Aphrodite-Dione's daughter
Dione is a Titan Oracular goddess in Greek Mythology.
Genealogy and Family[]
Dione's parentage, partner and children in accounts is varied.
Dione is usually identified as an Oceanid, and the daughter of Titans, Oceanus and Tethys, however according to Apollodorus, she is a daughter of Gaia and Uranus and the thirteenth first generation Titan. In Hyginus' Fabulae, Dione is among the children of Terra and Aether.
According to Apollodorus and Homer, Dione is the mother of Aphrodite by Zeus but Hesiod stated Aphrodite was born from the foam created by the severed genitals of Uranus, when they were thrown into the sea by Cronus. According to Apollodorus, Dione had Aphrodite through an adulterous affair with Zeus but Hesiod listed Dione among the wives of Zeus.
Appearance and Personality[]
She is described as beautiful in the "sacred books of Orpheus".
Stories[]
In Book V of Homer's Iliad, during the last year of the Trojan War, Aphrodite attempts to save her son Aeneas from the rampaging Greek hero Diomedes as she had previously saved her favorite Paris from his duel with Menelaus in Book III. Enraged, Diomedes chases her and drives his spear into her hand between the wrist and palm. Escorted by Iris to Ares, she borrows his horses and returns to Olympus. Dione consoles her with other examples of gods wounded by mortals — Ares bound by the Aloadae and Hera and Hades shot by Heracles — and notes that Diomedes is risking his life by fighting against the gods.
In fact, Diomedes subsequently fought both Apollo and Ares but lived to an old age; his wife Aegialia, however, took other lovers and never permitted him to return home to Argos after the war.
Dione then heals her wounds and Zeus, while admonishing her to leave the battlefield, calls her daughter.
Dione was one of the goddesses assembled to witness the birth of Apollo and Artemis.
Role and Significance[]
Dione is the goddess of the Oracle of Dodona. By the time of Strabo, Dione was worshiped at a sacred grove near Lepreon on the west coast of the Peloponnesus. She was also worshiped as a consort at the temples of Zeus, particularly his oracle at Dodona. Dione was described as "the temple associate" of Zeus at Dodona. The three elderly prophetesses of the shrine, known collectively as the Peleiades, were probably her priestesses. These women were named "the Doves" after the sacred bird of Dione's daughter Aphrodite who also possessed a temple at the shrine.
Skills and Abilities[]
Relationships[]
Zeus- Zeus was Dione's lover or husband depending on the account and also the father of Dione's daughter, Aphrodite according to Apollodorus and Homer.
Aphrodite- According to Apollodorus and Homer, Dione is the mother of Aphrodite. When Aphrodite became injured by Diomedes in the Trojan Wars, Dione went to her daughter to verbally comfort and physically heal her, showing her to be a loving mother.
Trivia[]
Dione's official name is Διωνη it can be translated to 'divine one'. Her name is also the feminine form of 'Zeus'.