Iris/Arcus

**Iris** is the Greek goddess of the Rainbow and the messenger for the gods. She occasionally delivers messages for demigods as well. Iris is the owner of Rainbow Organic Foods & Lifestyles. Her Roman counterpart is **Arcus**. Her Etruscan counterpart is unknown

## Basic Info

### Alias

Goddess of the Rainbow, Messenger of the Gods, Mom (By her children)

## Family Info

### Siblings

Arke (twin sister)Harpies, Aello, Ocypete (sisters)

### Consorts

* Zephyros
* Cerulean Knowles
* Onyx Leblanc

### Offspring

* Pothos (By Zephyros)
* Amber Knowles (By Cerulean)
* Prism Leblanc (by Onyx)

### Extended Family

* Amaya Knowles (Niece)
* Zack Martinez (Step-son)
* Oceanus (maternal grandfather)
* Tethys (maternal grandmother)

## History

### The First Titanomachy

Iris is said to travel on the rainbow while carrying messages from the gods to mortals. In some records, Iris is a sister to fellow messenger goddess Arke ("swift", "quick"), who flew out of the company of Olympian gods to join the Titans as their messenger goddess during the Titanomachy, making the two sisters enemy messenger goddesses. After the war was won by Zeus and his allies, Zeus tore Arke's wings from her and in time gave them as a gift to the Nereid Thetis at her wedding to Peleus, who in turn gave them to her son, Achilles, who wore them on his feet. Achilles was sometimes known as *podarkes* (feet like [the wings of] Arke). Podarces was also the original name of Priam, the king of Troy

### Messenger of the gods

Following her daughter Persephone's abduction by Hades, the goddess of agriculture Demeter withdrew to her temple in Eleusis and made the earth barren, causing a great famine that killed off mortals, and as a result sacrifices to the gods ceased. Zeus then sent Iris to Demeter, calling her to join the other gods and lift her curse; but as her daughter was not returned, Demeter was not persuaded. In one narrative, after Leto and her children pleaded with Zeus to release Prometheus from his torment, Zeus relented, and sent Iris to order Heracles to free the unfortunate Prometheus. After Ceyx drowned in a shipwreck, Hera made Iris convey her orders to Hypnos, the god of sleep. Iris flew and found him in his cave, and informed him that Hera wished for Ceyx's wife, Alcyone, to be informed of her loved one's death in her dreams. After delivering Hera's command, Iris left immediately, not standing to be near Hypnos for too long, for his powers took hold of her, and made her dizzy and sleepy.

In Aristophanes's comedy *The Birds*, the titular birds build a city in the sky and plan to supplant the Olympian gods. Iris, as the messenger, goes to meet them, but she is ridiculed, insulted, and threatened with rape by their leader Pisetaerus, an elderly Athenian man. Iris appears confused that Pisetearus does not know who the gods are and that she is one of them. Pisetaerus then tells her that the birds are the gods now, the deities whom the humans must sacrifice to. After Pisetaerus threatens to rape her, Iris scolds him for his foul language and leaves, warning him that Zeus, whom she refers to as her father, will deal with him and make him pay. Iris also appears several times in Virgil's *Aeneid*, usually as an agent of Juno. In Book 4, Juno dispatches her to pluck a lock of hair from the head of Queen Dido, so that she may die and enter Hades. In book 5, Iris, having taken on the form of a Trojan woman, stirs up the other Trojan mothers to set fire to four of Aeneas' ships in order to prevent them from leaving Sicily.

According to the Roman poet Ovid, after Romulus was deified as the god Quirinus, his wife Hersilia pleaded with the gods to let her become immortal as well so that she could be with her husband once again. Juno heard her plea and sent Iris down to her. With a single finger, Iris touched Hersilia and transformed her into an immortal goddess. Hersilia flew to Olympus, where she became one of the Horae and was permitted to live with her husband forevermore

### The Trojan War

According to the lost epic *Cypria* by Stasinus, it was Iris who informed Menelaus, who had sailed off to Crete, of what had happened back in Sparta while he was gone, namely his wife Helen's elopement with the Trojan Prince Paris as well as the death of Helen's brother Castor. Iris is frequently mentioned as a divine messenger in *The Iliad*, which is attributed to Homer. She does not, however, appear in *The Odyssey,* where her role is instead filled by Hermes. Like Hermes, Iris carries a caduceus or winged staff. By command of Zeus, the king of the gods, she carries a ewer of water from the River Styx, with which she puts to sleep all who perjure themselves. In Book XXIII, she delivers Achilles's prayer to Boreas and Zephyrus to light the funeral pyre of Patroclus. In the last book, Zeus sends Iris to King Priam, to tell him that he should go to the Achaean camp alone and ransom the body of his slain son Hector from Achilles. Iris swiftly delivers the message to Priam and returns to Olympus.

### Other Myths

According to the "Homeric Hymn to Apollo", when Leto was in labor prior to giving birth to her twin children Apollo and Artemis, all the goddesses were in attendance except for two, Hera and Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth. On the ninth day of her labor, Leto told Iris to bribe Eileithyia and ask for her help in giving birth to her children, without allowing Hera to find out. According to Callimachus, Iris along with Ares ordered, on Hera's orders, all cities and other places to shun the pregnant Leto and deny her shelter where she could bring forth her twins. After Asteria, now transformed into the island of Delos, offered shelter to Leto, Iris flew back to Hera to inform her that Leto had been allowed to give birth due to Asteria defying Hera's orders, and took her seat beside Hera.

