Friday, March 28, 2014

Who are Cadmus's daughters in Metamorphoses?

The Metamorphoses mentions two of Cadmus's daughters: Semele and Autonoƫ. The other daughters of Cadmus are Agave and Ino.
In Ovid's story, Jupiter falls in love with Semele when he sees her swimming in the river. Jupiter subsequently seduces and impregnates her. Juno, Jupiter's wife, becomes jealous when she learns this fact. As a form of revenge, Juno disguiseds herself as an old maid. When Juno speaks to Semele—pretending to talk about gossip—she asks Semele if the one who impregnated her was truly Jupiter. She cautions that many men deceive virgins by pretending to be gods. In order to prove that Jupiter is indeed the father, Juno tricks Semele into summoning him.
Previously, Semele asked Jupiter for a wish, which he agreed to give. He told her she could have anything she wanted. Having been tricked by Juno putting doubts in her mind, she now wishes for Jupiter to appear before her. However, when Semele summons Jupiter, his powers of thunder and storm prove to be too savage for Semele's mortal body, and she dies. Jupiter tries to prevent her summoning him, but he is obliged to grant her wish. Jupiter and Semele had a child, Dionysus.
http://ovid.lib.virginia.edu/trans/Metamorph3.htm

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