Now on the Scene, the Goddess Nemesis (original) (raw)

Yes, I still do mythology posts occasionally, especially when I have something to inspire me. In this case, it’s Rick Riordan’s The Mark of Athena, in which the goddess Nemesis makes an appearance. Based on her name, you’d think she’d be someone to avoid, and you’d be basically right. She’s the goddess of revenge, and a deity to beware if you think you’ve gotten away with something. More than that, however, she’s a representative of divine balance. If the gods think someone has had too much good fortune, Nemesis arrives to balance it out with some bad. As such, she’s sort of the goddess of just desserts.

As with many deities, Nemesis’ parentage varies depending on who’s telling the story, but it looks like her most common forebears were Nyx and Erebus, the primordial personifications of night and darkness. She’s sometimes said to be the daughter of Oceanus, however; and one myth refers to Zeus as her father, although this might be figurative. In some accounts, her own children with Tartarus were the Telchines, skilled metal-workers who settled on the island of Rhodes and might have had the heads of dogs. Nemesis might also be the mother of Helen of Troy. Yes, it’s usually Leda who is said to be Helen’s mother, but there are accounts of Nemesis laying the egg from which Helen hatched and then giving it to Leda.