Zeus and Jupiter - The Affairs!

Heya!  Since you've found this blog, I'm just going to assume you like Mythology. It'd be kind of.. weird if you didn't and you still found this. Either way, Welcome to Greek and Roman Myths - The Contrasts and Similairities! While there is a whole lot to cover, and I do mean a lot, we should probably get the easy things out of the way.

So then, let's start off this blog with one of the greatest known Greek gods and his Roman Counterpart; Zeus and Jupiter. The 'King' or 'Ruler' of the Twelve Olympians (Fourteen if we're counting Persephone and Hades-) who is most well known for being able to create thunderbolts and storms. But honestly that's pretty much all that you hear about him, and in my opinion it's probably a good idea to not let kids know what Zeus/Jupiter did. To put it simply, he had a lot of affairs. A lot, and most weren't consensual on the woman's part. This also meant that. Zeus/Jupiter had a whole lot of children. Most of the Twelve Olympians were his kids, and all of them have some form of blood relation to him.

Now then, it's time to put Zeus' sins into light. Or rather, let's see how many kids, lovers, and affairs he had. Zeus wasn't always married to Hera, believe it or not. In fact, his first wife was Metis who was a Titan of Wisdom, Crafts, and skill. He'd been told that the second child Metis bared for him would be more powerful than him, so he turned her into a fly and swallowed her. I'll try to talk more about her in Athena/Minerva's post. Then he got with Themis and she gave birth to the Hours and the Fates. After a while he hooked up with Mnemosyne and she bore the Muses. Then a few months before he married Hera, he spent a night with Leto and had Apollo and Artemis. Even after he married Hera, he still consorted with other gods and mortals. Since he had so many affairs, I'll have to just list and give a summary of the people he got with and their kids.

Io - Acolyte of Hera and Mother of Epaphus and Keroessa. Was turned into a bull and forced to wander the world until Zeus turned her back into a human so she could give birth to his children. The ancestor of Hercules.

Semele - Mortal and Mother of Dionysus. She actually had known that she was having Zeus' child, but Hera instilled doubt in her. Semele proceeded to ask Zeus to show her his true form, and after some very weak protests and warnings he did. Since Mortals can't look at humans, she ended up dying and Zeus being, well Zeus, he proceeded to sew Dionysus' fetal body into his bicep. Weird stuff, man.

Europa - Queen of Crete and Mother of the King of Minos. As per usual, Zeus fell in love with her beauty and decided that he was gonna get with her. He turned into a bull, most accounts say that the bull was tan and white, and mixed in with her father's flock of cows. Europa got on the bulls back and he took her across the ocean before revealing his true form and made her the queen of Crete.

Ganymede - A hero from Troy that Zeus made the cup-bearer of the gods. Ganymede was considered the most beautiful of humanity and was kidnapped by Zeus in the form of an Eagle. He was eventually turned into the constellation Aquarius by Hera.

Callisto - A nymph who was part of Artemis' hunters. Since she was with Artemis, she was not allowed to have sex with men. Still, Jupiter/Zeus wanted a roll in the hay and transformed into Artemis, seduced Callisto, and got her pregnant. She was expelled from Artemis' group and was cursed by Hera, turning her into a bear. Just as she was about to be killed by her son, she became Ursa Major.

Dione - A titan of beauty who was the Mother of Aphrodite. There aren't that many records on her, so we can't really say what happened between her and Zeus.

Nemesis - The Greek goddess of retribution and vengeance. She didn't really want to copulate with Zeus, so she turned into a swan to avoid him. Zeus, being the creepy man he is, proceeded to also turn into a swan and mated with her. She laid an egg and eventually it hatched into Helen of Troy.

Thaleia - Sometimes depicted as a water nymph and child of Zeus. She actually did love Zeus, but she rightfully feared Hera's wrath and odd curses so she asked if she could hide underground. She gave birth to the twin gods of Geysers and Hot Springs.

Alkmene- Wife of Amphitryon who was a general of Thebes and son of the king of Thebes. She is the mother of Hercules, who is considered the greatest Greek hero. We don't really know if Zeus forced himself or if it was constentul.

Danae - Mother of Perseus, who slew Medusa. Her father was told a prophesy that his grandchild could kill him, so he locked up his only child in a tower. Zeus was watching her the entire time, so he transformed into some golden rain and got her pregnant. Her father didn't want to kill either of them directly, so he locked Dane and Perseus into a chest and threw them into the sea. They survived.

And this is only the tip of the iceberg. In roman Myths Jupiter also did these acts, but I simply just put Zeus instead of Zeus/Jupiter. Either way, these are some really unfaithful dudes.