Editing Iris (mythology) (section)

== Mythology ==
=== Titanomachy ===
[[File:Winged goddess Cdm Paris 392.jpg|thumb|right|222px|Winged female figure holding a caduceus: Iris (messenger of the gods) or [[Nike (mythology)|Nike]] (Victory)]]

Iris is said to travel on the rainbow while carrying messages from the gods to mortals. In some records, Iris is a sister to fellow messenger goddess [[Arke]] ("swift", "quick"); both sisters originally sided with the Olympian gods during the Titanomachy, but Arke eventually flew out of the company of Olympians to join the [[Titans]] as their own messenger goddess, so the two sisters found each other on opposite camps during the battle.<ref name="ptoly"/>

After the war was won by the Olympian leader Zeus and his allies, Zeus punished Arke by tearing her wings from her and in time gave them as a gift to the [[Nereid]] [[Thetis]] at her wedding to [[Peleus]], who in turn gave them to her son, [[Achilles]], who wore them on his feet.<ref name="ptoly">[[Ptolemy Hephaestion]], ''New History'' Book 6; epitomized in [[Photios I of Constantinople|Photius]]' ''[[Bibliotheca (Photius)|Bibliotheca]]'' [http://topostext.org/work.php?work_id=237#190.46 190]</ref> Achilles was sometimes known as ''podarkes'' (feet like [the wings of] Arke). Podarces was also the original name of [[Priam]], the king of [[Troy]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Andrews |first1=P. B. S. |title=The Falls of Troy in Greek Tradition |journal=Greece & Rome |date=1965 |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=28–37 |doi=10.1017/S0017383500014753 |jstor=642402 |s2cid=162661766 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/642402 |access-date=27 October 2022 |issn=0017-3835}}</ref> Iris on the other hand maintained her position as the messenger of the gods alongside Hermes; often Iris served specifically as Hera's personal messenger and servant.

=== Messenger of the gods ===
[[File:Pompeii - Casa dei Vettii - Ixion.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|Iris stands behind the seated [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]] (right) in a [[Pompeii]] fresco]]

Following her daughter [[Persephone]]'s abduction by [[Hades]], the goddess of agriculture [[Demeter]] withdrew to her temple in [[Eleusis]] and made the earth barren, causing a great famine that killed off mortals, and as a result sacrifices to the gods ceased. [[Zeus]] then sent Iris to Demeter, calling her to join the other gods and lift her curse; but as her daughter was not returned, Demeter was not persuaded.<ref>''[[Homeric Hymns]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0138%3Ahymn%3D2 2.314&ndash;325]</ref>

In one narrative, after [[Leto]] and her children pleaded with Zeus to release [[Prometheus]] from his torment, Zeus relented, and sent Iris to order [[Heracles]] to free the unfortunate Prometheus.<ref>[[Valerius Flaccus (poet)|Valerius Flaccus]], ''Argonautica'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/valerius_flaccus-argonautica/1934/pb_LCL286.191.xml 4.60-78 ff]</ref>

After [[Alcyone and Ceyx|Ceyx]] drowned in a shipwreck, Hera made Iris convey her orders to [[Hypnos]], the god of sleep. Iris flew and found him in his cave, and informed him that Hera wished for Ceyx's wife, Alcyone, to be informed of her loved one's death in her dreams. After delivering Hera's command, Iris left immediately, not standing to be near Hypnos for too long, for his powers took hold of her, and made her dizzy and sleepy.<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' 11.585</ref>

In [[Aristophanes]]'s comedy ''[[The Birds (play)|The Birds]]'', the titular birds build a city in the sky and plan to supplant the Olympian gods. Iris, as the messenger, goes to meet them, but she is ridiculed, insulted, and threatened with rape by their leader Pisetaerus, an elderly Athenian man. Iris appears confused that Pisetearus does not know who the gods are and that she is one of them. Pisetaerus then tells her that the birds are the gods now, the deities whom the humans must sacrifice to. After Pisetaerus threatens to rape her, Iris scolds him for his foul language and leaves, warning him that Zeus, whom she refers to as her father, will deal with him and make him pay.{{sfn|Welsh|2014|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=RiN8AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA29 29]}}

