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The Titaness Themis introduced the ordinances
that concern the gods, and instructed men in the
ways of obedience to laws and
Peace.
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Delivered oracles
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Themis delivered oracles at
Delphi until
Apollo, the lovely son of
Leto, came to the city,
killed the serpent Python which guarded the oracle,
and sitting in the tripod, took over it. It is told
that Leto did not give
Apollo her breast when he
was born; but Themis, who was there, poured Nectar
and Ambrosia with her own hands for him to taste.
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Disputed privilege
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Some say that when
Apollo, still a child,
killed the serpent that guarded the prophetic
shrine, Gaia
gave birth to Dream Visions of the Night, who told
men the present and the future while they were
asleep in their beds. In this way Gaia
took the office of prophecy away from
Apollo. But
Apollo went back to
Olympus and asked Zeus to
restore his right, and Zeus
took away from mortals the truth that appears in
sleep, giving back the privilege to
Apollo, and restoring in
mortal men the confidence in prophecy.
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Themis, the second at
Delphi
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Others say, however, that between Themis' office
and Apollo's, Phoebe 1
the Titaness, delivered oracles at
Delphi. Themis was then
the second one to deliver oracles at
Delphi, and that is why
the Pythian Priestess could say:
"First, in
this prayer of mine, I give the place of highest
honor among the gods to the first prophet,
Gaia; and after her to Themis, for she
was the second to take this oracular seat of her
mother, as legend tells. And in the third
allotment, with Themis' consent and not by force,
another Titan, child of Gaia, Phoebe, took her seat here. She
gave it as a birthday gift to Phoebus [Apollo], who has his name from Phoebe."
[Pythian priestess. Aeschylus,
Eumenides
1]
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Themis about Thetis
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Zeus and
Poseidon had been
rivals for the hand of Thetis, but when Themis
prophesied that the son born of Thetis would be
mightier than his father they withdrew, and Thetis
was in time married to
Peleus, giving birth to
Achilles.
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Themis and the TITANS
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Themis told the Titan
Prometheus 1 (who
called her "mother", but so he called
Gaia too, as some will have
it that Gaia and Themis
were one and the same) not to join the
TITANS in their war
against the OLYMPIANS,
because in that war, the clever not the brute,
would prevail. When
Prometheus 1 was
punished by Zeus and bound
to the Caucasian rock, Themis prophesied that a
descendant of a Danaid
[Heracles 1], none of
them yet born, would deliver him.
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Goddess of oaths lives in Olympus
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Themis was deemed guardian of men's oaths, and
for that reason she is also called goddess of
oaths. She lives in Olympus close to
Zeus, who is described as
the real all-seeing as he whispers words of wisdom
to Themis when she sits leaning towards him. But
some affirm that it is thanks to Themis that
Zeus rules in the sky.
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