Zeus's Love Affairs (Part 3): Aquarius and Ganymede
The ancient Greek poet Stratton once said:
"A fourteen-year-old boy is the most delicate flower of love,
But even more charming is a fifteen-year-old,
A sixteen-year-old youth is the flower pursued by the gods,
As for a seventeen-year-old, they belong to Zeus."
In this case, the seventeen-year-old youth refers to Ganymede.
He was the youngest and most beloved son of the king of Troy, and also the most handsome man in Troy, a beauty that even Zeus couldn't resist.
Zeus transformed into a giant eagle and abducted the young man in front of everyone, despite being surrounded by mentors and guards.
In order to keep the young man by his side, Zeus didn't hesitate to mistreat another daughter and assigned the task of serving wine at the gods' banquet to his young lover.
In Greek society, which valued feasting and drinking, a wine bearer was an indispensable role. The gods had no objections, as a young and beautiful wine bearer moving between the banquets was already a great visual pleasure.
Except for Hera.
This position originally belonged to her and Zeus's daughter, the goddess of youth, Hebe. Hebe did a good job, but Zeus intentionally found fault with her to "dismiss" her for his young lover, which greatly displeased Hera.
What made her even more furious was that Zeus actually married their daughter to Hercules!
The friction between her and Hercules was well-known to the king of gods, and there were plenty of nymphs and muses in Olympus who were still unmarried. Why did it have to be her daughter?
The enraged queen of the gods held Ganymede responsible for everything and turned him into a water pitcher: "Since you love being a wine bearer so much, then pour wine for the rest of your life."
However, at that moment, the water pitcher could no longer pour fine wine, only bitter tears, which deeply moved Zeus.
As a result, he elevated Ganymede to the sky, transforming him into the "Aquarius" constellation. Next to it is the "Aquila" constellation, symbolizing his eternal wine bearer.
Therefore, when Galileo discovered Jupiter's largest moon in 1610, he named it "Ganymede."
