Thetis in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Thetis

55 passages from 11 ancient authors that tell of Thetis, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Thetis was a sea nymph in Greek mythology, or according to some myths, one of the Nereids, the fifty daughters of the sea god Nereus and Doris. She w... For the story in one place, read our article on Thetis.

Hesiod (2)

Hesiod, Fragments 1.50–60Aeacus, Peleus and ThetisThese fragments follow the family of Oeneus and Hippostratus, and then Aeacus and the Myrmidons. Peleus and Acastus appear, Peleus comes to Phthia with great possessions, and Thetis is said to have avoided wedlock with Zeus.
Hesiod, Fragments 5.1–6AegimiusThe Aegimius, attributed to Hesiod or to Cercops of Miletus, is cited for Thetis and her children and for Phrixus coming to the halls of Aeétes. It also gives the story of Io, whom Zeus changed into a cow and whom Hera set Argus to watch, until Hermes killed him.

Homer (8)

Homer, Iliad 18.368–467Thetis at the house of HephaestusThetis comes to the bronze house that Hephaestus built among the stars, and finds him at work on twenty tripods that move by themselves on golden wheels. His wife Charis welcomes her, and Hephaestus remembers how Thetis and Eurynome took him in when Hera cast him from heaven. Thetis begs him to make armour for her son, and he promises to do it.
Homer, Iliad 24.77–158Thetis is sent to AchillesZeus sends Iris to bring Thetis to Olympus, and Hera gives her a cup and speaks kindly to her. Zeus tells Thetis to go to her son and tell him that the gods are angry that he keeps Hector's body, and that he must accept a ransom from Priam. Thetis finds Achilles groaning in his hut and tells him what Zeus has said, and he agrees.
Homer, Iliad 1.493–611Thetis begs Zeus; the quarrel of Zeus and HeraAfter twelve days the gods return to Olympus, and Thetis goes up to clasp the knees of Zeus and ask him to honour her son by giving the Trojans the upper hand. Zeus is troubled because it will anger Hera, but he bows his head in assent. Hera upbraids him for plotting in secret and he threatens her, until Hephaestus calms the gods by pouring wine, and they feast and sleep.
Homer, Iliad 18.65–147Thetis and the Nereids come to AchillesThetis rises from the sea with the Nereids and goes to her son, who tells her that Hector has taken the armour that the gods gave to Peleus and that he has no wish to live unless Hector falls. She warns him that his own death will follow Hector's, and Achilles says that he would die at once, since he failed to protect his friend. Thetis tells him not to go into battle until she returns with new armour from Hephaestus.
Homer, Iliad 19.1–73Thetis brings the armour to AchillesAt dawn Thetis brings the armour to Achilles, who is embracing the body of Patroclus, and the Myrmidons shrink back in fear from its blaze. Achilles' eyes flash like fire as he takes it up, and he rejoices in the gifts. He fears that flies will breed in Patroclus' wounds, but Thetis promises to keep the body from corruption by dropping ambrosia and red nectar into its nostrils.
Homer, Iliad 1.304–427Briseis is taken from Achilles; Achilles prays to ThetisAgamemnon launches a ship to take the girl home to Chryses and sends heralds to Achilles' hut to take Briseis. Achilles lets her go, then sits weeping by the sea and prays to his mother Thetis, who rises from the water to comfort him. He asks her to go to Zeus and win honour for him by having the Achaeans driven back to their ships.
Homer, Iliad 9.307–429The Embassy to Achilles: Achilles' replyAchilles answers that he hates the man who says one thing and hides another in his heart, and that he will speak plainly. He says that Agamemnon has given nothing for all his toil, that the coward and the brave man die alike, and that no gifts will move him; he will sail for Phthia in the morning. His mother Thetis has told him of two fates, a long life without glory if he goes home, or glory and early death if he stays.
Homer, Iliad 18.541–617The Shield of Achilles (2): field, vineyard, herds and danceHephaestus also shows on the shield a ploughed field with ploughmen who receive cups of wine at the end of each furrow, a king's estate with reapers and binders, and a vineyard with grape-gatherers and a boy playing the lyre. Two lions attack a herd of cattle by the river, and there is a pasture of sheep and a dancing-floor like the one Daedalus made for Ariadne, with youths and maidens dancing. Round the rim he sets the great stream of Ocean, and when the shield is done he makes a corselet, a helmet and greaves and lays them before Thetis.

