Invidia
Roman personification of envy and ill will, equivalent to the Greek Phthonos
The Myth of Invidia
Invidia was the fearsome personification of envy, depicted by Ovid in the Metamorphoses as a loathsome figure who ate snakes, never smiled except at others' misfortune, and wasted away from the constant gnawing of her own jealousy. Her body was green and sickly, her gaze poisonous — she was the mythological source of the "evil eye" that Romans feared intensely. Amulets against the evil eye (fascina) were among the most common protective charms in the Roman world, worn by children, hung on walls, and placed in gardens. Ovid sends Invidia to poison the mind of Aglauros with jealousy toward her sister, a passage that became one of the most influential depictions of envy in all Western literature.
Parents
None recorded
Symbols
Fun Fact
Ovid's description of Invidia eating snakes and turning green with jealousy is the origin of the phrase "green with envy"
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Phthonos
💭 conceptSpirit of envy and jealousy
The personification of envy and jealousy who punished those who had too much happiness or good fortune.
Telchines
🐉 creaturecraft, envy
Mysterious sorcerer-smiths of Rhodes who forged Poseidon's trident and Cronus's sickle but were destroyed by the gods for their use of malevolent magic.
Lamia
🐉 creatureChild-devouring queen turned monster
Lamia was a beautiful queen of Libya whom Zeus loved; when Hera killed her children in jealousy, Lamia was driven mad and became a child-snatching monster.
Zelus
🐉 creaturedivine personification,rivalry
The divine personification of zeal, rivalry, and jealous dedication — one of the four children of Pallas and Styx who joined Zeus at the start of the Titanomachy and remained as his permanent attendants.
Aphrodite
⚡ godGoddess of love, desire, and beauty
The goddess born from sea-foam whose power over desire could override the will of gods and mortals alike.
Alecto
⚡ godUnderworld
One of the three Erinyes whose name means "Unceasing" and who embodies relentless anger
Megaera
⚡ godUnderworld
One of the three Erinyes who punishes oath-breakers, the jealous, and those guilty of marital infidelity
Hera
⚡ godQueen of the gods, marriage, family, childbirth
Queen of the Olympian gods and goddess of marriage. Known for her jealous rages against Zeus's lovers and their children.
Nemesis
💭 conceptLanguage and justice
An English word meaning an inescapable rival or agent of downfall, derived from Nemesis, the Greek goddess of retribution who punished hubris and excessive good fortune
Aphrodite
⚡ godGoddess of love, beauty, desire
Goddess of love and beauty, born from the sea foam. Aphrodite's power to inspire desire was so great that even the gods were not immune.
Himeros
⚡ godDesire and longing
God of immediate desire and passionate longing, companion of Aphrodite from her birth
Arae
🐉 creatureCurses, vengeance
Spirits of curses who personified the destructive power of spoken imprecations and oaths