ABSTRACT
In the Greek tradition Zeus appeared to Semele in Thebes in order to become her lover in the form of a mortal man, and she conceived a child. Then Hera, who knew and was jealous, disguised herself as Semele’s old nursemaid Beroe, and put it into Semele’s mind that her lover’s claim to be Zeus might be false: to prove his identity, she must persuade him to appear in his true nature. Semele, therefore, induced her lover to grant her a boon, and then made her demand, which was that he should appear before her in his full splendour. He did his best to dissuade her but had to carry out his promise, and the flashes of his lightning burnt her up. But the child in her womb was immortalised, for, after Hermes had rescued him, Zeus had him sown into a gash cut within his own thigh. Three months later Dionysus was born. Semele’s tomb at Thebes continued to smoulder for years. But her sisters, Agave, Ino, and Autonoe, refused to believe this account of what had happened or to accept Dionysus’ divinity, and were subsequently punished for their scepticism. When Dionysus came to manhood, he fetched Semele from the Underworld and took her to Mount Olympus to receive immortality from Zeus.
