Editing Metis (mythology)

{{short description|Oceanid of Greek mythology}}
{{Distinguish|Meitei mythology|Meitei goddess}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Greek
| name = Metis
| member_of = the [[Oceanids]]
| image = Winged goddess Louvre F32.jpg
| alt = 
| caption = A winged goddess depicted under Zeus' throne, possibly Metis.
| abode = 
| consort = [[Zeus]]
| parents = [[Oceanus]] and [[Tethys (mythology)|Tethys]]
| offspring = [[Athena]], [[Porus (mythology)|Porus]]
| siblings = [[Oceanids]], [[River gods (Greek mythology)|River gods]]
| god_of = Goddess of wisdom, counsel and deep thought
}}

'''Metis''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|iː|t|ɪ|s}}; {{langx|grc|Μῆτις|Mêtis}}; [[Modern Greek]]: Μήτις, meaning 'Wisdom', 'Skill', or 'Craft'), in [[ancient Greek religion]] and [[Greek mythology|mythology]], was the pre-Olympian goddess of wisdom, counsel and deep thought, and a member of the [[Oceanids]].<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D337 357]; Smith, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DM%3Aentry+group%3D24%3Aentry%3Dmetis-bio-1 s.v. Metis].</ref> She is notable for being the advisor and first wife of [[Zeus]], the king of the gods. She first helped him to free his siblings from their father [[Cronus]]' stomach and later helped their daughter [[Athena]] to escape from the forehead of Zeus, who swallowed both mother and child after it was foretold that she would bear a son mightier than his father.

== Function ==
By the era of [[Greek philosophy]] in the 5th century BC, Metis had become the first deity of wisdom and deep thought, but her name originally connoted "magical cunning" and was as easily equated with the [[trickster]] powers of [[Prometheus]] as with the "royal ''metis''" of [[Zeus]], who is titled ''Metieta'' ({{Langx|grc|Μητίετα||the wise counsellor}}) in the Homeric poems.<ref name="Brown" /> The [[Stoicism|Stoic]] commentators [[allegory|allegorised]] Metis as the embodiment of "[[prudence]]", "wisdom" or "wise counsel", in which form she was inherited by the [[Renaissance]].<ref>A.B. Cook, ''Zeus'' (1914) 1940, noted in Brown 1952:133 note.</ref>

The Greek word ''metis'' meant a quality that combined wisdom and cunning. This quality was considered to be highly admirable, the hero [[Odysseus]] being the embodiment of it, for example using such a strategy against [[Polyphemus]], son of [[Poseidon]]. In the Classical era, ''metis'' was regarded by Athenians as one of the notable characteristics of the Athenian character.<ref>{{Cite web|title=METIS – TITAN OF WISDOM|url=https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/goddesses/metis/}}</ref>

== Mythology ==
=== Hesiod's account ===
Metis was an [[Oceanids|Oceanid]], one of the 3000 daughters of the [[Titans]] [[Oceanus]] and [[Tethys (mythology)|Tethys]],<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|last=Bane|first=Theresa|title=Encyclopedia of Fairies in World Folklore and Mythology|publisher=McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers|year=2013|isbn=9780786471119|page=232}}</ref> and a sister of the [[River gods (Greek mythology)|river-gods]], which also numbered 3000. Metis gave her cousin [[Zeus]] an emetic potion to cause his father [[Cronus]], the supreme ruler of the cosmos, to vomit out his siblings - [[Hestia]], [[Demeter]], [[Hera]], [[Hades]] and [[Poseidon]] - their father had swallowed out of fear of being overthrown.<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D492 471]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], ''Bibliotheca'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D2%3Asection%3D1 1.2.1]; Grimal, s.v. Metis.</ref> After Zeus and his siblings won the [[Titanomachy]], the 10-year war among the Titans and the [[Twelve Olympians|Olympians]], he pursued Metis and they got married.<ref>[[Marcel Detienne|M. Detienne]] and [[Jean-Pierre Vernant|J.-P. Vernant]], ''Les Ruses de l'intelligence: la Mètis des Grecs'' (Paris, 1974). {{ISBN|2-08-081036-7}}.</ref><ref name="Brown">Norman O. Brown, "The Birth of [[Athena]]" ''Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association'' '''83''' (1952), pp. 130–143.</ref> 

Metis was both an indispensable aid and a threat to Zeus.<ref>Brown 1952:133</ref> He lay with her, but immediately feared the consequences, for it had been prophesied by [[Gaia]] and [[Uranus (mythology)|Uranus]] that Metis would bear a daughter who would be wiser than her mother, and then a son more powerful than his father, who would eventually overthrow Zeus and become the king of the cosmos in his place.<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'', [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D886 886–900]; Hard, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA77 77]; Caldwell, p. 16; Tripp, s.v. Metis.</ref> In order to forestall these consequences, Zeus tricked Metis into turning herself into a fly and promptly swallowed her.<ref name="Lang 1901 pp. 194, 262-263">{{cite book |last=Lang |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Lang |title=Myth, Ritual and Religion |publisher=Longmans, Green |volume=2 |year=1901 |url={{Google books|GEYA38U040QC|page=263|keywords=metis fly|plainurl=yes}} |access-date=2018-04-10 |pages=194, 262–263 |oclc=13809803}}</ref> However, she was already pregnant with their first and only child, [[Athena]], whom Metis raised in Zeus' mind. It is from this position that Metis continues to give Zeus advice as a ruler.

