Classical Studies 2200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Seeking Refuge, Eileithyia, Athens
12 Apr 2016
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Zeus sleeps with thousands of females, the divine wives are the most important: Metis, swallowed by zeus, who then produces athene from his head. She is the first wife, wiser than any god or man - the smartest god. Metis means cunning intelligence, zeus feels threatened by the prospect of offspring and he has a good reason to because the pattern so far consists of the wife tricking the husband. Up until this point zeus has been demonstrating his strength but now he has this intelligence, he takes that into himself when he swallows pregnant metis. Now that he procreates, his children bring goodness and order into the world. Themis, produces the seasons, justice, and the fates. Demeter, mother of persephone who was stolen by hades. Mnemosyne, titan who slept with zeus for 9 days to produce the muses. Leto, she is also a titan who gave birth to the twins apolla and artemis.
