Theia
The Far-Shining
THEE-uh
Titaness of shining and of sight itself, the reason, to Greek thinking, that gold and silver have any glimmer at all.
The Story
Theia's domain is the quality of brightness, not its source: Pindar credits her with the value people place on gold, because she is what makes it gleam. The Greeks also believed sight worked by light streaming out of the eyes, which put vision under her too.
By Hyperion she bore the sun, the moon, and the dawn. She is one of the least storied Titans and one of the most structurally important, remove her and the sky has no lights in it.
Did You Know?
- Planetary scientists named the Mars-sized body that is thought to have struck the early Earth and thrown off the Moon after her, the mother of the moon, once again.
- Pindar addresses her as the reason people prize gold, which makes her the deity of value rather than of the metal.