Who is harmonia

They lived in peace until Cadmus was turned into a serpent. There are two versions of the punishment. The first states that Harmonia and Cadmus were turned into snakes after they died from natural causes. According to the second version, Cadmus angered Ares, who turned him into a large black snake. Harmonia then pleaded that Ares turn her into a snake as well, so that she could join her husband.

In both versions of the story, Zeus saved Harmonia and Cadmus by taking them to the Elysian Fields the Islands of the Blessed where they could reside together for eternity. She has many temples in Rome, the most important and oldest one located at Via Sacra. Harmonia is often depicted on coins with an olive branch in her right hand and a cornucopia in her left. She soothes discord and strife and presides over marital harmony and the harmonious actions of the soldiers in war.

As goddess of harmony, she was worshipped for peaceful and harmonious marriages. Tags: Greek Symbols Mythology. Home » Information » Harmonia — Greek Mythology. Affiliate Disclosures. Table of Contents Who Was Harmonia? Save Saved Removed 0. The wedding of Cadmus and Harmonia is a fairly recognizable tale in Greek Mythology.

Athena initially gifted Cadmus with Thebes, which was to be his kingdom. At the same time, Zeus brought Cadmus and Harmonia together because Harmonia was a gift to the new king. Their wedding was a grand affair and all the gods and goddesses were in attendance. During the wedding festivities, Cadmus also gave his bride a gift of a robe and of a special necklace. However, the necklace was unfortunately cursed.

Referred to as the Necklace of Harmonia, all those who were in possession of it would have bad things befall them. There are also other sources that describe a different origin for this necklace.

In some stories, the necklace came from either Hera or the Aphrodite. The gift would ultimately cause her downfall, as well as cursing each person who inherited it afterwards. Cadmus had been made King of Thebes by Athena, but he had to serve Ares for eight years after killing a dragon that was sacred to the god.

At the end of his sentence, Zeus awarded Harmonia to Cadmus as his bride. All of the gods were in attendance for their wedding. Their children would become the leaders of Thebes for several centuries. As the story goes, Harmonia was born out of an adulterous affair between Aphrodite and Ares. Even though it was cursed, the necklace supposedly also brought beauty and eternal life to its wearer.

When Cadmus eventually left Thebes, Harmonia went with him, and the pair went to Enchelii. There, they aided in a war against the Illyrians, and Cadmus was crowned King of the Illyrians. Instantly, he was changed into a serpent, and Harmonia, distraught by his sudden transformation, begged the gods to let her share his fate. Zeus obliged, and Harmonia was also transformed into a serpent. The Necklace of Harmonia then passed to her daughter Semele, resulting in a string of catastrophes within the family.

The necklace continued to bring misfortune to each new person that inherited it, and is one of the most fabled items in mythology. If you use any of the content on this page in your own work, please use the code below to cite this page as the source of the content.

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