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Tethys

In Greek mythology, Tethys (/ˈtiːθɪs, ˈtɛθɪs/; Greek: Τηθύς) was a Titan daughter of Ouranus and Gaia, a sister and wife of the Titan Okeanos, and the mother of the river gods and the Oceanids.

In Mythology[]

Tethys played no active part in Greek mythology. The only early story concerning Tethys is what Homer has Hera briefly relate in the Iliad’s Deception of Zeus passage. There, Hera says that when Zeus was in the process of deposing Kronos, she was given by her mother Rhea to Tethys and Oceanus for safekeeping and that they "lovingly nursed and cherished me in their halls". Hera relates this while dissembling that she is on her way to visit Oceanus and Tethys in the hopes of reconciling her foster parents, who are angry with each other and are no longer having sexual relations.

Originally Oceanus' consort, at a later time Tethys came to be identified with the sea, and in Hellenistic and Roman poetry Tethys' name came to be used as a poetic term for the sea.

The only other story involving Tethys is an apparently late astral myth concerning the polar constellation Ursa Major (the Great Bear), which was thought to represent the catasterism of Kallisto who was transformed into a bear and placed by Zeus among the stars. The myth explains why the constellation never sets below the horizon, saying that since Callisto had been Zeus's lover, Tethys forbids her from drinking Okeanos' water nor even touching it, as an act of concern for her foster-child Hera, Zeus's jealous wife.

In Ovid's Metamorphoses, Tethys turned Aesacus into a diving bird.

Sometimes people confused her with another sea-nymph named Thetis, who is Achilles' mother.

Parents[]

Spouse & Lovers[]

Okeanos (Husband)

Children[]

Siblings[]

Gallery[]


Navigation[]

ve Titanides
Titanides : TethysPhoibeTheiaMnemosyneRheaThemis
Second Generation : OkeanidesLetoAsteriaSeleneEosAnkhialeAuraStyxDorisElektraKlymeneDioneMetis
Related Articles : TitanomachyOlympiansGigantesDemigods
PotamoiLelantosHeliosAtlasPrometheusEpimetheusMenoitiosAstraiosPallasPerses
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