Ganymede

Siblings: Ilus, Assaracus, Cleopatra, and Cleomestra

**Ganymede**, also known as **Ganymedes**, is a legendary prince from Greek mythology, whose beauty captivated the heart of Zeus and was taken to Mount Olympus to be his immortal cupbearer. He became a symbol for the beautiful young male who attracted homosexual desire and love.

## Appearance

Ganymede is depicted as a handsome and attractive adolescent male. In some arts, he is depicted as muscular, though less so in comparison with other males to demonstrated his youthful beauty. Many ancient poets had described him as the most beautiful man among mortals, with a beauty comparable with the deathless gods.

He has a beautiful androgynous appearance, with a face dominated by immense, lustrous green eyes and framed by golden ringlets, and with a bow mouth and full lips and brilliant white teeth. As a god of beauty and sexual desire, he can inspire lust in both males and females, though due to his domains, men, especially those who had sexual/romantic attraction toward other men, are more likely to be attracted.

He is also often depicted as being with Zeus in his form as a giant eagle.

## Powers and Abilities

**Beauty Deity:** Ganymede with this ability either is or can transform into a Beauty Deity, a god/goddess who represents or is associated with beauty and beautiful things around them and all it's aspects, having absolute knowledge and power over beauty, its concepts and principles. Beauty Deities are common in mythology and were important among ancient and current civilizations.

**Love Deity:** As an archetype, a love deity is a god/goddess who represents and is associated with the love, lust, desire, passion, pleasure and romance, as well as attraction, fertility and sexuality, and all their aspects. This grants them absolute knowledge and power over them, their concepts and principles. Love deities are a common feature of worship in polytheistic religions and can be found throughout most of recorded history in various forms.

## History

### Kidnapping and Apotheosis

Ganymede was born to king Tros of Dardania, from whose name "Troy" was supposedly derived, and his mother was Callirhoe, daughter of the river god Scamander. He was also the brother of Ilus, Assaracus, Cleopatra, and Cleomestra.

One day, while he was tending sheep on Mount Ida, near Troy in Phrygia, his image was caught in the eyes of Zeus, the king of the gods. Having been smitten by the young boy's divine beauty, the older god wanted to preserve it for his own for eternity and had decided to take him to Mount Olympus and let him live with him among the gods. He then transformed into a giant eagle before descended down to Earth and swoop the younger male up in his claws before returning to his palace.

On Olympus, Zeus had him granted eternal youth and immortality and the position of Zeus' personal cupbearer. Occasionally, on events of festivity, he will be worked along side the goddess Hebe and serve the various divinities on Mount Olympus.

Later on, Zeus compensated Ganymede's father by the gift of fine horses, "the same that carry the immortals", delivered by the messenger god Hermes. Tros was consoled that his son was now immortal and would be the cupbearer for the gods, a position of much distinction.

### Game of Knucklebones

In the epic poem *Argonautica* by Apollonius of Rhodes, Ganymede was said to have been furious at the god Eros for having cheated him at a game of knucklebones, after which Aphrodite scolded her son for "cheating a beginner".

### Aquarius

The myth of Ganymede and Zeus had been considered by the Ancient Greeks to be one of the origins of the constellation Aquarius, alongside the myth of Eos and the myth of Deucalion, as it is adjacent to Aquila (the Eagle), which is the symbol animal of Zeus. In addition to that, some sources said that the Aquila symbolized the giant eagle that was sent down by Zeus to kidnap Ganymede instead of Zeus himself.

## Myths and Legends

His Roman counterpart is Cataminus, from whom the word *catamine* originated.

## Quotes

*"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.*

*"Ganymedes. Young, pretty, and charming Ganymedes. He was nothing more than a deified mortal. A former prince her husband kidnapped from mount Ida because of his smooth skin and curved buttocks. When Zeus made him his immortal cupbearer, Hera thought he would be bored of the former mortal in a couple of decades or so. He would then be her friend, a fellow scorned consort of Zeus who had to deal with one lover after another while their husband ignored his vows. But he didn't. He never did understand her. For Zeus truly loved the boy and made him his one and only male lover. "How pathetic," She thought to herself, "He's more faithful to a baseborn god than he is to his own wife." - Thebaid.*

*"Here the Phrygian hunter is borne aloft on tawny wings, Gargara’s range sinks downwards as he rises, and Troy grows dim beneath him; sadly stand his comrades; vainly the hounds weary their throats with barking, pursue his shadow or bay at the clouds." - Thebaid.*

## Trivia

* Some myths said it was Eos who kidnapped Ganymede, motivated by her affection for young men; Zeus then stole him from Eos and employed him as cupbearer.
* Plato accounted for the pederastic aspect of his myth by attributing its origin to Crete, where the social custom of *paiderastía* was supposed to have originated.
* Some philosophers said Zeus was attracted by the beauty of Ganymede's mind and/or soul instead of his appearance.
* Ganymede is the only mortal lover of Zeus to be granted immortality.