By Nemmy`
A goddess of Greek Mythology, Nemesis is in most myths the daughter of Nyx, and in some legends that of Erebus also. Her mother Nyx is the goddess of night. Nyx was spawned from the primordial chaos, along with Erebus her brother. Phanus, a sun god, is suggested to also be her father in some myth. With Erebus, Nyx mothered Aether (the upper air) and Hemera (day). It is said that on her own she gave birth to Moros (doom), Hesperides, Thanatos (death), Themis (morals), Hypnos (sleep), Apate (deceit), the fates and Nemesis. The ferryman of the dead, Charon, is also said to be her son. Because of the nature of her mother, Nemesis developed the name 'daughter of night'.
And Night bore hateful Doom and black Fate and Death, and she bore Sleep and the tribe of Dreams. [214]And again the goddess murky Night, though she lay with none, [213] bare Blame and painful Woe, [215]and the Hesperides who guard the rich, golden apples and the trees bearing fruit beyond glorious Ocean. Also she bore the Destinies and ruthless avenging Fates, Clotho and
Lachesis and Atropos,who give men at their birth both evil and good to have, [220] and they pursue the transgressions of men and of gods: and these goddesses never cease from their dread anger until they punish the sinner with a sore penalty. Also deadly Night bore Nemesis (Indignation) to afflict mortal men, and after her, Deceit and Friendship [225] and hateful Age and hard-hearted Strife. --HESIOD Theogony
Nyx resides in Tartarus, the 'hell' of the underworld, which is buried both deep below it and also forms a part of it. There is also a god that is a personification of the place. Nyx leaves tartarus and goes forth into the world each day as Hemera (day) returns. Erebus represented the gloomy darkness of tartarus.
Nemesis represents divine justice, vengeance and karma. She pursues the wicked bringing to them what they deserve. Despite her dark aspects, she is a bringer of balance, of lessons needed to be learned. She helps uphold the balance of the universe- the sense of right and wrong. Through her lessons, those who have wronged may learn the errors of their ways. She was said by some to be a fierce figure, of pure revenge. Some say she doesn't inact vengeance out of anger, rather she does it out of disciplining so that we may learn the full range of lessons life teaches us, and we may become complete individuals. She is often considered the hitwoman of the gods, and in essence this is exactly what she is.
Nemesis was worshipped with her sister Themis. Themis represented that which was right, ethical, moral, and social order itself. Nemesis stepped in to punish anyone who violated this sense of order, including a disruption of the patriarchal balance of terror. Nemesis dressed purely in indigo and was one of the few goddesses seen to carry a sword, a steering wheel or a whip, all of which are masculine in influence. She is pictured as riding in a chariot drawn by Griffins, these animals are very solar in nature, again relating to the masculine, and symbolise the integration of dark and light. The fact that Nemesis carried a sword is of some significance, as few god/desses were seen to carry one as it was a highly respected symbol of power. It was a highly esteemed way to die, by the sword. This sword was double-edged, highlighting the darkness and light, harm and good within her symbolism.
Unlike the symbol for patriarchal justice, Nemesis is not pictured with her eyes covered, but instead with them wide open, including her third eye and those in the back of her head. She is the one who sees all, nothing can escape her.
In some early myths, Nemesis was attributed to having mothered Helen of Troy. From the fifth century onwards, this is passed onto Leda, which again returned to Nemesis. In the myth's earliest pre-Hellenic version, Nemesis pursues the sacred king at various seasonal times, each time changing forms into those of various animals, until she catches him as a mouse with a grain of wheat at the summer solstice and devours him. With the come of the Hellenic patriarchal mythology, Nemesis became the one fleeing from a lustful Zeus, changing shapes in an effort to escape him. She was perceived as a nymph queen here, but was still representative of the same qualities. He finally captured her, she in the form of a goose, he as a swan and he rapes her at Rhamnous in Attica. She then lays an egg that is suckled by Leda, who raises the child Helen. We are led to believe that the Nemesis story was the prevailing one throughout Attica (The Boston Leda: A Fifth century Greek group in the collection of the museum of fine arts, Boston).
There are many myths surrounding Nemesis, one of which includes a Robin Hood-like character, of whom Nemesis was a patron deity. When he decided to leave her and his ways, she destroyed him. This isn't showing Nemesis in a positive light, but he had done wrong by her which she punished. Another myth is that of Narcissus. Many nymphs and girls fell in love with him but he rejected them. One of these nymphs, Echo, was so distraught over this rejection that she withdrew into a lonely spot and faded until all that was left was a plaintive whisper. The goddess Nemesis heard the rejected girls prayers for vengeance. Narcissus was punished by Nemesis, who made him fall in love with his own reflection. He was unable to satisfy his own desires and wasted away. His blood changed into flowers (the narcissus).
There are many other tales of her vengeance enacted, some of the latest featuring on the television show "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" where she appeared as a semi-regular character. She was de-goddessed for 'disobeying orders', and was featured more as a servant of the gods than an actual goddess in her own right.
There is a temple of Nemesis at Rhamnous, which is said to have been built between 438 and 431 B.C. "Dinsmoor suggests on astronomical and calendrical evidence that the starting date was 436 B.C. The architect was the so-called Theseum architect, and the cult statue, of which we have fragments and a Roman copy, was by Agorakritos, although Pausanius mistakes it for Phideas. The temple was hexistyle, with twelve columns on its flanks, and from the centers of the opposite colonnades it measured 9.186 x 20.610 meters " (The Boston Leda: A Fifth century Greek group in the collection of the museum of fine arts, Boston).
Nemesis was very much a cult goddess, one of her major cults said to be located in Smyrna. She was also known by the names Adastreia "The epithet Adastreia, 'she whom none can escape', properly of the those of the Phrygian Cybele, was later applied to her" (Encyclopedia Mythica). She went also by the name Rhamnusia, although I am unsure as to whether or not this is the 'same' goddess, probably an altered and integrated version of Nemesis.
