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— CH. 1 · ETYMOLOGICAL ORIGINS —

Eris (mythology)

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  • The name Eris derives from the ancient Greek noun eris, which carries the stem erid-. This root means strife or discord. Scholars have debated its origin for centuries. R. S. P. Beekes found no strong evidence linking it to verbs meaning to raise or stir. He also rejected connections to words meaning to prop or support. Watkins proposed a Proto-Indo-European root ere-, suggesting meanings of separation or adjoing. The name spawned derivatives in Ancient Greek like fighting and object of quarrel. These linguistic threads remain uncertain despite modern analysis.

  • Hesiod's Theogony describes Eris as the daughter of Nyx, the primordial goddess Night. She was born without a father among many loathsome children. Her siblings included Moros representing Doom and Thanatos standing for Death. Other kin were the Moirai known as Fates and Nemesis called Indignation. Apate stood for Deceit while Geras personified Old Age. Hesiod listed Eris as the mother of numerous allegorical children. Ponos meant Toil or Labor but also hardship and suffering. Limos represented Famine or Hunger with uncertain sex. Algea translated to Pains or Sorrows described as tearful by the poet. Hysminai signified Combats or Battles appearing on Achilles shield later. Machai meant Wars or Battles not notably personified elsewhere. Phonos stood for Murders decorating Heracles shield. Androktasiai named Manslaughters of Men found on that same shield. Neikea meant Quarrels while Pseudea covered Lies or Falsehoods. Logoi referred to Tales or Stories and Amphillogiai to Disputes. Dysnomia signified Lawlessness contrasting Eunomia ideal government. Ate represented Delusion banished from Olympus for blinding Zeus. Horkos stood for Oaths cursing those who swear falsely.

  • Eris threw a golden apple among wedding guests at Peleus and Thetis union. The inscription read For the fairest in ancient Greek. Hera Athena and Aphrodite each claimed the object. This act initiated a quarrel leading to the Trojan War. Later accounts describe the apple as solid gold according to Lucian writing in the second century AD. Hyginus composed Fabulae between the first century BC and late second century AD stating all gods were invited except Eris. She came anyway but was refused admission through the doorway. Euripides described the event several times without mentioning either Eris or an apple. His plays include Andromache Helen Iphigenia in Aulis and The Trojan Women. Isocrates wrote about Helen omitting details about the goddess. The Cypria poem told events preceding those in Homer's Iliad. Proclus summarized this lost work noting Zeus ordered judgment on Mount Ida by Paris. Aphrodite offered Helen to Paris in return for his choice. Reeves suggested Zeus wanted war due to overpopulation concerns.

  • Homer depicted Eris on Athena battle aegis alongside Phobos Rout Alke Valor and Ioke Assault. Achilles shield featured Kydoimos Tumult and Ker Fate. Hesiodic Shield of Heracles showed Eris with Phobos Kydoimos Ker Proioxis Pursuit Palioxis Rally Homados Tumult Phonos Murder and Androktasia Slaughter. She flew over head of Phobos Fear in one passage. Book 4 shows her among divinities urging armies to battle with head lowered then raised to heavens. Leaf noted she must not be regarded as siding with either party. Book 5 describes her raging unceasingly while shouting to rouse Greek army. Book 11 ends with her last god leaving battlefield rejoicing watching fighting she aroused. Her lust for bloodshed remained insatiable throughout these scenes. Nonnus Dionysiaca had Nike lead Zeus into battle while Eris led Typhon. Another passage showed Eris bringing Tumult to both sides of conflict with Enyo war-goddess.

  • Hesiod contrasted two distinct Erises in Works and Days. The first was blameworthy fostering evil war and conflict. This version appeared in Theogony as daughter of Nyx. A second Eris worthy of praise existed separate from the first. Zeus created this beneficial form to foster competition. Lecznar notes Hesiod's distinction between harmful strife and constructive rivalry. The former aligns with destructive outcomes like famine or death. The latter encourages productive struggle among men. Modern scholars debate whether these represent different mythological figures or aspects of one deity. Gantz cites passages showing Eris as purely personification of name itself. Kirk calls genealogy ad hoc description lacking full personification status. Nünlist characterizes family tree as allegorical rather than literal lineage.

