Digital Maps of the Ancient World

Iris

Iris, the swift-footed goddess, personified the rainbow. With wings shimmering in every color imaginable, she served as the messenger of the Olympian gods, flitting across the heavens with news and pronouncements.

Iris. Athenian red-figure lekythos, c. 5th BC, Rhode Island School of Design Museum. (c) theoi

Residence: Mount Olympus
Symbols: Rainbow and caduceus
Parents: Thaumas and Electra
Siblings: Arke, Aello, Celaeno and Ocypete
Roman equivalent: Iris

Iris, the rainbow goddess, wasn’t just a celestial messenger; she was the embodiment of the rainbow itself. Born of a union between the sea-god Thaumas and the cloud-nymph Electra, Iris personified the visual connection between sky and water, the very place where rainbows often appeared to the coastal Greeks. It was even believed she carried water from the sea to replenish the rainclouds.

Art

Hera and Iris, Athenian red-figure lekythos, 5th c. BC. Rhode Island School of Design Museum. (c) theoi
Attic black-figure hydria, c. 520-510 BC, depicting Iris commanding Achilles to hand over the body of Hector. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. (c) theoi
Attic red-figure krater, c. 475-470 BC, depicting Iris attending to Poseidon. Yale University Art Gallery. (c) theoi