Themis, or, as we now call it, Themis is one of the oldest goddesses, the daughter of Heaven and Earth. Before Zeus took Hera as his wife, Themis was his wife, and then she bore him three beautiful daughters: cheerful, blooming goddesses of the year — Mountains that guarded the gilded gates of Olympus. Even later, when they parted, Themis was the most trusted adviser to Zeus, from whom he had no secrets.
She was a wise and experienced goddess. She saw a lot of things hidden from the eyes of other gods, which were not even in the world when she already reigned. She was considered the goddess of justice, customs, and order. Themis altars were installed in places where people gathered to solve common issues so that she would bring the spirit of justice and goodness to the councils with her presence. Some considered her the savior and patron of the oppressed, due to the fact that she, along with Zeus, watched so that the poor and those who needed help were not offended.
In many Greek cities, temples were built for her, often not far from the temples of Earth or Demeter. On the monuments, she was portrayed as a strict girl with a cornucopia in snow-white hands, and traditionally she is still depicted blindfolded; in one hand she holds a sword, and in the other - scales.
Themis is the personification of the law, fair, punitive, one for all and impartial. This is expressed by the attributes with which Themis is portrayed and associated - blindfold, sword, and scales. However, such a way to portray Themis came from ancient Rome.
The Greeks themselves initially depicted a goddess with a cornucopia in one hand and scales in the other, and Themis' eyes were not covered with a blindfold. Scales in this version symbolized justice and measure. Themis weighed on the scales the actions of people committed by them during life in order to determine the measure of good and evil and so decide the posthumous fate of man. The cornucopia, in this case, symbolizes the reward that a person will receive or will not receive after his actions are weighed and evaluated.
The ancient Romans introduced their own ideas into the symbolism of Themis. In Roman mythology, the cornucopia in the hands of the goddess was replaced by a punishing sword, which symbolized retribution and higher justice. The Romans depicted a sword in the hands of Themis with the tip pointed up to emphasize the goddess’s willingness to use the weapon at any time. Together with the new interpretation, the goddess received a new name - Justice.
The cult of Justice spread to Rome during the time of the emperor Tiberius, who dedicated the statue to the goddess. In addition to the goddess of justice, in ancient Rome, there was also a separate goddess of justice - Equitas. The cult of this goddess was established during the time of the Empire. She was depicted on coins in the form of a woman leaning on a spear in a long robe, with scales or a cornucopia in her hand.
The blindfold on the eyes of the goddess appeared later, in the Middle Ages. This attribute did not symbolize blind cruelty, as you might think, but the fact that Themis was impartial, blind to wealth, regalia, position and gives people only by right.