For the sons and daughters of the gods, they began to think it was possible for the best among them to have been taken to Olympus and made gods themselves. The child god was so adored by his father that Zeus allowed the boy to sit on his throne and wield his thunderbolts.Īt the same time, they began to imagine that some of their most popular heroes had been given a better ending as well. The mystery cults believed that Semele was not the first mother of Dionysus.Īccording to their stories, Zeus had seduced Persephone in the form of a snake and she had given birth to a son. The cults often had different versions of major myths than the mainstream religion, with a focus on learning the secrets of death. The first major change to Semele’s character came in the form of the Orphic mystery cults. The story of Zeus and Semele was one of the more tragic of Zeus’s human lovers, but over time Semele became a more triumphant figure. The god of wine was sometimes referred to as the twice-born for having been taken from his mother’s body and put into his father’s until he reached full term. He quickly took the fetal child and sewed him into his own thigh until it was time for his birth.Īfter a few months, Zeus opened his leg and gave birth to Dionysus. The girl was dead, but Zeus was able to save the child she carried. No human can survive being confronted with the full majesty of a god and Semele was instantly incinerated by Zeus’s own thunderbolts. Zeus tried to reveal the smallest possible amount of his power to Semele, but even that was too much. Bound by a sacred oath, the king of the gods had no choice but to grant her request. Zeus tried to dissuade her, but Semele was adamant. When he agreed, Semele asked him to prove his identity by revealing himself to her in his full glory. He agreed and even swore a sacred oath on the River Styx that he would do anything she asked of him. Semele coyly asked the god if he would grant her a favor. The next time she saw Zeus, she decided to find out the truth. Semele had never doubted Zeus before, but Hera’s words made her uncertain. Hera feigned disbelief and asked the girl how she could be sure it was Zeus and not a lesser god trying to trick her. When talking about her pregnancy, Semele admitted to the old woman that the baby’s father was the king of the gods. Outside of her husband’s temple, she befriended the human girl and soon became one of her closest confidants. Hera disguised herself as an old woman and went to Thebes. Rather than resort to violence, however, the goddess used trickery to punish the girl. She was even more enraged when she learned that Semele was carrying her husband’s child. Hera, who was constantly jealous of her husband’s infidelities, found out about his Theban consort and sought revenge against the girl. Eventually, he made her his mistress and visited her often. Zeus was immediately smitten with the young priestess and flew over her many times as an eagle to see her. After slaughtering a bull as a sacrifice, she was seen by Zeus as she bathed in the river to wash the animal’s blood off of herself. Semele is most often said to have been a priestess in the temple of Zeus in her father’s city. Together, the couple founded the city of Thebes. Harmonia, the daughter of Aphrodite and Ares, had married the human king Cadmus.Ĭadmus was a great hero whose deeds had made him worthy of the hand of a goddess. Semele was a Phoenician princess and one of the many mortal lovers of Zeus. Through both the unusual beliefs of the mystery cults and a progressively more optimistic view of the afterlife, Semele was given both more authority in her story and the chance to join her grown son on Olympus. The story of Semele is a sad one, but one that the Greeks later reinvented. Dionysus was born for a second time and welcomed into the pantheon. Zeus was able to save her child, though, and carried the baby in his own thigh until he was ready to be born. Zeus’s jealous wife devised a scheme that would end in Semele’s death at Zeus’s hand. Like many of her peers, Semele and her pregnancy were eventually discovered by Hera. Spotted by Zeus, the amorous king of the gods made her his mistress. Semele’s story started out similarly to that of any other beautiful princess in Greek mythology.
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