Plato's Lost Dialogue

Zeus and Hera: the Ross and Rachel of the Pantheon.  From the moment she emerged out of their father’s stomach, covered in blood and slime, Zeus had lusted after his older sister.  But Hera wasn’t an easy catch; she had morals (of a fashion), and so Zeus had been ‘forced’ to consider other, easier, options.  Time and time again Zeus pursued his sister.  Time and time again, she refused him.  But he wasn’t to be deterred.  By hook or by crook, he would have his way. After testing the whole marriage thing out with a few others (check out 'We need to talk about Zeus' Parts 1 and 2), Zeus decided that he was ready.  He was a man.  A powerful man with powerful friends.  A man who knew how to take care of business.  A man who could destroy worlds as easily as he could create them.  A man who had the world at his feet - literally.  A man who was going places.  What woman in her right mind could deny such a man? With the same blindness that afflicts a lot of powerful men, Zeus th

With his first wife, Metis, under permanent house arrest (her house being Zeus’ body), Zeus was single again.  But not for long.  A bit like Henry VIII, Zeus liked to throw himself back into the ring as quickly as he could.  This time his eyes fell on Themis – a primordial Titaness and Zeus’ auntie. Themis was an unusual match for Zeus.  She presided over the ancient oracles (including the one that prophesised that Zeus’ mystery son with Metis would one day overthrow him).  She was wise and knew all about divine law, justice and morality.  Zeus was…well…Zeus, but they say opposites attract, don’t they?  She probably saw Zeus as a “fixer-upper”. What can we say about Zeus and Themis?  Not a lot really.  They seemed to get on for a while, and the marriage was fruitful in that she bore him a few children who had important roles to play, but other than that no major events occurred. So who were the children?  Three (Thallo, Auxo and Carpo) were the Horae and they were the goddesses o