Thetis

Θετις

A Daughter of Nereus

Nereus and Doris had fifty daughters ... Thetis is one of the Daughters of Nereus. As a group, Thetis and her sisters are called the Nereids.

When Thetis was very young, she came to the notice of Zeus. Although Zeus was married to his sister, Hera, he made no secret of his desire for Thetis but she would not submit to his amorous advances. Thetis avoided Zeus for two reasons: 1) because of her respect for Hera and 2) because of her fear of Hera ... Hera showed her gratitude by rearing Thetis. Zeus finally became disinterested in Thetis when he was advised that one of his immortal sons would dethrone him ... he then arranged for Thetis to marry a mortal.

The Marriage of Thetis

Thetis was given to Peleus (a mortal) because of his undying devotion to the gods on Mount Olympos (Olympus) ... the marriage was also a punishment for Thetis because she had rejected Zeus's advances. The wedding of Thetis and Peleus was the setting for a defining event which set the stage for the Trojan War. This event has come to be known as The Judgment of Paris although, at that time, it was just another demonstration of the rivalry between the Immortals.

In order to honor Thetis, Hera invited all the Immortals to the wedding. The goddess Eris (Discord) was in attendance but she did not come to celebrate ... she came to do what she does best, cause trouble. Eris cast down a golden apple with the inscription, 'for the most beautiful one.' Hera, Athene (Athena) and Aphrodite all assumed that the prize was for them and when the intended conflict arose, the Trojan prince Paris (Alexandros), was asked to make the final decision as to which goddess deserved the golden apple. Aphrodite promised Paris the hand of the most beautiful mortal woman in Greece, Helen ... Paris could not refuse such a prize ... he chose Aphrodite as the most beautiful goddess. Hera and Athene never forgave the insult ... the walls of Troy toppled and all of Paris's family paid with their lives for his greed and desire.

Peleus subduing Thetis

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Thetis and Hephaistos

At the climax of a domestic dispute, Hephaistos (Hephaestus) stood with his mother, Hera, in defiance of Zeus. The Olympian Zeus, in his rage, caught Hephaistos by the foot and hurled him from the magic threshold of Mount Olympos to the earth far below. Three days later Hephaistos landed on the island of Lemnos, broken and nearly lifeless. Thetis and Eurynome, mother of the Graces, found the shattered god and nursed him back to health. They were responsible for saving his life and he never forgot their kindness. Hera was violently shamed at the sight of her lame son and would have done him further harm had not Thetis and Eurynome hidden him. He worked secretly with the two goddesses for nine years in a cave perfecting his craft before emerging to claim his rightful place among the Olympians.

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The Mother of Achilles

Before the birth of the infamous Achilles, Thetis and Peleus had several children which did not survive. Thetis was equally at home in the sea or on the land so she assumed that her children would be able to breathe underwater just as she could. She tested this assumption by placing the infants underwater to see if they were immortal ... they all drowned. She decided to try a new tactic when Achilles was born.

Thetis and Peleus had a magnificent son which they named Achilles. Peleus tried to be a good husband and father but he was ignorant of the ways of the Immortals ... when Peleus caught Thetis placing the infant Achilles in the fireplace he became enraged and ordered Thetis from his house ... Thetis did as Peleus commanded ... she threw Achilles to the floor and returned to the sea without telling Peleus that the baptism of fire would have made Achilles an Immortal.

The fate of Achilles was only partially known to Thetis ... she knew that Achilles's life would take one of two courses: 1) he could renounce the war with Troy and return to his father and die happy yet forgotten or 2) he could die at Troy and be remembered forever as a hero ... he chose to stay at Troy to eventually die and thus become immortal.

In the tenth year of the war at Troy, Achilles was angered by the Greek commander, Agamemnon, and refused to fight. When the Trojans seemed destined to win the war, Achilles still refused to enter the fray ... instead, he gave his distinctive armor to his friend Patroklos (Patroclus). Patroklos charged into the battle and both the Trojans and the Greeks thought that he was Achilles. The Trojans were pushed back but Patroklos was finally killed when he became too reckless and pressed the attack all the way to the walls of Troy. The most brutal fighting of the war was for the armor of Achilles and the body of Patroklos. The desecration of Patroklos's body and the theft of his armor enraged Achilles but Thetis made him wait until she could persuade Hephaistos to forge new armor before he returned to the fighting.