Iris also appears several times in [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'', usually as an agent of [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]]. In Book 4, Juno dispatches her to pluck a lock of hair from the head of Queen [[Dido (Queen of Carthage)|Dido]], so that she may die and enter Hades.<ref>[[Virgil]], ''[[Aeneid]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/245#4.630 4.696]</ref> In book 5, Iris, having taken on the form of a Trojan woman, stirs up the other Trojan mothers to set fire to four of Aeneas' ships in order to prevent them from leaving Sicily.<ref>[[Virgil]], ''[[Aeneid]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/245#5.604 5.606]</ref>

[[File:IrisGuyHead.jpg|thumb|right|235px|''Iris Carrying the Water of the [[Styx|River Styx]] to [[Mount Olympus|Olympus]] for the Gods to Swear By'', by [[Guy Head]] (c. 1793)]]

According to the Roman poet [[Ovid]], after [[Romulus]] was deified as the god [[Quirinus]], his wife [[Hersilia]] pleaded with the gods to let her become immortal as well so that she could be with her husband once again. Juno heard her plea and sent Iris down to her. With a single finger, Iris touched Hersilia and transformed her into an immortal goddess. Hersilia flew to Olympus, where she became one of the [[Horae]] and was permitted to live with her husband forevermore.<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' [https://ovid.lib.virginia.edu/trans/Metamorph14.htm#487618623 14.829&ndash;851]</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=McLeish|first=Kenneth|author-link=Kenneth McLeish|title=Bloomsbury Dictionary of Myth|url=http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/bloommyth/hersilia/0|journal=Credo Reference}}</ref>

=== Trojan War ===
According to the lost epic ''[[Cypria]]'' by [[Stasinus]], it was Iris who informed [[Menelaus]], who had sailed off to [[Crete]], of what had happened back in [[Sparta]] while he was gone, namely his wife [[Helen of Troy|Helen]]'s elopement with the [[Troy|Trojan]] Prince [[Paris (mythology)|Paris]] as well as the death of Helen's brother [[Castor and Pollux|Castor]].<ref>[[Proclus]]' [https://web.archive.org/web/20091009120320/http://www.stoa.org/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Stoa:text:2003.01.0004 summary] of [[Stasinus]]' ''[[Cypria]]''.</ref>

Iris is frequently mentioned as a divine messenger in ''[[The Iliad]]'', which is attributed to [[Homer]]. She does not, however, appear in ''[[The Odyssey]],'' where her role is instead filled by [[Hermes]]. Like Hermes, Iris carries a [[caduceus]] or winged staff. By command of [[Zeus]], the king of the gods, she carries a [[ewer]] of water from the [[River Styx]], with which she puts to [[sleep]] all who [[perjury|perjure]] themselves. In Book XXIII, she delivers Achilles's prayer to [[Boreas (god)|Boreas]] and Zephyrus to light the funeral pyre of [[Patroclus]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mackie|first=Christopher John|date=2011|title=The Homer Encyclopedia|url=http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/wileyhom/winds/0|journal=Credo Reference}}</ref> In the last book, Zeus sends Iris to King [[Priam]], to tell him that he should go to the Achaean camp alone and ransom the body of his slain son [[Hector]] from [[Achilles]]. Iris swiftly delivers the message to Priam and returns to Olympus.<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/2#24.140 24.144]–[https://topostext.org/work/2#24.185 189]</ref>

=== Other myths ===
[[File:Iris Louvre L43 n2.jpg|thumb|left|230px|Iris, Attic lekythos in Six's technique (superposed colours), circa 500–490 BC, found in [[Tanagra]], now in [[Louvre]].]]

