To the ancient Greeks, every essence of life  could be attributed to a god or goddess.  

Whether it be time, space, nature, death or even  life itself, the gods either ruled or represented  

every conceivable notion. In many cases, the  gods became the personification of these notions,  

allowing the Greeks to cultivate some  understanding and context for matters and affairs  

that weren’t completely understood at the time.  Other beliefs saw the gods personify elements  

of society, thus creating a face for a concept  to perhaps make it more tangible and perhaps,  

personified by the Greeks, and one might  argue that of all the personifications,  

the goddess Themis was a most important  one. The ancient Greeks certainly agreed,  

for Themis - a female Titan - would be revered  as the Goddess of Justice and would prove to be  

an essential component in guiding ancient society  on its way to becoming a more organised construct.  

Even today, the imagery of Themis, that is a woman  holding a sword and scales, connotes the idea  

of law and order, proving that despite not  being a major player in the mythology itself,  

certainly stood the test of time. As is the case with the first generation titans,  

Themis was born to the primordial beings Ouranus  and Gaia and was one of the twelve siblings that  

shaped the origins of the Greek pantheon -  most notably, her brother Cronus, who set  

in motion the events that overthrew Ouranos  and established Titan dominion on the earth.  

It is with Cronus’ usurpation that saw the female  Titans benefit greatly from such an insurrection,  

as under the rule of Cronus, each female Titan  was handed a privileged position. As mentioned,  

Themis would become a goddess of justice, and  was thought of as the Lady of good counsel,  

though it would be more accurate to say that  she was the goddess of Divine Law and Order.  

With this title, she would be considered to be  a goddess who provided mankind with the laws  

by which they should live their lives and  set the rules for various engagements and  

customs. To the ancient Greeks, it was believed  that she was originally an organiser of communal  

affairs between the humans, but that after the  insurrection that saw Ouranus dethroned, Themis  

was offered a much more grand responsibility.  In this sense, the rules set down by Themis  

were indisputable on the account that they were  actually divine and therefore were simply above  

man to debate. It also provided man with the idea  that the law was not just a man made construct,  

but instead a construct implemented by the gods,  that which was therefore sacred and unbreakable.  

Of course, rules were always broken by the  mortals - in fact, the gods didn’t always  

set good examples when it came to heeding the  law. So in order to implement these divine laws,  

it is believed that Themis worked  hand in hand with the goddess  

Nemesis, she was the divine goddess of  retribution and revenge. Ultimately,  

Themis laid down the rules to ward  mankind away from hubris and wickedness.  

Whilst Nemesis provided the consequences to those  who did not follow them. The very image of Themis  

as discussed screams order and justice and  we can see that by the Scales of Justice  

in which she carries, a scale being a tool  used to balance items in equal measure.  

In essence, if you were in the favour of  Themis, it’s likely that you were in the right. 

As far as her name goes, Themis was believed to  simply mean ‘divine law’, as opposed to being a  

more human decree. As mentioned, this meant that  man could not break these divine laws so easily,  

and if he did, then he was in violation of gods’  intentions and thus, demonstrating both hubris  

and arrogance. Interestingly, it is believed  that Themis originated from the Greek verb  

títhēmi, a verb meaning ‘put in place’,  furthermore suggesting that certain laws  

were indeed put in place by Themis and thus,  were considered non-negotiable. Others believe  

that Themis simply meant a right, custom, protocol  or some aspect of social order; but nonetheless,  

her representation seems unanimously associated  again with the laws and order of mankind. 

But amongst the grand responsibility of divine  law and order, Themis was also considered to be  

able to see into the future and she was often  associated as one of the Oracles of Delphi.  

It was here that it was believed that she first  spoke to the early humans and using her divine  

voice, was able to enable mankind with justice  and morality, thus making them acknowledge the  

rules of hospitality, appropriate conduct and the  methods in which to make offerings to the gods.  

It is with her association with  the Oracle of Delphi therefore  

that she would become to be  revered as a prophetic goddess  

and even maintained some authority when Apollo  had taken over the responsibility at Delphi. 

In other legends, it was Themis herself  who had built the Oracle at Delphi,  

or that she had been the first to receive it as  a gift from her mother Gaia. With these ideas,  

her role as prophetic goddess becomes even more  profound, and it might be said that in this,  

she was indeed one of the first goddesses  to peer into the future. We do see evidence  

of her doing this very thing as she is seen  in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, in The Story Dyope,  

to warn the gods of a civil war in Thebes, as  well as the disasters that happen thereafter.  

In a more crucial tale, we see her warn  Zeus not to marry the sea nymph Thetis,  

for his child with her would be so  powerful, that the child would usurp him. 

As a goddess who could see into  the future, it comes as no surprise  

that she did not side with her brother  during the Titanomachy, when Zeus faced  

off against Cronus in the battle for supremacy.  Instead, Themis, amongst the other female Titans  

were considered to have remained neutral,  which is why they were likely not punished  

in the same way their male counterparts were. Of course, another idea as to why none of the  

female titans were punished could possibly  have been because Zeus fancied all of them.  

You don’t need me to tell you about Zeus’ many  conquests in the mythology and just because a  

deity was a Titan, it did not mean that she  was off limits from his salacious appetite.  

In fact, it probably made it  all the more enticing for him.  

Little is known about the relationship between  Zeus and Themis, but we do know that she would  

be his second wife after Zeus had swallowed  his first wife Metis. With this marriage,  

Themis was thought to have given birth to two sets  of children, three Horai and the three Moirai. 

The three Horai, who were Dike, Eirene and  Eunomia were primarily seasonal goddesses  

who governed over portions of time in a year.  

