1. IRIS
GREEK NAME: IRIS
ROMAN NAME: ARCUS
Who is Iris?
Her father, Thaumas "the wondrous" was a marine-god, and her mother, Electra "the
amber“, a cloud-nymph. She was born in the mists of the sky just when the sun came out.
Her sisters are the fearful Harpies; Aello, Celaeno, and Ocypete. She also has a twin
sister, Arke, who served as messenger for the Titans in the first war and was thrown into
Tartarus with her masters by Zeus after ripping her wings off.
She is married to Zephyros, who was the god of the west wind and their son are Pothos,
who was the god of sexual longing, yearning and desire and Butch who was a Greek
demigod.
Her primary role in The Iliad seems to be that of the faithful messenger of Zeus.
As the sun unites Earth and heaven, Iris links the gods to humanity.
Whoever promises to tell the truth and lies, she uses it to put the liar to sleep.
Some of her other duties included carrying a pitcher of water from the River Styx, which
Zeus commanded her to pour on those who perjured themselves, causing them to fall into
a deep sleep.
Iris flies on the wind and moves like a blast of bright air.
She is called 'The Rainbow, Iris' thus implying that her presence is a sign of hope or
perhaps symbolizing a bridge between heaven to earth.
Iris is generally considered to be a "minor" goddess in that, she is submissive to the
Olympians
Emblem(s)
RAINBOW
A rainbow reaches cloud to cloud. This could be symbolized, a cloud to a god,
and the rainbow is Iris. She transfers messages from god to god.
Iris used the rainbow as the path of her messages. She was a messenger and very
good at it. She was faster than Hermes. She did not make promises, she delivered
messages.
Each color of the rainbow has a specific meaning, and together their meanings are
magnified:
Red-Vitality
Orange-Creative Energy
Yellow-Wisdom
Green-Life, Balance, Nature
2. Blue-Spirituality
Indigo-Infinity
Violet-Spiritual Mastery
Designation(s)
Goddess of Rainbow
Goddess of sea and the sky.
Goddess of Clouds
Goddess of Weather
Goddess of Mist
Handmaiden and personal messenger of Zeus & Hera.
Weapon(s)
CADUCEUS
This wand indicates that she is a herald
The origin of the shape is two intertwined snakes whose detail is lost in the wand of Iris.
depicted as a medicinal or magical tool symbolized to indicate healing and immortality in
literature and drawings from the era before Christ.
OINOCHOE
Wine jug from the classical period of Greek pottery.
A graceful vessel with delicately curved handle and trefoil-shaped mouth, the oinochoe
was revived during the Renaissance and again during the Neoclassical period of the 18th
century.
Iris uses this for making rainbows.
Dominion
Iris has no specific dominion.
