Bia
Overal, Bia was a minor goddess of the Greek pantheon. Bia was the personification of force, anger and raw energy (Βία in Greek means: "power, force, might").
Bia was a daughter of the Titan Pallas, and his wife, the Oceanid Styx, and thus Bia was a sister to Nike (Victory), Cratus (Strength) and Zelos (Zeal).
Bia is most widely recognised as the Greek goddess of Might, but was also linked with power, force and physical compulsion.
MYTHOLOGY
Bia and her siblings were constant companions of Zeus. They achieved this honour after supporting him in the Titan War along with their mother. Bia is one of the characters named in the Greek tragedy Prometheus Bound, attributed to Aeschylus, where Hephaestus is compelled by the gods to bind Prometheus after he was caught stealing fire and offering the gift to mortals. Although she appears alongside her brother Kratos, she does not speak.
TITANOMACHY
Bia first comes to prominence at the commencement of the Titanomachy, for Zeus proclaimed that any who joined his cause, would be honoured. Styx was advised by her father, Oceanus, to join with Zeus, and so Styx was the first to ally herself with Zeus. Styx would bring with her, her four children, including Bia.
Whilst Styx would be honoured by becoming the keeper of sacred oaths, Bia and her siblings would become guardians of the throne of Zeus
There are no surviving texts that give details of the Titanomachy, but it is said that Bia and her siblings did great deeds during the ten year war.
After the war, Bia and her siblings were said to enforce the orders of Zeus, when ever strength and might were needed, although of course the fame of Bia has been overshadowed by that of her sister, Nike.
BIA, KRATOS AND PROMETHEUS
Bia though does take prominence in one further story, when Zeus decreed that the Titan Prometheus needed to be punished for his misdemeanours. The punishment ordered by Zeus, was for Prometheus to be chained to the Caucasus Mountains, but while Hephaestus crafted the shackles, it required the strength of Bia and Kratos to capture and hold down Prometheus for him to be chained.
Sources
GREEK
Hesiod, Theogony - Greek Epic C8th - 7th B.C.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound - Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.
Plato, Protagoras - Greek Philosophy C4th B.C.
Apollodorus, The Library - Greek Mythography C2nd A.D.
Pausanias, Description of Greece - Greek Travelogue C2nd A.D.
Plutarch, Lives - Greek Historian C1st - 2nd A.D.
ROMAN
Hyginus, Fabulae - Latin Mythography C2nd A.D.
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