Curated playlist
Divine women of Zeus
- HeraThe Greek goddess Hera renewed her virginity every year in a spring near Nauplia. The rites were not to be spoken of.
- AphroditeAphrodite has two birth stories that contradict each other. One makes her Zeus's daughter, the other has no mother.
- DemeterGrief over her stolen daughter made the goddess Demeter let crops wither and mortals starve.
- Metis (mythology)Zeus swallowed his pregnant wife Metis for fear she would bear something stronger than his thunderbolt.
- Rhea (mythology)Rhea tricked her husband Cronus into swallowing a stone instead of their baby. The real baby was hidden on Crete.
- PersephonePersephone was gathering flowers when Hades burst through the earth and carried her off.
- ThemisAphrodite asked the goddess Themis why her son Eros would not grow. Themis said he was lonely and needed a brother.
- PasiphaëMinos broke a vow to Poseidon, but Queen Pasiphaë paid the price. Her curse led to the birth of the Minotaur.
- GaiaIn the Iliad, a black lamb is sacrificed, and the oath sworn over it calls on Gaia as a witness. The Greeks believed she was listening. If a man broke his word, she would know. Gaia was the Greek personification of the Earth. Some writers…
- MnemosyneZeus visited the Titaness Mnemosyne for nine nights, and she bore the nine Muses. Her name is the Greek word for memory.