Theia was also known to ancient Greeks as Euryphaessa, which defines as wide shining. Her name was originally known to mean divine and goddess. She is seen at the Great Altar of Pergamon in Berlin, Germany in a frieze fighting at Helios back.
Theia was believed to be the daughter of Uranus and Gaea. With her consort and brother, Hyperion, they were the parents of two goddesses Selene, Eos and the god Helios.
It is fairly easy to see how lack of knowledge of the world around ancient Greeks led them to conclude that natural events were controlled by gods and goddesses. From this lesson of lack of knowledge, comes the importance of education.
However, it is also easy to imagine that a sudden eclipse of the sun would indicate to ancient Greeks that Helios, god of the Sun needed support from Theia, the goddess of light to deal with Erebus, the Greek god of darkness who brought upon the sudden darkness of a solar eclipse. Simplistically, this is a lesson that teaches the importance of science that helps us to avoid needless fears when a natural event like a solar eclipse occurs.
Theia, as the mother of moon goddess Selene, also relayed fears of Erebus bringing about the darkness of night while Selene provided sufficient moonlight to dispel fear of night's blackness.
Today, it may seem a stretch of imagination that brought about ancients' fears of a natural environment were unwarranted.
Yet, the true lesson of Greek mythology and the goddess Theia lie with her Titan ability to provide a sense of security that the unknowable universe was not dangerous if one held strong beliefs in powers greater than themselves.
Knowing Theia's purpose in mythology was to instill a sense of shining light ancients could depend on.
A single beam of Theia's light brought hope and a promise of banishment of darkness to the ancients.
Perhaps when we bask in a spotlight or enjoy the shimmer and shine of gold, we can travel back in time to the ancient Greeks and share their reverence for something as simple of a beam of light.
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Greek mythology
Historical FictionThis is about all the Greek myths and monsters. Gods and goddesses too. Everything you want or need to know about every god and goddess or every mythical story is in this.
