Zeus and Love Stories: His Novels and Half-God Children

Zeus is a famous god in ancient Greek mythology. He was the most important and the strongest and most powerful Deity. The Greeks believed that he was a very loving God who had many mistresses. From this he had many children. Zeus had relationships with both goddesses and earthly women.

Zeus' Wives and Children

According to the legends, Zeus was officially married three times.

His first wife was the goddess Metida. She was the goddess of wisdom. She was fervently beloved by Zeus. At first she rejected Zeus' advances, but then she agreed. As a result of this union, Athena was born. She was born in an unusual way. When the earth goddess Gaia predicted to Zeus that he would be overthrown by his own son, he became frightened and decided to swallow Metis. Athena was born from Zeus' head.

Zeus' second legitimate wife was Themis, the goddess of justice and order. She was Zeus' aunt. At first she resisted a relationship with him, but still, under Zeus' pressure, she agreed. Thereafter, Themis was Zeus' counselor. As a result of this relationship, many offspring were born. This included three Ora, goddesses of the seasons.

The third official wife of Zeus was Hera. She is given the most attention in the myths. She was the most jealous and abused Zeus' mistresses. One of the sons born to Zeus by Hera was Hephaestus. He was born ugly. So Hera decided to get rid of him and threw him off a cliff. But Hephaestus survived. He became a skilled blacksmith. Hera was suspended on golden chains between heaven and earth for trying to overthrow Zeus.

Zeus's mistresses

In addition to official marriages, Zeus had many mistresses. Among them the following are worth mentioning:

• The union of Zeus and Leto is well known. From this union came Apollo, the deity of light, and Artemis, the goddess of the hunt. Into this relationship intervened the goddess Hera. Because of her, the pregnant Leto had to wander the earth. Hera forbade Leto to receive her. Only a rocky island in the Aegean Sea accepted her. Here she gave birth to Apollo and Artemis.
• The union of Zeus and Diona, daughter of Uranus, brought Aphrodite, goddess of love, into the world.
• The union of Zeus and his sister Demeter brought Persephone into the world. She would later become the goddess of the underworld and the consort of Hades.
• Nine nights Zeus spent with the goddess of memory and daughter of Uranus and Gaia Mnemozima. As a result, she gave birth to nine muses.
• The union of Zeus and Eurynoma brought about the birth of the three Charitas. Later they become goddesses of beauty. Charitas and the Muses lived together on the same mountain Mount Olympus. They sang a beautiful chorus together. They were often depicted in art as beautiful naked girls.

Zeus also subdued earthly women. He used his miraculous charms to subdue them. To some he appeared in the form of beautiful beasts. For example, to the wife of King Tyndareus, Leda, he appeared as a beautiful swan. From this connection Leda laid an egg and from it hatched four children. Zeus was conquered by the beautiful Helen, over whom the Trojan War began.

Zeus' love for Danae is well known. To subdue the girl, he appeared to her in the form of golden rain. Thus Perseus was born. Armxes, the father of Danaë, ordered to imprison Perseus and Danaë in a box and throw it into the sea because he had been told that his grandson would dethrone him. The box was washed ashore on one of the islands, and a local fisherman took them out. Thereafter, Perseus became a famous hero.

Another famous mistress of Zeus is the wife of King Alcmene of Tyrene. To subdue her, Zeus took the form of her husband. So Hercules was born.

Also another mistress of earthly women was the beauty Europa. In order to subdue her Zeus was transformed into a bull. At first Europe was frightened of him, but then she began to play with him and saddled him.