Also called Silver-footed Thetis.
Their story
Thetis is a Nereid who was prophesied to bear a son greater than his father, so Zeus married her to the mortal Peleus. She tried to make her son Achilles immortal, and in the Iliad she rises from the sea to comfort him and brings him new armour from Hephaestus. She had rescued Hephaestus when he was thrown from Olympus, and freed Zeus when the other gods bound him.
Best times to give to them
- At the shore
- When a child is in danger
- In grief for a lost child
What they like being given
- Shells
- Flowers set on the sea (biodegradable only)
- Honey
- Fresh water
How to honour them
- Pray for children who go into danger, as Thetis did for Achilles.
- Honour mothers who grieve.
- Ask her help for those who are cast out, as she sheltered Hephaestus and Dionysus.
How they can help you
- Protective love
- Grief
- Help from unexpected quarters
Symbols
- dolphin
- shell
- armour
- sea foam
The story of dipping Achilles in the Styx by his heel is later, found in Statius.
Sources
- Homer, Iliad 1.357-427, 1.396-406, 18.35-147
- Hesiod, Theogony 244, 1006-1007
- Pindar, Isthmian 8.26-47
More Greek goddesses
- Hera Queen of heaven and guardian of marriage
- Athena Grey-eyed goddess of wisdom and craft
- Artemis Lady of wild things and the hunt
- Aphrodite Foam-born goddess of love and beauty
- Hestia Goddess of the hearth and the home fire
- Demeter Mother of the grain and the harvest
- Persephone Queen of the underworld and the returning spring
- Hecate Keeper of crossroads and keys