According to the "[[Homeric Hymns|Homeric Hymn to Apollo]]", when [[Leto]] was in labor prior to giving birth to her twin children [[Apollo]] and [[Artemis]], all the goddesses were in attendance except for two, Hera and [[Eileithyia]], the goddess of childbirth. On the ninth day of her labor, Leto told Iris to bribe Eileithyia and ask for her help in giving birth to her children, without allowing Hera to find out.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Grant|first=Michael|date=2002|title=Who's Who in Classical Mythology, Routledge|url=http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/routwwcm/leto/0|journal=Credo Reference}}</ref> According to [[Callimachus]], Iris along with [[Ares]] ordered, on [[Hera]]'s orders, all cities and other places to shun the pregnant [[Leto]] and deny her shelter where she could bring forth her twins.<ref>[[Callimachus]], ''Hymn to Delos'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/callimachus-hymns_hymn_iv_delos/1921/pb_LCL129.89.xml 67&ndash;69]</ref> After [[Asteria]], now transformed into the island of [[Delos]], offered shelter to Leto, Iris flew back to Hera to inform her that Leto had been allowed to give birth due to Asteria defying Hera's orders, and took her seat beside Hera.<ref>[[Callimachus]], ''Hymn to Delos'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/callimachus-hymns_hymn_iv_delos/1921/pb_LCL129.103.xml 110–228]</ref>

According to [[Apollonius Rhodius]], Iris turned back the [[Argonauts]] [[Boreads|Zetes and Calais]], who had pursued the [[Harpies]] to the [[Strophades]] ("Islands of Turning"). The brothers had driven off the monsters from their torment of the prophet [[Phineus]], but did not kill them upon the request of Iris, who promised that [[Phineus]] would not be bothered by the Harpies again.

After King [[Creon (king of Thebes)|Creon]] of Thebes forbade the burial of the dead Argive soldiers who had raised their arms against Thebes, Hera ordered Iris to moisturize their dead bodies with dew and ambrosia.<ref>[[Statius]], ''[[Thebaid (Latin poem)|Thebaid]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/statius-thebaid/2004/pb_LCL498.259.xml 12.138 ff]</ref>

In a lesser-known narrative, Iris once came close to being raped by the [[satyr]]s after she attempted to disrupt their worship of [[Dionysus]], perhaps at the behest of [[Hera]]. About fifteen black-and-red-figure vase paintings dating from the fifth century BC depict said satyrs either menacingly advancing toward or getting hold of her when she tries to interfere with the sacrifice.{{sfn|Sells|2019|page =[https://books.google.com/books?id=4nt7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA112 112]}} In another cup, Iris is depicted being assaulted by the satyrs, who apparently are trying to prevent Iris from stealing sacrificial meat from the altar of Dionysus, who is also present in the scene. On the other side, the satyrs are attacking Hera, who stands between Hermes and Heracles.{{sfn|Antonopoulos|Christopoulos|Harrison|2021|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=y108EAAAQBAJ&pg=PT628 627–628]}} The ancient playwright [[Achaeus of Eretria|Achaeus]] wrote ''Iris'', a now lost [[satyr play]], which might have been the source of those vases' subject.{{sfn|Antonopoulos|Christopoulos|Harrison|2021|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=y108EAAAQBAJ&pg=PT628 627–628]}}

In [[Euripides]]' play ''[[Herakles (Euripides)|Heracles Gone Mad]]'', Iris appears alongside [[Lyssa]], the goddess of madness and insanity, cursing [[Heracles]] with the fit of madness in which he kills his three sons and his wife [[Megara (mythology)|Megara]].<ref>[[Euripides]], ''[[Herakles (Euripides)|Heracles]]'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0102%3Acard%3D822 822]</ref> Iris also prepared the bed of Zeus and Hera.<ref>[[Theocritus]], ''Idylls'' [https://archive.org/details/theocritusidylls00theo/page/66/mode/2up?view=theater 15.135]</ref>