Hemera (mythology)

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In Greek mythology, Hemera was the female personification of day and one of the Protogenoi (primordial goddess). She is the goddess of the daytime and the daughter of Erebos and Nyx (the goddess of "the night"). Mentioned in Hesiod's Theogony and remarked in Cicero's De Natura Deorum. In Bacchylides it is stated that Nyx and Kronos are the parents but Hyginus in his Preface mentions Khaos as the mother/ father and Nyx as her sister.

She was the female counterpart of her brother and consort, Aether (Light), but neither of them figured actively in myth or cult.

Hemera left Tartarus just as Nyx entered it; when Hemera returned, Nyx left.

Etymology: The name itself

Hyginus is also our source when it comes to her offspring. He tells us that Ouranos, Gaia and Thalassa (the primordial sea goddess) are her children with her brother Aither.

Pausanias seems to confuse Her with Eos when saying that She carried Kephalos away. Pausanias makes this identification with Eos upon looking to the tiling of the royal portico in Athens where the myth of Eos and Kephalos is illustrated. He makes this identification again at Amyklai and at Olympia upon looking at statues and illustrations where Eos (Hemera) is present.

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