Apollodorus (2)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 3.13.1–8Peleus, Thetis and the youth of AchillesPeleus flees to Phthia and is purified, kills Eurytion by accident in the Calydonian hunt, and escapes the plots of Astydamia, wife of Acastus. With help from Chiron he wins Thetis, who tries to make their son Achilles immortal in the fire. When Calchas declares that Troy cannot be taken without Achilles, Thetis hides him among the daughters of Lycomedes, where Odysseus finds him; Phoenix and Patroclus join him.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome E.6.1–29The returns from Troy: Nauplius, Agamemnon's murder and OrestesThe Greeks quarrel at an assembly over whether to leave at once, and the section follows the returns: Calchas and Mopsus at Colophon, the storm at Tenos in which Ajax dies, Nauplius's false beacon at Caphereus, Neoptolemus in Molossia, and the fates of Demophon and Phyllis, Podalirius and the Locrian maidens. Agamemnon is murdered by Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, and Orestes avenges him, is tried at Athens, and brings the image of Artemis from the Taurians. The section ends with Menelaus's wanderings and his return to Sparta.

Pindar (5)

Pindar, Isthmian Odes 8.1–70Isthmian 8: for Cleandros — Thetis and the AeacidaePindar calls on the youths to sing at the door of Telesarchus for Cleandros of Aegina, pancratium victor, and says that the relief from war's dread may be healed by freedom. He tells how Zeus and Poseidon strove to wed Thetis until Themis declared that she must bear a son greater than his father, so that she was given to Peleus. He ends by praising Cleandros' kinsman, the boxer Nicocles, who won the crown of Dorian celery at the Isthmus.
Pindar, Pythian Odes 3.1–115Pythian 3: for Hieron — Asclepius and CoronisPindar wishes that Cheiron were alive to heal Hieron as he once healed others through his pupil Asclepius. He tells how Coronis, carrying Apollo's child, took another lover and was killed, and how Apollo rescued the child from the pyre and gave him to Cheiron to learn healing. Asclepius, tempted by gold to raise a dead man, was struck down by Zeus; the ode ends with the sorrows of Peleus and Cadmus as proof that no man has unmixed happiness.
Pindar, Nemean Odes 3.1–84Nemean 3: for Aristocleides — the Aeacidae and CheironPindar calls on the Muse to come to Aegina for the pancratiast Aristocleides, and says that victory in the contest heals its blows. He recalls the Aeacidae: Peleus, who took Iolcus and won the sea-nymph Thetis, Telamon, who followed Heracles against Laomedon, and Achilles, whom Cheiron trained in all the arts of a hero. The ode ends with the virtues that suit each age of life.
Pindar, Nemean Odes 4.1–96Nemean 4: for Timasarchus — Peleus and ThetisPindar says that good cheer and song heal the toil of contests and praises Timasarchus of Aegina, boys' wrestling victor. He recalls Teucer, who rules in Cyprus, Ajax at Salamis, and Peleus, who wedded Thetis, one of the Nereids, and saw the gods promise sovereignty to his line. He promises to raise a monument of song for the victor's uncle Callicles.
Pindar, Nemean Odes 5.1–54Nemean 5: for Pytheas — Peleus and the wife of AcastusPindar sends his song out from Aegina to announce the pancratium victory of Pytheas, and says that reverence restrains him from telling how Peleus and Telamon left the island. He tells instead how Peleus resisted the false advances of the wife of Acastus, and how the Muses sang at his wedding to Thetis. He ends by praising Pytheas and his trainer Menander and by bringing garlands to the portals of Aeacus.

Euripides (6)

