IRIS, in Greek mythology, was Goddess of the rainbow, the daughter of the Titan Thaumas and Electra, daughter of the Titan Oceanus. As messenger of the god Zeus and his wife, Hera, Iris usually left Olympus only to convey the divine commands to humankind, by whom she was regarded as an adviser and guide. Traveling with the speed of the wind, she could go from one end of the earth to the other, and to the bottom of the sea or to the depths of the underworld. Although she was a sister of the winged monsters, the Harpies, Iris was represented as a beautiful maiden, with wings and robes of bright colors and a halo of light on her head, trailing across the sky with a rainbow in her wake.

Among the duties of the Greek Goddess Iris was that of leading the souls of dead women to the Elysian Fields. In token of that faith the Greeks planted purple Iris on the graves of women. Iris was the messenger of the gods and the personification of the Rainbow.

Iris had much the same job as Hermes.