Goddess Of The Rainbow Iris Messenger Of Zeus Hera Greek Mythology

Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, in Greek mythology, is the daughter of Titan Thaumas and the ocean nymph, Electra. Married to Zephyrus (god of the West Wind) Iris has a son, Pothos. She is the ambassador of Zeus and his wife Hera, the king and queen of the gods. It is said that Iris leaves Mount Olympus only to deliver messages to mankind who look up to her as an advisor and guide. Iris is the link between the gods and humanity.


Such is the speed of the goddess of the rainbow that she travels as fast as the wind from one corner of the earth to the other, from the depths of the ocean to the chasms of the deep, underground world. She often changes her appearance while delivering messages to mankind. She takes on the look of a person known to the mortal to whom she is delivering the message.

Apart from carrying messages, the goddess of the rainbow has many tasks to perform. One of them is to deliver a jug of sacred water from the river Styx so as to put to sleep whoever lies. Zeus makes the gods swear by the water of the Styx. Any god who falsely swears by the water of the Styx will lie breathless for a year without tasting Ambrosia and Nectar. After a year spent in silence, deprived of energy and sickness, the god will be barred from the gods’ meetings and feasts for nine years whereupon he can return.

The goddess of the rainbow also has the responsibility of providing the clouds with the water required to flood the world. Once, Zeus wanted to punish some evil mortals, so with help from Iris, he destroyed their crops. He shut the North Wind, Boreas, in the cave of Aeolus and allowed in the South Wind (Notus), which brought rain. Iris, meanwhile, fed the clouds with water. All crops were destroyed and humans devastated.

There is reference to Iris in the famous epic, the Illiad, by Homer, whereby he, too, has portrayed her as the messenger of Zeus. Iris shares her role as the messenger of the gods with the Olympian Hermes. She has wings, like Hermes, and carries a winged staff or a ‘caduceus’. The goddess of the rainbow is also represented as a young maiden with wings on her shoulders. In classical art, the characteristic features by which Iris is often identified are the staff, the wings, and a vase, representing the urn which contains the Styxian water.

It has been suggested by scholars that Iris is the personified goddess of the rainbow and represents a brief union between the earth and sky. Many poetic titles have been given to Iris – Aellopus (swift-footed like a storm wind), Chrysopteron (Golden Winged), Podas okea (swift footed) or Podenemos okea (wind-swift footed) and Thaumatias or Thaumantos (Daughter of Thaumas, Wondrous One). Iris