Styx was a Titan goddess who was both the personification of hatred and the dread water that may have separated the underworld of Hades from the world of the living. She was the first god to ally herself with Zeus before the Titanomachy, so Zeus made her the goddess of divine oaths and adopted her children, including Nike, as his servants.
Parents and Children
Styx was the daughter of the Titan Oceanus and his sister-Titan Tethys. Hyginus says that she is the daughter of Nyx and Erebus, but she is more consistently the eldest of the Oceanids. She was the personification of hatred, while her sisters were Metis (Wisdom), Klymene (Fame), Plouto (Wealth), Tykhe (Good Fortune), Telesto (Success), and Peitho (Persuasion).
Styx went on to marry Pallas, another Titan and the god of battle and warcraft, and they had four children, all of whom were personifications of natural forces, like Styx herself. They were Nike (Victory), Zelus (Glory), Kratos (Strength), and Bia (Force).
Epimenides of Crete, as related Pausanias, suggests that Styx was also the mother of Echidna, the half-woman and half-snake mate of the monster Typhon. Apollodorus also says that she was the mother of Persephone, who is usually identified by Demeter. In the Homeric Hymn 2 to Demeter, Persephone names Styx as one of her Oceanid companions when she was abducted by Hades. This suggests a relationship between the two, but its nature is unknown.
The Titanomachy
According to Hesiod’s Theogony, before the start of the Titanomachy, the great war between the Olympian god and the Titans for power over existence, Zeus summoned all the undying gods to Mount Olympus. To organize his war party, he promised all the gods who joined them that they would retain their position and power within the universal hierarchy. He also promised to give fair positions to those who did not already have them.
Styx was apparently the first of the gods to throw her support behind Zeus, following the advice of her father, Oceanus. She was also joined by her four children. The grateful Zeus rewarded Styx by making her the river that the gods had to swear their oaths by. These oaths were more or less unbreakable. He also kept her children by his side as his servants. This arguably benefited Zeus more than it did Styx, since Victory, Strength, Glory, and Force were now on his side.
Goddess of Divine Oaths
Oaths sworn by the waters of the Styx are often mentioned in the sources. The waters are consistently described as holy, but also cold and cruel. It is also implied that oaths sworn on the Styx are unbreakable. However, there are also sometimes consequences listed for breaking such oaths.
The most thorough description of what happens if you break and Styx oath comes from Hesiod when he describes Zeus sending Iris, the messenger of the gods, to fetch cold water from the Styx for the oaths to swear on. He says that those who break their oaths must lie breathless for a full year and neither taste ambrosia nor nectar. After this year stuck to their sickbed, they suffer another nine years or penance. For these nine years they are cut off from the gods and cannot join their councils or feasts.
That the oaths are unbreakable is implied by Ovid’s story in which Zeus, in his story Jupiter, who swears on the Styx that he will give his mortal lover Semele whatever she wants. Hera, angry at Zeus’ infidelity, convinces Semele to ask to see Zeus in his true form. Because Zeus agrees to do anything, before he knows what it is, he must show himself, despite knowing that it will kill her. Nevertheless, he is able to save the unborn Dionysus from her belly and bring him to term in his thigh.
The River Styx
As well as being a personification of hatred, Styx is also a personification of a river, which was made up of one tenth of her father’s water supply. It flowed underground mostly, near the underworld, but also bubbles up to the surface and pours out of a rock. The Greeks identified several real rivers with the earth-side Styx.
The underground side is often described as separating the world of the living from Hades, the underworld. Styx is also described as living in a cave at the entrance to Hades in a cave that opens up to the heavens with round silver pillars. In his Aeneid, Virgil says that the Styx wraps around Hades nine times and that the boatman Charon is in charge of ferrying people across.
Apuleius describes an incident when Aphrodite decides to set Psyche impossible tasks, including retrieving water from the Styx. He describes the river as guarded by dragons and screaming in warning. Psyche becomes so overwhelmed that she can’t go on, and Jupiter appears to her and warns her not to steal from or touch the holy but cruel water.
But while Styx is often used as a synonym for Hades, it is not the only river described as forming this border. For example, more often it is the river Acheron
The Roman author Statius famously describes how Achilles’ mother made him immortal by dipping him in the river Styx. She held him by the ankle, so it wasn’t properly covered, giving Achilles his famous weakness.
The story of Achilles has an interesting parallel with the story of Balder in Norse mythology. The son of Odin and his wife Frigg, Frigg wanted to protect her son and so secured an oath from all things in existence that they would not hurt or assist in hurting her son, making him invincible. But Loki learns that she forgot to get the unbreakable oath from the humble mistletoe plant, allowing him to make a mistletoe dart and cause his death. Both Balder and Achilles have unexpected weaknesses that lead to their deaths.
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