Tethys

Tethys was a Titaness, a daughter of Uranus and Gaea, and the wife of her brother Oceanus. In Hesiod she is the mother of the river gods and of the three thousand Oceanids. In Homer she and Oceanus fostered the young Hera. She should not be confused with Thetis, the Nereid who became the mother of Achilles.

Tethys' Family

Hesiod counts Tethys among the twelve children of Gaea and Uranus, together with Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus, Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe and Cronus (Hesiod, Theogony 132–138). Apollodorus lists her among the Titanides, with Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Dione and Theia (Apollodorus, Library 1.1.3). Plato, giving the genealogy of the gods that the old tradition handed down, also has Oceanus and Tethys born of Ge and Uranus (Plato, Timaeus 40e).

Tethys' Children

Tethys bore to Oceanus the swirling rivers, including the Nile, the Alpheus, the Eridanus, the Strymon, the Maeander, the Ister, the Phasis, the Achelous and the Scamander (Hesiod, Theogony 337–345). She also bore a holy race of daughters, who care for young men on the earth with Apollo and the rivers: Peitho, Doris, Clymene, Callirhoe, Metis, Eurynome, Asia, Calypso, Tyche and many more, of whom Styx is the foremost (Hesiod, Theogony 346–362). Hesiod says that there are three thousand slender-ankled Oceanids and the same number of rivers, all sons of Oceanus, whom lady Tethys bore (Hesiod, Theogony 364–370). Apollodorus names Asia, Styx, Electra, Doris, Eurynome, Amphitrite and Metis among the Oceanids (Apollodorus, Library 1.2.2), and gives Oceanus and Tethys as the parents of Inachus, the river of Argos, and of the river Asopus (Library 2.1.1; 3.12.6).

Oceanus and Tethys in Homer

Homer's Hera calls Oceanus the origin of the gods and Tethys their mother (Homer, Iliad 14.201, 14.302). The fostering of Hera by this pair is the best-known thing the poets say of Tethys.

Raising Hera

In the Iliad, Hera says that Oceanus and mother Tethys received her from Rhea and nursed and cherished her in their halls, when far-sounding Zeus thrust Cronus down beneath the earth and the barren sea (Homer, Iliad 14.200–204). Tethys was thus Hera's foster mother and nurse, and it was Rhea herself who handed Hera over to her. Hera tells this to Aphrodite when she asks her for the charm of love, saying that she is going to visit them to settle their endless quarrel, since they have long abstained from the bed and from love; she gives the same reason to Zeus. It is a pretext: her real aim is to seduce Zeus and have Sleep close his eyes (Iliad 14.205–207, 14.301–306, 14.346–353).

Ursa Major and Ursa Minor Constellations

Ovid tells how Jupiter set Callisto and her son Arcas in the sky as neighbouring stars. Hera (Juno), angry that her rival now shone among the stars, went down to the sea to visit Tethys and old Oceanus, whom the gods revere. Appealing to them as the goddess they had nursed, she asked them to keep the seven stars of the Bear out of their blue waters, so that her rival should not bathe in the pure sea. The sea gods agreed (Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.505–531). For this reason the Bear, unlike the other stars, does not set into the ocean. Hyginus gives the same explanation, saying that Tethys, the wife of Oceanus, will not receive the constellation because she was Juno's nurse and Callisto had been Juno's rival (Hyginus, Astronomica 2.1).

Tethys and Thetis

Tethys is a Titan; Thetis is a different goddess, a sea-nymph, the daughter of the old man of the sea, who became the mother of Achilles (Homer, Iliad 1.357–358). The two names look alike in English, and they are often confused.

Tethys Sources

Hesiod, Theogony 132–138, 337–370; Homer, Iliad 1.357–358, 14.200–207, 14.301–306, 14.346–353; Apollodorus, Library 1.1.3, 1.2.2, 2.1.1, 3.12.6; Plato, Timaeus 40e; Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.505–531; Hyginus, Astronomica 2.1.

See Also: Oceanus, Titans, Gaea, Uranus, Hera, Rhea, Thetis, Callisto