Once Athena fully grew up, Metis crafted robes, an armor, a shield, and a spear for her daughter, who banged her spear and shield together in order to give her father a terrible headache. Soon, Zeus could not take his headache anymore and had the smith god [[Hephaestus]] - a son of Hera, now his queen - cut his head open to let out whatever was in there on the [[Triton River|river Triton]]'s banks. Athena emerged from Zeus's mind full grown, wearing the armor her mother made for her. She was soon made the goddess of wisdom, warfare, and crafts.
{{blockquote|But Zeus lay with the fair-cheeked daughter of Ocean and Tethys apart from [[Hera]] ... deceiving Metis although she was full wise. But he seized her with his hands and put her in his belly, for fear that she might bring forth something stronger than his thunderbolt: therefore did Zeus, who sits on high and dwells in the aether, swallow her down suddenly. But she straightway conceived Pallas Athena: and the father of men and gods gave her birth by way of his head on the banks of the river Trito. And she remained hidden beneath the inward parts of Zeus, even Metis, Athena's mother, worker of righteousness, who was wiser than gods and mortal men.<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D901 929]</ref>}}

=== Other versions ===
According to a [[scholia]]st on the ''[[Theogony]]'', Metis had the ability of [[shapeshifting|changing her shape at will]]. Zeus tricked her and swallowed his pregnant wife when she transformed into a ''{{lang|grc|πικρὰν}}''{{efn|name=fn1|In [[accusative]].}} (''pikràn'').<ref>[[Scholia]] on [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=iusUAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA440 886]</ref> As Keightley notes, {{lang|grc|πικρὰ}} ("bitter") makes little or no sense in that context, and it has been variously corrected to {{lang|grc|μυῖαν}}{{efn|name=fn1|In [[accusative]].}} (''muîan'', meaning "fly") or {{lang|grc|μικρὰν}}{{efn|name=fn1|In [[accusative]].}} (''mikràn'', meaning "small thing") instead.<ref>Keightley, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=lWAEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA153 153, note b.]</ref>

According to [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], Metis was raped by Zeus and changed many forms in order to escape him after he pursued her.<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D3%3Asection%3D6 1.3.6].</ref>

An alternative version of the same myth makes the [[Cyclops]] Brontes rather than Zeus the father of Athena before Metis is swallowed.<ref>Gantz, p. 51; Scholia on [[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' 8.39.</ref>

Hesiod's account is followed by [[Acusilaus]] and the [[Orphic]] tradition, which enthroned Metis side by side with [[Eros]] as primal [[cosmogeny|cosmogenic forces]]. [[Plato]] makes ''[[Porus (mythology)|Poros]]'', or "creative ingenuity", a son of Metis.<ref>[[Plato]], ''[[Symposium (Plato)|Symposium]]'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0174%3Atext%3DSym.%3Asection%3D203b 203b]; Morford, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ecGXcMRAPXcC&pg=PA133 p.&nbsp;133&ndash;134].</ref>

== Ancient legacy ==
The similarities between Zeus swallowing Metis and Cronus swallowing his children have been noted by several scholars. This also caused some controversy in regard to reproduction myths.<ref name="King 2020">{{cite encyclopedia |author-link=Helen King (classicist) |first=Helen |last=King |title=Reproduction Myths |encyclopedia =Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/medicine/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/reproduction-myths |access-date=2020-07-12}}</ref><ref>Leeming, s.v. Metis.</ref>

== Modern legacy ==
* [[Metis Island]] in [[Antarctica]] is named after Metis.
* [[9 Metis]], one of the larger main-belt asteroids, is named after this goddess.
* [[Metis (moon)|Metis]], a moon of [[Jupiter]], is named after the goddess.

== See also ==
* [[Themis]]
* [[Epiphron]]

== Footnotes ==
{{notelist}}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
* [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 Greek text available from the same website].
* Caldwell, Richard, ''Hesiod's Theogony'', Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Company (June 1, 1987). {{ISBN|978-0-941051-00-2}}.
* [[Timothy Gantz|Gantz, Timothy]], ''Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5360-9}} (Vol. 1), {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5362-3}} (Vol. 2).
* Grimal, Pierre, ''The Dictionary of Classical Mythology'', Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. {{ISBN|978-0-631-20102-1}}.
* Hard, Robin, ''The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology"'', Psychology Press, 2004, {{ISBN|9780415186360}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC Google Books].
* [[Hesiod]], ''Theogony'' from ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica'' with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0129 Greek text available from the same website].
* [[Thomas Keightley|Keightley, Thomas]], ''The Mythology of Ancient Greece and Italy'', second edition considerably enlarged and improved, [[London]], Whittaker and Co., 1838.
* Leeming, David, [https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195156690.001.0001/acref-9780195156690-e-1037?rskey=C1HlXf&result=1061 "Metis"]. In ''The Oxford Companion to World Mythology'', Oxford University Press, York University, 2004.
* Morford, Mark P. O., Robert J. Lenardon, ''Classical Mythology'', Eighth Edition, Oxford University Press, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-19-530805-1}}.
* [[Plato]], (1989) [[The Symposium]]. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company.
* [[William Smith (lexicographer)|Smith, William]], ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]'', London (1873). [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.04.0104 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* Tripp, Edward, ''Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology'', Thomas Y. Crowell Co; First edition (June 1970). {{ISBN|069022608X}}.

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Metis (mythology)}}
* [https://www.theoi.com/Titan/TitanisMetis.html METIS from The Theoi Project]
* [https://www.greekmythology.com/Titans/Metis/metis.html METIS from greekmythology.com]

{{Greek religion}}
{{Greek mythology (deities)}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Metis (Mythology)}}
[[Category:Greek goddesses]]
[[Category:Oceanids]]
[[Category:Wisdom goddesses]]
[[Category:Divine women of Zeus]]
[[Category:Mercurian deities]]
[[Category:Mother goddesses]]
[[Category:Personifications in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Mythological rape victims]]
[[Category:Shapeshifters in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Deeds of Zeus]]
[[Category:Athena]]
[[Category:Mothers of the twelve Olympians]]