by Tim Harry

Created on: June 14, 2009

It is not that common for a goddess to be overshadowed by her mortal offspring, but that is just what happened to the Nereid Thetis, as she was mother to Achilles.

Thetis as a Nereid was a sea nymph, and one of the fifty daughters of Doris and Nereus, a pre-Olympian couple of sea gods. Thetis was able to change her shape as she desired, as well as to see into the future, although in the earliest stories Thetis is simple shown as a companion to Poseidon. Being one of the companions of Poseidon though brought her to the attention of both Zeus and his brother Poseidon, and both sought to mate with her. She spurned their attentions though but for once Zeus did not continue his attempts, and this was for the simple reason that a new prophecy had been told by Themis. It stated that the son of Thetis would be greater than his father. Zeus of course could not allow a son to be greater than himself, as this would be a serious challenge to his position. Equally though he could also be threatened if Thetis was married off to another god.

Zeus came up with a solution though and decided that if Thetis was married off to a mortal, then even if the son was greater than his mortal father then it that son would not be a threat to him. Poseidon was given the job of finding a suitable mortal, and the sea god decided on Peleus, the son of the king of the island of Aegina, Aeacus. Thetis though had other ideas than to be married off to a mortal, and so refused the mortal's advances.

Zeus though was not to be thwarted in his plan and so sent the centaur, Chiron, to advise Peleus on how to make Thetis his wife. Peleus was told to ambush the Nereid and to bind her tight as she would attempt to change shape to escape. This Peleus did, and Thetis relented and agreed to become his wife. It was a celebrated wedding one to which a number of gods attended when the event occurred on Mount Pelion. During the wedding feast Apollo serenaded the guests with tunes played on his lyre, and the Muses sang their beautiful songs.

The result of the union between Thetis and Peleus was the birth of a son, Achilles. Thetis though is upset to find that her son is mortal and tries to make him into an immortal. Most stories tell of this event as being one where Thetis covers Achilles in ambrosia and then places the child in a fire to burn away the mortal parts of the baby. This process though is interrupted by Peleus who is of course horrified by the spectacle and Thetis drops the baby and

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>