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Although in Greek mythology there were many mortal women who were mothers of demigods, only the princess of Thebes, Semele, gave birth to an Olympian god. Also known as “Thyone”, Semele was the youngest daughter of the minor goddess Harmonia and the hero Cadmus, founder of Thebes. She is known for various myths, such as being the mother of Dionysus (the god of joy and wine), as well as her extraordinary death and subsequent apotheosis.
Although there aren’t many myths about Semele, her role as the mother of Dionysus and the intriguing way she died and then ascended to Olympus make her one of the most interesting characters in Greek mythology. Here we tell you her story.
Who was Semele?
Semele was the princess of Thebes, and in some stories she is also described as a priestess of Zeus. The story goes that Zeus saw Semele sacrifice a bull in her honor and fell in love with her. Zeus was known to have many adventures with gods and mortals and this time was no different. Thus, Zeus began to visit her, but never revealed her true divine form. After receiving visits from the king of the gods for a while, Semele discovered that she was pregnant.
Hera, wife of Zeus and goddess of marriage, did not contain her anger when she discovered the affair between her husband and Semele. Because Zeus was a womanizer, Hera was constantly resentful and jealous of the women Zeus had affairs with. When he found out about Semele’s existence he began to plot her revenge against her and her child that he was carrying in her womb.
Hera disguised herself as an old woman and began to talk to Semele. In time they became friends, so Semele confided in Hera about her affair and her child that she would share with Zeus. At this point, Hera took the opportunity to sow doubt in Semele’s mind, telling her that she was lying to him and was not really Zeus. In this way, Hera convinced Semele to ask Zeus to reveal himself in her true form, as she did with Hera. So Semele, who was now beginning to doubt her lover, decided to confront him.
Semele’s death
The next time Zeus visited her, Semele asked him to swear on the River Styx that he would grant her any wish. The Styx marked the border between the world of the living and that of the dead; Being a sacred river, oaths sworn over it were considered unbreakable, even by the king of the gods. Following Zeus’s oath, Semele asked to see him in her true form.
Zeus knew that a mortal would not be able to see him in his true form and survive, so he begged him not to ask him that. But Semele insisted and he was forced to grant her his wish, since he could not retract his oath. Thus, Zeus was transformed into his true form, with furious lightning and thunder and Semele, who was only a mortal, burned to death in her light.
Zeus was distraught and although he was unable to save Semele, he did manage to save his son. The child had survived the presence of Zeus, for he was half god and half human. Zeus removed it from Semele’s ashes, made a deep incision in his own thigh, and placed the fetus there. Once the incision was closed, the child remained there until his birth. Zeus named him Dionysus and he is known as “the twice-born god”, coming from his mother’s womb and again from his father’s thigh.
How Semele became immortal
Dionysus was raised by his uncles, Semele’s sister and her husband, and later by the nymphs. When he became a young man, he wished to join the rest of the gods on top of Olympus and take his place among them, but he did not want to leave his mother in the Underworld.
With the permission and help of Zeus, the young god went to the Underworld and managed to free his mother. Dionysus knew that he would be in danger if he left the Underworld, so he changed her name to thyone , which has two meanings: “raging queen” and “the one who receives the sacrifice”. Semele then became immortal and was allowed to live on Olympus among the other gods. She was worshiped as Thyone, the goddess of frenzy, or inspired rage.
Sources
- Berchez, Esteban. (2012). Goddesses of Greek mythology .
- Gonzales, Pilar. (2007). Iconographic sequences of a Dionysian initiation : The Villa of the Mysteries of Pompeii.
- Shua, Ana Maria. (2011). Gods and Heroes of Greek Mythology .
