There
are, to our knowledge, only three divinities for whom a marriage feast is
described in literature and on vases. All three are goddesses married to
fulfill the will of Zeus. And all three are given to males of mortal origin.
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Copyright © 1997 Carlos Parada
and Maicar Förlag.
Source; .
Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Göttingen, 1845
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The “wedding
of Cadmus and Harmonia was the first, we are told, for which the gods provided
the marriage-feast.” (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 5.
48. 2) Harmonia was the Olympus-born daughter of
Aphrodite and Ares. She wed the hero Cadmus
who “by high design won sage Harmonia, as
his wedded wife, who obeyed the voice of Zeus, and became the mother of Semele
famed among men." (Pindar,
Dithyrambs Heracles the Bold) In
case you don’t know, Zeus wed Cadmus’ sister Europa who bore the god several
sons. Harmonia was Zeus grand-daughter
and bore to Cadmus several goddesses.
At the end of their time in Thebes their grandson, the god Dionysus
promised them (Euripides, Bacchae 1346) “You shall transmute your nature, and become
a serpent. Your wife Harmonia, whom her father Ares gave to you, a mortal,
likewise shall assume the nature of beasts, and live a snake. The oracle of
Zeus foretells that you, at the head of a barbaric horde, shall with your wife
drive forth pair of heifers yoked and with your countless army destroy many
cities… Ares shall at last deliver both you and Harmonia, and grant you
immortal life among the blessed gods.’"
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| Image courtesy of Wikipedia |
The
second divine bride is of course Thetis.
Hesiod say; “four times blessed
son of Aiakos, happy Peleus! For far-seeing Olympian Zeus has given you a wife
with many gifts and the blessed gods have brought your marriage fully to pass.” (Hesiod Catalogues of Women Fragment 58)
They, of course, were the parents of
Achilles, hero of the Iliad. At the end
of Peleus life after the early deaths of his sole son and sole grandson, Thetis
promises to fetch him down to her father Nereus’ immortal halls. (Euripides, Andromache 1265)
"Heracles achieved immortality, and
when Hera's enmity changed to friendship, he married her daughter Hebe…” (Pseudo-Apollodorus,
Bibliotheca 2. 158) So Hebe in being made Heracles' wife achieved
a purpose of Zeus, like the two brides before her. She was lucky, however. We
do not hear of any disaster resulting from her marriage. Heracles is another one of the gods of royal
Theban blood just like Cadmus. Maya M
and WilliamMoulton2 agree that Hebe and Harmonia's weddings were a hostage
exchange and nothing more.
Though
less pronounced in art and literature to our list of divine wedding ceremonies you
can add Dionysus and his mortal wife (and cousin) Adriane. "And golden-haired Dionysus made
blonde-haired Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, his buxom wife: and the son of Cronus
made her deathless and unaging” (Hesiod,
Theogony 947) After
which Dionysus pretty much stormed Olympus with dead mother now called Thyone. (Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. 38) Not necessary by the will of Zeus.
We
can add Hades and Persephone, oddly enough.
The scene of Hades in chariot snatching up Persephone from the midst of
her girlfriends foreshadows the groom arriving at the bride’s home and leading
her to the wedding. The scene of Hades
returning Persephone to Olympus is just them arriving at the wedding
feast. Admittedly that throw a curve
into Maya’s theory that only misalliances
are honored in ancient Greek art, but not really for though the groom is
not a mortal doomed to death, he is Death himself.
The
above paper evolved from a conversation by WilliamMoulton2 and Maya M.
Some comment that it is strange that Zeus has given his daughter to Hades, and that the reason for this is not known.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that in the lost Titanomachy, Hades makes his bid for world domination, helped by - guess whom! - Briareus.
"Briareus... as some record, waged war on the gods' behalf against the Giants; but as others affirm, he fought against the gods, above all on one occasion when Jupiter and Saturn were contesting for the kingship of heaven..."
West, Greek Epic Fragments
http://103.9.88.87/app/2014-09-05/greek%20literature/WEST,%20M.%20L.%20%282003%29,%20Greek%20Epic%20Fragments.pdf
Maya M,
DeleteYour quote on Briareus implies he fought for Cronus (Saturn) against Zeus. Looks like Prometheus wasn't the only one to switch sides.
As to Zeus handing off Persephone to Hades, I think that is just part of the larger policy of reducing the birthrate of possible claimants to the throne. Hestia, Athena, Artemis and Hecate were all virgins under his rule, no goddess avoid motherhood prior to that. Eos, Selene and Thetis were saddled with mortal husbands. Reproduction didn't work too well in Hades, so by sending her there Zeus further reduced the odds of "son greater than his father."
If Zeus' wife, brother and daughter, according to Homer, switched sides, how could one expect a Briareus or a Prometheus not to do the same? This reminds me of my former boss, who often complained that "everybody betrays him". Like Zeus, it never occurred to him to seek the cause in himself. My Aglaia once says, "Zeus is my father and I love him very much of course, but nobody can deny that as a ruler he is a natural disaster."
DeleteDid you mention that, while Zeus channels his daughters into spinsterhood, Poseidon marries them off to non-Olympian immortals? One to Helios, one to Briareus. Looks like making unions behind the back of Zeus. My Briareus makes his final decision to abandon Zeus after his wedding and likely helped by his bride. The news (combined with some alcohol) makes the wife of Prometheus dream aloud:
Hesione: Love will save the world... You see, now (after the Hundred-Handers no longer serve Zeus) we can be free!
Prometheus: I am sorry to kill the buzz, but even without the Hundred-Handers, Zeus has full power over us with his thunderbolts.
H: We'll take them from him by the same method.
P: I don't understand.
H: We'll find for the Cyclopes brides who will convince them to quit their job.
P: The Cyclopes would be very difficult to marry off. Where would you find brides for them?
H: What will you say about the Erinyes?
P: Even if they agree, the opposite problem will appear. To marry an Eriny, one must be completely blind. And the Cyclopes have one fully functional eye each.
H (triumphantly): But they do not have 3D vision!
(Of course, the idea is never advanced further.)
In translated and cross-culture reading, the first thing that is lost is irony. The outsider often wonders whether something is sarcastic or serious. For me, this is the case with "four times blessed son of Aiakos, happy Peleus".
ReplyDeleteSee a quote from J. Larson, Greem Nymphs: Myth, Cult, Lore:
"Peleus' capture of Thetis is an ancient example of what is known in modern folklore as the "swan maiden" type. This is one of the most widespread of European tale types and indeed is often found in non-European cultures. In one common version, a man captures a bird maiden by stealing her coat of feathers while she bathes. Once a wild and free creature, she must now return home with him and be his wife. This she does and usually serves as a model wife and mother. However, she often is said to be completely silent during this period of captivity. (A fragment of Sophocles refers to the "voiceless marriage" of Peleus and Thetis.) Eventually, she regains possession of the coat and disappears, though she may return periodically to check on or aid her children."
Peleus did terrible crimes, but he surely paid for them. "Blessed"?! I'd rather guess that some his victim cursed him before dying.
It seems also that Homer, besides giving Thetis great power, "humanizes" her.
Maya,
DeleteI did a short piece on Peleus and the swan maiden motif a while back. http://shortstories-bill.blogspot.com/2012/06/tfbt-married-to-fairy.html Like you I just can't say enough bad things about Peleus, but I have noticed that he "pay-it-forward". Several people gave him a second chance and he in turn offered ritual forgiveness and shelter from exile to many others like himself. Several of the Myrmidon's had similarly checkered pasts.