Dione (mother of Aphrodite)

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Zeus and Dione on a coin
Enthroned Dione

Dione ( Greek  Διώνη , Latin also Diona ) is the mother of Aphrodite in Greek mythology . In Roman mythology she is - except for Cicero , where she is the mother of the "third" Venus - equated with Venus .

Her parents are Uranus and Gaia , and in the library of Apollodorus she is named as one of the Titanids . In Hesiod she is an Oceanid , a daughter of Oceanus and Tethys , but elsewhere in Apollodorus she is mentioned among the Nereids , the daughters of Nereus and Doris .

Her close connection with Zeus of Dodona is independent of this unclear origin . Originally she seems to have been the female equivalent of Zeus, which her name already testifies: Dione , the "goddess", corresponds to Zeus, the god par excellence, in Greek Dios ( Διός ) . But already in Mycenaean times she was displaced by Hera as the wife of Zeus, if Dione and Hera are not identical at all.

Remains of the second Dione temple in Dodona

She was worshiped in Dodona as an oracle deity next to Zeus: three old women there interpreted the future from the flight of pigeons. In the interpretation of the flight of the pigeons, incense and intoxicating drinks also seem to have been involved, as Philostratos writes:

Here the Dodonaean priestesses in solemn and solemn procession; for they seem to smell of smoke and drink offerings.

Perhaps the oracle was not an interpretation of the flight of pigeons, but the three pigeons were the three priestesses of Dione, who were called "pigeons" ( Peliades ). Accordingly, the "black dove" ( peleia melaina ), of which Herodotus reports in connection with the establishment of the oracle, would be a (black-clad) priestess of Dione.

It is not certain whether the oracle of Dione is newer than that of Zeus or even older. If it should be older, then the cult was interrupted for a long time. Archaeologically there are two temples in Dodona , an older and a second, after the destruction of the sanctuary in 219 BC. Newly built temple at another location in the 5th century BC, but the assignment to Dione is not certain. In any case, Hypereides mentions a temple and a cult image of the Dione in Dodona.

Dione's connection to the ancient oracle cult of Dodona is further confirmed by the fact that Pherecydes counts her among the nymphs of Dodona who brought up Dionysus . With Euripides she is even the mother of Dionysus. Since the nymphs of Dodona are related to the Hyades and these are related to the Pleiades , the daughters of Atlas , there is also a possible mythological connection with Dione , the daughter of Atlas and wife of Tantalus .

Hestia, Dione and Aphrodite, east pediment of the Parthenon , London, British Museum

Already in Homer Dione appears as the mother of Aphrodite. Aphrodite, wounded by Diomedes in the battle of Troy , flees to her on Olympus :

But Aphrodite sank into Dione's lap with sadness;
That chivalrously embraced the divine daughter,
stroked her with her hand, and spoke, beginning thus:
Who abused you, my little daughter,
especially shy among the gods , as if you had committed outrage in public?

This scene, in which Aphrodite lies sprawled in her mother's lap, both figures lightly wrapped in clothes falling in rich folds, probably shows the east pediment of the Parthenon in Athens . Dione comforts the daughter with examples of cases in which other gods have suffered injury from mortals, but finally threatens Diomedes with a curse and a hapless journey home.

Also in the company of Aphrodite, Dione appears in the representation of the Gigantomachy in the eastern third of the northern part of the giant frieze of the Pergamon Altar .

literature

Web links

Commons : Dione  - collection of images, videos and audio files
  • Dione in the Theoi Project (English)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cicero De natura deorum 3.59f
  2. ↑ Ovid Fasti 2,461; 5.309; Ars amatoria 1,14,33
  3. ↑ Libraries of Apollodorus 1,1,3
  4. ↑ Hesiod Theogony 353
  5. ↑ Bibliotheke of Apollodor 1,2,7
  6. ↑ Apollodor Scholion on Odyssey 3,91
  7. ↑ Strabo Geography 7,7,12
  8. ↑ Philostratos Imagines 2.33
  9. ↑ Strabo Geography 7 Frag. 1a
  10. ↑ Herodotus 2.55
  11. ↑ Thompson: A Dove for Dione. In: Hesperia Supplements Vol. 20 (1982), pp. 155f
  12. ^ Veit Rosenberger: Greek oracles. Theiss, Stuttgart 2001, p. 32f
  13. ↑ Hypereides speech against Euxippus
  14. ↑ Pherekydes FGrH 3 F 90
  15. ↑ Euripides Antigone TGF 177
  16. ↑ Homer Iliad 5,370-418. Translation by Johann Heinrich Voss
  17. ↑ According to another interpretation, the two figures on the right represent earth (Gaia) and lake (Thalassa).