Which Greek goddess served as a messenger for Hera and personified the rainbow? Iris was the rainbow personification and a divine messenger who often served Hera and the other Olympian gods.
In Hesiod’s Theogony, Iris is the daughter of Thaumas and the Oceanid Electra, and sister of the Harpies. Greek poets portray her moving swiftly between gods and mortals, sometimes traveling along the rainbow. In art she commonly appears as a winged young woman carrying a messenger’s staff or a pitcher.
Iris is sometimes confused with Hermes because both carry divine messages. Hermes, however, was the better-known male messenger god, while Iris was especially associated with Hera. Iris also appears in Homeric epic, including the Iliad, where she delivers commands and warnings on behalf of the gods.
Unlike Athena or Aphrodite, Iris had relatively little mythology centered on her own adventures and was not widely worshipped through major festivals or temples. Her name in ancient Greek could refer both to a rainbow and to a halo around the Moon.