44 THE MANY AFFAIRS OF ZEUS
T
he sexual adventures of
Zeus, the king of the gods,
made up a significant
strand of ancient Greek mythology.
Without Zeus’s many infidelities,
the myths suggest that knowledge
and artistic expression of any
kind—poetry, music, drama, or
works of art—would not exist.
One of Zeus’s first affairs was
with Mnemosyne, the Titan
goddess of memory. After he slept
with her on nine consecutive
nights, nine daughters were born.
Collectively known as the Muses,
each of these daughters became
responsible for inspiring mortals
in a particular area of artistic
endeavor: Calliope inspired epic
poetry; Clio, history; Euterpe, lyric
poetry and song; Erato, love poetry;
and Polyhymnia, sacred poetry.
Melpomene became responsible for
inspiring tragic drama; Thalia took
charge of comedy and pastoral
poetry; Terpsichore inspired dance;
and Urania, astronomy.
All through the classical period,
musicians and poets called on
the Muses for assistance as they
worked. “Blessed is he whom the
Muses love,” said the Greek poetHesiod after invoking their help
in Theogony, his poem about
the genealogy of the gods. With the
inspiration of the Muses, Hesiod
said, musicians and poets could
relieve a suffering mind of its cares.Hera and the cuckoo
Zeus’s instinct for trickery was an
integral part of his character and
informed all of his erotic exploits.
He had assumed the form of a
mortal—a handsome shepherd—to
seduce Mnemosyne, and many of
his other love affairs involved
similar sorts of shape-shifting.
Hera, Zeus’s wife, had also been
won this way. The notoriously
formidable goddess had dismissed
Zeus disdainfully when he had first
approached her, forcing him to take
deceptive measures to win her
affections. First, he summoned
a thunderstorm, then he stood
outside her window and took on
the form of a fledgling cuckoo, itsThe nine Muses lived on Mount
Helicon, central Greece. In this scene
by Jacques Stella (ca. 1640) they are
visited by Minerva (Athena), goddess
of wisdom and patron of the arts.IN BRIEF
THEME
Lovers of the godsSOURCES
Iliad, Homer, 8th century bce;
Theogony, Works and Days,
The Shield of Heracles, Hesiod,
ca. 700 bce; Library, Pseudo-
Apollodorus, ca. 10 0 ce.SETTING
Greece and the Aegean.KEY FIGURES
Zeus Father of the gods.Hera Zeus's wife; queen of
the gods.Mnemosyne Goddess of
memory.Europa Phoenician princess.Antiope Daughter of the river
god Asopos.Leda A Spartan princess.Metis Daughter of Oceanus.Athena Daughter of Metis.The Muses gladden
the great spirit of
their father Zeus
in Olympus
with their songs,
telling of things
that shall be.
TheogonyUS_042-047_Affairs_of_Zeus.indd 44 06/12/17 3:01 pm
ANCIENT GREECE 45
expression helpless and its feathers
ruffled up as if chilled and battered
by the wind-blown hail. Hera could
not bear to see this tiny creature
suffering. She cupped the cuckoo in
her hand and placed it inside her
dress against her bosom, so that it
could get warm. At this point, Zeus
assumed his normal quasi-human
form and seduced her.
The conquest of Hera was not
the only time Zeus took the form of
a bird. Zeus took on the shape of a
swan in order to seduce the
Spartan princess Leda. As with
Hera, he took advantage of his
victim’s compassion. Apparently
fleeing from an attacking eagle, heSee also: The birth of Zeus 20–23 ■ The war of the gods and Titans 32–33 ■ The
Olympian gods 24–31fell into her arms, but when she
cradled him protectively, Zeus
raped her. In the case of the
Theban princess Semele, his choice
of species—a raptor—clearly
signaled his predatory intentions.
Taking the form of an eagle, his
royal emblem, he visited Semele
and made her pregnant. Dionysus,
god of wine and festivity, was the
result of their union.Ruined innocence
Zeus’s conquest of Alcmene—a
mortal princess with whom he
fathered Herakles—was more
sinister. Alcmene was a paragon of
beauty, charm, and wisdom. She ❯❯Hera
As the daughter of the Titans
Kronos and Rhea, and wife
and sister of the mighty Zeus,
it might seem odd that Hera
was commonly associated
with cattle. She was often
pictured with a sacred cow
and in the Iliad is described
as “cow-faced” or “ox-eyed.”
Such imagery was probably
more flattering than it sounds.
To the ancient Greeks, the cow
was an emblem of motherhood
and prosperity; wealth was
often measured in the number
of livestock owned.
While Hera was clearly
no sex symbol—a role more
associated with the goddess
of beauty, Aphrodite—she did
exemplify the importance
of women in everyday life in
Greece. She was celebrated
as a goddess of both marriage
and virginity. At Kanathos, in
the Peloponnese, she was
worshipped as Hera Parthenos
(“Virgin”) and was said to
renew her virginity by bathing
in the spring every year. The
Heraion of Argos—possibly
the first of many temples
dedicated to Hera—honored
her as Zeus’s consort and
queen. Argos, Sparta, and
Mycenae, according to Homer,
were the cities she loved best.A shepherd
to seduce Mnemosyne.A cuckoo
to seduce Hera.A bull
to seduce Europa.A satyr
to seduce Antiope.A swan
to seduce Leda.A shower of gold
to seduce Danaë.An eagle
to seduce Semele.A cloud
to seduce Io.Zeus in disguise
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