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'{{Short description|Goddess of retribution in Greek mythology}} {{Other uses}} {{Infobox deity | type = Greek | venerated_in = [[Ancient Greece]] | deity_of = Goddess of retribution | member_of = the [[Oceanides]] | image = Statue Nemesis Louvre Ma4873.jpg | alt = | caption = | other_names = [[Rhamnousia]] | symbol = [[Sword]], [[Whip|lash]], [[dagger]], [[measuring rod]], [[Weighing scale|scale]]s, [[bridle]] | height = | age = | tree = | day = | color = | number = | consort = [[Zeus]]<br>[[Tartarus]] | parents = [[Nyx]] and [[Erebus]]<br>[[Oceanus]]<br>[[Zeus]] | siblings = {{Collapsible list | title= ''by Nyx and Erebus'' | bullets = on | [[Moros]] | [[Keres (mythology)|Keres]] | [[Thanatos]] | [[Hypnos]] | [[Oneiroi]] | [[Momus]] | [[Oizys]] | [[Moirai]] | [[Hesperides]] | [[Apate (deity)|Apate]] | [[Philotes]] | [[Geras]] | [[Eris (mythology)|Eris]] | [[Styx]] | [[Dolos (mythology)|Dolos]] | [[Ponos]] | [[Euphrosyne]] | [[Epiphron]] | [[Sophrosyne|Continentia]] | [[Hybris (mythology)|Petulantia]] | [[Eleos|Misericordia]] | [[Pertinacia]] }} {{Collapsible list | title= ''by Oceanus'' | bullets = on | [[Oceanides]] | [[Potamoi]] }} | offspring = [[Helen of Troy]]<br>the [[Telchines]] | predecessor = | successor = | army = | mount = | texts = | Roman_equivalent = | Etruscan_equivalent = | region = | ethnic_group = | festivals = Nemeseia | hinduism_equivalent = | animals = [[goose]] }} In [[ancient Greek religion]], '''Nemesis''',{{efn|{{IPAc-en|ˈ|n|ɛ|m|ə|s|ɪ|s}}; {{lang-grc|Νέμεσις|Némesis}}}} also called '''Rhamnousia''' or '''Rhamnusia''' ({{lang-grc|Ῥαμνουσία|Rhamnousía|the [[goddess]] of [[Rhamnous]]}}<ref>[http://www.poesialatina.it/_ns/greek/testi/Suda/Lexicon.html Suda, rho, 33]</ref>), is the goddess who enacts [[divine retribution|retribution]] against those who succumb to [[hubris]], arrogance before the gods.<ref name="auto">Ammianus Marcellinus 14.11.25</ref> <!-- It is said Adrestia was a handmaiden of Nemesis, not herself. There is also no mentions of Nemesis being a daughter of Ares, which makes the connections even less likely. --> ==Etymology== The name ''Nemesis'' is related to the [[Greek language|Greek]] word νέμειν ''némein'', meaning "to give what is due",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=nemesis|title=Nemesis&nbsp;– Origin and history of nemesis by Online Etymology Dictionary|website=www.etymonline.com}}</ref> from [[Proto-Indo-European]] ''nem-'' "distribute".<ref>[[Robert S. P. Beekes|R. S. P. Beekes]], ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', Brill, 2009, pp. 1005–06.</ref> ==Origin== [[Image:ADurerFortunaengraving.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Albrecht Dürer]]'s engraving of ''Nemesis'', c 1502]] Divine retribution is a major theme in the [[Hellenistic period|Hellenic]] world view, providing the unifying theme of the [[Greek tragedy|tragedies]] of [[Sophocles]] and many other literary works.<ref>{{citation | url = http://literarydevices.net/nemesis/| title = Examples of Nemesis in Literature | date = 19 August 2013 | access-date = October 12, 2013 }}</ref> [[Hesiod]] states: "Also deadly [[Nyx (mythology)|Nyx]] bore Nemesis an affliction to mortals subject to death" (''[[Theogony]]'', 223, though perhaps an interpolated line). Nemesis appears in a still more concrete form in a fragment of the epic ''[[Cypria]]''. She is implacable justice: that of [[Zeus]] in the [[Twelve Olympians|Olympian]] scheme of things, although it is clear she existed prior to him, as her images look similar to several other goddesses, such as [[Cybele]], [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]], [[Demeter]], and [[Artemis]].<ref>The primeval concept of Nemesis is traced by Marcel Mauss (Mauss, ''The Gift: the form and reason for exchange in archaic societies'', 2002:23: "Generosity is an obligation, because Nemesis avenges the poor... This is the ancient morality of the gift, which has become a principle of justice". Jean Coman, in discussing Nemesis in [[Aeschylus]] (Coman, ''L'idée de la Némésis chez Eschyle'', Strasbourg, 1931:40–43) detected "traces of a less rational, and probably older, concept of deity and its relationship to man", as Michael B. Hornum observed in ''Nemesis, the Roman State and the Games'', 1993:9.