Thetis went to the home of Hephaistos and, with tears in her eyes, begged the lame smith to forge new armor for Achilles. Hephaistos did as she wished because of she and Eurynome had nurtured him when he had been thrown from Mount Olympos. When Achilles strode into battle with his new armor, the Trojans fled in terror. His divine protection was obvious from the blaze of his armor and his divine lineage was also obvious from his beauty and his enormous strength. The Trojans, who did not have the good sense or swift feet to run away, were killed. After Achilles had his revenge, Thetis led a procession of her sisters up from the depths to morn openly and to cast a divine protective mist over the body of Patroklos.

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Thetis and Hera

Hera loved Thetis but she was also suspicious of Thetis. When Thetis went to Zeus to beg for glory for Achilles, Hera saw the goddess clutching the knees of Zeus and knew that her brother/husband was giving special favor to Thetis and resented her. Thetis and Hera were both in favor of the Achaeans (Achaians) winning the war with Troy but the personal rivalry prevented their cooperation.

A generation before the Trojan War, Hera and Thetis worked together to protect Jason and assure the completion of his quest to obtain the Golden Fleece. Hera summoned Thetis to Mount Olympos and reminded her of the special treatment she had given the young goddess ... she asked Thetis to gather her sisters to calm the seas so that Jason and the Argonauts could sail past the dreaded monsters Skylla (Scylla) and Charybdis without incident. Thetis replied that if Hephaistos would not vent his fires into the sea and if the master of the Winds, Aiolos (Aeolus), would keep his charges in check, the Nereids would lend their protection to Jason and his crew.

Thetis plunged into the sea and called to her sisters to announce the commands of Hera ... the Nereids immediately sprang into action. Thetis went to the Argonauts while they were on the island of Aiaia (Aeaea) where the sailors were relaxing outside the palace of the goddess of the island, Kirke (Circe). Invisible to all the Argonauts except her husband Peleus, Thetis informed him that she and her sisters would protect the Argo if it sailed at dawn ... she told him that their protector, Hera, had so commanded. Peleus relayed the divine message to the other men and they did as they were instructed thereby avoiding Skylla and Charybdis and safely landing on the island of the Phaiakians (Phaeacians).

Hera also made a curious promise to Thetis which seemed insincere ... Hera indicated that she would arrange the marriage of Achilles to the daughter of king Aietes (Aeetes), Medeia (Medea). Hera must have surely known that Medeia was soon to marry Jason and so her promise to Thetis was never fulfilled.

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Thetis in The Iliad

(listed by book and line)

The line numbers listed here correspond fairly well with the Lattimore and Murray/Wyatt translations of The Iliad. Other translations (Fitzgerald, Fagles et al) do not correspond as well but, with a small amount of effort, you should be able to find the reference you need regardless of the translation you use.

