Zeus, Hera and their children: Part 1

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Thus Zeus is established as lord of gods and men. He is supreme but he does share his powers with his brothers. Zeus himself assumes the sky as his special sphere; Poseidon, the sea; and Hades, the underworld. Sometimes the three are said to have cast lots for their realms. Zeus takes his sister, Hera, as his wife; she reigns by his side as his queen and subordinate. His sisters Hestia and Demeter share in divine power and functions; the other major gods and goddesses are also given significant prerogatives and authority as they are born. And so a circle of major deities (fourteen in number) is evolved: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Hephaestus, Ares, Apollo, Artemis, Demeter, Aphrodite, Athena, Hemes, and Dionysus. This list was reduced to a canon of twelve Olympians by omitting Hades (whose specific rea1m.i~u nder the earth) and replacing Hestia with Dionysus, a great deity who comes relatively late to Greece.   Although Hestia is important, her role and function are relatively limited and therefore she may be briefly discussed here. Her mythology is meager. She rejected the advances of both Poseidon and Apollo and vowed to remain a virgin; like Athena and Artemis, then, she is a goddess of chastity. But she is primarily the goddess of ,the hearth and its sacred fire; her name Hestia is the Greek word for hearth. Among primitive men fire was obtained with difficulty, kept alive, and revered for its basic importance in daily needs and religious ceremony. The hearth too was the center of the family and then of the larger political units, the tribe, the city, and the state. Transmission of the sacred fire from one settlement to another represented a continuing bond of sentiment and heredity. Thus both the domestic and the communal hearth were designated as holy, and the goddess herself presided over them. Hestia often gained precedence at banquets and in sacrificial ritual, for as the first born of Cronus and Rhea she was considered august, one of the older generation of the gods. But when the other gods went to a feast, she alone stayed at home and eventually it was easy to squeeze her out of the Olympian canon of twelve. Zeus is an amorous deity; he mates with countless goddesses and mortal women, and his offspring are legion. Most genealogies demanded the glory and authority of the supreme god himself as their ultimate progenitor. Along with this necessity emerged the character of a Zeus conceived and readily developed by what may be called a popular mythology.

This Zeus belonged to a monogamous society in which the male was dominant; however moral the basic outlook, the standards for the man were different from those for the woman. Illicit affairs were possible and even if not officially sanctioned were at least condoned for the one, but under no circumstances tolerated for the other. Thus Zeus is the glorified image of the husband and father but, as well, the lover; his consort Hera is the wife and mother who with matronly severity upholds the sanctity of marriage. As the picture evolves, Zeus' behavior may be depicted as amoral or immoral or merely a joke; the supreme god can stand above conventional standards; at other times he will act in harmony with them and more than once must face the shrewish harangues of his wife and pay at least indirectly through pain and suffering wrought by his promiscuity. Ultimately the depiction depends upon a certain period and the intent and purpose of an individual author. As we shall see, the conception of deity is infinitely varied and complex, and this characterization of Zeus is merely one of many that have yet to be considered. We shall not catalogue the gamut of Zeus' conquests here. They will provide a recurrent theme throughout this book. Two of his affairs are pertinent now for the universal significance of their progeny. Zeus mates with the Titaness Mnemosyne (Memory), who gives birth to the Muses, the patronesses of literature and the arts; thus allegorically Memory with divine help produces inspiration. Their home is often located in Pieria in northern Thessaly near Mt. Olympus or about the fountain Hippocrene on Mt. Helicon in Boeotia. The Muses (their name means the Reminders) may originally have been water spirits with the power of prophecy and then inspiration, imagined from the babbling of waters as they flow. They are supreme in their fields, and those who dare to challenge them meet with defeat and punishment. In this respect they resemble Apollo, with whom they are often associated. The number of the Muses is not consistent, but later authors usually identify nine of them, with specific functions, although assignments will vary. Calliope presides over epic poetry; Clio, history (or lyre playing); Euterpe, lyric poetry (or tragedy and flute playing); Melpomene, tragedy (or lyre playing); Terpsichore, choral dancing (or flute playing); Erato, love poetry (or hymns to the gods and lyre playing); Polyhymnia, sacred music (or dancing); Urania, astronomy; Thalia, comedy. Zeus is sometimes said to be the father of the Fates (Moirae) as a result of his union with the mi, or Night and Erebus may be the parents. The Fates are originally birth spirits and often came to be depicted as three old women responsible for the destiny of every individual. Clotho (the Spinner) spins out the thread of life, which carries with it the fate of each human being from the moment of birth; Lachesis (the Apportioner) measures the thread; and Atropos (the Inflexible), sometimes characterized as the smallest and most terrible, cuts it off and brings life to an end. On occasion they can be influenced to alter the fate decreed by their labors, but usually the course of the destiny that they spin is irrevocable.

