Essay Week 2: Infidelity of Jupiter

Several of the stories found in Ovid's Metamorphoses (Books 1-4) included the characters Jupiter and Juno, king and queen of the gods. In every story including these two characters, there was a general theme that one could easily pick up on: Jupiter cheats on his wife. It is seen over and over again. It leaves the reader with several questions. Why is Jupiter so unfaithful? Why does Juno tolerate Jupiter's infidelity? Examples from some of the stories read in this unit can lead the reader answers to these questions.

Jupiter and Juno by Franz Christoph Janneck (1703-1761). Web Source: Wikipedia Commons.

The first story that provides an example of Jupiter's infidelity is the story of Io. After Jupiter rapes Io, we see that Juno is already suspicious of his actions. She is used to his antics and has come to expect them. When she finds Jupiter and Io, whom Jupiter had disguised as a heifer, the reader can see her suspicion in the many questions she asks about the heifer. From this story, the reader learns that Jupiter is frequently unfaithful and that Juno anticipates this sort of behavior from him.

In the story of Callisto, the reader gains a little more insight on Jupiter's behavior. Again, in this story, Jupiter rapes Callisto, only this time he first dresses like a woman. He does not just overpower her from the start, but shows a little bit of his devious character. Just before he decides to rape Callisto, though, the reader can be sure that Jupiter is up to no good. He fears being caught by Juno, but decides that it will be worth the fight even if he does. This demonstrates that Jupiter is a trouble maker, and gets a thrill from causing chaos.

Juno eventually does catch Jupiter, but instead of showing her wrath on him, she turns Callisto into a bear. We can see her reasoning behind this in the story of Semele. When she becomes angry with Semele for bearing Jupiter's child, she states that as queen of the gods she must punish her. Her pride is hurt, and to not punish Semele would make her less of a god. 

The reader is still left curios as to why Juno does not take her wrath out on Jupiter. Perhaps other stories from Ovid's Metamorphoses could provide insight to this question. I, for one, hold the opinion that she cannot punish him directly, because he is superior to her in the world of the gods. I would not be surprised, however, if some stories contained some plot where Juno plays a trick on Jupiter.