</ref> As the "Goddess of Rhamnous", Nemesis was honored and placated in an archaic sanctuary in the isolated district of Rhamnous, in northeastern [[Attica]]. There she was a daughter of [[Oceanus]], the primeval river-ocean that encircles the world. [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] noted her iconic statue there. It included a crown of stags and little [[Nike (mythology)|Nikes]] and was made by [[Pheidias]] after the [[Battle of Marathon]] (490 BC), crafted from a block of [[Parian marble]] brought by the overconfident Persians, who had intended to make a memorial [[stele]] after their expected victory.<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''[[Description of Greece]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D33%3Asection%3D2 1.33.2–3].</ref> Her cult may have originated at [[Smyrna]]. She is portrayed as a winged goddess wielding a whip or a dagger. The poet [[Mesomedes]] wrote a hymn to Nemesis in the early second century AD, where he addressed her: <blockquote>Nemesis, winged balancer of life, dark-faced goddess, daughter of Justice</blockquote> and mentioned her "adamantine bridles" that restrain "the frivolous insolences of mortals". In early times the representations of Nemesis resembled Aphrodite, who sometimes bears the epithet Nemesis.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}} Later, as the maiden goddess of proportion and the [[Retributive justice|avenger of crime]], she has as attributes a [[measuring rod]] ([[tally stick]]), a [[bridle]], [[Weighing scale#Symbolism|scales]], a [[sword]], and a [[scourge]], and she rides in a [[chariot]] drawn by [[griffin]]s. ==Fortune and retribution== [[File:The Abandoned Ariadne, ancient fresco from Pompeii, National Archaeological Museum.jpg|thumb|Ancient fresco from [[Pompeii]] depicting the abandoned [[Ariadne]], [[Cupid]], and probably Nemesis. [[National Archaeological Museum, Naples]]]] The word ''nemesis'' originally meant the distributor of fortune, neither good nor bad, simply in due proportion to each according to what was deserved.{{Citation needed|date=May 2015}} Later, ''Nemesis'' came to suggest the resentment caused by any disturbance of this right proportion, the sense of justice that could not allow it to pass unpunished.{{Citation needed|date=May 2015}} [[O. Gruppe]] (1906) and others connect the name with "to feel just resentment". From the fourth century onward, Nemesis, as the just balancer of [[Fortuna (mythology)|Fortune]]'s chance, could be associated with [[Tyche]]. In the [[Greek tragedies]] Nemesis appears chiefly as the avenger of crime and the punisher of [[hubris]], and as such is akin to [[Atë]] and the [[Erinyes]]. She was sometimes called [[Adrasteia]], probably meaning "one from whom there is no escape"; her epithet ''Erinys'' ("implacable") is specially applied to Demeter and the [[Phrygians|Phrygian]] mother goddess, [[Cybele]]. ==Family== Nemesis has been described as the daughter of [[Oceanus]], [[Erebus]], or [[Zeus]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=NEMESIS - Greek Goddess of Retribution & Indignation |url=https://www.theoi.com/Daimon/Nemesis.html |access-date=2022-09-01 |website=www.theoi.com}}</ref> but according to [[Hyginus]] she was a child of [[Erebus]] and [[Nyx]]. She has also been described, by [[Hesiod]], as the daughter of Nyx alone. In the [[Theogony]], Nemesis is the sister of the [[Moirai]] (the Fates), the [[Keres (mythology)|Keres]] (Black Fates), the [[Oneiroi]] (Dreams), [[Eris (mythology)|Eris]] (Discord) and [[Apate (deity)|Apate]] (Deception). Some made her the daughter of Zeus by an unnamed mother.<ref name=":stas" /> In several traditions, Nemesis was seen as the mother of [[Helen of Troy]] by [[Zeus]], adopted and raised by [[Leda (mythology)|Leda]] and [[Tyndareus]].<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Description of Greece'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D33%3Asection%3D7 1.33.7]–[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D33%3Asection%3D8 8]</ref> One source of the myth says that Nemesis was the mother of the [[Telchines]] by [[Tartarus|Tartaros]], who others say were children of [[Pontus (mythology)|Pontus]] and [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaea]] or [[Thalassa (mythology)|Thalassa]]. * Bacchylides, Fragment 52 (from Tzetzes on Theogony) (trans. Campbell, Vol. Greek Lyric IV) (Greek lyric C5th BC) : <blockquote>The four famous Telkhines (Telchines), [[Actaeus|Aktaios]] (Actaeus), [[Megalesius|Megalesios]] (Megalesius), [[Ormenus|Ormenos]] (Ormenus) and [[Lycus (mythology)|Lykos]] (Lycus), whom [[Bacchylides|Bakkhylides]] (Bacchylides) calls the children of Nemesis and Tartaros.