  • Giroux states few certain representations exist in surviving art. Mid-sixth-century BC appearances appear on Chest of Cypselus and black-figure cup Berlin F1775. Pausanias described seeing Eris depicted as most repulsive woman standing between Ajax and Hector fighting. Cup images show normal appearance apart from wings and winged sandals. Fifth-century BC red-figure calyx krater upper section shows Eris facing Themis animated discussion. Lower section depicts Judgement of Paris confirming role in Cypria events. Beazley Archive catalogues entries 207 and 215695 documenting these pieces. Digital LIMC records 33843 and 471 preserving visual evidence. Perseus St. Petersburg collection holds item 1807 for study. These artifacts confirm early artistic interpretations of the goddess.

  • Classic Sleeping Beauty fairy tale references malevolent fairy cursing princess after exclusion from christening. This mirrors Eris's role at Peleus wedding. Discordian religion invented 1957 by Gregory Hill and Kerry Wendell Thornley. Principia Discordia text describes Eris speaking to them in all-night bowling alley form chimpanzee. Mäkelä and Petsche analyze this as serious parody liquid religion. Dwarf planet named Eris discovered 2006 honoring Greek goddess. New Zealand moth species Ichneutica eris named 2019 in honor of deity. Robertson discusses Donkey Visible making Discordianism visible through cultural production. Cusack examines invented religions imagination fiction faith connections. McCartney explores how apple became token love symbol historically. These modern adaptations reflect enduring influence across centuries.

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Deities in the IliadGreek goddessesPersonifications in Greek mythology

Common questions

What is the origin of the name Eris in Greek mythology?

The name Eris derives from the ancient Greek noun eris which carries the stem erid-. This root means strife or discord. Scholars have debated its origin for centuries without finding strong evidence linking it to verbs meaning to raise or stir.

Who are the parents and siblings of Eris according to Hesiod's Theogony?

Hesiod's Theogony describes Eris as the daughter of Nyx the primordial goddess Night. She was born without a father among many loathsome children including Moros representing Doom and Thanatos standing for Death.

How did Eris cause the Trojan War through the golden apple incident?

Eris threw a golden apple among wedding guests at Peleus and Thetis union with the inscription For the fairest in ancient Greek. Hera Athena and Aphrodite each claimed the object initiating a quarrel leading to the Trojan War.

What are the two distinct forms of Eris described in Works and Days?

Hesiod contrasted two distinct Erises in Works and Days where the first was blameworthy fostering evil war and conflict. A second Eris worthy of praise existed separate from the first created by Zeus to foster competition.

When were the earliest artistic representations of Eris created and what do they show?

Mid-sixth-century BC appearances appear on Chest of Cypselus and black-figure cup Berlin F1775. Cup images show normal appearance apart from wings and winged sandals while fifth-century BC red-figure calyx krater upper section shows Eris facing Themis animated discussion.

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53 references cited across the entry

