THEMIS

(Greek: Order), in Greek religion, personification of justice, goddess of wisdom and good counsel, and the interpreter of the gods' will. According to some sources, she was the daughter of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaea (Earth), although at times she was apparently identified with Gaea. She was Zeus's second consort and by him the mother of the Horae (see Hora), the Moirai, and, in some traditions, the Hesperides (q.v.). On Olympus, Themis maintained order and supervised the ceremonial. She was a giver of oracles, and one legend relates that she once owned the oracle at Delphi but later gave it to Apollo. The cult of Themis was widespread in Greece. She was often represented as a woman of sober appearance carrying a pair of scales.