Euripides, Andromache 1–55Prologue: Andromache tells of her slavery at the shrine of ThetisAndromache, who has come from Thebes as the wife of Hector, recalls the fall of Troy and the death of her husband and tells how she became the slave of Neoptolemus and bore him a son. She says that his wife Hermione, who is childless, accuses her of using drugs and charms to make her barren, and that she has taken refuge at the shrine of Thetis while Neoptolemus is away at Delphi.
Euripides, Andromache 91–146cParodos: Andromache's lament and the Chorus' adviceAndromache sings a lament in which she tells of Paris and the cause of the Trojan war, of the fall of Troy, and of her own slavery, and says that she clings to the altar of Thetis. The Chorus of women of Phthia comes and tells her that she should leave the shrine and give way to the stronger, but says that it dares not show its sympathy for fear of Hermione.
Euripides, Andromache 1222–1288Exodos: Thetis appears and consoles PeleusPeleus says that he has no city or sceptre left and throws his sceptre on the ground, and the Chorus sees a divine form moving through the air. It is Thetis, who tells him that he must take the body to the Pythian altar and bury it there, a reproach to Delphi, and that Andromache will live in the Molossian land, married to Helenus, and that her child will found an unbroken line of kings, while Peleus himself will be made divine and live with her in the halls of Nereus.
Euripides, Electra 432–486First choral song: the ships to Troy and the death of AgamemnonThe Chorus sings of the famous ships that went to Troy with their countless oars, of the dolphins that leaped by their prows, and of Achilles' gift of the shield and arms made by Hephaestus. They tell of the death of Agamemnon, and of the cunning of Clytemnestra, and pray that the day may come when she will pay with her own blood.
Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis 677–740Second episode: Clytemnestra questions Agamemnon about the weddingAgamemnon sends Iphigenia in, and Clytemnestra asks about the bridegroom's family, and he tells her of Aegina, of Peleus and Thetis, and of the Centaur Chiron. Clytemnestra asks who will give the bride away and where she is to prepare the feast for the women. Agamemnon says that she must go back to Argos, and Clytemnestra, after protesting, refuses to obey.
Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis 1036–1097Third choral song: the wedding of Peleus and Thetis; Iphigenia's coming sacrificeThe Chorus recalls the day when the Pierian choir came over Pelion to the wedding of Peleus, with the banquet of the gods and the Centaurs on horseback. They then turn to Iphigenia and say that the Argives will crown her like a pure heifer, and stain her throat with blood.

Apollonius Rhodius (3)

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4.783–884Hera and ThetisHera asks Thetis to guide Argo through the Wandering Rocks and past Scylla and Charybdis. Thetis agrees, gathers the Nereids, and secretly tells her husband Peleus to have the heroes sail at dawn.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4.685–782Circe purifies Jason and MedeaAt Aeaea Circe, daughter of Helios, purifies Jason and Medea of the murder. When she learns the whole story she drives them from her house with reproaches. Hera sends Iris to fetch Thetis and to ask Hephaestus and Aeolus to help Argo.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4.885–981The Sirens, the Wandering Rocks and ScyllaAt dawn the Argonauts leave Aeaea; Orpheus drowns out the Sirens' song with his lyre, though Butes dives in and is saved by Cypris. The Nereids pass Argo through the Wandering Rocks, with Hera and Hephaestus watching, and the heroes sail on past Thrinacia and the cattle of Helios.

Ovid (2)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 11.194–265Laomedon and Hesione; Peleus and ThetisApollo and Poseidon (Neptune) build the walls of Troy for King Laomedon, who cheats them of their pay, and Poseidon sends a sea-monster, to which Hesione is exposed, until Heracles (Hercules) saves her. Laomedon again breaks his word, and Heracles takes the city. Peleus marries the sea-goddess Thetis after he holds her through all her changes of shape, and she bears Achilles.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 11.266–409Peleus, Ceyx and the wolfPeleus, exiled for killing his half-brother Phocus, comes to the court of Ceyx at Trachis, where he is received kindly. Ceyx tells him of his brother Daedalion, who was turned into a hawk after the death of his daughter Chione. A herdsman brings word that a huge wolf is ravaging Peleus' cattle, and the sea-goddess Psamathe, who sent it, at last turns it to marble at the pleading of Thetis. Peleus goes on to Magnesia, where King Acastus purifies him.

Pausanias (4)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.14.1–10Sparta: the tombs of Pausanias and Leonidas, the Course and Plane-tree GroveWest of the market-place Pausanias lists the cenotaph of Brasidas, the theatre and the tombs of Pausanias and Leonidas, with annual speeches and games over them. He notes the graves of the Agid kings, the record of Chionis’ Olympic victories, the sanctuary of Thetis founded by Leandris, and shrines on and around the Course, where the youths run. He then describes Plane-tree Grove, surrounded by a moat, and the sacrifice of puppies to Enyalius before the boys’ mock battle.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.18.1–8Olympia: the Chest of Cypselus, second and third fieldsPausanias describes the second field of the chest, with Night nursing Death and Sleep, Justice and Injustice, Idas and Marpessa, Alcmena, Menelaus and Helen, Medea, the Muses, Atlas and Hercules, and Perseus pursued by the Gorgons. The third field shows armies meeting, which he reads as the migration of Melas to Corinth.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.22.1–7Olympia: dedications of Zeus by Apollonia, Metapontum, Phlius and LeontiniPausanias lists images of Zeus given by states and individuals, among them a statue from the Cynaethians and the semicircular base with Zeus, Thetis and Day and the Homeric pairs of antagonists, given by Apollonia. He explains the Abantis inscription, then notes the Zeus of the Metapontines, the Phliasian group of Asopus’ daughters, and the Zeus given by men of Leontini.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.41.1–10Phigalia: the sanctuary of Eurynome and the temple of Apollo at BassaePausanias describes the common grave of the Oresthasians at Phigalia, the river Lymax, named from the purification of Rhea, and the river Neda. At their meeting stands the sanctuary of Eurynome, opened only once a year, with a wooden image bound in golden chains and shaped like a fish below the hips. He describes the stone temple of Apollo the Succourer on Mount Cotilius at Bassae, built by Ictinus, which he ranks next to the temple at Tegea for beauty. The spring on Mount Cotilius and an Aphrodite at Cotilum close the section.

