Zeus and Hera

Zeus and Hera were the king and queen of the gods in Classical Greek mythology. Referred to in many hymns but the central figure in only one (see Section 6), and a brief one at that, Zeus was the king of all the Greek gods. Wise and powerful, he was nevertheless weak when it came to his sexual desires for beautiful females, minor goddesses or mortal women alike. The hymns frequently refer to him as disguising himself in order to be with these women. On one notable occasion ("The Hymn[s] to the Dioscuri," Part 9) he is portrayed as disguising himself as a dark cloud, a perhaps unintentionally ironic reference to the misery his desire brought into the lives of the females he loves and, at times, their children.

The hymns refer just as frequently, and not without relation, to the vindictive jealousy Zeus' wife, Hera. Like...