Taking after their mother, they  were also considered to be goddesses  

of justice and order, much as their mother was. The Moirai meanwhile, often referred to as ‘the  

Fates’ were also three sisters, those who went  by the names Atropos, Clotho and Lachesis.  

These children worked similarly to the Horai,  though they were considered to be deities  

who controlled the destinies of the mortals. Hesiod tells us in the Theogony of this event,  

saying - "Next [after  

Metis] he [Zeus] led away (married?) bright Themis  (Divine Law) who bare the Horai (Horae, Seasons),  

and Eunomia (Order), Dike (Justice), and blooming  (thallô) Eirene (Irene, Peace), who mind the works  

of mortal men, and the Moirai (Moirae, Fates)  to whom wise Zeus gave the greatest honour,  

Klotho (Clotho), and Lakhesis  (Lachesis), and Atropos (Atropus)  

who give mortal men evil and good to have." This is also spoken of in the Bibliotheca  

by Pseudo-Apollodorus, that "With Themis, the daughter of  

Ouranos (Uranus, Sky), he [Zeus] fathered his  daughters the Horai (Horae, Seasons), by name  

Eirene (Irene, Peace), Eunomia (Good  Order), and Dike (Justice); also the  

Moirai (Moirae, Fates), called Klotho (Clotho),  Lakhesis (Lachesis), and Atropos (Atropus)."  

Of course, despite the success of  their relationship, we know that  

Zeus and Themis did not work out given that  Zeus would end up with his more famous wife,  

Hera. Still, Zeus is not seen to do away with  Themis in the same way he did away with Metis.  

In fact, their breakup appears to have been  amicable given that Themis maintained her status  

as the goddess of divine law and even served to  offer guidance to Zeus in the years thereafter.  

Going by Edith Hamilton’s book The Timeless  Tales of Gods and Heroes, we understand  

that both Themis and her daughter Dike became  advisors of Zeus who sat enthroned beside him.  

We are told “As the idea of Zeus became loftier,  two august forms sat beside him in Olympus.  

Themis, which means the Right or Divine  Justice, and Dike, which is human justice.”  

It is believed that in their role as counsellors  to the supreme being, they also advised on matters  

that centered around the conduct of men and sought  to report those who’d broken important laws. 

But perhaps one of Themis’ biggest  contributions to Zeus as his advisor,  

was their joint conspiracy to commence the  Trojan War. Indeed, in some versions of the tale,  

it was Zeus and Themis who planned the hostility  between the Greeks and the Trojans which involved  

Eris, the goddess of Strife, placing the  golden apple into the party of Peleus  

and Thetis, that which would set off the war in  the first place and lead to the sacking of Troy.  

With this idea, it might be said that both Themis  and Zeus operate on a more insidious level and  

that the pair do collaborate at the expense  of the humans, if only to amuse themselves.  

Yet, we do see Themis also act with the  well-being and honour of the humans in mind,  

for in one story in the Metamorphoses  of Antonius Libaralis, we are told 

“When thieves attempted to steal honey from  the sacred Dictaeon cave where Zeus was born,  

Zeus thundered and brandished his thunderbolt,  but the Morai and Themis stopped him.  

It was impious for anyone to die there.  So Zeus turned them all into birds.” 

You’ll notice that despite recognising that  it was wrong for the mortals to rob Zeus cave,  

it was not fair to shed  blood in such a sacred place.  

To this extent, it might be said that this is a  demonstration of Themis and the Moirai using their  

influence over Zeus and exhibiting their powers  of law - perhaps in this sense, a sacred law  

that violence and wrongdoing should not have  taken place at the holy sight of Zeus’ birth.  

Furthermore, you’ll also see that the Moirai  were instrumental in Zeus staying his hand,  

those who we know consisted of Dike, the  daughter who sat beside Zeus’ throne.  

Hesiod considered Dike as an  important character in the mythology,  

for where her mother was a divine personage  and a cosmic divinity, Dike, by contrast,  

was considered to be more responsible for customs  and local law, those that required retribution  

and or sentencing from a human perspective. In  essence, Hesoid considered Dike to be a goddess  

that dealt with the less complex laws - those that  were likely introduced by mankind themselves.  

As far as specific worship to Themis went,  it is unknown for certain how her followers  

paid her tribute. Whilst there were several  temples in Greece that were dedicated to her,  

there do not appear to be many notable  considerations made by the ancient authors.  

She was thought to have sometimes been depicted  in the sanctuaries of other gods, which makes  

sense given her interactions with the other gods,  and may have even shared her temples with them.  

This makes sense when we think of  her engagements with the other gods,  

such as Apollo, whom she was said to have  been present for during his birth as well  

as eventually signing over the role as  Oracle to him. We also see her play a role  

in Aphrodite’s life, for when she was worried  about her son Eros staying a child forever,  

Themis advised her to have another child, for  love needed to be returned in order to grow.  

Throughout the mythology, Themis is seen to be  a wise goddess who is approached for counsel  

not just by Zeus, but by many others. It’s likely  that given this trait of hers, she was well liked  

in the pantheon and so probably maintained  a space in many of the other gods’ temples. 

Let me know which Titan you’d  like to see appear here next  

and what you thought about today’s installment  of Greek Mythology Explained. As always,  

if you’ve enjoyed today’s episode then don’t  forget to give it a thumbs up and don’t forget  

to subscribe for more content just like this. Furthermore, if you like Greek Mythology as  

much as I do, you might want to check  out our book Greek Mythology Explained,  

where we retell a couple of a favourite myths  and explore the meanings and themes behind them. 

With that being said, I hope  you all have a good evening  

and I’ll see you in the next one. Until next time!