Zeus' Lovers

Zeus, the father of gods and men, had many consorts, both before and after his marriage to Hera. Hesiod lists his wives in order in the Theogony, and later writers add a long line of goddesses and mortal women, many of whom bore him famous children. Apollodorus says simply that Zeus “had intercourse with many women, both mortals and immortals” (Library 1.3.1).

Zeus’ Wives

Hesiod (Theogony 886–929) tells how Zeus took his wives in turn, ending with Hera.

Zeus and Metis

Zeus made Metis his wife first, and she was the wisest among gods and mortal men. When she was about to give birth to Athena, he deceived her with cunning words and put her in his own belly, on the advice of Earth and Heaven, for fear that she would bear something stronger than his thunderbolt; and their daughter Athena was afterwards born from Zeus’ own head (Theogony 886–900, 924–926).

Zeus and Themis

Next he married bright Themis, who bore the Horae (the Hours or Seasons), Eunomia, Dike and Eirene, and the three Moirai (the Fates), Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos (Theogony 901–906).

Zeus and Eurynome

Eurynome, a daughter of Oceanus, bore him the three Charites (the Graces), Aglaea, Euphrosyne and Thalia (907–911).

Zeus and Demeter

Hesiod says that Zeus also came to the bed of all-nourishing Demeter, who bore white-armed Persephone, later carried off by Hades (912–914).

Zeus and Mnemosyne

Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory, bore him the nine Muses (915–917).

Zeus and Leto

Leto bore him Apollo and Artemis, the loveliest of all the children of Heaven (918–920).

Zeus and Hera

Hera was his last and lawful wife, and their children were Hebe, Ares and Eileithyia (Theogony 921–923; Apollodorus 1.3.1). Pausanias (2.17.4) records the Argive story behind the cuckoo on the sceptre of Hera’s statue at the Heraeum: when Zeus was in love with Hera before their marriage, he changed himself into a cuckoo, and she caught the bird to be her pet.

Other Goddesses

Maia, the daughter of Atlas, bore him Hermes (Theogony 938–939).
Dione bore him Aphrodite, according to Homer (Iliad 5.370–371) and Apollodorus (1.3.1); Hesiod gives Aphrodite a different birth, from the foam that gathered round the severed member of Uranus (Theogony 188–200).
Nemesis, in a version Apollodorus records (3.10.7), fled from Zeus in the shape of a goose; he became a swan, and the egg she laid was given to Leda, who raised the child, Helen, as her own.

Mortal Women

Zeus continued to take mortal lovers after his marriage, and Hera often took revenge on them. The following are the best known.

Semele, daughter of Cadmus, who bore Dionysus (Hesiod, Theogony 940–942). Hera tricked her into asking Zeus to come to her as he came to Hera, and when he came with lightning and thunder and hurled a thunderbolt she died of fright (Apollodorus 3.4.3).
Europa, whom Zeus, turning himself into a tame bull, carried across the sea to Crete. She bore Minos, Sarpedon and Rhadamanthys (Apollodorus 3.1.1–2).
Io, a priestess of Hera, whom Zeus seduced. When Hera discovered it, Zeus turned Io into a white cow, and Hera set the all-seeing Argus to guard her (Apollodorus 2.1.3).
Leda, wife of Tyndareus of Sparta, to whom Zeus came as a swan. She bore Pollux and Helen to Zeus, and Castor and Clytemnestra to Tyndareus (Apollodorus 3.10.7).
Callisto, a companion of Artemis in the hunt who had sworn to remain a maiden. Zeus approached her in the likeness of Artemis (or, some said, of Apollo), and turned her into a bear to hide her from Hera; Hera persuaded Artemis to shoot the bear, and Zeus saved the child, Arcas, ancestor of the Arcadians, and set Callisto among the stars as the Bear (Apollodorus 3.8.2). Her story is told on the Callisto page.
Antiope, daughter of Nycteus (of Asopus in Homer), who bore the twins Amphion and Zethus, the first founders and wall-builders of seven-gated Thebes (Odyssey 11.260–265; Apollodorus 3.5.5). Ovid adds that Zeus came to her in the shape of a satyr (Metamorphoses 6.110–111).
Danae, whom Zeus visited in the form of a stream of gold that poured through the roof of her prison into her lap. She bore Perseus (Apollodorus 2.4.1).
Alcmene, whom Zeus visited in the likeness of her husband Amphitryon, making the night three times as long. She bore Heracles (Hesiod, Theogony 943–944; Apollodorus 2.4.8).

Zeus’ love for the Trojan prince Ganymede, whom the gods carried off to be his cupbearer because of his beauty (Iliad 20.232–235), is told on his own page.

See Also: Hera, Metis, Leto, Europa, Io, Semele, Leda, Ganymede