1.2.2, 1.2.6.

See Also: Titans, Pontus, Gaea, Crius, Astraeus, Perses, Pallas