• 01.280 - Agamemnon warns Achilles that he is no match for him even though his mother, Thetis, is an Immortal
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• 01.351 - Achilles calls upon his mother, Thetis, to help him
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• 01.360 - Thetis comes to her son, Achilles, on the beach and asks what has made him sad
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• 01.394 - Achilles asks his mother, Thetis, to supplicate Zeus on his behalf
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• 01.401 - Achilles reminds his mother, Thetis, of the time she summoned Briareos (Briareus) to free Zeus from the shackles which Hera, Athene (Athena) and Poseidon had put on him
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• 01.413 - Thetis laments that her son, Achilles, will have a brief and bitter life but she will still approach Zeus and ask for help
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• 01.495 - Thetis rose from the sea and ascended Mount Olympos (Olympus) to speak to Zeus on behalf of her son, Achilles
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• 01.502 - Thetis supplicates Zeus on behalf of her son, Achilles
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• 01.511 - When Zeus would not say that he would help Achilles, Thetis took his knees and begged him to nod his head if he would agree to help her
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• 01.531 - After speaking with Zeus, Thetis descends Mount Olympos (Olympus)
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• 01.538 - Hera berates Zeus for meeting secretly with Thetis
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• 01.556 - Hera tells Zeus that she is afraid that Thetis has won his favor
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• 06.136 - The warrior, Diomedes, tells Glaukos (Glaucus) the story of when the mortal man, Lykourgos (Lycurgus), attacked Dionysos, the injured god took refuge in the sea and Thetis took him to her breast
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• 08.370 - Athene (Athena) tells Hera that Zeus has taken the side of Thetis and will not help the Trojans
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• 09.410 - Achilles says that his mother, Thetis, has told him that his life has two possibilities: 1) he can go home and have a long life or 2) he can die at Troy and have eternal fame
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• 13.350 - Zeus protected Hector but also honored his promise to Thetis to give glory to her son, Achilles
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• 15.076 - Zeus tells the other Immortals that he will honor his promise to Thetis and give glory to her son, Achilles
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• 15.599 - Zeus allows Hector to set fire to the Argive ships but also remembers the prayer of Thetis to give glory to her son, Achilles
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• 16.034 - Patroklos (Patroclus) berates Achilles for not joining the fight for the ships; he angrily says that Peleus and Thetis were not the parents of Achilles but that he was born of sea and rock
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• 16.051 - Achilles tells Patroklos (Patroclus) that he refuses to fight because of his anger towards Agamemnon and not because of a prophecy from Zeus or his mother, Thetis
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• 16.203 - Achilles calls his men to fight and recalls their bitter words against him when they said that his mother, Thetis, nursed him on gall
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• 16.222 - Achilles retrieves a golden goblet from a chest his mother, Thetis, had given him and prepares a libation for Zeus
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• 16.574 - When Epeigeus was exiled for killing his cousin, Peleus and Thetis took him into their home
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• 16.860 - After hearing the prophecy of the dying Patroklos (Patroclus), Hector insists that he will kill the son of Thetis, Achilles, and not vise versa
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• 17.409 - Thetis often told her son, Achilles, the will of Zeus but she did not tell him of the death of Patroklos (Patroclus)
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• 18.035 - After the death of Patroklos (Patroclus), Thetis heard Achilles crying and gathered her sisters to come to the camp of the Achaeans (Achaians)
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• 18.038 - The names of many of the sisters of Thetis are listed in passages 038-049
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• 18.049 - Thetis tells her sisters, the Nereids, of her sorrow
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• 18.065 - Thetis leads her sisters from the depths of the sea towards the camp of the Achaeans (Achaians)
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• 18.070 - Thetis emerges from the sea with her sisters and speaks to her son, Achilles
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• 18.079 - Achilles tells his mother, Thetis, about the death of Patroklos (Patroclus)
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• 18.085 - Achilles reminds his mother, Thetis, that she was forced to marry a mortal man, Peleus
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• 18.094 - Thetis tells her son, Achilles, that he will die soon after Hector is killed
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• 18.127 - Thetis tells her son, Achilles, that even though Hector has taken the armor from Patroklos (Patroclus), he will soon die
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• 18.139 - Thetis tells her sisters, the Nereids, to return to the sea because she is going to Mount Olympos (Olympus) to ask Hephaistos (Hephaestus) for new armor for her son, Achilles
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• 18.146 - As her sisters, the Nereids, plunge back into the sea, Thetis goes to Mount Olympos (Olympus)
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• 18.189 - Achilles tells Iris that he cannot join the fighting until his mother, Thetis, brings his new armor
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• 18.369 - Thetis enters the home of Hephaistos (Hephaestus)
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• 18.381 - Thetis enters the home of Hephaistos (Hephaestus) and draws near him as he works
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• 18.385 - Charis, wife of Hephaistos (Hephaestus), asks Thetis why she has come to their home
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• 18.390 - Charis, wife of Hephaistos (Hephaestus), escorts Thetis into their house and makes her comfortable on an elaborate chair
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• 18.392 - Charis calls to her husband, Hephaistos (Hephaestus), and tells him that Thetis has come
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• 18.394 - When Hephaistos (Hephaestus) is told that Thetis has come to his house, he says that a goddess he honors has arrived
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• 18.398 - Hephaistos (Hephaestus) recounts how Thetis and Eurynome helped him when he had been thrown from Mount Olympos (Olympus)
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• 18.405 - Hephaistos (Hephaestus) says that Eurynome and Thetis were the only Immortals who knew that he had survived the fall from Mount Olympos (Olympus)
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• 18.407 - Hephaistos (Hephaestus) says that he owes lovely haired Thetis a debt
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• 18.422 - The golden robot assistants of Hephaistos (Hephaestus) moved near to where Thetis was seated
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• 18.424 - Hephaistos (Hephaestus) asks Thetis why she has come to his house
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• 18.427 - Crying, Thetis tells Hephaistos (Hephaestus) of the plight of her son, Achilles, and his need for new armor
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• 18.468 - Hephaistos (Hephaestus) agrees to help Thetis and returns to his bellows to forge new armor for Achilles
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• 18.615 - Thetis, like a hawk, descended Mount Olympos (Olympus) with the armor that Hephaistos (Hephaestus) made for her son, Achilles
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• 19.002 - Carrying the armor Hephaistos (Hephaestus) made, Thetis finds her son, Achilles, racked with sorrow for the death of his friend, Patroklos (Patroclus)
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• 19.006 - Thetis presents her son, Achilles, with the armor that Hephaistos (Hephaestus) made and tells him to put away his sorrow for Patroklos (Patroclus)
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• 19.012 - Thetis placed the armor that Hephaistos (Hephaestus) made before her son, Achilles
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• 19.021 - (Achilles accepts the armor that his mother, Thetis, has given him and asks her to protect the dead body of Patroklos (Patroclus)
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• 19.028 - Thetis promises to protect the body of Patroklos (Patroclus) from all types of degradation while her son, Achilles, arms himself for battle
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• 20.107 - Apollon tells Aineias (Aeneas) to fight against Achilles because his mother was Aphrodite, daughter of Zeus, and Achilles was born to a lesser goddess, Thetis
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• 20.207 - Aineias (Aeneas) taunts Achilles by saying that after they fight either Thetis or Aphrodite will mourn
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• 24.074 - Zeus tells Hera that they should summon Thetis to Mount Olympos (Olympus) and tell her of their plans to return the body of Hector to his parents
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• 24.082 - After plunging into the sea between the islands of Samos and Imbros, Iris found Thetis with her sisters, the Nereids, in a cave
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• 24.085 - Iris found Thetis under the sea mourning the impending death of her son, Achilles
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• 24.088 - Iris tells Thetis to rise up and obey the summons of Zeus
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• 24.090 - Thetis asks Iris why Zeus has summoned her to Mount Olympos (Olympus)
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• 24.095 - Thetis donned a black veil and followed Iris as the waves of the sea opened before the divine messenger
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• 24.100 - On Mount Olympos (Olympus), Thetis sits by Zeus while Athene (Athena) and Hera make her comfortable
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• 24.104 - Zeus tells Thetis that the dead body of Hector must be returned to his parents and that her son, Achilles, must accept a ransom for the body
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• 24.120 - After Zeus told her that the body of Hector must be returned to his parents, Thetis descended Mount Olympos (Olympus) and went to the camp of her son, Achilles
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• 24.126 - Thetis tells her son, Achilles, that the body of Hector must be returned to his parents and that he must accept a ransom for the body
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• 24.466 - Hermes reveals his true identity to king Priam and advises him to ask Achilles, in the name of his mother, Thetis, for the return of the body of Hector
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• 24.537 - Achilles reminds king Priam that the Immortals gave his father, Peleus, an immortal wife, Thetis
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• 24.562 - Achilles tells king Priam that he will return the body of Hector because his mother, Thetis, and Zeus commanded him to do so

