Dike in Greek tradition
Dike was born to Zeus and Themis alongside Eunomia and Eirene, becoming one of the Horai who helped sustain Zeus’s ordered rule after Cronus’s defeat. She is a Greek deity of justice and righteousness, law, social order, judgement, arbitration, punishment, and moral balance. Dike brought human wrongdoing before Zeus, whose penalties could include damaged fields, hunger, plague, military defeat, collapsed walls, and lost ships.
The quick answers
Who is Dike?
Dike is a Greek deity associated with justice and righteousness, law and social order, judgment and arbitration, punishment of wrongdoing, moral balance.Source
Source
- Greek Mythology and Poetics
- Classical Mythology a to Z
What is Dike the god of?
justice and righteousness, law and social order, judgment and arbitration, punishment of wrongdoing, moral balanceSource
Source
- Greek Mythology and Poetics
What family links are recorded for Dike?
Father: Nomos, Mother: Eusebia, 2 siblings.
Dike’s family, at a glance
Parents above, children below, and the figure’s consorts named in between, the same family data as the fact box, laid out as a chart instead of a field list.
The names Dike answers to
Astraea
The star-maiden later identified with Dike
SourceClassical Mythology a to Z
Dikaiosyne
Justice or righteousness personified
SourceClassical Mythology a to Z
Dikē
The Greek form of her name, meaning justice
SourceClassical Mythology a to Z
The myths of Dike
2 myths, each traced to its primary text and corpus sources.
The Birth of Dike
Zeus lay with Themis, and they brought forth Eunomia, Dike, and Eirene, the three Horai. Eunomia meant Good Order, Dike meant Justice, and Eirene meant Social Peace. Themis embodied divine law, custom, and ordinance. Their birth came after Zeus had defeated Cronus and established his rule among the gods.
The Horai formed part of that rule. Zeus had arranged the honours of the immortals, set laws and cherished customs in order, and brought competing parts into harmony. Eunomia’s presence first appeared in this ordered government on Olympus. Dike belonged to its justice, and Eirene belonged to its social peace.
Their order opposed the disorders linked with Eris. Eris had produced Dusnomia, or Bad Governance, and Ate, or Ruin. Eunomia therefore stood against bad government, while Dike and Eirene marked the justice and peace that supported Zeus’s rule. The daughters of Zeus and Themis answered the destructive powers born from Discord.
The name Horai also connected the goddesses with the works of mortal people. Hesiod played on their name and a verb that meant tending to or attending to human labour and activity. The Horai were therefore linked with the work of humankind and with the seasons of growth, whose social conditions favoured successful agriculture. Hesiod named them Eunomia, Dike, and Eirene in that order. Diodorus later gave the same three names in the same order and also called them children of Zeus.
In the modern world
No modern rework confirmed yet.
3 sources· checked 2026-08-19
- 1The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)T1
- 2Hesiod, TheogonyT1
Quote
“Hesiod names Eunomia, Dike, and Eirene as the daughters of Zeus and Themis, the Horai who watch over the works of mortal people.”
Hesiod, Theogony
- 3Greek Myths & TalesT1
Dike Reports Human Injustice
Dike, daughter of Zeus, came to her father when human beings offended her. She sat beside him and told him about the unjust minds and deeds of men. Zeus then brought punishment upon those who committed outrage. Their offences included adultery, harm done to orphans, insults against parents, the forcible taking of another person’s property, and crooked judgements in the marketplace.
When kings drove justice out and made unjust judgements, Zeus sent fierce rain from heaven and damaged the fields. Hunger and plague afflicted the guilty. An army was destroyed, a city wall collapsed, or ships were lost at sea. The same divine power reached unjust cities, so a city governed by hubris suffered for its treatment of justice.
Zeus saw and understood everything. Thrice a thousand immortal watchers moved unseen across the earth and observed human beings, justice, and wicked deeds. Dike brought each offence before Zeus, and punishment came with the passage of time. Human beings seized property or pronounced wrongful judgements, yet Zeus turned judgement towards justice and punished those who had made Dike crooked. Wrongdoing by rulers then brought harm upon the whole city.
In the modern world
No modern rework confirmed yet.
3 sources· checked 2026-08-19
- 1Greek religionT1
- 2Hesiod, TheogonyT1
Quote
“Dike, daughter of Zeus, reports the unjust deeds of mortals to her father, who eventually punishes those who drive justice away and make crooked judgements.”
Hesiod, Theogony
- 3Greek Mythology and PoeticsT1
Also appears in
The myths across MythSource where Dike features, each on that figure’s page.
- Themis Joins Zeus’s Divine Order · on Themis
- Themis’s Marriage and Divine Children · on Themis
What this page is built from
About this page
Written and maintained by MythSource. Last reviewed not yet recorded. How a page gets built.
5 sources are cited on this page, primary texts and corpus scholarship, listed below.
Cite this page
MythSource. (n.d.). Dike. https://www.mythsource.com/figures/dike
"Dike." MythSource, n.d., www.mythsource.com/figures/dike.
"Dike." MythSource. n.d. https://www.mythsource.com/figures/dike.
The mythology summaries and identity fields on this page are grounded in the primary texts and scholarship above. The appearance table records candidates separately; only reviewed joins are presented as modern reworks in Overview.
The film
The Underdrawing video on Dike embeds here once it publishes.