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Themis (Greek: Θέμις) is an ancient Greek Titaness. She is described as "of good counsel", and is the personification of divine order, law, natural law and custom. ''Themis'' means "divine law" rather than human ordinance, literally "that which is put in place", from the Greek verb ''títhēmi'' (τίθημι), meaning "to put". To the ancient Greeks she was originally the organizer of the "communal affairs of humans, particularly assemblies".〔((University of Washington School of Law) Themis, Goddess of Justice )〕 Moses Finley remarked of ''themis'', as the word was used by Homer in the 8th century BCE, to evoke the social order of the 10th- and 9th-century Greek Dark Ages: ''Themis'' is untranslatable. A gift of the gods and a mark of civilized existence, sometimes it means right custom, proper procedure, social order, and sometimes merely the will of the gods (as revealed by an omen, for example) with little of the idea of right.〔Finley, ''The World of Odysseus'', rev. ed.(New York: Viking Prewss) 1978: 78, note.〕 Finley adds, "There was ''themis''—custom, tradition, folk-ways, ''mores'', whatever we may call it, the enormous power of 'it is (or is not) done'. The world of Odysseus had a highly developed sense of what was fitting and proper."〔Finley, ''op. cit''. p. 82.〕 ==Mythology== The personification of abstract concepts is characteristic of the Hellenes. The ability of the goddess Themis to foresee the future enabled her to become one of the Oracles of Delphi, which in turn led to her establishment as the goddess of divine justice. Some classical representations of Themis did not show her blindfolded, nor was she holding a sword. The sword is also believed to represent the ability Themis had from cutting fact from fiction; to her there was no middle ground. Themis built the Oracle at Delphi and was herself oracular. According to another legend, Themis received the Oracle at Delphi from Gaia and later gave it to Phoebe.〔Aeschylus, ''Eumenides'' 1 ff.〕 When Themis is disregarded, Nemesis brings just and wrathful retribution; thus Themis shared the ''Nemesion'' temple at Rhamnous. Themis is not wrathful: she, "of the lovely cheeks", was the first to offer Hera a cup when she returned to Olympus distraught over threats from Zeus.〔''Iliad'' xv. 88〕 Themis presided over the proper relation between man and woman, the basis of the rightly ordered family (the family was seen as the pillar of the deme), and judges were often referred to as "''themistopóloi''" (the servants of Themis). Such was also the basis for order upon Olympus. Even Hera addressed her as "Lady Themis." The name of Themis might be substituted for Adrasteia in telling of the birth of Zeus on Crete. Themis was present at Delos to witness the birth of Apollo. According to Ovid, it was Themis rather than Zeus who told Deucalion to throw the bones of "his Mother" over his shoulder to create a new race of humankind after the deluge. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Themis」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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