Harmonia

HARMONIA was the goddess of harmony and concord. She was a daughter of Ares and Aphrodite and as such presided over both marital harmony, soothing strife and discord, and harmonious action of soldiers in war. Late Greek and Roman writers sometimes portrayed her as harmony in a more abstract sense--a deity who presided over cosmic balance.

Harmonia was born of Aphrodite's adulterous affair with the god Ares. She was awarded to Kadmos (Cadmus), hero and founder of Thebes, in a wedding attended by the gods. Hephaistos (Hephaestus), however, was still angry over his wife's betrayal and presented Harmonia with a cursed necklace, dooming her descendants to endless tragedy.

Following a string of family catastrophes the couple emmigrated to Illyria where they battled various local tribes to found a new kingdom. Later the pair were transformed into serpents by the gods and carried off the Islands of the Blessed to live in peace.

In ancient Greek vase painting Harmonia appears in two scenes--firstly as the bride of Kadmos and secondly as a goddess in the retinue of the bridal Aphrodite. Harmonia's opposite number was Eris (Strife).