Semele was just a priestess who got diddled by Zeus, as you do, and got pregnant with Dionysus.
However, after shenanigans by Hera, she got tricked into asking Zeus to show himself to her in his full godly might, and because he was oathbound due to earlier power-of-boner stuff, he had to unwillingly comply.
He tried his best to show the tiniest sliver of his true being that would count, but she was still mortal, and got burned in godly flame for just witnessing him.
Zeus, saved the foetal Dionysus by strapping him to his thigh until the thigh-pregnancy was complete, and later, Dionysus found his mom in the underworld, and made her into the God of Drunk Frenzy.
Following all that, Semele appears to be uppity about her incredible husband to her sister, because Semeles husband carried their fetus to term after Semele died, while her sister’s husband was a mere wife-and-son-murder-attempter.
I love out of context ancient greek mythology.
Btw, all that, makes Dionysus the only god in this graph, apart from Gaia herself, to not be the product of direct incest. (Is brain-parthenogenesis incest? Who knows)
I once came across an explanation that the thigh is a metaphor for the balls (I probably heard that on the Overly Sarcastic Productions channel). I can only find this with a quick search :
Enorches (“with balls”), with reference to his fertility, or “in the testicles” in reference to Zeus’ sewing the baby Dionysus “into his thigh”, understood to mean his testicles).
Did Semele just… Show up one day?
Semele was just a priestess who got diddled by Zeus, as you do, and got pregnant with Dionysus.
However, after shenanigans by Hera, she got tricked into asking Zeus to show himself to her in his full godly might, and because he was oathbound due to earlier power-of-boner stuff, he had to unwillingly comply.
He tried his best to show the tiniest sliver of his true being that would count, but she was still mortal, and got burned in godly flame for just witnessing him.
Zeus, saved the foetal Dionysus by strapping him to his thigh until the thigh-pregnancy was complete, and later, Dionysus found his mom in the underworld, and made her into the God of Drunk Frenzy.
Following all that, Semele appears to be uppity about her incredible husband to her sister, because Semeles husband carried their fetus to term after Semele died, while her sister’s husband was a mere wife-and-son-murder-attempter.
I love out of context ancient greek mythology. Btw, all that, makes Dionysus the only god in this graph, apart from Gaia herself, to not be the product of direct incest. (Is brain-parthenogenesis incest? Who knows)
Fucking thigh pregnacies am I right…
I once came across an explanation that the thigh is a metaphor for the balls (I probably heard that on the Overly Sarcastic Productions channel). I can only find this with a quick search :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysus under epithets
Baby Dionysus also known as “With Balls” ಥ‿ಥ
Well, he sure as fuck has balls.
Literally, metaphorically, as well as probably 3 times a day
Dionysus is stored in the balls
Man, ouzo is wild.