Semele
Σεμέλη
4
MORTAL · Life
SE
PWR4
Common
GRD4
Mortal princess, mother of Dionysus by Zeus; destroyed by a bolt of lightning, from whose womb Zeus saved the unborn god.[S5]
The Divine Atlas
Life · greek pantheon
DA-GRE-032
PRINT SHEET · DA-GRE-032 · Semele (Life, Common)
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About this card
Semele is a mortal princess (daughter of Cadmus of Thebes) who became the mistress of Zeus and bore him Dionysus. Hera, jealous, persuaded Semele to demand that Zeus prove his divinity by appearing to her in his full glory (a bolt of lightning); the mortal mother was destroyed by the lightning, but Zeus saved the unborn child by sewing it into his thigh until it was ready to be born [S5]. Semele's story is the origin of Dionysus's 'double birth' (first of Semele, then of Zeus).