After he rejected the advances of the nymph Echo, Nemesis lured him to a pool where he caught sight of his own reflection and fell in love with it, eventually dying.[9]. In early times the representations of Nemesis resembled Aphrodite, who sometimes bears the epithet Nemesis. From this union, she laid an egg, which some herdsman found among the trees and handed over to Lede (Leda). Campbell, Vol. As the "Goddess of Rhamnous", Nemesis was honored and placated in an archaic sanctuary in the isolated district of Rhamnous, in northeastern Attica. [7] Her cult may have originated at Smyrna. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd AD) : Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2. [2], Goddess of retribution in Greek mythology. Nemesis in her bird form lays an egg that is discovered in the marshes by a shepherd, who passes the egg to Leda. Rich-haired Nemesis gave birth to her [Helene (Helen)] when she had been joined in love with Zeus the king of the gods by harsh violence. Later, as the maiden goddess of proportion and the avenger of crime, she has as attributes a measuring rod (tally stick), a bridle, scales, a sword, and a scourge, and she rides in a chariot drawn by griffins. She is implacable justice: that of Zeus in the Olympian scheme of things, although it is clear she existed prior to him, as her images look similar to several other goddesses, such as Cybele, Rhea, Demeter, and Artemis.[6]. Its object was to avert the nemesis of the dead, who were supposed to have the power of punishing the living, if their cult had been in any way neglected (Sophocles, Electra, 792; E. Rohde, Psyche, 1907, i. Nemesis, her devotees and her place in the Roman world are fully discussed, with examples, in Hornum, Michael B., "Nemesis – Origin and history of nemesis by Online Etymology Dictionary", "Metamorphoses (Kline) 3, the Ovid Collection, Univ. et D. 183). Her Roman counterpart was Invidia, […] i. Nemesis was worshipped by the Romans, (who invoked her on the Capitol), as a divinity who possessed the power of averting the pernicious consequences of envy. Nemesis is frequently called Adrastia, and also Rhamnusia, from Rhamnus in Attica, the chief seat of her worship, which contained a celebrated statue of the goddess. According to another myth, Nemesis created an egg, from which two sets of twins hatched; one set was Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra, and the other was the Dioscuri. Nemesis: GreekMythology.com - Nov 27, 2020, Greek Mythology iOS Volume Purchase Program VPP for Education App. 4 (trans. When Jupiter [Zeus], moved by desire, had begun to love Nemesis, and couldn't persuade her to lie with him, he relieved his passion by the following plan. § 3, vii. She was considered a remorseless goddess. At Smyrna there were two manifestations of Nemesis, more akin to Aphrodite than to Artemis. The Greeks say that Nemesis was the mother of Helene (Helen), while Leda suckled and nursed her. Constellation Swan (Cygnus). The father of Helene the Greeks like everybody else hold to be not Tyndareos (Tyndareus) but Zeus. She was considered a remorseless goddess. It included a crown of stags and little Nikes and was made by Pheidias after the Battle of Marathon (490 BC), crafted from a block of Parian marble brought by the overconfident Persians, who had intended to make a memorial stele after their expected victory. In the third century AD, there is evidence of the belief in an all-powerful Nemesis-Fortuna. The four famous Telkhines (Telchines), Aktaios (Actaeus), Megalesios (Megalesius), Ormenos (Ormenus) and Lykos (Lycus), whom Bakkhylides (Bacchylides) calls the children of Nemesis and Tartaros. 127 (trans. As such, she meted out punishment for evil deeds, undeserved good fortune, and hubris (arrogance before the gods). Nemesis led him to a pool, where he saw his reflection and fell in love with it. Nemesis was widely used in the Greek tragedies and various other literary works, being the deity that would give what was due to the protagonist. The name Nemesis is related to the Greek word νέμειν némein, meaning "to give what is due", from Proto-Indo-European nem- "distribute". Nemesis was the ancient Greek goddess of divine retribution. She was worshipped by a society called Hadrian's freedmen. She was often called "Goddess of Rhamnous", … Nemesis is a personification of the moral reverence for law, of the natural fear of committing a culpable action, and hence of conscience, and for this reason she is mentioned along with Aidôs, i. e. Shame (Hes. and mentioned her "adamantine bridles" that restrain "the frivolous insolences of mortals". But Nemesis, as if wedded to the tribe of birds, when her months were ended, bore an egg. [10] She is shown on a few examples of Imperial coinage as Nemesis-Pax, mainly under Claudius and Hadrian. Pausanias noted her iconic statue there. Praef.) Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C7th or C6th BC) : Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. She was also called Adrasteia, meaning “the inescapable,” or the “Goddess of Rhamnous” in recognition of her famous temple in the city Rhamnous. One myth concerning Nemesis is that of Narcissus. In Greek Mythology, Nemesis was the Goddess of vengeful fate, rightful retribution, or revenge as represented in her name which has a rough translation of “to give what is due” from Greek language/ dialect to English. Stasinus of Cyprus or Hegesias of Aegina, Cypria Fragment 8 (trans. Nemesis was one of several tutelary deities of the drill-ground (as Nemesis campestris). arrogance before the gods. To make this really true, Jupiter put the swan flying and the eagle pursuing in the sky. In the Theogony, Nemesis is the sister of the Moirai (the Fates), the Keres (Black Fates), the Oneiroi (Dreams), Eris (Discord) and Apate (Deception), In some metaphysical mythology, Nemesis produced the egg from which hatched two sets of twins: Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra, and the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux. For Nemesis tried to escape him and liked not to lie in love with her father Zeus the son of Kronos (Cronus); for shame and indignation vexed her heart: therefore she fled him over the land and fruitless dark sea. The reason for this duality is hard to explain. From it sprang Helen, who excelled all other girls in beauty. