Bia
Greek · deity · titanomachy · Recorded classification
Bia (Force), the personified spirit of brute force and violent compulsion, one of the four winged warrior-spirits of Zeus. The silent companion of Kratos in the prologue of Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound, where the two bring the Titan to be chained. Daughter of the Titan Pallas (greek_hesiod_pallas_titan) and the Oceanid Styx (greek_hesiod_styx); sister of Zelos, Kratos and the existing Nike (greek_hesiod_nike). Authored as a deity (both parents deities). Hesiod treats Bia as female among Styx's children; she is a personified abstraction, deathless, so no lifecycle event is recorded.
Parentage
Domains
- force and violent compulsion
- enforcement of zeus will
- attendance on zeus
Powers
- Embodies brute force and violent compulsion
- Compels and overpowers the enemies of Zeus
- Stands in perpetual attendance at the throne of Zeus
Epithets
- ἀγλαὰ τέκνα ('splendid children' of Styx)Hesiod, Theogony 385 (primary)
Relations
- sibling: ZelusFull sibling; fellow child of Pallas and Styx, fellow throne-attendant of Zeus.Hesiod, Theogony 383-385 (primary)
- sibling: KratosFull sibling and constant companion; with Kratos she binds Prometheus in the prologue of Prometheus Bound.Hesiod, Theogony 383-385; Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 12-13 (primary)
- sibling: NikeFull sibling; trim-ankled Nike, fellow child of Pallas and Styx (reciprocal to be added on the existing Nike entry).Hesiod, Theogony 383-385 (primary)
Sources
- existence: Hesiod, Theogony 383-385 (primary); Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 1-87 (primary); Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1.2.4 (primary); Timothy Gantz, Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993), 26-28 (secondary)