May 15: International Day of Families

The world of Greek mythology consists of a tangle of family relationships, spanning several generations. Supreme god Zeus alone, being married seven times and having had a multitude of affairs, “produced” about half of all gods, demigods and heroes. Which makes up for a complicated family tree. Take the divine smith Hephaistos for example. He either had Zeus as a father, or no father at all. His first marriage was with Aphrodite, who was his great-great-aunt – sort of. When she left him for war god Ares, who was either his brother or half-brother, his second marriage was with a nymph in Aphrodite’s retinue, Aglaia. She could have been his half-sister, as a daughter of Zeus and his third wife. They set up a cosy little household, which would have made Hephaistos Zeus’ son and son-in-law at the same time. Mother Hera was familiar with that situation, as both her parents were also her in-laws (with only the mother in the picture by the way). Same for would-be father Zeus. And as he had married another sister before, in his case, it was twice.

Vulcan hands the shield, Rubens, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen,

Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Charites, Fresco Pompeï, Italy