Eris (mythology)

Eris (Greek Ἔρις, "Strife") is the Greek goddess of strife and discord, her name being translated into Latin as Discordia. Her Greek opposite is Harmonia, whose Latin counterpart is Concordia. Homer equated her with the war-goddess Enyo, whose Roman counterpart is Bellona. The dwarf planet Eris is named after the goddess. Erida, a Greek lesser deity of woes and discord, is generally considered to be synonymous with Eris.http://www.vpts.edu.rs/sed/CD%20Proceedings%202019/proceedings/9-4.pdfhttps://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%95%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B0
==Characteristics in Greek mythology==
In Hesiod's Works and Days 11–24, two different goddesses named Eris or Kris "the pig demons" are distinguished:
:So, after all, there was not one kind of Strife alone, but all over the earth there are two. As for the one, a man would praise her when he came to understand her; but the other is blameworthy: and they are wholly different in nature.
:For one fosters evil war and battle, being cruel: her no man loves; but perforce, through the will of the deathless gods, men pay harsh Strife her honor due.
:But the other is the elder daughter of dark Night (Nyx), and the son of Cronus who sits above and dwells in the aether, set her in the roots of the earth: and she is far kinder to men. She stirs up even the shiftless to toil; for a man grows eager to work when he considers his neighbour, a rich man who hastens to plough and plant and put his house in good order; and neighbour vies with his neighbor as he hurries after wealth. This Strife is wholesome for men. And potter is angry with potter, and craftsman with craftsman, and beggar is jealous of beggar, and minstrel of minstrel.
In Hesiod's Theogony, (226–232) Strife, the daughter of Night is less kindly spoken of as she brings forth other personifications as her children:
:But abhorred Eris ('Strife') bare painful Ponos ('Toil/Labor'), Lethe ('Forgetfulness') and Limos ('Famine') and tearful Algos (Pains/Sorrows), Hysminai ('Fightings/Combats') also, Makhai('Battles'), Phonoi ('Murders/Slaughterings'), Androctasiai ('Manslaughters'), Neikeai ('Quarrels'), Pseudologoi ('Lies/Falsehoods'), Amphilogiai ('Disputes'), Dysnomia ('Lawlessness') and Ate ('Ruin/Folly'), all of one nature, and Horkos ('Oath') who most troubles men upon earth when anyone wilfully swears a false oath.
The other Strife is presumably she who appears in Homer's Iliad Book IV; equated with Enyo as sister of Ares and so presumably daughter of Zeus and Hera:
:Strife whose wrath is relentless, she is the sister and companion of murderous Ares, she who is only a little thing at the first, but thereafter grows until she strides on the earth with her head striking heaven. She then hurled down bitterness equally between both sides as she walked through the onslaught making men's pain heavier. She also has a son whom she named Strife.
Enyo is mentioned in Book 5, and Zeus sends Strife to rouse the Achaeans in Book 11, of the same work.
The most famous tale of Eris recounts her initiating the Trojan War. The goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite had been invited along with the rest of Olympus to the forced wedding of Peleus and Thetis, who would become the parents of Achilles, but Eris had been snubbed because of her troublemaking inclinations.
She therefore (in a fragment from the Kypria as part of a plan hatched by Zeus and Themis) tossed into the party the Apple of Discord, a golden apple inscribed Kallisti – "For the most beautiful one", or "To the Fairest One" – provoking the goddesses to begin quarreling about the appropriate recipient. The hapless Paris, Prince of Troy, was appointed to select the most beautiful by Zeus. Each of the three goddesses immediately attempted to bribe Paris to choose her. Hera offered political power; Athena promised skill in battle; and Aphrodite tempted him with the most beautiful woman in the world: Helen, wife of Menelaus of Sparta. While Greek culture placed a greater emphasis on prowess and power, Paris chose to award the apple to Aphrodite, thereby dooming his city, which was destroyed in the war that ensued.
