Source Verification: Ganymede
Every claim below is either what a named ancient source attests, in its own line or section, or a point where the sources themselves disagree.
What the Sources Attest
Why did Zeus fall in love with Ganymede?
For his beauty, in every ancient account, though the oldest ones do not call it love. In Iliad Book 20, Aeneas says the gods caught Ganymede up because he was the fairest of mortal men, to pour wine for Zeus and live among the immortals. The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite makes it Zeus's own act, for the same reason. Later writers add desire. Ovid says Zeus burned with love for him, and Plato's Phaedrus speaks of Zeus in love with Ganymede.
Source: Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 202-217
How did Zeus compensate Ganymede's parents?
With horses, in the oldest sources. The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite says Zeus pitied the grieving Tros and gave him high-stepping horses like those that carry the gods. He also sent Hermes to tell Tros that his son would be deathless and unageing. The Iliad remembers the same gift in Book 5, where Aeneas's horses descend from it. A fragment of the Little Iliad names a different gift: a golden vine made by Hephaestus, given to Laomedon.
Source: Homer, Iliad 5.265-267
Who are Ganymede's parents?
His father is usually Tros, the king who gave Troy its name. The Iliad makes Ganymede the third son of Tros, beside Ilus and Assaracus. Apollodorus agrees and names his mother as Callirrhoe, a daughter of the river Scamander. A second tradition makes him a son of Laomedon instead. Euripides's chorus in the Trojan Women calls him that, and so does the Little Iliad fragment about the golden vine.
Source: Apollodorus, Library 3.12.2
Was Hera jealous of Ganymede?
In Roman poetry, yes; in the early Greek sources checked here, no. Homer and the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite describe no jealousy and present his service as an honor. The resentment comes from Roman poets. Virgil opens the Aeneid by listing Juno's grievances against Troy, and one of them is the honor given to the stolen Ganymede. Ovid says Ganymede still serves nectar to Jupiter against Juno's will.
Source: Virgil, Aeneid 1.28
Where was Ganymede abducted?
On Mount Ida, near Troy, in Virgil's version. A cloak described in Aeneid Book 5 shows the young prince hunting deer with a javelin on the wooded slopes of Ida when Jupiter's eagle snatches him up. His old guardians and his hounds are left below. Homer and the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite do not name a place. Ovid calls him only a Phrygian, meaning a Trojan.
Source: Virgil, Aeneid 5.250-257
Where Accounts Differ
- who carried Ganymede off: the gods, a whirlwind, an eagle, or Zeus as an eagle
- whether Ganymede's father was Tros or Laomedon
- whether the recompense was horses or a golden vine
- whether Zeus took Ganymede as cupbearer or as lover
- Hera's jealousy absent from the early Greek sources
- Who took Ganymede differs by source. The Iliad (20.231-235) says the gods caught him up. The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite (202-217) makes it Zeus, and has Tros speak of a heaven-sent whirlwind. A papyrus fragment of the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women says an eagle caught him up for Zeus, and Apollodorus (Library 3.12.2) says Zeus carried him up on an eagle. Virgil (Aeneid 5.250-257) sends Jupiter's armor-bearing eagle. In Ovid (Metamorphoses 10.155-161), Zeus becomes the eagle himself.
- Ganymede's father is Tros in the Iliad (20.231-235), the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite and Apollodorus (Library 3.12.2). Euripides's Trojan Women calls him the son of Laomedon; the Greek of line 822 names Laomedon, though the Perseus English translation renders it only as Phrygian boy. A fragment of the Little Iliad, quoted by a scholiast on that line, also connects him with Laomedon.
- The recompense differs. The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite (202-217) and the Iliad (5.265-267) give Tros divine horses. The Little Iliad fragment gives Laomedon a golden vine made by Hephaestus. Apollodorus (Library 2.5.9) has the mares in Laomedon's keeping, promised to Heracles and withheld.
- Homer and the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite present Ganymede's place on Olympus as service and honor. Ovid (Metamorphoses 10.155-161) and Plato's Phaedrus make Zeus his lover, and Plato's Laws reports that the Cretans were accused of inventing the story.
- Hera's anger is a Roman addition in the sources checked for this page: Virgil (Aeneid 1.28) and Ovid (Metamorphoses 10.155-161). The Iliad holds both figures without setting them against each other: Hebe pours nectar for the gods in council (4.1-4), and Ganymede is cupbearer to Zeus (20.231-235).
Sources
- Homer, Iliad 20.231-235
- Homer, Iliad 5.263-273
- Homer, Iliad 4.1-4
- Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 202-217
- Apollodorus, Library 3.12.2
- Apollodorus, Library 2.5.9
- Pindar, Olympian Ode 1.36-45
- Euripides, Trojan Women 820-839
- Virgil, Aeneid 1.28
- Virgil, Aeneid 5.250-257
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.155-161