According to Apollonius Rhodius, Iris turned back the Argonauts Zetes and Calais, who had pursued the Harpies to the Strophades ("Islands of Turning"). The brothers had driven off the monsters from their torment of the prophet Phineus, but did not kill them upon the request of Iris, who promised that Phineus would not be bothered by the Harpies again.

After King Creon of Thebes forbade the burial of the dead Argive soldiers who had raised their arms against Thebes, Hera ordered Iris to moisturize their dead bodies with dew and ambrosia.

In a lesser-known narrative, Iris once came close to being raped by the satyrs after she attempted to disrupt their worship of Dionysus, perhaps at the behest of Hera. About fifteen black-and-red-figure vase paintings dating from the fifth century BC depict said satyrs either menacingly advancing toward or getting hold of her when she tries to interfere with the sacrifice. In another cup, Iris is depicted being assaulted by the satyrs, who apparently are trying to prevent Iris from stealing sacrificial meat from the altar of Dionysus, who is also present in the scene. On the other side, the satyrs are attacking Hera, who stands between Hermes and Heracles. The ancient playwright Achaeus wrote *Iris*, a now lost satyr play, which might have been the source of those vases' subject.

In Euripides' play *Heracles Gone Mad*, Iris appears alongside Lyssa, the goddess of madness and insanity, cursing Heracles with the fit of madness in which he kills his three sons and his wife Megara. Iris also prepared the bed of Zeus and Hera

## Personality

Iris is a free spirit. She is a strictly non-violent goddess who only attacks in self-defense. If she is asked nicely and not too busy, she sends messages for the demigods. Iris is upset that her service-oriented job had left her with no identity, as there are no shrines to her or a sacred animal. Because of this, she opened up her own store and is doing what she wants to do, like giving advice to demigods.

## Appearance

Iris has olive-colored skin, long hair, and warm eyes. She is said to bear the golden wings of a butterfly. As a goddess, Iris can change her form. She sometimes appears as a middle-aged woman with glasses. She reminds Frank of his mother by the way she smiles, with one side of her mouth, her eyes and the way she tilts her head like she's considering a question. According to Frank, Iris' eyes and hair are never one color for to long, often changing every couple of seconds (Hobie Brown who?), sometime they'll be normal eye colors (ie Brown, Hazel, Blue or Green) other times they'll be unnatural colors (ie Red, Yellow, Purple etc). Her clothing is often more modern or "hippie" like, according to Frank's description of her, often wearing a white long sleeve shirt, a tie-dye rainbow shirt with the words "The Goddess is Alive" on it, jeans and sneakers. On Olympus, however, her clothing is much more Greek in appearance, her white dress sparkling in the light.

## Powers and Abilities

### Goddess Powers

Iris is considered a minor goddess.

* **Photokinesis**: As the Goddess of the Rainbow, Iris has the divine authority and absolute control over rainbow.
	+ **Rainbow Generation**: She is able to create or generate rainbows.
		- **Pyrokinesis**: She can use light from her rainbows to create multicolored flames and burns to ward off enemies.
		- **Energy Blasts**: She is able to unleash blasts of multicolored energy from her rainbows, causing great damage in structures like buildings.
		- **Blindness Inducement**: Through utilizing her rainbow's light, she can blind enemies.
		- **Hallucikinesis**: Through utilizing her rainbow's light, she can create illusions.

* **Superhuman Speed**: Due to her status as the Messenger of the Gods, Iris can move at supersonic speeds. She travels with *"the speed of wind"* from one end of the world to the other.
	+ **Transgressing Realms**: Due to her status as the Messenger of the Gods, Iris can freely go into any realm without an invitation, even the Underworld.
* **Control of Animals**: Iris has control over her sacred animals pegasi, being able to summon them.

### Iris Messaging

Iris is able to create Iris messages. To Iris Message someone, you must find or make a rainbow (easier in modern times with the advent of the water hose with which someone can get a fine spray) and throw a drachma through it. As shown in *The Sea of Monsters*, messages can be sent non-verbally. Then, you need to say: *"O, Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering."*​​​​​​Then name who you wish to speak to and where they can be found.

## Items

* **Pitcher**: Iris wields a pitcher of water originating from the River Styx, which she uses to put the person who still lies despite promising to tell the truth to sleep.

## Trivia

1. As a messenger goddess, Iris one of the few gods who are able to travel to the Underworld, the other is Hermes.
2. Curiously, Iris could be a rich goddess as she gets a drachma (probably of gold) every time someone contacts her service of messages.
3. Different pantheon demigods often refer to as Iris Messaging as their god of the rainbow messaging
	1. The Romans call it Arcus Messaging
	2. The Mesopotamians call it Manzat Messaging
	3. The Muiscas call it Cuchavira Messaging
4. The Iris Nebula is named after her.
5. Iris, the colored part of the eye, is named after her.
6. Iris, a shade of the color blue, is named after her.
7. Iris is a species of flowering plants with rainbow colored flowers, named after her.
8. Even though Iris is a Greek Goddess, Iris mentioned that she was deciding between Taoism and Buddhism as a religion.
9. Iris is often described acting as the intermediary between Hera and Hypnos.
10. Iris appears as a character in William Shakespeare's play *The Tempest*.
11. Iris and the Egyptian goddess Isis, another rainbow goddess, have similar names.
12. The daughter of Manzat, Iris Blackwood, was named after her
13. Iris is somewhat jealous of the relationship Artemis and Apollo have with each other, longing to have a similar one with her own twin sister, Arke
14. Iris hair and eye color don't stay one color for very long, as she claims "The rainbow isn't one color, so why should I be?"