Incest and Infidelity in the House of the Gods

Incest and Infidelity in the House of the Gods

Principal Gods of Greek Mythology

Zeus the supreme god of the Olympian gods was one of the most famous of the Greek Gods and one of the most renowned for his adulterous behavior. There was no discrimination when it came to getting the woman he desired whether mortal or immortal he managed to leave a legacy of Gods, Goddesses and divine heroes. The number of children that Zeus sired is unknown and speculations about his progeny are still being debated but some of the more famous ones can be found within his own family tree.

Zeus and Maia

One of the Pleiades and the mother of Hermes, she was the daughter of Atlas and Pleione an Oceanid. The oldest of the Pleiades. They were sometimes called the Mountain Nymphs.

Zeus and Dione

A Titan with whom Zeus conceive Aphrodite. She had an Oracle at Dodone. She was the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. She was one of four sisters the others being Mnemosyne, Phoebe and Themis. She was also said to have given birth to Dionysus by Zeus.

Zeus and Leto

A Titan born of Oceanus and Phoebe and the mother of the twin Gods Apollo and Diana. She is also said to be the protector of the young. While pregnant with the twins she was tormented by the wrath of Hera and destined to wander the Earth without rest. When it came time for the twins to be born the floating island of Delos granted her a place and she gave birth to Apollo and Diana.

Zeus and Demeter

Demeter was a Goddess of fertility and agriculture. She was a daughter of the Titans Cronus and his sister Rhea. She was the sister of Hestia, Hera and Hades, Poseidon and Zeus, who was also the father of her child Persephone. She and her daughter Persephone are associated with the Greek and Roman cult the Eleusinian Mysteries.

Zeus and Hera

Hera the Queen of the Gods was Zeus' sister they conceived a child called Hephaestus. Hephaestus was the God of the Blacksmiths fire and the patron of craftsmen. The volcanic fires of Mr Etna represented him. He was known as the lame god. Hera at his birth was disgusted by the sight of him and flung him from Mt Olympus and he fell landing in the sea where nymphs rescued him and brought him to Lemos where he was cared for. He created Zeus' thunderbolts. He was married to Aphrodite the Goddess of Love.

Zeus and Metis

Metis impregnated by Zeus was swallowed by Zeus when he was told by Gaia that Metis would have a daughter who would overthrow him. One day he experienced a roaring headache and commanded Hephaestus to strike him in the head with an axe Athena sprang forth fully armed in war gear she became a favorite of Zeus.

Not all of the women seduced by Zeus were immortal some of the most well nown of his mortal loves were:

Zeus and Danae

Zeus came to Danae in the guise of a golden shower after she had been imprisoned in a tower by her father their son was the hero Perseus

Zeus and Leda

One of the most famous offspring Helen of Troy Zeus visited Leda as a Swan it is said that Helen was born in an egg,

Zeus and Europa

Europa mothered 3 sons Minos, Sarpedon and Rhadamanthys with Zeus in the form of a bull

Zeus and Alkmene

The most famous bastard son is one of the children of Zeus and Aleme Hercules born of Zeus and his twin brother Likymnios by her husband Amphitryon

Zeus and Semele

The mother of Dionysis She requested at the instigation of Hera to see Zeus in his glory as a God. He consented and the sight burnt her but he saved the unborn child by sewing him in his thigh until he was born.