NEPHELE
Doppelganger Goddess.
Ixion, the wickedest man in the world, was invited to a Heavenly Olympic Banquet. But he intended to repay this generosity by raping HERA, the wife of ZEUS, whom he fancied rotten.Seeing through this little plan, ZEUS made an exact replica of HERA from clouds. The cloned HERA was called NEPHELE. She was very life-like and Ixion was completely fooled. Having been caught out, ZEUS tied him to a flaming wheel and sent him off for everlasting punishment in the Underworld.
This left NEPHELE very confused. As she could not be un-created, and kept being mistaken for HERA, she tried to avoid further bewilderment by weeping in corners. But that didn't work as passing Gods kept asking: "What's the matter HERA?"
ZEUS got a bit fed up with it all and married her off to ATHAMAS, the most stupid king in the world, making her Queen of Boeotia. It went well at the start but after two children NEPHELE got the miseries again and kept turning into a drizzling cloud.
ATHAMAS got fed up and set up a secret love nest with INO. Not too good a choice as ZEUS was having an affair with her sister SEMELE, and ATHAMAS had to let him have a spare key.
Then of course HERA found out. After telling ATHAMAS in no uncertain terms how stupid he was, she whisked NEPHELE back to Olympus to work in the stables — filling the water trough with tears.
Authors: Peter J Allen and Chas Saunders
References: Coming soon.
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Godchecker's article on Nephele is based on material from ancient texts, original references and our own research. We strive for accuracy and update regularly with new information. If you spot a mistake please contact us and we'll try to fix it.
Location : Ancient Greece
Gender : Female
Type : Deity
Celebration or Feast Day : Unknown at present
Pronunciation : Coming soon
Alternative names : None known
Popularity index : 611
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