In Nonnus' Dionysiaca, 2.356, when Typhon prepares to battle with Zeus:
:Eris ('Strife') was Typhon's escort in the melée, Nike ('Victory') led Zeus to battle.
Another story of Eris includes Hera, and the love of Polytekhnos and Aedon. They claimed to love each other more than Hera and Zeus were in love. This angered Hera, so she sent Eris to rack discord upon them. Polytekhnos was finishing off a chariot board, and Aedon a web she had been weaving. Eris said to them, "Whosoever finishes thine task last shall have to present the other with a female servant!" 
Aedon won. But Polytekhnos was not happy by his defeat, so he came to Khelidon, Aedon's sister, and raped her. 
He then disguised her as a slave, presenting her to Aedon. When Aedon discovered this was indeed her sister, she chopped up Polytekhnos' son and fed him to him. The gods were not pleased, so they turned them all into birds.
==Cultural influences==
===Discordianism===
Eris has been adopted as the matron deity of the modern Discordian religion, which was begun in the late 1950s by Gregory Hill and Kerry Wendell Thornley under the pen names of "Malaclypse the Younger" and "Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst". The Discordian version of Eris is considerably lighter in comparison to the rather malevolent Graeco-Roman original. A quote from the Principia Discordia, the first holy book of Discordianism, attempts to clear this up:
:One day Mal-2 consulted his Pineal Gland and asked Eris if She really created all of those terrible things. She told him that She had always liked the Old Greeks, but that they cannot be trusted with historic matters. "They were," She added, "victims of indigestion, you know."The Principia Discordia
The story of Eris being snubbed and indirectly starting the Trojan War is recorded in the Principia, and is referred to as the Original Snub. The Principia Discordia states that her parents may be as described in Greek legend, or that she may be the daughter of Void. She is the Goddess of Disorder and Being, whereas her sister Aneris (called the equivalent of Harmonia by the Mythics of Harmonia) is the goddess of Order and Non-Being. Their brother is Spirituality.Principia Discordia - Page 57
The concept of Eris as developed by the Principia Discordia is used and expanded upon in the science fiction work The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson (in which characters from Principia Discordia appear). In this work, Eris is a major character."Robert Anton Wilson: Searching For Cosmic Intelligence" by Jeffrey Elliot Interview discussing novel (URL accessed 21 February 2006)
===Sleeping Beauty===
The classic fairy tale Sleeping Beauty is partly inspired by Eris's role in the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. Like Eris, a malevolent fairy curses a princess after failing to be invited to the princess' christening.
===Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas===
In the 2003 DreamWorks Animated feature film, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, Eris (voiced by Michelle Pfeiffer) is brought to life in the form of a mischievous, cunning and sultry goddess who thrives on the misfortunes of humans. As the film's central antagonist, Eris' primary objective is to bring about the fall and ruin of the Kingdom of Syracuse by stealing the kingdom's sacred treasure, the Book of Peace, and using her exceptional skills in the art of manipulation to frame the protagonist, Sinbad (voiced by Brad Pitt), for the crime.
While still remaining true to the original Eris' role as the goddess of discord, the DreamWorks incarnation of Eris showcases her to be both an omnipresent deity as well as the sole reigning figurehead of her very own otherwordly realm: Tartarus. As an immortal being with domain and power over witchcraft, sorcery and chaos, Eris has been shown to exhibit a multitude of powers which include but is not limited to: creature summoning, teleportation, and weather manipulation. 
In Tartarus she has a globe of the earth where she can change weather and damage Earth. She also has a bath with bubbles of human souls which she can freeze.
===Femme Fatales===
In the Femme Fatales episode "Girls Gone Dead", the college girl, Erida, tells Kip, cameraman Jay Roma's assistant, that she was named after a Greek goddess who could only be appeased once blood was spilled.
==References==
==External links==
*Goddess Eris at Theoi.com, ancient texts and art
*Hesiod’s Works And Days
*Hesiod’s Theogony
*Homer’s Iliad
Category:Greek Mythology
Category:Deities
Category:Discordianism