Iris – Goddess of Rainbow

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This is an abstract modern myth that Iris was the goddess of the rainbow and the messenger of the Olympian gods. She was often described as the personal handmaiden and messenger of Hera. Iris was a powerful goddess of both sea and sky, with her father Thaumas being a marine-god known for his incredible powers, and her mother Elektra being a cloud-nymph with mesmerizing beauty. For coastal Greeks, the rainbow's arc was most often seen spanning the distance between clouds and sea, so they believed that Iris replenished rain-clouds with water from the sea to sustain their crops. Iris had no distinctive mythology of her own, instead she appeared in myth only as a reliable messenger and was usually described as a pure virgin goddess. Her name contained a double meaning, connected with both the Greek word "iris" for rainbow and "eiris" for messenger. Iris is depicted in ancient Greek vase painting as a stunningly beautiful young woman with shimmering golden wings, a herald's rod (kerykeion), and sometimes a water-pitcher (oinochoe) in her hand, symbolizing her role as both messenger and goddess of the sea and sky. She was often depicted standing beside Zeus or Hera, serving nectar from her jug to quench their thirst after long battles with monsters. As cup-bearer of the gods, Iris is often indistinguishable from Hebe in art, a testament to their shared roles as servants of the divine.