Quintus Smyrnaeus (12)

Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 3.665–787The pyre of AchillesAt dawn the Argives raise a great pyre, and Achilles is burned with the horses and men slain round it. His companions gather his bones into a silver casket, which the Nereids anoint and lay in a golden vase given by Thetis, and the Argives heap a barrow by the Hellespont. His immortal horses mourn him, and Poseidon rises from the sea to console Thetis.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 4.465–595Funeral games: leaping, javelin, chariot-race and horse-raceAgapenor wins the long jump and Euryalus the javelin, and no one dares box against Aias. Menelaus wins the chariot-race, in which Thoas and Eurypylus are thrown from their cars, and the text breaks off in the middle of the race. Agamemnon then wins the horse-race with Sthenelus second, and Thetis gives gifts to all the riders, while Odysseus is kept out by his wound.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 3.582–664Thetis and the Muses mourn AchillesThe sound of the wailing reaches the Nereids in the deep, who rise from the sea. Zeus gives the Argives courage to look at the goddesses, who mourn round Achilles with the Muses. Thetis cries out her grief, and Calliope urges her to stop lamenting.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 4.1–117Glaucus carried to Lycia; Thetis sets the gamesThe Trojans lay Glaucus on his pyre, but Apollo snatches him away to Lycia, where the Nymphs make a spring that bears his name. The Argives go on mourning Achilles, and in heaven Hera reproaches Zeus for favouring Troy while he sits silent. At dawn Diomedes urges an attack, but Aias says they must wait for Thetis, who now comes out of the sea to set out the prizes for the funeral games.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 4.215–322Funeral games: wrestlingDiomedes and the great Aias wrestle, and Diomedes at last throws his huge rival. They stop, embrace and receive prizes from Thetis. Idomeneus offers himself for the boxing and Thetis sets out the prize, but at first no one will fight him until Nestor shames the Argives.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 5.333–455The madness of AiasThetis and the Nereids plunge back into the sea, where Cymothoe curses Prometheus. Aias, furious at the verdict, will not eat or sleep and arms himself in the night, and Athena strikes him with madness to spare Odysseus. Menelaus fears for the army, but Aias slaughters the flocks in the plain, thinking them Argives, and taunts a slain ram as if it were Odysseus.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 2.388–548Achilles kills MemnonAchilles leaves the line and finds Memnon, rebuking him as inferior in blood and strength. They fight with swords and shields, and the long and even struggle is watched from Olympus. At last Eris tips the scales and Achilles kills Memnon.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 3.96–211Hera rebukes Apollo; Achilles fallsHera rebukes Apollo for killing Achilles, reminding him that he sang at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, and Apollo sits silent and ashamed. The dying Achilles still kills Orythaon, Hipponous and Alcathous, and his last shout sends the Trojans reeling before he falls. Paris then urges the Trojans to drag the body to Troy behind Hector's horses.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 4.118–214Funeral games: the foot-raceNestor rises to sing of the deeds of Achilles, and Thetis rewards him with the horses Telephus once gave her son. Ten heifers are set out as prizes for the foot-race. Teucer and Aias son of Oileus run for them, and Teucer, tripped by a tamarisk root and lamed, loses to Aias.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 5.121–236Aias and Odysseus claim the armsThetis offers the arms to the best of the Argives, and Aias and Odysseus rise to claim them. Nestor speaks privately to Idomeneus and Agamemnon, warning that this contest will cost the army dear. The three refuse to judge between the heroes.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 5.1–120The arms of AchillesThetis lays Achilles' arms in the midst of the Argives. The shield made by Hephaestus shows heaven and earth and sea, wild beasts and wars on one side, and on the other cities, harvests and dances, with the hill of Honour. Beside it lie the helmet, the corslet and the sword.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 8.1–107Neoptolemus and the Myrmidons attackAt dawn Neoptolemus calls on the Myrmidons to fight and puts on his father's arms while Thetis rejoices from the sea. The armies clash like two seas meeting. Neoptolemus kills Melaneus and Alcidamas, and Aeneas kills Aristolochus.