</blockquote><blockquote>[N.B. Tartaros is the spirit of the great pit beneath the earth.]</blockquote> == Mythology == [[File: Pierre-Paul Prud'hon - Justice and Divine Vengeance Pursuing Crime.JPG|thumb|'' Justice (Dike, on the left) and Divine Vengeance (Nemesis, right) are pursuing the criminal murderer.'' By [[Pierre-Paul Prud'hon]], 1808]] === Nemesis and Zeus === In some traditions, Nemesis is the mother of [[Helen of Troy]], rather than the mortal queen [[Leda (mythology)|Leda]]. This narrative is first found in the lost epic ''[[Cypria]]'', the prelude of the ''[[Iliad]]''. According to its author, [[Stasinus of Cyprus]], Helen was born from the rape of Nemesis by Zeus. Zeus fell in love with Nemesis, here presented as his daughter, and pursued her, only for her to flee in shame. She took several forms to escape Zeus, but he eventually captured her.<ref name=":stas">[[Stasinus of Cyprus]] or Hegesias of [[Aegina]], ''[[Cypria]]'' Fragment [https://archive.org/details/hesiodhomerichym1914hesi/page/498/mode/2up?view=theater 8]</ref> Pseudo-Apollodorus speaks of a single transformation, into a goose, while Zeus turned into a swan to hunt her down and raped her, producing an egg that was given to the queen of Sparta; Helen hatched from the egg, and was raised by Leda.<ref>Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+3.10.7&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022 3.10.7]</ref><ref>(Pseudo-Apollodorus) R. Scott Smith, Stephen Trzaskoma, and Hyginus. ''Apollodorus' Library and Hyginus' Fabulae: Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology''. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub., 2007:60.</ref> In another variation, Zeus desired Nemesis, but could not persuade her to sleep with him. So he tasked [[Aphrodite]] to transform into an eagle and mock-chase him, while he transformed into a swan. Nemesis, pitying the poor swan, offered it refuge in her arms, and fell into a deep sleep. While asleep, Zeus raped her and in time she bore an egg which was transported to Leda by [[Hermes]].<ref>[[Hyginus]], ''Astronomica'' [https://topostext.org/work/207#2.8.1 2.8.1]</ref> According to [[Eratosthenes]] in his ''[[Catasterismi]]'', this version was presented by [[Cratinus]].{{sfn|Lamari|Montanari|Novokhatko|2020|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=B773DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA110 110–112]}} === Narcissus === Nemesis enacted divine retribution on [[Narcissus (mythology)|Narcissus]] for his vanity. After he rejected the advances of the nymph [[Echo (mythology)|Echo]], Nemesis lured him to a pool where he caught sight of his own reflection and fell in love with it, eventually dying.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ovid.lib.virginia.edu/trans/Metamorph3.htm#476975712|title=Metamorphoses (Kline) 3, the Ovid Collection, Univ. of Virginia E-Text Center|work=virginia.edu|access-date=21 January 2015}}</ref> === Aura === In [[Nonnus]]' epic ''[[Dionysiaca]]'', [[Aura (mythology)|Aura]], one of [[Artemis]]' virgin attendants, questioned her mistress' virginity due to the feminine and curvaceous shape of her body; Aura claimed that no goddess or woman with that sort of figure would be a virgin, and asserted her own superiority over the goddess thanks to her own lean and boyish silhouette. Artemis, enraged, went to Nemesis and asked for revenge. Nemesis promised to the goddess that Aura would have her punishment, and that the punishment would be to lose the virginity she took such pride in. Nemesis then contacted [[Eros]], the god of love, and he struck [[Dionysus]] with one of his arrows. Dionysus fell madly in love with Aura, and when she rebuffed his advances, he got her drunk, tied her up and raped her as she lay unconscious, bringing Nemesis' plan to a success.<ref>[[Nonnus]], ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' [https://archive.org/stream/dionysiaca03nonnuoft#page/442/mode/2up 48.258&ndash;942 (III pp. 442&ndash;491)].