#aëtos

[sarafangirlart]

not trying to be insulting but why do a lot of gay Greek mythology fans fans have the atrocious pairings to ever exist Ganymede x Zeus Hera x echo Artemis x Callisto

(Oh thank god I thought I was the only one to feel this but kept my mouth shut bc I’m straight) but yeah it’s really bad and don’t even get me started on Athena x Medusa.

There are plenty of genuinely good gay relationships to ship, like I’ve seen someone talk about Thetis x Eurynome and while I don’t personally ship it it’s actually cute since they live together and raise Hephaestus.

There is also the fact that Iris is a complete simp for Hera in several myths, even sleeping beside her throne in case Hera needs something immediately.

There is also Aëtos who was Zeus’s childhood friend and lover that Hera turned to an eagle (she’s never beating the homophobia allegations lol) but Zeus kept him around which is nice.

Also while researching for this ask apparently Hephaestus and Peleus MIGHT have been a thing???

It’s also funny how gay fanon ships tend to be one of the better ones in other media while in Greek mythology it’s kinda the opposite. There are good canon ships like Patroclus x Achilles or Apollo x Hyacinth at least, but then ppl ship Ganymede with Zeus when he’s very obviously a child.

Also can we stop shipping women who obviously hate each other or harmed each other? Like pls don’t ship Leto or any of Zeus’s lovers with Hera it’s dumb as hell.

[fleurbleedinghearts]

Who besides Hera do you ship Zeus with the most?

Metis (tragic 1st love who helped save his siblings/mother of his favorite baby)

Themis (most stable relationship he's ever had/she still helps him post divorce)

Mnemosyne (did it for 9 days straight/has more kids with her than anyone else)

Demeter (loved her enough to crash out at his own son because she moved on)

Leto (considered the biggest threat to Hera/gave birth to Zeus's favorite son)

Maia (raised Arcas for him even though she didn't have to/most dramafree affair)

Semele (he showed her his "true form" to prove he loved her as much as Hera)

Aëtos (turned into an eagle by Hera out of jealousy but stayed by Zeus's side)

Ganymede (the only mortal love Zeus turned immortal/given an important position)

Other (comment who)

I REFUSE to ship Zeus with anyone other than Hera!

see results

Voting ended onMay 27, 2025

[hermesmoly]

“That Boy Is Mine” trend but with Aëtos and Hera

[hermesmoly]

Aëtos x Ganymede agenda

[katerinaaqu]

Hiii I haven't ask you anything for quite a long time

Can you please tell us about Aëtos, Zeus's eagle?

Hehehe you are always welcome! Aëtos huh? Interesting!

For starters "Aëtos" means "eagle" in Greek. Eagle is the primary symbol of Zeus possibly due to its majestic nature and its power, the fact that it is the apex predator of the heavens, like Zeus is the king of the heavens and it flies very high. Also its nature to dive down to catch prey possibly resembles to Greeks the way the god descends or the way the lightning and thunder strike the earth or legends that associate the bird with immunity to lightning among others.

There are several eagles mentioned in mythology that are associated with Zeus. One of them is the Caucasian Eagle, a bronze bird created by Hephaestus (Hyginus) or son of Echidna and Typhoon (Apollodorus) or of Tartarus and Gaea (Hyginus) that according to the myth he was sent to eat Prometheus's liver every day till it was taken down by Heracles. Another eagle, this time associated with humans was a king named Periphas (Περίφας) a son of Gaea or associated with Gaea who was also a dedicated priest of Apollo. However Zeus got angry that the young king was worshipped almost like a god himself and tried to smite him with a lightning and he was saved the last moment by Apollo who turned him into a bird. According to other myths, Zeus adopts the bird as a sign of good omens and the bird sits by his throne. Basically he saw the bird flying while he was preparing himself for the battle against the Titans (Anacreon, fragment) or that Zeus was making a sacrifice for a good battle against the Titans and there he saw the eagle flying (Hyginus)

Aëtos though seems to be a story of his own. According to writings of roman scholiasts like Maurus Servius Honoratus (yeah the same guy that apparently hates Achilles and speaks about him going mad with lust seeing Troilus XD) mentions the story of Aëtos in his script. He mentions how he was a playmate of Zeus while he was hiding at Crete as he was growing up in secret from his father Cronos. He was said to be a very beautiful young man. Hera found out about his existence and thought that Zeus loved him, thus wishing to smite him. Zeus saved the boy the last moment, transforming it into an eagle/bird and held him by his side as his messenger in that form. Aëtos is also the eagle that according to that tradition is sent by Zeus to snatch Ganymedes and bring him to Olympus to become Zeus's cupbearer (In most versions of the myth Ganymedes is simply snatched by an eagle but apparently Honoratus seems to be naming that eagle as a transformed human)