Nemesis in the context of "Hubris"

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⭐ Core Definition: Nemesis

In ancient Greek religion and myth, Nemesis (/ˈnɛməsɪs/ ; Ancient Greek: Νέμεσις, romanizedNémesis), also called Rhamnousia (or Rhamnusia; Ancient Greek: Ῥαμνουσία, romanizedRhamnousía, lit.'the goddess of Rhamnous'), was the goddess who personified retribution for the sin of hubris: arrogance before the gods.

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Nemesis in the context of Helen of Troy

Helen (Ancient Greek: Ἑλένη, romanizedHelénē), also known as Helen of Troy, or Helen of Sparta, and in Latin as Helena, was a figure in Greek mythology said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world. She was believed to have been the daughter of Zeus by Leda or Nemesis, and the sister of Clytemnestra, Castor, Pollux, Philonoe, Phoebe and Timandra. She was first married to King Menelaus of Sparta "who became by her the father of Hermione, and, according to others, of Nicostratus also." Her subsequent marriage to Paris of Troy was the most immediate cause of the Trojan War.

Elements of her putative biography come from ancient Greek and Roman authors such as Homer, Hesiod, Euripides, Virgil and Ovid. In her youth, she was abducted by Theseus. A competition between her suitors for her hand in marriage saw Menelaus emerge victorious. All of her suitors were required to swear an oath (known as the Oath of Tyndareus) promising to provide military assistance to the winning suitor, if Helen were ever stolen from him. The obligations of the oath precipitated the Trojan War. When she married Menelaus she was still very young. In most accounts, including Homer's, Helen ultimately fell in love with Paris and willingly went to Troy with him, though there are also stories in which she was abducted.

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Nemesis in the context of Leda and the Swan

Leda and the Swan is a story and subject in art from Greek mythology in which the god Zeus, in the form of a swan, seduces Leda, a Spartan queen. According to later Greek mythology, Leda bore Helen and Polydeuces, children of Zeus, while at the same time bearing Castor and Clytemnestra, children of her husband Tyndareus, the King of Sparta. According to many versions of the story, Zeus took the form of a swan and slept with Leda on the same night she slept with her husband King Tyndareus. In some versions, she laid two eggs from which the children hatched. In other versions, Helen is a daughter of Nemesis, the goddess who personified the disaster that awaited those suffering from the pride of Hubris.

Especially in art, the degree of consent by Leda to the relationship seems to vary considerably; there are numerous depictions, for example by Leonardo da Vinci, that show Leda affectionately embracing the swan, as their children play.

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