</ref> ==Local cult== A festival called '''Nemeseia''' (by some identified with the '''Genesia''') was held at [[Athens]]. Its object was to avert the nemesis of the dead, who were supposed to have the power of punishing the living, if their cult had been in any way neglected ([[Sophocles]], ''[[Electra (Sophocles)|Electra]],'' 792; [[E. Rohde]], ''Psyche,'' 1907, i. 236, note I). ===Smyrna=== [[File:HadrianNemesis.jpg|thumb|''Nemesis'' on a brass [[sestertius]] of [[Hadrian]], struck at [[Rome]] AD 136]] At [[Smyrna]], there were two manifestations of Nemesis, more akin to [[Aphrodite]] than to Artemis. The reason for this duality is hard to explain. It is suggested that they represent two aspects of the goddess, the kindly and the implacable, or the goddesses of the old city and the new city refounded by Alexander. The martyrology ''Acts of [[Pionius]]'', set in the "[[Decius|Decian persecution]]" of AD 250–51, mentions a lapsed Smyrnan Christian who was attending to the sacrifices at the altar of the temple of these Nemeses. ===Rome=== Nemesis was one of several [[tutelary deity|tutelary deities]] of the drill-ground (as ''Nemesis campestris''). Modern scholarship offers little support for the once-prevalent notion that arena personnel such as [[gladiator]]s, ''venatores'' and ''bestiarii'' were personally or professionally dedicated to her cult. Rather, she seems to have represented a kind of "Imperial [[Fortuna]]" who dispensed Imperial retribution on the one hand, and Imperially subsidized gifts on the other; both were functions of the popular gladiatorial [[Ludi]] held in Roman arenas.<ref>Nemesis, her devotees and her place in the Roman world are fully discussed, with examples, in Hornum, Michael B., ''Nemesis, the Roman state and the games'', Brill, 1993.</ref> She is shown on a few examples of Imperial coinage as ''Nemesis-Pax'', mainly under [[Claudius]] and [[Hadrian]]. In the third century AD, there is evidence of the belief in an all-powerful ''Nemesis-Fortuna''. She was worshipped by a society called Hadrian's freedmen. [[Ammianus Marcellinus]] includes her in a digression on Justice following his description of the death of Gallus Caesar.<ref name="auto"/> ==See also== * (''Goddesses of Justice''): [[Astraea (mythology)|Astraea]], [[Dike (mythology)|Dike]], [[Themis]], [[Prudentia]] * (''Goddesses of Injustice''): [[Adikia]] * (''Aspects of Justice''): (see also: [[Triple deity]]/[[Triple Goddess (neopaganism)]]) ** (''Justice'') [[Themis]]/[[Dike (mythology)|Dike]]/[[Justitia]] ([[Lady Justice]]), [[Raguel (angel)|Raguel (the Angel of Justice)]] ** (''Retribution'') Nemesis/Rhamnousia/Rhamnusia/[[Adrestia|Adrasteia]]/[[Invidia]] ** (''Redemption'') [[Eleos]]/[[Soteria (mythology)|Soteria]]/[[Clementia]], [[Zadkiel]]/[[Zerachiel]] (the Angel of Mercy) * [[Sekhmet]] * [[Kali]] ==Notes== {{notelist}} {{Reflist}} ==References== * ''Hesiod, The Homeric Hymns, and Homerica'', with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White'', Cambridge, MA., [[Harvard University Press]]; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]. * {{cite book |last1 = Lamari|last2 = Montanari |last3 = Novokhatko |first1 = Anna A. |first2 = Franco |first3= Anna | title = Fragmentation in Ancient Greek Drama | isbn = 978-3-11-0621020| publisher = [[De Gruyter]] | date = 2020 }} * [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Pausanias Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+1.1.1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]. == External links == * {{EB1911|wstitle=Nemesis|volume=19|page=369}} * [http://www.greekmythology.com/Other_Gods/Nemesis/nemesis.html GreekMythology.com – Nemesis] * [http://classroom.synonym.com/important-nemesis-greek-mythology-13936.html Important Facts on Nemesis in Greek Mythology] * [https://www.theoi.com/Daimon/Nemesis.html NEMESIS from The Theoi Project] {{Greek religion}} {{Greek mythology (deities)}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Nemesis}} [[Category:Justice goddesses]] [[Category:Vengeance goddesses]] [[Category:Greek goddesses]] [[Category:Personifications in Greek mythology]] [[Category:Oceanids]] [[Category:Divine women of Zeus]] [[Category:Children of Zeus]] [[Category:Characters in Greek mythology]] [[Category:Children of Nyx]] [[Category:Metamorphoses characters]] [[Category:Women in Greek mythology]] [[Category:Mythological rape victims]] [[Category:Avian humanoids]]'