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Other Text References

Theogony

• line 244 - And of Nereus and rich-haired Doris, daughter of Okeanos (Ocean) the perfect river, were born children, passing lovely amongst goddesses, Ploto, Eukrante (Eucrante), Sao, and Amphitrite, and Eudora, and Thetis ...
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• line 1006 - And the silver-shod goddess Thetis was subject to Peleus and brought forth lion-hearted Achilles, the destroyer of men.

Catalogue of Women

(Loeb Classical Library vol. 503, Hesiod II)

• fragment 151 - The author of Kypria says that as a favor to Hera she (Thetis) sought to avoid marriage with Zeus, but that he became angry and swore that he would marry her to a mortal. In Hesiod too there is a similar version.
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• fragment 237 - The author of the Aegimius says in book 2 that Thetis cast the children she bore to Peleus into a cauldron of water to find out if they were mortal; after many had been destroyed, Peleus became annoyed and prevented Achilles from being cast into the cauldron.

The Kypria

• fragment 1, line 89 - The Greeks take up their dead and send envoys to the Trojans demanding the surrender of Helen and the treasure with her. The Trojans refusing, they first assault the city, and then go out and lay waste the country and cities round about. After this, Achilles desires to see Helen, and Aphrodite and Thetis contrive a meeting between them.
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• fragment 4 - The author of the Kypria says that Thetis, to please Hera, avoided union with Zeus, at which he was enraged and swore that she should be the wife of a mortal.
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• fragment 5 - For at the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, the gods gathered together on (Mount) Pelion to feast and brought Peleus gifts. Cheiron (Chiron) gave him a stout ashen shaft which he had cut for a spear, and Athene (Athena), it is said, polished it, and Hephaistos (Hephaestus) fitted it with a head.

