Nemesis (Art by Neithy)
Nemesis, also known as Invidia, is the goddess of vengeance and divine retribution against those who succumb to pride and arrogance as well as being one of the daughters of Erebus and Nyx.
Description[]
As a purveyor of justice, Nemesis was often depicted with a sword and scales, although she was also alternatively shown with a whip, measuring rod, dagger, bridle, scourge, wings, or sometimes a griffin-drawn chariot. She is also portrayed as a winged goddess wielding a whip or a dagger.
Overview[]
Nemesis was born of Erebus and Nyx. She first appeared when she witnessed the death of Abel by Cain's hands. When Cain was confronted by God He questioned Cain on the whereabouts of Abel and when refusing to answer it was Nemesis who revealed Cain to God as the culprit behind Abel's death by splashing his face with Abel's blood upon which it burned his skin. Nemesis marking Cain with Abel's blood was what initially led him to fear for his life as he was marked by the goddess for the Erinyes to chase and eternally torment. To appease Nemesis and make things somewhat fair for Cain, God declared that whosoever attempts to harm Cain "vengeance shall be taken on him seven-fold", meaning that any human that attacks Cain will direct Nemesis to punish them instead.
In later legends, it is believed that Nemesis produced the egg from which hatched two sets of twins: Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra, and the Dioscuri, Castor and Polydeuces. The reason they hatched from an egg is because, in order to avoid Zeus, Nemesis turns into a goose, but he turns into a swan and mates with her. Another one of her acts of retribution was to punish the beautiful Narcissus for spurning his many suitors. Nemesis caused him to fall in love with his own reflection in a pool of water, which led him to perish there from despair and regret.
