Metis.
Wisdom within wisdom
Metis: Goddess of Wisdom and Mother of AthenaThe first wife of and mother of . Her intelligence becomes part of the king who tries to contain her.
More than a myth.
is an , a daughter of and . makes her the first wife of and describes her as extraordinarily wise. A prophecy warns that after a daughter she will bear a son destined to become king of gods and mortals.
swallows the pregnant to prevent that succession. is subsequently born from his head, while Metis remains within him as a source of counsel. The story makes Zeus’s secure kingship depend upon the wisdom of a goddess whose separate presence he has absorbed.
There’s more to the myth.
Lesser-known moments, places of worship, and stories that change with the storyteller. Follow each reference to the ancient voices behind it.
The plan that freed the Olympians
The makes an early collaborator of . She supplies the drug that forces to release the stone and the children he swallowed. In this account, the new divine order begins with her practical intelligence as well as with Zeus’s eventual strength in battle.
READ THE SOURCEPseudo-Apollodorus, Library 1.6 (Aldrich numbering)The child who is never born
’s prophecy has two stages: will bear , then a son capable of ruling gods and mortals. intervenes before the second birth. The poet adds that Metis continues to think for him inside his body, making the king’s wisdom inseparable from the goddess he has absorbed.
READ THE SOURCEHesiod, Theogony 886 onwardWisdom becomes Resource’s mother
calls Poros, the figure of resourcefulness, a son of . He appears in Diotima’s account of the birth of Love. This is another use of divine : names embody ideas, allowing a story about a family to become an inquiry into desire and human ingenuity.
READ THE SOURCEPlato, Symposium, Diotima’s account of Poros and PeniaOne figure. Many visions.
Metis, reimagined in 12 art styles. Follow familiar symbols through unfamiliar worlds, and open any artwork for a closer look.
Metis
Echoes in Plaster
Metis
Dreams of the Cosmos
Metis
The Floating World
Metis
Ink & Thunder
Metis
The Gilded Garden
Metis
Small Worlds, Great Myths
Metis
A Cathedral of Light
Metis
Blueprints of Myth
Metis
Threads of Eternity
Metis
Greek Myth, in Print
Metis
Little Figures, Big Legends
Metis
Beyond the Oracle
New AI-created interpretations, inspired by mythology. These are not images of ancient artifacts.
It’s a family affair.
is an of ancestry; the atlas groups this broader divine family under Titans.
The stories of Metis.
Ancient voices.
Enduring stories.
Myths have many tellings. These are the ancient works behind this profile, linked to freely available English translations.
Theogony
Lines 358, 886–900, 924–926
Explore the collected passages
Ancient testimonies, alternative versions and depictions, gathered by Theoi.