Eirene: The Goddess of Peace in Greek Mythology

Eirene (Ancient Greek Εἰρήνη Eirḗnē, “peace, peaceful life”) is in Greek mythology the deified peace. The deity is one of the Horae and a daughter of the god Zeus. Individually, she appears as the female genius of peace. She was worshipped cultically, praised by poets, and depicted by the visual arts from antiquity to the 19th century. The female name Irene and the male name Irenaeus are derived from Eirene.

Origin and Meaning

The word Eirene likely has pre-Greek roots, but this is not certain. Eirene is the daughter of Zeus and Themis. She is a sister of the Horae Eunomia and Dike. She is considered the personification of peace and corresponds in Roman mythology to the goddess Pax. Her descent expresses that peace finds its origin in corresponding power (Zeus) with just laws (Themis). The association with her sisters Dike (as a personification of “justice” and “righteousness”) and Eunomia (as the embodiment of “legal order”) underscores the importance of “law” and “order” for the maintenance of peace. The blessings of Eirene are praised by the poets.

As to when the ancient Greeks began to worship Irene as a goddess, there are two opinions: Plutarch mentions in his “Life of Cimon” that the Athenians first erected an altar of the goddess after their victory at the river Eurymedon. Isocrates and Cornelius Nepos write that the altar of Peace was erected for the first time, after Timothy’s victory over the Lacedaemonians near Lefkada.

Myths

Eirene is an important character in Aristophanes’ play “Peace”:

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The vine-dresser Trygaeus, an Athenian tired of war, raises a dung beetle to ride and fly to Olympus to ask Zeus why he is allowing the Greeks to remain at war. However, upon arriving, he finds that the heavens have been deserted, the gods have left because they were angry with the Greeks: he finds only Hermes, who is busy with final preparations. Hermes explains to him that now inhabiting this place is the warlike entity Polemos, who has imprisoned Eirene (Peace) and plans to crush the Greek cities with a giant mortar.

He sends his son Tarachos to ask the Athenians and Spartans for a pestle, and he returns saying they have lost their pestles (a metaphor for the Athenian demagogue Cleon and the Spartan general Brasidas who had been killed). As Polemos departs, Trygaeus invites Greeks from different cities to liberate Eirene.

With their help, especially that of the farmers who have suffered the most from the consequences of war, they manage to free the goddess as well as her two companions, Opora (goddess of harvest/fruits) and Theoria (goddess of spectacles and revelry). Trygaeus returns to Athens with Opora to marry her, and with Theoria to offer her to the Assembly.

Cult Worship

Eirene represents a powerful political ideal, according to which trade and politics press for contractual security. After the peace treaty of 374 BC, she was also honored sacrally, after a comprehensive security order, a General Peace (Ancient Greek κοινή εἰρήνη koinḗ eirḗnē), for the entire eastern Mediterranean region was decided upon at the Panhellenic conference in Sparta, involving Dionysius I of Syracuse and the Persian Great King. The Athenian orator Isocrates (436–338 BC) reports that no other agreement of his city has been so beneficial:

“[…] a peace that has so changed the relations between Athens and the Spartans that since that day until today, we offer sacrifices to Eirene every year because no other treaty has ever been so advantageous to our city.”

Isocrates

Plutarch (ca. 40–120 AD) reports that an altar to Eirene was already erected after Kimon’s victory at the Eurymedon in 466 BC. It was the decisive victory over the Persians. This early erection of an altar is partially doubted. However, offerings were probably already made to the goddess of peace in the 5th century BC. This is indicated by a remark in Aristophanes’ comedy “The Peace (Eirene),” according to which the goddess did not want to see bloody sacrifices. The festival of Eirene was celebrated on the 15th/16th of Hekatombaion (July/August). It was the day of the Synoikia, the union of the Attic city-states, according to the founding legend of Theseus. This demonstrates the high importance of the cult of Eirene.

From Ancient Greek Literature

Ancient Greeks often established altars to her after the conclusion of hostilities. Some of her known epithets were “Sweet,” “Plentiful,” “Wealth-giving,” among others. Euripides and Aristophanes portray Irene in their works as a bearer of fertility and wealth. The corresponding goddess for the Romans was Pax, their Latin version. A well-known sculpture is the complex of Cephisodotus, father of Praxiteles from the early 4th century BC, which depicts Irene holding Plutus in her arms. The sculpture was erected in the Agora of Athens, while a Roman copy exists in the Glyptothek of Munich.

According to Hesiod

[Hesiod, Theogony] Second, he took as his bride the radiant Themis, who bore him the Horae,

Eunomia, Dike, and bountiful Eirene, who oversee the works of mortal men, also bore the Moirai, whom wise Zeus granted the highest honor, Lachesis, Atropos, and Clotho, who give mortals the good and the bad. Eurynome, daughter of Oceanus, who has a very beautiful face, bore me three Graces with lovely cheeks.

According to Pausanias

[1.8.2] After the statues of the eponymous heroes, there are

statues of gods, Amphiarus and Peace, holding the infant Wealth. There is also a bronze

statue of Lycurgus, son of Lycofron, and of Kallias, as many Athenians say, …….

According to Aristophanes

[Irene] You take the knife and, like a butcher,

Slaughter the lamb. Servant. I can’t slaughter it.
Try. Why not?
Servant. Irene doesn’t approve of slaughter

Nor of shedding blood on her altar.