Nonnus of Panopolis (9)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 33.280–387Book 33: Morrheus' sleepless night; Thetis counsels ChalcomedeMorrheus lies sleepless, thinking of the loves of the gods, while Chalcomede, afraid of being forced into marriage, goes to the sea intending to drown herself. Thetis, in the form of a Bacchant, stops her, tells her to feign desire in order to save the army, and promises that a serpent will protect her maidenhood.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 1.0–133Book 1: Invocation; Zeus carries Europa across the seaThe poet asks the Muse to tell of the twice-born Dionysos and calls for the wand, cymbals and fawnskin of his rites, picturing Proteus's many shapes as the god's. Zeus, as a bull, carries Europa over the sea while Eros drives him and the sea-gods marvel. The girl cries out to the shores, to her father and to Boreas.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 6.258–388Book 6: The flood; Pan and Galateia; the earth renewedLand and sea creatures mingle in the flood, and Pan and Galateia talk as she swims past him. The rivers Nile, Alpheios and Pyramos wander in search of their loves. Deucalion floats in his ark, and Poseidon splits a mountain to let the water run off, so that cities are built again.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 20.289–404Book 20: Dionysos flees into the sea; Nereus consoles him; Zeus rebukes LycurgosDionysos, deceived, goes unarmed to the palace of Lycurgos, who scorns him, beats the Bacchants with his poleaxe and drives them into the hills. Terrified by Hera's thunder, Dionysos flees into the Erythraian sea, where Thetis and Nereus receive and console him. Lycurgos rages at the water and calls for fishermen to haul the god out, and Zeus rebukes him from the sky, recalling how Teiresias was blinded for seeing Athena.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 27.0–74Book 27: Dawn rises; Deriades boasts against the godsAt dawn Zeus sends a shower of blood as an omen, and Deriades rouses his army with a speech. He promises to make Dionysos his servant, boasts that he will drive the god into the sea again, and says that he fears neither Zeus' lightning nor Athena, since he has his father's water to set against it.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 34.0–88Book 34: Morrheus confesses his love to HyssacosMorrheus, sleepless with love for Chalcomede, wanders by the river and debates what to do, until his guard Hyssacos asks what troubles him. Morrheus admits that he loves her and fears that Aphrodite and Dionysos are fighting together against him.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 34.89–161Book 34: Morrheus' dream of Chalcomede; the Bacchic host marches in dreadA deceitful dream promises Morrheus that Chalcomede will come to him, and at dawn he praises her beauty. The Indians arm, while the Bacchic host, still without Dionysos, marches out silent and afraid, and Chalcomede, on Thetis' advice, takes her place at the front.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 41.212–337Book 41: Beroe's upbringing; Aphrodite seeks Harmonia's counselBeroe is nursed by Astraia on statutes and honey, and Zeus and Poseidon both desire her, though Zeus yields her to his brother. Aphrodite, seeing the great cities of old, resolves to make a city for Beroe worthy of Law. She visits Harmonia, who is weaving a cosmic robe, and asks which city is to be given the rule of justice.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 43.307–449Book 43: Zeus ends the battle; Poseidon weds Beroe; Eros consoles DionysosBassarids, Satyrs and Seilenoi fight the sea-gods, and Psamathe prays to Zeus to save the Nereids from Dionysos. Zeus grants Beroe to Poseidon and halts Dionysos with thunder. The sea-gods celebrate the wedding with rich gifts, and Poseidon gives her city victory at sea. Eros consoles Dionysos by promising him another bride, Aura of Phrygia, and Dionysos returns to Lydia, Rheia and then Europe.

Epic Cycle (2)

Epic Cycle, Summaries and Fragments 5.1–38CypriaProclus' summary of the Cypria opens with Zeus planning the Trojan War with Themis, the quarrel of the three goddesses, Alexandrus, Helen and the gathering of the Greeks at Aulis. The fragments cover the earth burdened by men, the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, Helen's birth to Nemesis, Castor and Polydeuces, and Alexandrus carrying Helen to Ilium.
Epic Cycle, Summaries and Fragments 6.1–5AethiopisProclus' summary tells how Memnon, the son of Eos, comes to help the Trojans in armour made by Hephaestus, and how Thetis tells her son about him. Achilles is killed by Paris and Apollo and Aias carries the body away. A fragment adds the Amazon, the daughter of Ares, who came after the burial of Hector.