Thaumas
Θαύμας
Father of Iris the rainbow and the Harpies. His name means "wonder."
Son of Pontus and Gaia, he fathered Iris, goddess of the rainbow, and the Harpies with his wife, a daughter of Oceanus.
His name comes from the Greek thauma, wonder. A rainbow over the water, winds that snatch like a storm — the astonishing things the sea produces are all his children.
In the Theaetetus, Plato says "philosophy begins in wonder" — and pulls in the genealogy of Iris as daughter of Thaumas, like an elegant pun.
SourcesHesiod, Theogony
Commonly confused
His wife Electra is a daughter of Oceanus — a different figure from Agamemnon's daughter Electra, who merely shares the name.