Iris
Profile
You may not know it, but you already love Iris. Why? Because she's the goddess of rainbows. And seriously, how can you not like rainbows? For a while, everybody said Iris was a virgin goddess, but she ended up marrying Zephyrus, the West Wind. Sounds like a match made in… Olympus.
In addition to her colorful job as rainbow goddess, Iris is also a messenger of the gods. That means she spends most of her days winging down her multicolored bridge on her golden wings, making sure the mortal world gets an earful of what Olympus has to say. And because her rainbows span from the sea to the sky, she is able to fly back and forth, gathering seawater in a pitcher and refill the clouds with rain. Pretty impressive stuff.
Basic Information
Name Iris
Nickname Aellopous, Swiftfooted, Double Rainbow All the Way
Sex Female
Current city Olympus
Work & Education
Occupation Goddess of the rainbow
Messenger of the gods
Creator of "oohs" and "aahs"Education Hermes School of Heraldry
Beliefs
Political views Pro-Zeus
Family & Friends (& Enemies)
Parents Thaumas, the god of the wonders of the sea (Dad)
Elektra, an Oceanid (Mom)Siblings The Harpies
Arce (my twin sister who was a messenger for the Titans)Children Some people say that Eros and Pothos were my sons, but I'm not so sure about that.
Friends The Harpies (somebody has to love them, right?)
Enemies The Boreads (they made me crazy when they were chasing my Harpy sisters)
Relationships
Relationship status Married to Zephyrus, the West Wind
Interested in My husband
Favorites
TV Shows Planet Earth
Reading Rainbow
The Weather Channel (don't hate)Quotations "Don't miss all the beautiful colors of the rainbow looking for that pot of gold."
– Proverb
"Whenever you have truth it must be given with love, or the message and the messenger will be rejected."
– Mahatma Gandhi
"We live in a rainbow of chaos."
– Paul Cezanne
"None loves the messenger who brings bad news"
– Sophocles
"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain."
– Dolly Parton
"Double rainbow all the way across the sky. So intense."
– The Double Rainbow GuyBooks The Color Purple (one of my favorite colors and books)
"in Just-" by e. e. cummings
Angels in America by Tony Kushner (an angel shows up with a serious message in this play)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
The Rainbow Goblins by Ul De Rico
"Ode to the West Wind" by Percy Bysshe Shelley (reminds me of my hubby, Zephyrus)
Wicked by Gregory Maguire
"Paul Revere's Ride" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (a poem about a guy with a pretty important message to deliver.)
The Rainbow by D.H. Lawrence
The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan (I like the version of me that Mr. Riordan writes)Music Double Rainbow Song (a true classic)
Over the Rainbow (this one's pretty good, too)
Such Great Heights by the Postal Service (me and Zephyrus's song)
Roygbiv by Boards of Canada
What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong
Message in a Bottle by The Police
Reading Rainbow Theme Song
The Messenger by Linkin Park
The Rainbow Connection by Kermit the Frog
Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World by IZ, Israel Kamakawiwo`OleMovies The Wizard of Oz
The Messenger
A Shine of Rainbows
Beasts of the Southern Wild
The Lake House
You've Got Mail
The Postman
Iris
Finian's RainbowActivities & Interests
Likes Rainbows (obvi)
Double rainbows (even better)
Magic Markers
Skittles
The USPS
Rainbow BriteInterests Meteorology
CommunicationsGroups Gods and Goddesses of Olympus
Color Guard
Rainbow Walkers Club
Postal Workers UnionSpotter's Guide
Have you ever seen a rainbow? Okay, good. Then you already know what Iris looks like. As the goddess of rainbows, she definitely sticks out when she appears in the sky. She's not always in rainbow form, though. Actually, you might spot her as a pretty young goddess with golden wings. But you can't really miss her because rainbows are her preferred method of travel.
Even though she's pretty easy to find, she might be kind of hard to nail down for a conversation. She is a messenger of the gods, after all, which keeps her pretty busy. So if you have something to tell her, you better make it fast. Rainbows never linger long in the sky.
Sex: Female
Age: Young
Build: Slim
Complexion: Pale
Hair Color: Blonde
Facial Hair: No
Scars/marks/tattoos: None
Jewelry and accessories: The rainbow, a water pitcher, a caduceus (winged herald's staff)
Clothing: Shining robes
Armor: None
Type of Weapon: The messages of the godsTypical Companions:
Known Hangouts:
Olympus
Rainbows
The sea
The sky
Wherever Zeus and Hera tell her she's supposed to goSightings
Jan 1, 1970 - Jan 1, 1970
The Iliad by Homer
Iris barely got a chance to sit down during the Trojan War. Check out Homer's epic account if you don't believe us.
Jan 1, 1970 - Jan 1, 1970
Theogony by Hesiod
Hesiod gives you the low down on the birth of Iris and her sisters, the Harpies, in this ancient epic poem.
Dec 20, 2019 - Dec 20, 2019
Heracles by Euripides
In this tragedy, the rainbow goddess is totally freaked out when Heracles goes crazy and kills his kids.
Jan 1, 1970 - Jan 1, 1970
The Argonautica by Apollonius Rhodius
Iris saves her sisters, the Harpies, from the flying Boread brothers in this ancient poem, which tells the story of the quest for the Golden Fleece.
Jan 1, 1970 - Dec 20, 2019
The Argonautica by Valerius Flaccus
The rainbow goddess shines again in this other version of the Quest for the Golden Fleece by the author often recognized for having the most ridiculous name ever.
Dec 20, 2019 - Dec 20, 2019
The Aeneid by Virgil
In this epic Roman poem, the gods have Iris hard at work, delivering messages all through Aeneas's quest for Italy.
Dec 20, 2019
The Metamorphoses by Ovid
Hera sends Iris to get the help of Hypnos, the drowsy god of sleep, in this epic collection of poems.
Dec 20, 2019 - Dec 20, 2019
The Tempest by William Shakespeare
Iris makes an appearance on stage in a play within a play in this Shakespeare masterpiece.
Dec 20, 2019
The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan
Iris helps Percy Jackson and starts her own organic food store in this (clearly awesome) novel for young adults.