Dike, Goddess of Justice
Dike, Goddess of Justice
Dike was the personification of Human Justice,
although she was not really developed into a real personality.
Dike has also been called a goddess of purity and innocence. In
this myth Dike is shown standing beside Zeus and Themis, the the
personification of Divin Justice. I have also found myths of the
Horae (seasons) which called Dike the Goddess of Justice and gave
her myth of her own. In the guise of one of the Horae Dike was
the daughter of Zeus and Themis. In the Iliad the Horae
are the guardians of the Gates of Olympus. Hesiod names the
Horae, Dike's sisters, Eunomia, the Goddess of Lawfulness and
Eirene, the Goddess of Peace.
Dike presided over the apportionment of things among mortals, the protection of individuals and the keeping of social and political order. In art Dike usually is portrayed carrying a sword without a scale of justice, unlike Themis who was shown with the scales, a theme used later for Lady Justice. At times Dike is said to be the same (or is she confused with?) Astraea. Astraea was another daughter of Themis and Zeus known as a goddess of justice. Also known as daughter of Eos and Astraeus 1, her head was crowned with ears of grain and for its measure carried a balance or scale. Astraea was the last of the immortals to leave earth after the Golden Age.
Dike walked among mortals as Justice in the Silver and Golden ages, but when man first forged the sword in the bronze age (or at the birth of the Race of Bronze) Dike left earth and became the constellation Virgo. Even after her assention to the Heavens she was still worshipped, for who would go against Justice. Any man who promoted injustice was said to be mad. Even Orestes said at his own trial "not without justice did I slay my mother (Clytemenstra)", for no man wanted to be known as a defender of injustice.
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Image of 'Justice Leaving the Earth' by Italian painter Salvador Rosa
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