Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

, Arke or Arce () is one of the daughters of

Thaumas In Greek mythology, Thaumas or Thaumant (; ; ) was a sea god, son of Pontus and Gaia, and the full brother of Nereus, Phorcys, Ceto and Eurybia. Mythology According to Hesiod, Thaumas's wife was Electra (one of the Oceanids, the many daughter ...

, and sister to the rainbow goddess Iris. During the

Titanomachy In Greek mythology, the Titanomachy (; ) was a ten-year war fought in ancient Thessaly, consisting of most of the Titans (the older generation of gods, based on Mount Othrys) fighting against the Twelve Olympians, Olympians (the younger generati ...

, Arke fled from the Olympians' camp and joined the

Titans In Greek mythology, the Titans ( ; ) were the pre-Twelve Olympians, Olympian gods. According to the ''Theogony'' of Hesiod, they were the twelve children of the primordial parents Uranus (mythology), Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth). The six male ...

, unlike Iris who remained loyal to

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

and his allies. After the war was over and the Titans with their allies were defeated, Zeus cut off her wings and cast Arke into

Tartarus In Greek mythology, Tartarus (; ) is the deep abyss that is used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked and as the prison for the Titans. Tartarus is the place where, according to Plato's '' Gorgias'' (), souls are judged after ...

to be kept imprisoned for all eternity.

Family and attributes

The goddess Arke was born to

, a minor god; no mother of hers is mentioned anywhere. She and her sister Iris were both messenger deities; Iris is notably also the goddess of the rainbow, but unlike her Arke has not got any established connection to rainbows. Like Iris however Arke also sported wings which might be a nod to some primeval force or element she represented, but it is not clear what that would be.

Mythology

During the divine war known as the

, Arke and Iris originally sided with the

Olympian gods upright=1.8, Fragment of a relief (1st century BC1st century AD) depicting the twelve Olympians carrying their attributes in procession; from left to right: Hestia (scepter), Hermes (winged cap and staff), Aphrodite (veiled), Ares (helmet and s ...

, but soon after Arke betrayed them for the

and flew to their camp to become their own messenger-goddess, while Iris remained loyal as the Olympian gods' messenger. When the Olympians eventually prevailed over their enemies, their leader

punished Arke severely for her defection. She was deprived of her wings and cast into the deep pit called

, together with the vanquished Titans. Arke's torn wings were later given to

Peleus In Greek mythology, Peleus (; Ancient Greek: Πηλεύς ''Pēleus'') was a hero, king of Phthia, husband of Thetis and the father of their son Achilles. This myth was already known to the hearers of Homer in the late 8th century BC. Biogra ...

and

Thetis Thetis ( , or ; ) is a figure from Greek mythology with varying mythological roles. She mainly appears as a sea nymph, a goddess of water, and one of the 50 Nereids, daughters of the ancient sea god Nereus. When described as a Nereid in Cl ...

as a gift on their wedding day; Thetis in turn later gave them to her son

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...

, which is thought to be the derivation of his surname ''Podarces'' (literally "swift-footed", as if from , gen. "foot" + the name of Arke). In

Eumelus of Corinth Eumelus of Corinth ( ''Eumelos ho Korinthios''), of the clan of the Bacchiadae, is a semi-legendary early Greek poet to whom were attributed several epic poems as well as a celebrated '' prosodion'', the treasured processional anthem of Messeni ...

's lost epic poem the ''

'' which chronicled the battle between the Olympians and the Titans, it seems that the messenger of the Titans was called Ithas or Ithax, a figure that was identified with

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning "forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titans, Titan. He is best known for defying the Olympian gods by taking theft of fire, fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technol ...

. Eumelus, fragment 5 Hesychius ''Lexicon'' i387">Hesychius_of_Alexandria.html" ;"title="Hesychius of Alexandria">Hesychius ''Lexicon'' i387/ref>

Genealogy

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * Hesiod, ''Theogony'', in ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White'', Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* * * *

Photius Photius I of Constantinople (, ''Phōtios''; 815 – 6 February 893), also spelled ''Photius''Fr. Justin Taylor, essay "Canon Law in the Age of the Fathers" (published in Jordan Hite, T.O.R., and Daniel J. Ward, O.S.B., "Readings, Cases, Mate ...

, '' Bibliotheca'' excerpts, sections 1-166 translated by John Henry Freese, from the SPCK edition of 1920, now in the public domain, and other brief excerpts from subsequent sections translated by Roger Pearse (from the French translation by René Henry, ed. Les Belles Lettres). *
Online version at the Perseus.tufts library.

External links

{{Greek mythology (deities) Greek goddesses Messenger goddesses Condemned souls in Tartarus Sky and weather goddesses Avian humanoids Deeds of Zeus Thetis Amputees Achilles