The Aegimius

• fragment 2 - The author of the Aegimius says in the second book that Thetis used to throw the children she had by Peleus into a cauldron of water, because she wished to learn whether they were mortal ... and that after many had perished Peleus was annoyed, and prevented her from throwing Achilles into the cauldron.

The Little Iliad

• fragment 1, line 31 - The Achaeans (Achaians) then bury Antilochos (Antilochus) and lay out the body of Achilles, while Thetis, arriving with the Muses and her sisters (the Nereids), bewails her son, whom she afterwards catches away from the pyre and transports to the White Island.

The Returns

• fragment 1, line 16 - Neoptolemus (Neoptolemos or Pyrrhus), warned by Thetis, journeys overland and, coming into Thrake (Thrace), meets Odysseus at Maronea, and then finishes the rest of his journey after burying Phoinix (Phoenix) who dies on the way.

Hymn to Apollon III

• line 319 - Hera: "But the silver-shod Thetis the daughter of Nereus took and cared for him (Hephaistos (Hephaestus)) with her sisters (the Nereids); would that she had done other service to the blessed gods!"

The Argonautika

• book 4, line 759 - Hera: "Dear Iris, now come, if ever thou hast fulfilled my bidding, hie thee away (leave) on light pinions, and bid Thetis arise from the sea and come hither. For need of her is come upon me."
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• book 4, line 773 - And she (Iris) plunged into the Aegean Sea, where is the dwelling of Nereus. And she came to Thetis first and, by the promptings of Hera, told her tale (of Jason's peril) and roused her to go to the goddess.
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• book 4, line 780 - And when she (Iris) had given her message to him (Aeolos (Aeolus)) also and rested her swift knees from her course, then Thetis leaving Nereus and her sisters (the Nereids) had come from the sea to (Mount) Olympos (Olympus) to the goddess Hera ...
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• book 4, line 783 - Hera: "Hearken now, lady Thetis, to what I am eager to tell thee. Thou knowest how honored in my heart is the hero, Aeson's son (Jason), and the others (the Argonauts) that have helped him in the contest (the Quest for the Golden Fleece) ... But guide their ship in the course where there shall be still a hair's breadth escape from destruction."
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• book 4, line 833 - Thus she (Hera) spoke, and Thetis answered with these words, "If the fury of the ravening flame and the stormy winds cease in very deed, surely will I promise boldly to save the ship (the Argo), even though the waves bar the way, if only the west wind blows fresh and clear ..."
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• book 4, line 845 - ... (Thetis) darting down from the sky fell amid the eddies of the dark blue sea; and she called to aid her the rest of the Nereids, her own sisters; and they heard her and gathered together; and Thetis declared to them Hera's behests (to assist Jason), and quickly sped them all on their way to the Ausonian sea.
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• book 4, line 856 - Thetis: "No longer now must you (Peleus) stay sitting on the Tyrrhenian beach, but at dawn loosen the hawsers of your swift ship (the Argo), in obedience to Hera, your helper. For at her behest the maiden daughters of Nereus (the Nereids) have met together to draw your ship through the midst of the rocks which are called Planktae (Planctae) (Wandering Rocks), for that is your destined path ..."
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• book 4, line 881 - Wherefore blank amazement fettered his (Peleus's) soul; nevertheless he declared to his comrades (the Argonauts) all the bidding of Thetis.
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• book 4, line 932 - Hereupon on this side and on that the daughters of Nereus (the Nereids) met them (the Argonauts); and behind, lady Thetis set her hand to the rudder-blade, to guide them amid the Planktae (Planctae) (Wandering Rocks).
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• book 4, line 938 - ... so the Nereids darted upward and circled in their ranks round the ship Argo, while Thetis guided its course (past the Planktae (Planctae) or Wandering Rocks).

The Histories by Herodotus

• book 7.191 - The Persian fleet suffered heavy losses in a storm and were washed ashore near Mount Pelion; after three days of storms they made sacrifices to Thetis and the Nereids because the shore was sacred to Thetis being the place where she and Peleus sailed away after their marriage

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