Cupid (God of Love) and Zeus’ Concubines

Cupid (God of Love) and  Zeus’ Concubines

1. Eros (EE rohs) or Cupid: His golden arrows were magical because any man or woman pierced by his golden arrow would fall passionately in love with whomever Eros designated; the one pierced with the leaden arrow would feel distaste for the object of his or her affection. Eros never fell in love until accidentally he scratched himself with his own golden arrow and fell in love with Psyche (SY kee).

2. Attendants to Eros : Anteros, Himeros, and Hymen.

3. Hebe ((HEE bee) cupbearer of the gods.

4. Iris (EYE rus): rainbow-goddess and Hera’s messenger.

5. The Muses and Graces:

Clio (KLY oh) : Lady of the Mask — muse of history.

Urania ( u RAY nih uh) : muse of astronomy and astrology.

Melpomene (mel PAHM ee nee): muse of tragedy.

Thalia (thuh LY uh) : muse of comedy and festivity.

Terpsichore (turp SIHK oh ree): muse of the dance.

Calliope (kuh LY oh pee) : muse of epic poetry.

Polyhymnia (pahl ih HIHM nih uh) : muse of song and geometry.

Euterpe (yoo TUR pee) : muse of lyric poetry.

Themis (THEE mihs) : goddess of necessity; mother of the Fates.

Nemesis ( NEHM uh sihs): sister of the Fates; divine arbiter of justice.

Nike (NY kee) or Victoria : bestower of victory. She was the swift messenger of destiny.

The Fates :

Clotho (KLO thoh) sister of Spindle; spins the thread of life;

Lachesis (LAK ee sihs) : measures the thread;

Atropos (AT roh pohs) : cuts it.

ZEUS AND HIS CONCUBINES

1. Demeter (duh MEE tuhr) or Ceres (SEE reez) : goddess of harvest. (Ceres is the root word of cereal.) Crops were her concern ; green-clothed, she scattered seed and blessed the furrows. Her daughter Persephone was the queen of the dead, Pluto’s consort. She favored Zeus, father of her flower-princess Persephone. She never forgave her eldest brother Hades for abducting Persephone and forcing her to marry him. For that part of the year which Persephone must spend underground with Hades or Pluto, Demeter forbade the earth to bear fruit. She also feuded with her brother Poseidon who, each springtime, used to swell mischievously, sending tides to flood her fields. But they finally forgave each other. Their children, born where the land meets the sea, were the winged horse Arion and the nymph Despoena.

2. Leto (LEE toh) or Latona: mother of the twins, Artemis (moon goddess) and Apollo (sun god), more beautiful than Hera‘s children.

3. Io (EYE oh) : mother of Epaphus, king of Egypt and father of Libya (goddess of the falling rain).

4. Dione ( dy OH nee): goddess of the oak.

5. Maia (MAY yuh) : daughter of Atlas; mother of Mercury or Hermes.

6. Semele (SEHM uhlee) : mother of Dionysus (dy uh NY sush)  the wine god.  Once he became a god, Donysus raised his mother to heaven and placed her among the stars as Thyone.

7. Alcmene (alk MEE nee) : mother of Hercules or Heracles ; loveliest woman of her time, she was Hera’s most hated rival. Her husband punished her for her infidelity. She was about to be burned on a pyre but was saved by a heavenly downpour sent by Zeus. When she died of old age , Zeus sent Hermes his messenger to bring her body to the Elysian Fields, abode of the blessed. The Elysian Fields is part of Hades’ kingdom called Tartarus, underworld abode of the dead. There the weather was always fair, and spectral games abounded. There, the heroes sojourned after death as well as women of simple virtue. The Harpies and Furies and other demons of Hades were barred from this area.

8. Mnemosyne ( nee MAHS ih nee) : Mother of the Muses. Her name means memory. Thus we speak of mnemonic devices as pedagogical tools.

9. Eurynome ( yoo RIHN uh mee) : She is the moon; mother of the Graces.

10.Themis (THEE mihs):  goddess of necessity; mother of the Fates and the Hours; patroness of inventors. 

11. Aegino (ee JEE noh) : mother of Aeocus (EE oh kuhs).

12. Callisto (kuh LISS toh) : mother of Arcas. Forest nymph and companion of Artemis in the chase, she was changed into a bear by Zeus, wishing to hide her from Hera. As a bear, she was shot by Artemis in the forest and was placed among the stars as the She-Bear.

13. Europa (yoo ROH puh) : mother of Sarpedon, Menos, and Rhadamanthus. She was wooed by Zeus in the form of a beautiful bull who emerged from the waves and carried her over the sea to Crete where she bore him three sons.

14. Metis (MEE tis) : mother of Pallas Athena, Castor, Polydeuces, and Clytemnestra.

16. Danae (DAN ay ee): was confined in a brazen tower by her father who feared an oracle predicting that he would be killed by a grandson. In her tower she was visited by Zeus in the form of a golden shower and  she bore him a son, Perseus. When her father discovered the baby, he cast both of them out to sea in a wooden chest, but they floated ashore on an island where they were rescued by Dictys.

17. Antiope, daughter of a river god, was loved by Zeus  who appeared to her in the form of a satyr, a goat-like creature. She bore him twin sons. Zeus gently shaded Antiope from the sun while she slept with Eros, god of love. ###