Wedding of Thetis and Peleus
Hendrik da Klerk
The silver-legged maiden Goddess Thetis, by the will of Zeus, married a mortal husband, but later returned to her father Nereus and sisters. Her son Achilles gained incredible fame. The daughter of the sea elder Nereus and Dorida, daughter of the Ocean, Thetis is an immortal sea goddess whose strength is comparable to that of the Olympians. She saved Zeus from being overthrown by sending the hundred-armed giant Briareus to help, who frightened the conspirators: Hera, Poseidon and Athena, who were trying to shackle the thunderer in chains. Zeus did not dare to enter into a relationship with the beautiful Thetis, because Themis predicted that she would give birth to a son who would surpass the power of his father. Zeus did not want to suffer the fate of Kron, and gave Thetis for the mortal Peleus, king of Phthia and Iolk. The unequal marriage The wedding of Thetis and Peleus Before giving Nereida to Peleus, the king of the gods invited him to defeat the nymph in a single combat. On the advice of the centaur Chiron, Pelei lurked Thetis in the cave where she liked to rest and seized her. Nereida turned now into a bird, now into a snake, now into a lioness, now into a fish, even into a cuttlefish, into water and fire, but Pelei held tight and did not let go. The goddess gave up. All the Olympian gods (except Eris, the goddess of discord) were invited to the wedding, which was arranged on Mount Pelion by the centaur Chiron's cave. Fetis gave birth to a son (according to other myths, seven children).
