The Tragic Story of Semele: Love, Pride, and Power

Painting: Death of Semele by Pierre Paul Rubens

Semele was a mortal woman who became the lover of Zeus, King of the Olympian gods. Their affair resulted in a pregnancy, and Zeus’s jealous wife, Hera tricked Semele into asking Zeus to show himself to her in all his glory. Unaware that mortals cannot look upon the face of a god without being incinerated, […]