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How Janus Became the Doorkeeper of Heaven and God of the Gods

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The Story of Nemesis: the Goddess of Vengeance

Nemesis was the ancient Greek goddess of divine retribution. As such, she meted out punishment for evil deeds, undeserved good fortune, and hubris (arrogance before the gods). She was also called Adrasteia, meaning “the inescapable,” or the “Goddess of Rhamnous” in recognition of her famous temple in the city Rhamnous. Her Roman counterpart was Invidia, the goddess of jealousy as well as vengeance. Justice (Dike, on the left) and Divine Vengeance (Nemesis, right) are pursuing the criminal murderer. By Pierre-Paul Prud'hon, 1808 Sources consistently named Nyx, the goddess of the night, as the mother of Nemesis, but were inconsistent on her father. Zeus, Oceanus, and Erebus have all been described as Nemesis’s father, while yet other sources claimed she had no father at all. Sources were also inconsistent on Nemesis’s children. Some sources claimed Leda was the mother of Helen of Troy and her twin sister Clytemnestra, while other sources named Nemesis as their mother. Th...