Metis

**Metis** was the Goddess of Wisdom, Intelligence, and Prudence from Greco-Roman mythology. She was the leader of the Oceanids, daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, and the first wife of Zeus and mother of Athena.

She was temporarily resurrected by Erebus as parts of the Alliance of Hell's attack on Mount Olympus but was eventually defeated and faded away willingly.

## Overview

**Metis** (Ancient Greek: Μῆτις, lit. 'wisdom', 'skill', or 'craft'), in ancient Greek religion, was a mythical goddess, an Oceanid nymph, daughter of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys.

## Appearance

Metis was a beautiful woman of a statuesque figure, with marble skin, light-purple hair that went past her waist, and cold golden eyes. She wore a black hoodie crop top with a form-fitting dark-purple party dress underneath, black fishnet leggings, and a pair of high-heeled leather boots.

Her voice was described to be solemn, cold, and emotionless, devoid of any humanity, resembling that of a robot or an artificial intelligence more than something an actual living being would say.

## Personality

Metis was known as a kind and good-natured goddess. She loved humanity and cared about them enough to betray her fellow Titans to support Zeus as she knew only under his reign would humanity have a chance to flourish. She was an oddity among her siblings, being fascinated about the Earth more than about the mysteries of the deep seas.

This didn't mean she was a feminine person, however, as she was the opposite of it. She was loud, rebellious, and tomboyish, so much so that Zeus thought she was one of the Korybantes when they first met. Despite her domains, she was noted to be more street-smart than booksmart, having a preference for lies, traps, and trickery over detailed strategies that her daughter is famous for.

That wasn't to deny her intelligence, as there were few in the pantheon that could rival her in terms of cleverness. She was sly, witty, and cunning, and wasn't afraid to pick on herself or others to joke about. However, not all could appreciate her sense of humor, as she had accidentally made some enemies because of her sharp tongue.

Following her supposed "resurrection", however, most of her personality had been lost, and in their place was nothing but the loyalty toward the Alliance of Hell, albeit it was the same kind of loyalty a machine would have toward its programmer than any genuine devotion.

## History

### Early Years

Metis was one of the daughters of Oceanus and Tethys, the leader of the 3000 Oceanids and the sister of the 3000 Potamoi. Ever since she was young, she already had a fascination with the Earth, with plants and animals, and especially with humans that nobody in her family could understand. In addition, she was also much more active than most girls her age, having more fun wrestling with her brothers on the sand than weaving alongside her mother and sisters.

As she grew up, she decided to leave her parents' palace and found her way to the mortal world to research about the world above the sea, and soon, her love for the Earth only grew. When she first came on land, she disguised herself as a mortal woman and spent time with the humans on Crete, and eventually came to love mankind.

### The God on Crete

One day, while exploring the island for new ingredients for her elixirs, she accidentally passed through a creak in the barrier around Mount Ida and encountered Zeus. Despite popular belief, their initial encounter did not end well, with the both of them punching and clawing at each other, and only stopped with Rhea's arrival. Seeing one of her nieces there, Rhea had no choice but to tell Metis the truth about Zeus' identity and had sworn to never tell anyone else. Since then, she had become a part of Rhea's secret rebellion against her husband.

The two began to live together, much to Zeus' annoyance, and she became his teacher in anything his mother couldn't teach him. From alchemy to herbology, to sorcery and cooking. They would learn how to fight hand-to-hand from the Korybantes and then with weapons from the Dactyls. On rare occasions, she would sneak Zeus out of Mount Ida and into the harbor to meet with the humans she befriended there.

As the centuries passed by, her love for humans grew and so did her feelings toward Zeus. What initially was annoyance soon turned into affection, and from affection turned to love. Eventually, after they lost their virginity together in the Psychro Cave, Zeus proposed to her, asking her if she would be his queen when he overthrew his father, which accepted.

### The Titanomachy

When Zeus reached his full maturity, realizing that he was born to fulfill Ouranos' position as the new [Sky Father], Metis and Rhea urged him to begin his campaign against Kronos. Using a special potion that Metis brewed, he successfully poisoned Krnos' wine and made him regurgitate the children he had swallowed: Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hades, and Hestia.

After that, the Titanomachy officially began, and after 10 years of constant battle, the war finally ended in the rebellions' favor when the Elder Olympians had an ambush onto Mount Othrys on the winter solstice, the supposed "holiest night in the year". Soon, Kronos was dethroned and dissected into countless pieces and thrown into Tartarus. All of the opposing Titans had no choice but to subdue, with all of their fortune, possession, powers, and divine titles taken away from them and given to those on the ones who sided with the rebellion. True to his words, Zeus became King of the Heavens, and he made Metis his queen.

#### The Prophecy

Years into their reign, Metis became pregnant with their first child and soon received a prophecy from Gaia. It said that if she was carrying Zeus' son then he would be destined to one day greater than his sired, though if she was carrying Zeus' daughter then it would mean her death.

At first, both she and Zeus were estastic, but as time went on, Zeus' paranoia grew and one day, while Metis was sleeping, Zeus transformed her into a fly and swallow her into his stomach whole, similar to what Kronos did to his siblings much to their shock and terror.

After many, many centuries after that fateful night, one morning while in a meeting with the rest of the Olympians, Zeus suddenly felt a splitting headache inside of his skull. Screaming and shouting, he commanded Hephaestus cut his head open, and from it came out Athena, dressed in her mother's old *chiton* and wearing armors from her mother's bones.

Gaia's prophecy was then confirmed to be true, as with Athena's birth, Metis' presence began to fade away from Zeus' mind, her divinity already been absorbed by her husband and her daughter, who then took over her mother's original position as the Goddess of Wisdom.

## Trivia

* Her name means "wisdom", "skill", or "craft" in Ancient Greek.
	+ Originally, her name also connoted "magical cunning" or "trickery".
* Zeus is himself titled "Metieta" (Ancient Greek: Μητίετα, lit. "the wise counselor").
* The Greek word "metis" meant a quality that combined wisdom and cunning. This quality was considered to be highly admirable, and in the Classical era, "metis" was regarded by Athenians as one of the notable characteristics of the Athenian character.
* According to Plato, Poros ("creative ingenuity") is her child.
* In one myth, Athena is the daughter of Brontes, one of the three Cyclopes, who she gave birth to before she was swallowed by Zeus.
* According to the Bibliotheca, Metis lay with Zeus against her will, and changed many forms in order to escape him.
* Metis Island in Antarctica is named after her.
	+ Metis, the innermost known moon of Jupiter, is named after her.
	+ 9 Metis, one of the larger main-belt asteroids, is named as such in her honor.