Eirene

"Peace." The goddess of peace. After the victory of Timotheus over the Lacedaemonians, altars were erected to her at Athens at the public expense.1 Her statue at Athens stood by the side of that of Amphiaraus, carrying in its arms Plutus, the god of wealth,2 and another stood near that of Hestia in the Prytaneion.3

At Rome too, where peace (Pax) was worshiped, she had a magnificent temple, which was built by the emperor Vespasian.4

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Iconography

The figure of Eirene or Pax occurs mostly on coins, and she is there represented as a youthful female, holding in her left arm a cornucopia and in her right hand an olive branch or the staff of Hermes. Sometimes also she appears in the act of burning a pile of arms, or carrying corn-ears in her hand or upon her head. Famous is the marble statue by Cephisodotus (ca. 380 BCE) showing Irene holding Plutus (wealth) on her arm.

References

Notes

  1. Cornelius Nepos. Timotheus, 2; Plutarch. Cimon, 13.
  2. Pausanias. Description of Greece i, 8.3.
  3. ibid. i, 18.3.
  4. Suetonius. Vespasian, 9; Pausanias. Description of Greece vi, 9.1.

Sources

  • Aken, Dr. A.R.A. van. (1961). Elseviers Mythologische Encyclopedie. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
  • Smith, William. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. London: Taylor, Walton, and Maberly.

This article incorporates text from Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) by William Smith, which is in the public domain.