Often Fate is thought of in the singular, Moira, in a conception that is much more abstract and linked closely to a profound realization of the roles played by Luck or Fortune (Tyche) and Necessity (Ananke) in the scheme of-human life. The relation of the gods to destiny is variously depicted and intriguing to analyze in the literature. According to some authors Zeus is supreme and controls all, but others portray a universe in which even the great and powerful Zeus must bow to the inevitability of Fate's decrees. The depth of this feeling of the Greeks for the working of Moira or the Moirae cannot be overemphasized. It provides a definite and unique tone and color to the bulk of their writing. One thinks immediately of Homer or Herodotus or the tragedians, but no major author was untouched by fascination with the interrelation of god, man, and fate and the tantalizing interplay of destiny and free will. The union of Zeus and Hera represents yet another enactment of the holy marriage between the sky-god and earth-goddess; this is made clear in the lines from Homer (Iliad 14. 346-51), which describe their lovemaking: "The son of Cronus clasped his wife in his arms and under them the divine earth sprouted forth new grass, dewy clover, crocuses and hyacinths, thick and soft, to protect them from the ground beneath. On this they lay together and drew around themselves a beautiful golden cloud from which the glistening drops fell away."   Hera has little mythology of her own and is important mainly as Zeus' consort and queen.

She appears in many stories as the vehement wife who will punish and avenge the romantic escapades of her husband. In art she is depicted as regal and matronly, often with attributes of royalty. Homer describes her as ox-eyed and white-armed, both epithets presumably denoting her beauty. The peacock is associated with her; this is explained by her role in the storysof 10. Argos was a special center for her worship, and a great temple was erected there in her honor in classical times. Hera was worshiped not so much as an earth-goddess but rather as a goddess of women, marriage, and childbirth, functions that she shares with other deities. We are already familiar with Zeus the god of the sky, the cloudgatherer of epic. The etymological root of his name means "bright" (as does that of Jupiter). His 'attributes are thunder and lightning, and he is often depicted as about to hurl them. The king of gods and men is a regal figure represented as a man in his prime, usually bearded. He bears as well the aegis, a word meaning "goat skin" that originally designated merely the cloak of a shepherd. For Zeus it is a shield with wonderful and miraculous protective power. The eagle and the majestic oak tree were sacred to Zeus. Olympia and Dodona were important centers for his worship, and both were frequented in antiquity for their oracular responses? The traditional methods for eliciting a response from the god were by the observation and interpretation of omens, for example, the rustling of leaves, the sound of the wind in the branches of the oaks, the call of doves, and the condition of burnt offerings. At Olympia inquiries were usually confined to the chances of the competitors in the games. Eventually at Dodona, through the influence of the oracle of Apollo at Delphi, a priestess would mount a tripod and deliver her communications from the god. Here leaden tablets have been found inscribed with all kinds of questions posed by the state and the individual. The people of Corcyra ask Zeus to what others ask if it is safe to join a federation; a man inquires if it is good for him to marry; another, whether he will have children from his wife. There are questions about purchases, health, and family.

