Greek Myths XS: The Shapeshifting of Zeus

Supreme god Zeus married seven times, but had even more affairs on the side. Quite openly at first, but that didn’t work so well. The nymph Plouto got him so distracted, that he got his thunderbolts stolen. He loved the son he had with princess Laodamia, but the boy got killed in the Trojan war. And he had to witness sweet Semele spontaneously combust when he showed her his true splendour. After that, he decided to more covert operations, especially since his last wife, Hera, made it her mission to expose all of his escapades.The most obvious disguise would be the husband, as he used with Alkmene. For others, he took animal inspiration: a bull with Europa, a swan with Leda, a goose with Nemesis, an ant with Eurymedousa, an eagle with Aigina, a horse with Dia, a snake with Olympias, and quite ironically, a cuckoo with Hera. He also took the form of Artemis once, to charm Kallisto, and he became a satyr with Antiope. And then of course, there’s the golden shower, which he used for Danae. Yes, well… we’ll come back to that.

Ancient theatre mask of Zeus, Replica

Jupiter, statue (Smyrna), Musée du Louvre, Paris, France