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Iris was the goddess of the rainbow and Hera's personal messenger
as Hermes was Zeus's, though she carried for other gods as well. Iris,
however, was of amazingly good nature and incredibly kind; she would send
up a brilliantly colored streamer across the sky after a terrible storm as promise of good weather to
gladden men's hearts. She was a natural peacemaker
and her amiability was such that when Zeus spread the rumor that Eros was
the son of Iris and the west wind to cover up his encounter with Aphrodite,
she never said a word of objection. Hera saw through the story, though,
and scolded Iris savagely, and Iris again did not defend herself, but wept
and then smiled, and her smile through the tears, so much like a rainbow
after the storm, was so enchanting that Hera stopped scolding for the first
time in history.
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