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Greek Mythology: Was Zeus Scared of Aphrodite?
Greek Mythology: Was Zeus Scared of Aphrodite?
Group 1101
aunt. The second version is that she is the daughter of Zeus and
Dione, according to the Iliad, so this time she would be his daughter.
So, they were related. Big deal. They were gods, they did not care
if they were twins, if they wanted to be together they were together.
Zeus first married one of his aunts, the titan Metis, and ate her before
she could give birth to Athena; also, he pursued Thetis, who was his
cousin. Then, regardless of the order, he had children with both his
sisters, Hera and Demeter, and even pursued the daughter he had
with the latter, Persephone; so that alone eliminates whatever validity
that argument had.
Next possibility: Zeus did not like her. Fair enough, we do not
know his preferences, perhaps she did not match his taste. But again,
what are the chances? She was supposed to be as desirable as Helena
was for mortals, seriously, she was sex on legs, so it is unlikely Zeus
would not have felt attracted by her at some point. The wild theory
here, based on modern psychology, would be that she was too much
woman for him, a figure too strong, too difficult for him to deal with.
The idea might sound absurd, but we must remember Zeus is the
lightning god, the most powerful of Olympians; why would he be
scared of a sexy goddess? Which gives us the last possibility: they did,
in fact, have an affair.
After some research, data has arisen that they might have had
one child, Priapus; yet, even among the erudite on the subject, this
deitys parentage is disputed: he might be Zeus son, or Dionysus, or
Hermes, or Pans. She had fingers in a lot of pies. What is almost
certain is that Hera cursed this child while he was still in Aphrodites
womb as retribution for Paris not naming her the most beautiful of
goddesses. The result: Priapus was born uglier than Hephaestus,
impotent and mentally challenged, thus being considered unfit to live
among the gods and thrown to Earth to live as a mortal. He was a