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd AD) : Bacchylides, Fragment 52 (from Tzetzes on Theogony) (trans. From the fourth century onward, Nemesis, as the just balancer of Fortune's chance, could be associated with Tyche. 223, Op. or of Oceanus (Tzetz. Nemesis appears in a still more concrete form in a fragment of the epic Cypria. She was often called "Goddess of Rhamnous", an isolated place in Attica, where a temple was attributed to her. Ammianus Marcellinus includes her in a digression on Justice following his description of the death of Gallus Caesar. She is portrayed as a winged goddess wielding a whip or a dagger. Nemesis was the goddess of divine retribution and revenge, who would show her wrath to any human being that would commit hubris, i.e. Theog. He bade Venus (Aphrodite), in the form of an eagle, pursue him; he, changed to a swan as if in flight from the eagle, took refuge with Nemesis and lighted in her lap. NE′MESIS (Nemesis), is most commonly described as a daughter of Night, though some call her a daughter of Erebus (Hygin. Because he was seen by men flying high in the sky, they said he was put in the stars. The martyrology Acts of Pionius, set in the "Decian persecution" of AD 250–51, mentions a lapsed Smyrnan Christian who was attending to the sacrifices at the altar of the temple of these Nemeses. He was a young man who was very arrogant and disdained those who loved him. According to Hesiod, though, she was a child of Erebus and Nyx. [2], The name Nemesis is related to the Greek word νέμειν némein, meaning "to give what is due",[3] from Proto-Indo-European nem- "distribute".[4]. O. Gruppe (1906) and others connect the name with "to feel just resentment". She has also been described, by Hesiod, as the daughter of Nyx alone. 33. Modern scholarship offers little support for the once-prevalent notion that arena personnel such as gladiators, venatores and bestiarii were personally or professionally dedicated to her cult. There she was a daughter of Oceanus, the primeval river-ocean that encircles the world. She was sometimes called "Adrasteia", probably meaning "one from whom there is no escape"; her epithet Erinys ("implacable") is specially applied to Demeter and the Phrygian mother goddess, Cybele. In ancient Greek religion, Nemesis,[a] also called Rhamnousia or Rhamnusia (Ancient Greek: Ῥαμνουσία)[1] ("the goddess of Rhamnous"), is the goddess who enacts retribution against those who succumb to hubris (arrogance before the gods). She kept it in a box, and when Helene was hatched after the proper length of time, she reared her as her own. Divine retribution is a major theme in the Hellenic world view, providing the unifying theme of the tragedies of Sophocles and many other literary works. Nemesis, as she fled from Zeus' embrace, took the form of a goose; whereupon Zeus as a swan had intercourse with her. 88; Paus. Nemesis has been described as the daughter of Oceanus or Zeus, but according to Hyginus she was a child of Erebus and Nyx. Nemesis, to avoid Zeus, turns into a goose, but he turns into a swan and mates with her anyway. Unable to abandon his reflection, he died there. The word nemesis originally meant the distributor of fortune, neither good nor bad, simply in due proportion to each according to what was deserved. § 1). She also called Rhamnousia/Rhamnusia ("the Goddess of Rhamnous") at her sanctuary at Rhamnous, north of Marathon. 8 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd AD) : Pausanias, Description of Greece 1. Greek Lyric IV) (Greek lyric C5th BC) : This page was last edited on 26 November 2020, at 20:21. She was later also known as Rhamnousia and Rhamnusia. Nemesis did not thrust him away, but holding him in her arms, fell into a deep sleep. The parents of Nemesis were Erebus and Nyx. 5. But Zeus ever pursued and longed in his heart to catch her. [citation needed]. The poet Mesomedes wrote a hymn to Nemesis in the early second century AD, where he addressed her: Nemesis, winged balancer of life, dark-faced goddess, daughter of Justice. The primeval concept of Nemesis is traced by Marcel Mauss (Mauss. [N.B. [5] Hesiod states: "Also deadly Nyx bore Nemesis an affliction to mortals subject to death" (Theogony, 223, though perhaps an interpolated line). In the Greek tragedies Nemesis appears chiefly as the avenger of crime and the punisher of hubris, and as such is akin to Atë and the Erinyes. It was believed that she was the daughter of the primordial god Oceanus. Nemesis the goddess (perhaps of fertility) was worshipped at Rhamnus in Attica and was very similar to Artemis (a goddess of wild animals, vegetation, childbirth, and the hunt). arrogance before the gods. Having heard this legend [the sculptor] Pheidias has represented Helene as being led to Nemesis by Leda, and he has represented Tyndareos and his children. Nemesis was widely used in the Greek tragedies and various other literary works, being the deity that would give what was due to the protagonist. [citation needed] Later, Nemesis came to suggest the resentment caused by any disturbance of this right proportion, the sense of justice that could not allow it to pass unpunished. While she slept, Jupiter [Zeus] embraced her and then flew away. ad Lyc. Now she took the form of a fish and sped over the waves of the loud-roaring sea, and now over Okeanos' (Oceanus') stream and the furthest bounds of Earth, and now she sped over the furrowed land, always turning into such dread creatures as the dry land nurtures, that she might escape him. Nemesis, in Greek religion, two divine conceptions, the first an Attic goddess, the daughter of Nyx (Night), and the second an abstraction of indignant disapproval, later personified. 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