Bia is a Greek goddess of ferocious power.
Bia is the spirit of willpower, energy, and magical power.
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| Hephaestus, Bia, and Crato Securing Prometheus on Mount Caucasus by Henry Fuseli, from the Google Art Project. |
- She is Zeus' winged companion, and she represents the fury and might of his vengeful word.
- Prometheus is bound by Bia for his transgression against the gods of Olympus.
Goddess Bia In Greek Mythology And The Olympian Pantheon.
Sister to Nike, Kratos, and Zelus, Bia was the Titan Pallas and Oceanid Styx's child.
Siblings Of Goddess Bia:
Giant Pallas and Styx were the parents of
- Scylla,
- Vis (Force)(Bia),
- Invidia (Jealousy)(Zelos),
- Potestas (Power)(Kratos), and
- Victoria (Victory) (Nike).
Zeus remained at Bia's side constantly, along with her siblings.
They earned this honor by standing by him and their mother throughout the Titan War.
In the Greek play Prometheus Bound, credited to Aeschylus, when Hephaestus is forced by the gods to bound Prometheus after he was discovered stealing fire and giving the gift to humanity, Bia is one of the characters given names.
She does not talk, despite the fact that she appears beside her brother Kratos.
Goddess Bia Aids Zeus
Bia and her siblings aided Zeus in his battle with the Titans along with their mother.
The Titanomachy, as it was known, was a ten-year conflict that ended with the triumph of the Olympian gods.
The four siblings gained Zeus' admiration and continued to be his closest friends as a result of their valiant acts throughout the conflict.
They were virtually constantly at his side while he sat on his throne in Mount Olympus, and their job was to carry out his instructions whenever he needed a show of might.
And Styx, the Okeanos (Oceanus) daughter, married Pallas and gave birth to Zelos (Zelus, Emulation) and Nike (Victory), a trim-ankled child, within the home.
She also gave birth to two magnificent children, Kratos (Cratus, Strength) and Bia (Force).
These people always live with Zeus the loud-thunderer and have no other home, residence, or road except the one that God directs them along.
Because on the day the Olympian Lightener summoned all the deathless gods to great Olympos (Olympus) and declared that whoever among the gods would fight with him against the Titanes, he would not cast him out from his rights, but each should have the office which he had previously among the deathless gods, Styx, the deathless daughter of Okeanos, had planned as such.
And he stated that the righteous person was the one who lacked office and rights.
So, thanks to her loving father's cunning, the immortal Styx and her offspring arrived first at Olympos.
Zeus honored her and bestowed upon her immense gifts.
He also designated her as the recipient of the great oath of the gods and promised her offspring eternal life in his presence.
And he totally complied with his pledge to them all.
Pallas and Styx had Nike, Kratos (Cratus), Zelos (Zelus), and Bia as children.
In recognition of Haides and her offspring's assistance in his fight against the Titanes, Zeus established an oath that had to be taken before the rivers of Styx that flowed from a rock in Haides' domain (Titans).
Waning Prominence Of Goddess Bia.
Bia is less well-known than her siblings Kratos or Nike, and she often remains mute when she makes an appearance in tales.
She does, however, have a crucial part to play in the Prometheus tale.
One of the Titans, Prometheus often clashed with Zeus.
He finally infuriated Zeus to the point that he made the decision to punish him forever.
He gave the order to bind Prometheus to a mountainside in the Caucasus.
The duty was given to Bia and her brother Kratos, but only Bia had the strength to use the unbreakable chains to bound Prometheus to the rock.
Prometheus would see an eagle consume his liver in front of him every day.
He was tortured endlessly as each night his liver would regenerate and the cycle would start again.
Goddess Bia's Appearance - Aeschylus.
"[Enter Kratos (Power) and Bia (Force), carrying Prometheus and Hephaistos (Hephaestus) as captives.]
Kratos (Cratus): To the farthest reaches of the earth, to the Skythian (Scythian) country, a lonely wilderness And now, Hephaistos, it is your responsibility to carry out the instructions given to you by the Father [Zeus]—to tie this delinquent [the Titan Prometheus] with impenetrable chains made of binding adamant.
He has stolen and given to mortal beings your own flower, flashing fire, and wellspring of all arts.
Such is his transgression, and he is obligated to atone to the gods for it in order to learn to accept Zeus' rule and change his man-loving ways.
Hephaistos: Kratos (Power) and Bia (Force), the will of Zeus has certainly been carried out, and nothing can now hinder you [i.e., you are now free from the assigned mission].
However, I lack the courage to tie a similar deity by force in this rocky cleft that is being battered by a harsh winter."
Goddess Bia's Appearance - Plato.
"Prometheus [who thought to steal fire from heaven for man] could not make so free as to enter the citadel which is the dwelling-place of Zeus, and furthermore the guards of Zeus [i.e. Kratos (Cratus) and Bia] were terrible: but he entered unobserved the building shared by Athena and Hephaistos (Hephaestus) for the pursuit of their arts, and stealing Hephaistos's fiery art.
Goddess Bia's Appearance - Pausanias.
"There is a sanctuary of Ananke (Necessity) and Bia (Force) on the Acropolis of Korinthos (Corinth), into which it is not usual to enter."
Goddess Bia's Appearance - Plutarch.
"By traveling about to the islands and attempting to extort money from them, he (the Athenian politician Themistokles, also known as Themistocles) made himself unpleasant to the allies as well.
For instance, Herodotos claims that when he demanded money from the Andrians, they responded by telling him that they already had two powerful gods, Penia (Penury) and Aporia (Powerlessness), who prevented them from giving him money.
He claimed that he had come escorting two gods, Peitho (Persuasion) and Bia (Compulsion), and that they had responded in kind."
[Note: In the original text of Herodotus, Aporia is changed to Amekhania (helplessness) and Bia is changed to Ananke (necessity)].
References And Further Reading:
- Burton, D.I.A.N.A., 2011. Nike, Dike and Zeus at Olympia. McWilliam, Puttock, and Stevenson, 2011, pp.51-60.
- Fineberg, S., 1986. The Unshod Maidens at Prometheus 135. The American Journal of Philology, 107(1), pp.95-98.
- Lye, S., 2009. THE GODDESS STYX AND THE MAPPING OF WORLD ORDER IN HESIOD'S" THEOGONY". Revue de philosophie ancienne, 27(2), pp.3-31.
- Chalk, H.H., 1962. Arete and Bia in Euripides' Herakles. The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 82, pp.7-18.
- Benardete, S., 1964. The crimes and arts of Prometheus. Rheinisches Museum für Philologie, 107(2. H), pp.126-139.
- Lloyd-Jones, H., 1956. Zeus in Aeschylus1. The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 76, pp.55-67.
- Kirby, J.T., 1990. The" Great Triangle" in early Greek rhetoric and poetics. Rhetorica, 8(3), pp.213-228.
- Bobonich, C., 1991. Persuasion, compulsion and freedom in Plato's Laws. The Classical Quarterly, 41(2), pp.365-388.
- Lloyd-Jones, H., 1956. Zeus in Aeschylus1. The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 76, pp.55-67.
- Kirby, J.T., The “Great Triangle" in Early Greek Rhetoric and.
- Bot, C., 2021. Peitho, Dolos, and Bia in Three Late Euripidean Tragedies.
- Marsh, C., 2015. The Strange Case of the Goddess Peitho: Classical Antecedents of Public Relations’ Ambivalence Toward Persuasion. Journal of Public Relations Research, 27(3), pp.229-243.