Tethys the Titan

- Yes, date unknown

• Name	Tethys the Titan
  Gender	Female
  Death	Yes, date unknown
  Notes	«b»http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tethys_(mythology) «/b»In «u»Greek mythology «/u», «b»Tethys«/b» (Greek ), daughter of «u»Uranus «/u» and «u»Gaia [1]«/u» was an archaic «u»Titaness «/u» and «u»aquatic «/u» sea «u»goddess «/u», invoked in classical Greek poetry but no longer venerated in cult. Tethys was both sister and wife of «u»Oceanus «/u».«u»[2]«/u» She was mother of the chief rivers of the world known to the Greeks, such as the «u»Nile «/u», the «u»Alpheus «/u», the «u»Maeander «/u», and about three thousand daughters called the «u»Oceanids «/u».«u»[3]«/u» Considered as an embodiment of the waters of the world she also may be seen as a counterpart of «u»Thalassa «/u», the embodiment of the sea. Although these vestiges imply a strong role in earlier times, Tethys plays virtually no part in recorded Greek literary texts, or historical records of cults. «u»Walter Burkert [4]«/u» notes the presence of Tethys in the episode of \ul«i»Iliad \ulnone«/i» XIV that the Ancients called the "«u»Deception of Zeus «/u»", where Hera, to mislead Zeus, says she wants to go to «u»Oceanus «/u», "origin of the gods" and Tethys "the mother". Burkert «u»[5]«/u» sees in the name a transformation of Akkadian «i»tiamtu«/i» or «i»tâmtu«/i», "the sea," which is recognizable in «u»Tiamat «/u». Alternatively, her name may simply mean "old woman"; certainly it bears some similarity to meaning "«u»grandmother «/u»," and she is often portrayed as being extremely ancient (cf. «u»Callimachus «/u», «u»Iamb «/u» 4.52, fr. 194). One of the few representations of Tethys that is identified securely by an accompanying inscription is the Late Antique (fourth century CE) mosaic from the flooring of a \ul«i»thermae \ulnone«/i» at «u»Antioch «/u», now at the «u»Harvard Business School «/u» in «u»Boston «/u», «u»Massachussetts [6]«/u» after being moved from «u»Dumbarton Oaks «/u».«u»[7]«/u» In the Dumbarton Oaks mosaic, the bust of Tethys\emdash surrounded by fishes\emdash is rising, bare-shouldered from the waters. Against her shoulder rests a golden ship's rudder. Gray «u»wings «/u» sprout from her forehead, as in the mosaics illustrated above and below. During «u»the war against the Titans «/u», Tethys raised «u»Hera «/u» as her god-child,«u»[8]«/u» but there are no records of active cults for Tethys in historic times. Tethys has sometimes been confused «u»[9]«/u» with another sea goddess who became the sea-nymph «u»Thetis «/u», the wife of «u»Peleus «/u» and mother of «u»Achilles «/u» during Classical times. Some myths imply a second generation relationship between the two, a grandmother and granddaughter. Indicative of the power exercised by Tethys, one myth«u»[10]«/u» relates that the prominent goddess of the Olympians, «u»Hera «/u», was not pleased with the placement of «u»Callisto «/u» and «u»Arcas «/u» in the sky, as the «u»constellations «/u» «u»Ursa Major «/u» and «u»Ursa Minor «/u», so she asked her «i»nurse«/i», Tethys, to help. Tethys, a marine goddess, caused the constellations forever to circle the sky and never drop below the horizon, hence explaining why they are circumpolar. «u»Robert Graves «/u» interprets the use of the term «i»nurse«/i» in Classical myths as identifying deities who once were goddesses of central importance in the periods before historical documentation.«u»[11]«/u» «u»Tethys «/u», a moon of the planet «u»Saturn «/u», and the prehistoric «u»Tethys Ocean «/u» are named after this goddess. «b»Children of Tethys \tab\ul«/b»Achelous «/u» \ul«tab»Acheron «/u» \ul«tab»Alpheus «/u» \ul«tab»Amaltheia «/u» \ul«tab»Amphitrite «/u» \ul«tab»Asia «/u» \ul«tab»Asopus «/u» \ul«tab»Callirhoe «/u» \ul«tab»Calypso «/u» \ul«tab»Catillus «/u» \ul«tab»Cebren «/u» \ul«tab»Cephissus «/u» \ul«tab»Circe «/u» \ul«tab»Clitunno «/u» («u»Roman mythology «/u») \ul«tab»Clymene «/u» \ul«tab»Clytia «/u» \ul«tab»Crinisus «/u» \ul«tab»Dione «/u» \ul«tab»Doris «/u» \ul«tab»Electra «/u» \ul«tab»Enipeus «/u» \ul«tab»Eurynome «/u» \ul«tab»Inachus «/u» \ul«tab»Lysithea «/u» \ul«tab»Melia «/u» \ul«tab»Meliboea «/u» \ul«tab»Merope «/u» \ul«tab»Metis «/u» \ul«tab»Nilus «/u» «tab»The «u»Oceanids «/u» \ul«tab»Peneus «/u» \ul«tab»Perse «/u» \ul«tab»Pleione «/u» \ul«tab»Rhode «/u» \ul«tab»Scamander «/u» \ul«tab»Styx «/u» \ul«tab»Telesto «/u» \ul«tab»Tiberinus «/u» («u»Roman mythology «/u») \ul«tab»Tibertus «/u» («u»Roman mythology «/u») \ul«tab»Tyche «/u» \ul«tab»Volturnus «/u» («u»Roman mythology >«/u») «b»Notes «u»1. ^\ulnone«/b» «u»Hesiod «/u». \ul«i»Theogony \ulnone«/i» lines 136, 337 and \ul«i»Bibliotheke \ulnone«/i», 1.2. \ul«b»2. ^\ulnone«/b» Tethys and Oceanus appear as a pair in «u»Callimachus «/u», «i»Hymn«/i» 4.17, and in Apollonius, \ul«i»Argonautica \ulnone«/i» 3.244. In «u»Catullus «/u» 88, not even Tethys and Oceanus can wash away Gellius' stain of incest: "«i»o Gelli, quantum non ultima Tethys/ nec genitor Nympharum abluit Oceanus.«/i»" S. J. Harrison, in "Mythological Incest: Catullus 88" «i»The Classical Quarterly«/i» New Series, «b»46«/b».2 (1996), pp. 581-582, points out the irony of Catullus' allusion to the sibling couple in this context. \ul«b»3. ^\ulnone«/b» «u»Hesiod «/u». \ul«i»Theogony \ulnone«/i», 337-70 gives an extensive list of their progeny, reflected in the list appended above. \ul«b»4. ^\ulnone«/b» Burkert 1992:92 states that "Tethys is in no way an active figure in Greek mythology". \ul«b»5. ^\ulnone«/b» Burkert 1992:93. \ul«b»6. ^\ulnone«/b» «u»<http://media.www.harbus.org/media/storage/paper343/news/2007/04/02/BakerLibrary/This-Month.From.Baker.Library-2815258.shtml>«/u» \ul«b»7. ^\ulnone«/b» Sara M. Wages, "A Note on the Dumbarton Oaks 'Tethys Mosaic'"«i»Dumbarton Oaks Papers«/i» «b»40«/b» (1986), pp. 119-128. Wages notes a sixth-century Attic vase painted by Sophilos at the «u»British Museum «/u», where Tethys is identified among the guests, that included all of the deities, at the wedding of «u»Peleus «/u» and «u»Thetis «/u». She appends a list of other similar, though [unidentified] images from the Greek east as far as «u»Armenia «/u», that can be taken for Tethys. \ul«b»8. ^\ulnone«/b» "...the time when Zeus caused Father Kronos to sink beneath the earth and sea. At that time Zeus and Hera lived in the palace of Okeanos and Tethys, who had received the divine children from the hands of Rhea and were keeping them hidden." (Karl Kerenyi, «i»The Gods of the Greeks«/i», 1951: 96, noting «i»Iliad«/i» 14.239). \ul«b»9. ^\ulnone«/b» even in Antiquity (Burkert 1992:92) \ul«b»10 ^\ulnone«/b» Pseudo-Hyginus, \ul«i»Fabulae \ulnone«/i», 177: "For Tethys, wife of Oceanus, and foster mother of Juno [Hera], forbids its setting in the Oceanus." \ul«b»11 ^\ulnone«/b» Robert Graves, «i»The Greek Myths«/i», 24.9, 164.1 Calypso «b»References \tab\ul«/b»Burkert, Walter «/u» «i»The Orientalizing Revolution: Near Eastern Influence on Greek Culture in the Early archaic Age«/i» (Harvard University Press) 1992, pp 91-93. \ul«tab»Theoi.com: <http://www.theoi.com/Titan/TitanisTethys.html>«/u» Tethys (Research):«b»http://fabpedigree.com/s059/f166097.htm the Nurse; (Cave Water) \b«/b»
  Person ID	I61430	Glenn Cook Family
  Last Modified	29 Apr 2015

  
  

  Father	Uranus, 1st Ruler GOD of the Universe   d. Yes, date unknown
  Mother	Gaia (Gaea) the Earth GODDESS   d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F551617645	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Oceanus the Titan   d. Yes, date unknown
  Children	1. Nilus, the River God   d. Yes, date unknown   2. Doris the Oceanid   d. Yes, date unknown   3. Philyra the Oceanid   d. Yes, date unknown   4. Peneus the River God, King of Arcadia   d. Yes, date unknown   5. Sperchius the River God   d. Yes, date unknown   6. Clymene the Oceanid   d. Yes, date unknown   7. Callirrhoe the Oceanid   d. Yes, date unknown   8. Pleione the Oceanid   d. Yes, date unknown   9. Phorcus the Titan   d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F551617644	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	19 Jun 2013

  
  

• Photos		Tethys Roman mosaic of Tethys from Antakya, Turkey
  		Tethys The goddess Tethys, who may have been a primordial deity of Archaic Greece, and in Classical myths was described as the mother who oversaw the chief rivers of the world known to the Greeks - mid-fourth-century mosaic - Philipopolis (Shahba, Syria), Shahba Museum