Footnotes: Semele
1. The authors Apollodorus (Library 3.4.3), Ovid (Metamorphoses 3-273-315), and Hyginus (Fabulae 167, 179) all mention that Semele was deceived into asking for a fatal gift by Hera. The Roman authors Ovid and Hyginus both give the name of the woman whom Hera disguises herself as 'Beroe', though no Greek author uses that name. However Hyginus specifically states that Semele was goaded by Hera (or rather her Roman counterpart Juno) into making the request so that she could experience the pleasure of lying with a god. Return
2. Euripides states that Semele was killed by lightning as she gave birth to Dionysus (Bacchae 1-9). In contrast Apollodorus states that Semele died of fright at the thunder and lightning that accompanied Zeus' divine form and that Zeus saved the unborn baby from her womb (Library 3.4.3). In Roman literature, Hyginus agrees with Euripides that Semele was killed by lightning as she gave birth to Dionysus (Fabulae 167, 179). Return