Reception in the Arts

Antiquity

Visual Arts

Eirene is depicted as a young woman with the child Plutos and a cornucopia on her arm, symbolizing the blessing effect of peace. Little Plutos embodies financial and economic well-being; he thrives in the security of deified peace. Other attributes of Eirene are a palm or olive branch and ears of grain. Occasionally, on vases, Eirene was also depicted with wings and a herald’s staff (kerykeion). In 362 BC, Eirene with Plutos and a cornucopia was depicted on Panathenaic prize amphorae, in which the state provided oil for the competition winners.

One of the most famous depictions was the Eirene by the Greek sculptor Cephisodotus, which is preserved in numerous Roman marble copies. Research today assumes that the original work was originally made of bronze. The statue of Eirene was probably erected after the introduction of the cult around 374 BC, perhaps also after the renewal of the panhellenic peace in 371 BC. She wears a heavy Doric peplos, which was no longer common in the first half of the 4th century. It gives the goddess a solemn appearance while also representing consciously applied classicism. She holds little Plutos and a cornucopia in her left arm and in her raised right hand is a herald’s staff or scepter. The inclination of Eirene’s head towards the little boy and his turning to the calm female figure express the intimate relationship between peace and prosperity. The original was erected on the classical Agora of Athens at the Monument of the Phyle Heroes:

“After the statues of the eponyms, there are statues of gods, Amphiaraus and Eirene, with the Plutos boy in their arms.”

Pausanias

Poetry

Eirene is also the title character of the comedy “The Peace” written around 421 BC by the poet Aristophanes. The god of war, Polemos, has banished Eirene into a deep pit filled with stones. He now rules alone in place of the gods, who have withdrawn to higher regions because of the noise of war. Eirene is rescued by the vineyard keeper, Trygaeus. An urgently summoned chorus of peasants, merchants, craftsmen, and metics helps him pull the goddess of peace out of the hole with ropes and winches while Polemos is distracted. Then the newly gained peace is described. A great festival is held for Eirene, and the vintner Trygaeus marries Opora, the goddess of autumnal harvest blessings. The armor manufacturers are ruined and leave grumpily. The chorus praises the joys of rural life. The juxtaposition of cultic seriousness and sexual innuendo gives the comedy its humor.

Baroque

After the Thirty Years’ War, Christoph Abraham Walther created a representation of the goddess of peace, Eirene, for the pedestal of the Peace Fountain in Dresden in 1649/1650. After the victorious battle at Kahlenberg against the Turks, in which the Saxon Elector Johann Georg III participated, the Eirene sculpture was replaced by a Victoria sculpture by Conrad Max Süßner.

The Italian composer Attilio Ariosti (1666–1729) wrote around 1703 the singspiel Mars and Irene, with the libretto by Christian Reuter.

A highly Baroque sculpture of Eirene by Giovanni Giuliani from 1705 stands in the staircase of the Liechtenstein City Palace in Vienna.

The Queen’s Cantata Tönet, ihr Pauken! Erschallet, Trompeten! by Johann Sebastian Bach (BWV 214) is a secular cantata that was performed on December 8, 1733, for the birthday of Archduchess and Polish Queen Maria Josepha of Austria. The movements were partially reused by Bach with modified text and minor musical adjustments in the Christmas Oratorio. Four ancient goddesses praise the queen. The goddess of peace, “Irene,” was assigned to a tenor.

Classicism

Brandenburg Gate

The attic relief of the Brandenburg Gate is themed “The Procession of the Goddess of Peace.” The designs primarily come from the painter and academy director Christian Bernhard Rode. Schadow revised the designs and supervised the stonemasons during execution. In the center of the relief above the central passage are symbols of peace and friendship. The goddess of peace, Eirene, stands on the outer edge of a triumphal chariot. With her right hand, she leans on the edge of the chariot adorned with a laurel garland. In one hand, she holds a palm branch, and in the other, a laurel wreath. Her chariot is drawn by four Erotes. The goddess of victory, Nike, stands further to the right, holding a trophy.

Canova

Antonio Canova took on the task of creating a statue of the goddess Eirene for the Rumyantsev family in 1811. He depicted the goddess of peace as a woman with two wings. She leans on a column with her right arm, into which the dates of peace treaties are engraved, and holds a kerykeion in her left hand. With her left foot, she crushes a snake. The statue was completed in 1814 and was first exhibited in Rome; it is now located in Kiev.

19th Century

Ludwig Knaus (1829–1910) painted the goddess of peace with wings and a basket of flowers in her left hand. She floats above two cherubs, scattering flowers. The painting was gifted to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 1888 by Jakob Heinrich Schiff.

In 1893, a sculpture of the goddess of peace, Eirene, was placed on the gable of the Old Town Hall of Isen. The sculptor Max Heilmaier (1869–1923) created galvanoplasty as his first significant work.

The Swiss rappen circulation coins depict the goddess of peace, while the franc circulation coins depict the rather warlike Helvetia. The “Irene” goddess of peace is also depicted on the gold vreneli coins.

Modern evocation

Astronomy

Its name was given to a natural satellite of Jupiter, Eirene, discovered in 2003 (official name: Jupiter LVII Eirene). Before this name was given, this moon of Jupiter was tentatively designated S/2003 J 52.

Asteroid 14 Irena, discovered in 1851 is also named after the goddess.