  1. 1inlineBerlin Antikensammlung F 1775.
  2. 2inlineBrown, s.v. Eris; Nünlist, s.v. Eris; Grimal, s.v. Eris; Tripp, s.v. Eris; Smith, s.v. Eris.
  3. 3bookEtymological Dictionary of GreekR. S. P. Beekes — Brill — 2009
  4. 4inlineHomer, Iliad 4.440–441.
  5. 5inlineKirk, pp. 380–381. On the use of () and () alongside one another in this passage, see Coray, Krieter-Spiro, and Visser, pp. 197–198, and on the textual difficulties with this and adjacent passages, se
  6. 6inlineBell, p. 188; Parada, s.v. Eris.
  7. 7inlineGantz, pp. 4–5; Hesiod, Theogony 223–225.
  8. 8inlineHard, pp. 30–31; Gantz, p. 5; Hesiod, Theogony 226–232.
  9. 10inlineLSJ s.v. πόνος.
  10. 12inlineCaldwell, p. 40 on 212–232. In ancient Greek the word ponos which meant 'hard work' could also mean 'hardship, 'suffering', 'distress' or 'trouble', see The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, s.v. πόνος 1, 3; c
  11. 14inlineThurmann, s.v. Ponos; Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3.44.
  12. 15inlineLSJ s.v. λήθη.
  13. 17inlineHard, p. 31.
  14. 18inlineLSJ s.v. λιμός.
  15. 21inlineLSJ s.v. ἄλγος.
  16. 23inlineLSJ s.v. ὑσμίνη.
  17. 25inlineQuintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica 5.36.
  18. 26inlineLSJ s.v. μάχη.
  19. 30inlineHesiod, Shield of Heracles 155.
  20. 31inlineLSJ s.v. ἀνδροκτασία.
  21. 32inlineCaldwell, p. 42 on 212–232
  22. 33inlineLSJ s.v. νεῖκος.
  23. 34inlineLSJ s.v. ψεῦδος.
  24. 35inlineLSJ s.v. λόγος.
  25. 37inlineLSJ s.v. ἀμφιλογία.
  26. 39inlineLSJ s.v. δυσνομία.
  27. 41inlineSiewert, s.v. Nomos.
  28. 42inlineLSJ s.v. ἄτη.
  29. 43inlineLSJ s.v. ὄρκος.
  30. 45inlineGantz, p. 9; Homer, Iliad, 24.27—30.
  31. 46inlineGantz, p. 9; Proclus, Chrestomathy Cypria 1. According to Cypria fr. 1 West (compare with Euripides, Orestes 1639–42, Helen 36–41) Zeus' reason for wanting the war was overpopulation, see Reeves 1966.
  32. 47inlineEuripides, Andromache 274–292, Helen 23–30, Iphigenia in Aulis 1300–1308, The Trojan Women 924–931. So also Isocrates, Helen 10.41.
  33. 48inlineGantz, p. 9; Hyginus, Fabulae 92; compare with Apollodorus, E.3.2.
  34. 49inlineMcCartney, p. 70; Lucian, Dialogues of the Sea-Gods 7 (5); compare Lucian, The Judgement of the Goddesses (Dialogues of the Gods 20) 1; Tzetzes, Chiliades, 5.31 (Story 24), On Lycophron 93; First Vati
  35. 54inlineLeaf, on Iliad 440.
  36. 55inlineHomer, Iliad 20.47—48: "But when the Olympians had come into the midst of the throng of men, then up leapt mighty Strife, the rouser of armies".
  37. 57inlineHomer, Iliad 5.517–518.
  38. 59inlineHomer, Iliad 11.73—74.
  39. 60inlineHesiod, Works and Days 14–16.
  40. 62inlineLecznar, p. 454.
  41. 63inlineAntoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses 11.
  42. 64inlineHopkinson, pp. vii–ix.
  43. 65inlineQuintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica 1.159, 1.180, 5.31, 6.359, 8.68, 8.186, 9.147, 10.53, 11.8.
  44. 66inlineQuintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica, 2.460, 6.359.
  45. 67inlineQuintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica, 6.359, 8.326, 9.147.
  46. 69inlineNonnus, Dionysiaca 2.358–359, 5.41–42.
  47. 70inlineGiroux, p. 849.
  48. 71inlineGantz, p. 9; Giroux, p. 847 (Eris 3); Pausanias, 5.19.2.
  49. 72inlineGantz, p. 9; Giroux, p. 847 (Eris 1); Beazley Archive 207; LIMC III-2, p. 608 (Eris 1); Digital LIMC 33843.
  50. 74bookA Handbook of Greek Mythology, Including Its Extension to RomeH. J. Rose — Kessinger Publishing — 2006
  51. 75bookThe Annotated Classic Fairy TalesW. W. Norton & Company — 2002
  52. 76inlineMäkelä & Petsche, "Abstract"; Robertson, pp. 421–424; Cusack, pp. 28–30.
  53. 77web2003 UB 313 named ErisJennifer Blue — September 14, 2006