Discussion » Questions » Science and Technology » What connection does the classical Greek myth "The Rape Of Ganymede" have to our solar system's largest moon?
Benedict Arnold

What connection does the classical Greek myth "The Rape Of Ganymede" have to our solar system's largest moon?

Posted - July 16, 2019
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Responses


  • 4624

    Ganymede was discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610. The discovery, along with three other moons of Jupiter, was the first time a moon was discovered orbiting a planet other than Earth. Galileo's discovery eventually led to the understanding that planets orbit the sun, instead of our solar system revolving around Earth.

    This was during the Renaissance when Italians were busy translating every Ancient Greek manuscript they could find. Greek myth was used to inspire paintings, sculptures, the naming of new discoveries and the early development of scientific language.

    Jupiter was the ancient Roman name for the Greek god Zeus - the ruler of the Greek Pantheon of gods. Since a planet captures a moon by means of gravity, it seems Galileo considered the name Ganymede an appropriate metaphor.

    Ganymede was a Trojan prince in Greek mythology. Zeus was notorious for his abductions and rapes.
    "[Ganymedes] was the loveliest born of the race of mortals, and therefore the gods caught him away to themselves, to be Zeus' wine-pourer, for the sake of his beauty, so he might be among the immortals. — Homer, Iliad, Book XX, lines 233-235.

      July 16, 2019 1:04 PM MDT
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  • Very informed response bookworm,
    but I would expect nothing else from you. 
    I have always loved many of the world's mythologies. 
    Greco-Roman influences are obviously strong in Western culture
    and I always loved taking classes on the topic in school,
    but I am no less intrigued by Nordic, Egyptian, Native American, and other old world beliefs. 
    They are all stories filled with wonder and adventure.
    I live for that.  
    I also love science and the study of our universe. 
    I don't think I ever miss a chance to watch an online documentary
    concerning the outer reaches of the galaxy.
    What has always delighted me the most
    is that there is an intercept point where one meets the other. 
    Mythology and Science collide.
    It is in the naming of so many of our celestial bodies. 
    Jupiter is such a fascinating planet, which along with its many moons, 
    for all intents and purposes operates almost as its own functioning system.
    The largest of its moons is the one named Ganymede. 
    Appropriate, since Ganymede was a male lover of Zeus and Jupiter is one of the names of Zeus. 
    Forever they are locked in a dance together throughout the heaven's.
    This story obviously has points of interest to me as a gay male.
    So many stories of myth are laced with homosexual eroticism. 
    One of my favorite stories has always been that of Hyacinth and Apollo. 
    It is both lovely and tragic,
    but then what self respecting Greek or Roman story of the God's
    and their antics with humans, wouldn't be?
    Thanks, bookworm, for lending some insight to the question I posted.
    You're a treasure trove or knowledge.  Keep sprinkling it around as you do.
    Perhaps we'll get lucky and it will take root,
    thereby influencing others to think and learn,
    For that is how we truly grow.
      July 16, 2019 2:17 PM MDT
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  • 4624
    I suspect that if we lived next door to each other we'd frequently be sharing tea or coffee and long conversations.
    I love these same topics.
    I read myths and fairytales avidly as a child- they're soaked into the membranes of my brain.
    Do you read much queer literature or theory?
    Perhaps you could recommend me a few.
      July 16, 2019 2:30 PM MDT
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  • Because dirty astronomers 
      July 16, 2019 2:21 PM MDT
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  • Too much time spent on a computer mapping the stars
    and occasionally opening a Tor browser tab!

    Tax dollars at work.  LOL!
      July 16, 2019 2:37 PM MDT
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  • 2836
    Before anyone loses their minds (Especially you but-clenched conservatives) that picture of Ganymeade is NOT depicting rape, but the ABDUCTION of Ganymeade 
    Zeus turned himself into an Eagle and swooped down, abducted Ganymeade, and brought, him to Mt Olympus to be with him
      July 16, 2019 3:15 PM MDT
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  • Yes. 
    You are quite right.
    That is an abduction.  Not a Rape.  

    This is an enduring story that has been depicted many times over by some of the great artists in history.  Zeus was notorious for having his many tryst with lovers on the side which often sent Hera into a stereotypical female hissy-fit.  But I digress.  Throughout the tails of his sexual shenanigans he took many forms in an effort to woo and then lay claim to those who caught his eye.  An Eagle in the case of Ganymede, a boy so beautiful that he simply could not control his desire for him.  He took the form of a Golden Rain when he came to subdue Danae.  I don't know about you but I find the whole Golden Rain bit to be somewhat suggestive, but such was the norm ensconced within these tales. 

    Fanciful works of mythology were never written with the sole intent to subvert
    rather they are woven to exists as works of literary art.
    Filled with all the beauty of love and sex and war, and all of the human condition
    and how it relates to and interacts with deity. 

    Sounds much like The Bible to me.

    This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at July 16, 2019 5:36 PM MDT
      July 16, 2019 4:30 PM MDT
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