The worship of Zeus at Dodona and Olympia makes it clear that there is more than one facet to the Greeks' conception of their supreme deity. In fact he becomes for them the one god, and his concerns envelop the whole sphere of morality for both gods and men. He is the wrathful god of justice and virtue upholding all that is sacred and holy in the moral order of the universe. This Zeus we shall discuss at greater length in a subsequent chapter. Zeus and Hera have four children: Eileithyia, Hebe, Hephaestus, and Ares. Eileithyia is a goddess of childbirth, a role she shares with her mother; at times mother and daughter merge in identitye7 Hebe is the goddess of youthful bloom (the literal meaning of her name). She is a servant of the gods as well; in the Iliad (5.905) she bathes and clothes Ares after he has been healed of the wounds inflicted by the hero Diomedes. Hebe is primarily known for her services as the cupbearer for the deities on Olympus. When Heracles wins immortality, Hebe becomes his bride. Some versions explain that she resigned from her position to marry. Late authors claim that she was discharged for clumsiness. The Trojan prince Ganymede shares honors with Hebe as cupbearer of the gods; according to some he replaces her. The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite (5. 202-17) tells how Zeus carried off Ganymede, the handsome son of Tros. Indeed Zeus in his wisdom seized and carried off fairhaired Ganymede because of his beauty, so that he might be in the company of the gods and pour wine for them in the house of Zeus, a wonder to behold, esteemed by all the immortals, as he draws the red nectar from a golden bowl. But a lasting sorrow gripped the heart of Tros, for he had no idea where the divine whirlwind had taken his dear son. Indeed he mourned for him unceasingly each and every day and Zeus took pity on the father and gave him as recompense for his son brisk-trotting horses, the kind which carry the gods. These he gave him to have as a gift. And at the command of Zeus, Hermes, the guide and slayer of Argus, told everything and how Ganymede would be immortal and never grow old, just like the gods. When Tros heard this message from Zeus, he no longer continued his mourning but rejoiced within his heart and joyfully was borne by the horses that were as swift as a storm. In some accounts an eagle, not a whirlwind, carries Ganymede away; some too boldly attribute homosexual desire to Zeus, thus having the supreme god mirror yet another human passion. Hephaestus, the next child of Zeus and Hera to be considered, is a god of creative fire and a divine smith. His workshop is often placed in heaven or on Olympus.

Homer (Iliad 18) presents a splendid picture of his house on Olympus when Thetis appeals to Hephaestus to forge new armor for her son Achilles. All that this immortal craftsman produces excites wonder; his major role in mythology is to create things of extraordinary beauty and utility, often elaborately wrought. One of his masterpieces, the shield of Achilles, is described in exquisite detail by Homer. Hephaestus even has attendants fashioned of gold that look like living young women; these robots can move with intelligence and speak with knowledge. He is indeed the master artisan. Sometimes his forge is under the earth, and as he labors all covered with soot and sweat he may be attended by the three Cyclopes, whom we already know as the ones who create the thunder and lightning of Zeus. The god Hephaestus was a cripple from birth. One story maintains that Hera was ashamed of his deformity and cast him down from Olympus or heaven. But he was rescued and eventually returned home. We are also told that he was hurled to earth on another occasion, this time by Zeus. Hephaestus lands on the island of Lemnos, which in classical times was an important center of his worship. Other volcanic regions (e.g., .in Sicily and its environs) were associated with this divine smith; these places bore testimony to the fire and smoke that at times would erupt from his forge. At the close of Book 1 of the Iliad, Hephaestus himself recounts the episode of Zeus' anger against him. We shall excerpt this passage because it illustrates many things: the character of Hephaestus; his closeness to his mother, Hera; the tone and atmosphere instigated by an episode in the life of the Olympian family; Zeus as the stern father in his house and his difficult relations with his wife; the uneasy emotions of the children while they witness the quarrel of their parents. Thetis has come to Zeus on Olympus to ask that he grant victory to the Trojans until the Achaean Greeks honor her son Achilles and give him recompense for the insult that he has suffered. As she clasps his knees and touches his chin in the traditional posture of a suppliant, Zeus agrees to her wishes with these words (Iliad 1. 517-611): "A bad business indeed if you set me at variance with Hera and she reviles me with reproaches. She always abuses me, even as it is, in the presence of the immortal gods and says that I help the Trojans in battle. But you now must withdraw, lest Hera notice anything. These things you have asked for will be my concern until I accomplish them.