Who Is The Goddess Of Anger

Written by Greek Boston in Greek Mythology Comments Off on About the Greek Goddess Lyssa

Lyssa, also spelled Lytta, was the Greek goddess of rage and crazed fury. She also controlled rabies in animals. When the Romans adopted Greek mythology, they gave her several names: Ira, Furor, and Rabies. Occasionally, they portrayed her as multiple beings called the Irae or Furores. She was often associated with the Maniae, the spirits of insanity. Here’s more information about her:

Who Was Lyssa?

Rather than being one of the Olympic gods, Lyssa was a primordial spirit (daimona), which means that she existed in ancient times before the Olympians took control of the world. At the behest of the gods, she could provoke blind rage in mortals, and even deities like herself. However, she was often loathe to do so.

Lyssa is pictured in several paintings on vases. In these images, she has just made the dogs of Aktaion, a hunter, go mad and tear Aktaion apart as punishment for viewing the goddess Artemis naked. Lyssa is a female figure in a short skirt, wearing a dog’s head cap that suggests her power over rabies.

There are two different accounts of Lyssa’s birth. In Euripedes’s tragedy Heracles (Hercules), written in the fifth century BC, Lyssa was the daughter of the primordial deity Nyx (the night) and the Titan Uranus. She grew from Uranus’s blood when his son, Cronus, castrated him. Hyginus, a less ancient writer from the first century AD, gives her a different parentage: Gaea (the earth) and Aether (the air and, disturbingly, also the father of Gaea).

Refer to more articles:  Who Is The Final Boss In Diablo 4

Stories Involving Lyssa

Several Athenian tragedies features Lyssa. In a play by Aeschylus, the god of wine, Dionysius, sends her to madden the daughters of Minyas. He wishes to punish them for neglecting to properly worship him. In their frenzy, they dismember Pentheus, king of Thebes.

One of the best known stories about Lyssa is in Heracles. The demi-god Heracles fails to please the queen of the gods, Hera, so Hera sends her handmaiden, Iris, to order Lyssa to strike him with insanity. Iris takes Lyssa to Heracles’s city, but the deity of rage is reluctant to smite the hero.

She replies to Iris, “These prerogatives I hold, not to use them in anger against friends, nor do I have any joy in visiting the homes of men; and I wish to counsel Hera, before I see her err, and you too, if you will hearken to my words.”

Lyssa insists that this action is evil, but Iris overrules her. Accordingly, she inflicts Heracles with madness and anger, which leads him to murder his wife and children.

Lyssa has the power to cause other beings to go mad with rage. However, she also has self control with this power, only using it when she has no other choice. She also sends rabies upon dogs, as in the story of Aktaion. She is often an agent of the gods’ punishment, maddening those who have displeased the gods.

Categorized in: Greek Mythology

This post was written by Greek Boston

Refer to more articles:  Who Is Ashley Judd Dating

Related Posts

Who Makes Transcend Rv

Grand Design RV is one of best-selling RV manufacturers in the United States. If you’re looking for a towable RV, then Grand Design may have the right…

Who Does Mercantile Adjustment Bureau Collect For

Who Does Mercantile Adjustment Bureau Collect For

Dena Standley | March 06, 2023You may be interested Who Is Sebastian Married To Who Is Lisa Salters Husband Who Is Cynthia Frelund Married To Who Has…

Who Is Kirk Franklin’s Mother

Kirk Franklin is opening up about the process that led to him meeting his biological father for the first time at the age of 53, and he’s…

Who Makes Renflexis

December 7, 2015 8:00 am ET You may be interested Does Instagram Suggest Friends Who Have Searched For You Who Is Portia Bruner Husband Who Won The…

Who Is Responsible For Road Maintenance

Who is Responsible for Private Road Maintenance? The responsibility of rules and maintenance of the streets falls to the homeowners.You may be interested Who Was Q From…

Who Is Eli Kay-oliphant Married To

Most people are familiar with Eli Kay-Oliphant from his marriage to American actress Marina Squerciati. Eli is a lawyer who completed his legal school at Emory University…