In Greek mythology, Bia (Ancient Greek: Βία, "Force" or "Violence") is the personification of force and raw might. According to Hesiod's Theogony she is the daughter of the Titan Pallas and the Oceanid Styx, and the sister of Nike (Victory), Kratos (Strength), and Zelus (Zeal or Rivalry). Together with her siblings she became a constant attendant of Zeus after siding with him in the Titanomachy, and was charged with enforcing his commands whenever an act of strength was required. She is best known as one of Zeus's two agents, alongside Kratos, who chain Prometheus to the Caucasus in Aeschylus's Prometheus Bound, where she remains silent throughout.
Adapted from Wikipedia, "Bia (mythology)" · CC BY-SA 4.0
I.Family
In Hesiod's Theogony, Bia is the daughter of the Titan Pallas and the Oceanid Styx, the goddess of the underworld river. Her siblings are likewise personifications of abstract qualities bound up with power: Nike (Victory), Kratos (Strength or Power), and Zelus (Zeal or Rivalry).
This group of siblings came to be regarded as the permanent companions and enforcers of Zeus, embodying the qualities that underpinned his sovereignty.
II.Mythology and role
Bia and her siblings supported Zeus in the Titanomachy, the war between the Olympians and the Titans, after their mother Styx brought them to his aid. In return Zeus honoured them and kept them ever at his side, so that they were tasked with carrying out his orders whenever an act of strength or force was needed.
Bia rarely possesses a narrative of her own, functioning instead as an instrument of Zeus's will. Her most prominent appearance comes in the punishment of Prometheus: when Zeus ordered the Titan chained to the Caucasus Mountains for stealing fire for humankind, Bia accompanied her brother Kratos to carry out the sentence, binding Prometheus to the rock with unbreakable chains.
III.Literary appearances and cult
Bia features at the opening of Aeschylus's tragedy Prometheus Bound, where she and Kratos drive Prometheus to his place of torment while the smith-god Hephaestus forges his fetters. Although she is present on stage throughout this scene, she does not speak, serving as a mute embodiment of the brute force compelling the action.
Bia received little independent cult. The traveller Pausanias records a sanctuary dedicated jointly to Bia and Ananke (Necessity) near the Acrocorinth at Corinth, into which it was customary not to enter.