Charites

"Charis" and "Graces" redirect here. For other uses, see Charis (disambiguation) and Grace (disambiguation). Not to be confused with charities.
The Three Graces in a fresco at Pompeii, 1-50 AD
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In Greek mythology, the Charites (/ˈkærɪtiːz/; Ancient Greek: Χάριτες)[a] or Graces were three or more goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity, goodwill, and fertility.[1] Hesiod names three – Aglaea ("Shining"), Euphrosyne ("Joy"), and Thalia ("Blooming")[2][1] – and names Aglaea as the youngest and the wife of Hephaestus.[3] In Roman mythology they were known as the Gratiae, the "Graces". Some sources use the appellation "Charis" as the name of one of the Charites, and equate her with Aglaea, as she too is referred to as the wife of Hephaestus.[4]

The Charites were usually considered the daughters of Zeus and Oceanid Eurynome.[2] According to the Orphic Hymns, they were the daughters of Zeus and Eunomia,[5] while Cornutus records other possible names of their mother by Zeus as Eurydome, Eurymedousa, or Euanthe.[6] Rarely, they were said to be daughters of Dionysus and Coronis[7] or of Helios and the naiad Aegle[8][9] or of Hera by an unnamed father.[10] Homer identified them as part of the retinue of Aphrodite. The Charites were also associated with the Greek underworld and the Eleusinian Mysteries.

In Roman and later art, the three Charites are generally depicted nude in an interlaced group, but during the Archaic and Classical periods of Greece, they were typically depicted as fully clothed,[1] and in a line, with dance poses.


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  1. ^ a b c Larson, Jennifer (2007). Ancient Greek Cults. New York, NY: Routledge. pp. 162-163. ISBN 978-0415491020.
  2. ^ a b Hesiod, Theogony, 907 ff.
  3. ^ Hesiod, Theogony, 945 ff.
  4. ^ Homer, Iliad, 18.382.
  5. ^ Orphic Hymn (60), 2–3.
  6. ^ Cornutus, Compendium of Greek Theology, 15
  7. ^ Nonnus, Dionysiaca 48.548
  8. ^ Nonnus, Dionysiaca, 15.87 & 48.530
  9. ^ Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9.35.5.
  10. ^ Coluthus, Rape of Helen 173