Eris (mythology)

Eris (anthenian painting, c. 575-525 B.C.).

In Greek mythology Eris, Éride (in ancient Greek Ἔρις) is the goddess of discord and representation of envy. She is sometimes referred to directly by the name Discord .

Greek Mythology

In the Works and Days, Hesiod distinguishes two different goddesses called Eris:

So, after all, there was not only one type of Discordia, but there were two in all the earth. Regarding one, man could praise her when she came to know her, but the other is censurable, and they are of a completely different nature.
For one fosters the evil war and battle, being cruel: no man loves it; but by force, because of the will of the immortal gods, men pay the severe Discord their debt of honor.
But the other is the older sister of the dark Night (Nix), and the son of Crono who sits high and dwells in the Ether, spread his roots on the earth: and is much more kind to men. He even gets the lazy to work hard; for a man becomes anxious to work when he takes into account his neighbor, a rich man who hastened to plow and plant and put his house in order, and the neighbor competes with his neighbor to rush after wealth. This Discord is healthy for men. And the potter is angry with the potter, and the artisan with the craftsman, and the beggar envyeth the beggar, and the trouber the trouber.

In the Theogony, Hesiod speaks less kindly of Eris, daughter of Night, generating other personifications:

For his part, Eris (Discordia) bore the painful Ponos (Work), Lete (Olvido) and Limos (Hambre) and the weeping Somethings (Dolor), also to the Hisminas (Disputes), the Macas (Batallas), the Fonos (Matanzas), the Androctasias (Masacres), the Neikea (Ombides), the Pseudologos

The other Eris is presumably the one who appears in Homer's Iliad as the sister of Ares and therefore the daughter of Zeus and/or Hera (the names of the parents are not specified). This goddess is referred to by other authors with the name of Enio to differentiate her from Eris:

Discordia, insatiable in her furors, sister and companion of the Homicidal Ares, which at first appears small and then grows to touch with the head the sky as she walks on the earth. Then the Discordia, penetrating through the crowd, threw in the midst of it the terrible combat for all and increased the zeal of the warriors.

At the beginning of Book XI of the Iliad, Zeus sends Eris to provoke the Achaeans.

The most famous legend starring Eris tells how the Trojan War began. Both the gods and goddesses as well as various mortals were invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis (later to be the parents of Achilles). Only the goddess Eris was not invited due to her troublesome nature.

The Judgment of Paris by Enrique Simonet, 1904. Paris holds the golden apple on its right hand while observing the meditative goddess.

So Eris (in a fragment of the Cipria, as part of a plan concocted by Zeus and Themis) appeared at the party with the Apple of Discord, a golden apple with the word kallisti ('for the most beautiful' or 'for the most beautiful') inscribed, which she threw between the goddesses causing Aphrodite, Hera and Athena to claim her for themselves, starting a fight. Zeus, in order not to have to choose between the goddesses, since one is his wife and the other his daughter, commissioned Paris to be judge. Then Hermes conveyed to the unfortunate Paris, prince of Troy, that he would have to choose the most beautiful (see Judgment of Paris). Greek mythological morality being what it was, each of the three goddesses tried to bribe him into choosing her: Hera offered him political power and land, Athena promised wisdom and military prowess, and Aphrodite tempted him with the most beautiful woman on earth, Helena, wife of Menelaus of Sparta. Paris being a passionate young man, and although it is not known how long he meditated on the matter, he ended up giving the apple to Aphrodite, then kidnapping Helen and thus provoking the Trojan War.

In the Dionysiacs, Nonus of Panópolis recounts that when Typhon prepares to fight Zeus:

Eris was the escort of Typhoon in the confrontation; Niké led Zeus to battle.

Discordianism

Discordianism is a satirical religion that worships Eris, the Greco-Roman goddess of discord. It was founded in 1957 by Greg Hill, also known as Malaclypse the Younger and Kerry Wendell Thornley, or Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst. The Discordian version of Eris is considerably kinder than her often evil Greco-Roman counterpart, and is often shown as a positive, if mischievous, force of chaotic creation. In Principia Discordia, the first holy book of Discordianism it says:

His genealogy is Greek and is quite confusing. Either she is the twin sister of Ares and the daughter of Zeus and Hera, or she is the daughter of Nyx, goddess of the night (who was or the daughter or the wife of Caos), and her brother, Erebus, and her brothers include Death, Condemn, Mofa and Friendship. And he begat Olvido, Pleito, Lies and a lot of like gods and goddess.

One day Mal-2 consulted with his Pineal Glandula and asked Eris if he was really responsible for all those terrible things. She told her that She had always liked the ancient Greeks, but that you can't trust them for historical issues. "Eran," he added, "victims of indigestion, you know."

Suffice to say that Eris is neither odious nor malevolent. But she's naughty, and sometimes a little pissed.

In Principia Discordia the myth that Eris was slighted and this indirectly led to the Trojan War appears as the original slight.

In popular culture

The Sleeping Beauty folktale is partially inspired by the Greek myth of the wedding of Thetis and Peleus, to which Eris was not invited. In the tale, a banshee curses a princess for not being invited to her christening.

Eris is the main antagonist of the 2003 animated filmSinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas; She is voiced by Michelle Pfeiffer.

Eris is the main antagonist of Eris, Evil Goddess, the first film of the anime series Saint Seiya, as well as the anime and manga Saint Seiya Saintia Sho, albeit in two different characters.

On the TV show Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, recurring character "Strife" (Discord) is the nephew of Ares and sows discord to aid his further plans.

In the Cartoon Network series The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Eris is shown holding her golden apple of contention and is portrayed in a comical manner.

Eris appears in a cameo in the fantasy novel The House of Hades as one of several children of Nyx seen in the book.

Discord appears as a character in "Xena: Warrior Princess" as a henchman of Ares, god of war. In it she is represented as a haughty and bad-mannered teenager, the typical bad girl. In one episode she tries to collect retribution (being named by Ares as the goddess of retribution) for the murder of a bounty hunter who was after the warrior princess. In another episode she is shown as a counterpart to Aphrodite. At the end of the fifth season she is killed by Xena when she is given the power to kill gods.

In the New 52 Eris was renamed "Strife", an alcoholic with a sarcastic and poisonous character.

In My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic the Roman version of Eris's name, Discordia, is taken over by an antagonistic draconequus named Discord, the spirit of chaos, having a somewhat troublesome and chaotic attitude from Eris, though the name Eris was originally referenced by a female version created by fans and currently Discord's cousin created by IDW Publishing for the comic book mini-series, Nightmare Knights.

In the Lufia (Estpolis Denki in Japan) Video Game Franchise and Series, she is an antagonist known as "Sinistral of Death" and an important secondary character, in a somewhat indirect way, depending on her role in each game.

Discord appears as a playable character in the video game SMITE as a midlane mage role. Her abilities are based on facing enemies, being chaotic and unpredictable, and deceiving her enemies with illusions. In this video game her relative Ares also appears from her, and all the other Olympian gods. Curiously though, Discordia appears in this game in her Roman version, despite the fact that she is explicitly mentioned in the game as the Greek goddess Eris, who traveled to Rome and changed her identity after the ruckus she caused on Olympus, and then decided to help the roman empire in its early growth.