Dia (wife of Ixion)

In Greek mythology, Dia (Ancient Greek: Δία, romanized: Día, lit. 'divine, she-Zeus') was a queen from Thessaly. She was the wife of a man named Ixion and the mother of a famous hero called Pirithous.

Stories about Dia differ, and in some versions, Pirithous was not really Ixion’s son. Instead, the great god Zeus, ruler of all gods, took the shape of a stallion to meet her and became the father of Pirithous.

Even though Dia was part of many important family ties in old stories, she did not have her own adventures or play a big part in the myths about her husband or son. Her name and story remind us of the rich and sometimes confusing tales from ancient Greece.

Etymology and origins

Dia's name comes from the word for 'divine,' linking her to the gods. In ancient times, there was a goddess named Diwia who may have been linked to Zeus. Some people in Sicyon worshipped a goddess named Dia or Hebe with this special name. Dia might have originally been another name for Hera, the wife of Zeus, whom her husband Ixion once tried to be with. The exact origins of Dia's name and meaning remain a bit unclear to scholars.

Mythology

Dia was a princess and the daughter of Eioneus or Deioneus from Perrhaebia. She married Ixion, the king of the Lapiths, but Ixion did not give her father the gifts he had promised. Because of this, Ixion hurt Dia's father, which made him an outcast.

Dia had one son named Pirithous. In many stories, it is said that Zeus, the king of the gods, was Pirithous' real father. Sometimes, Zeus changed into the shape of a horse to meet Dia, and this is why their son was named Pirithous, which means "to run around" in ancient Greek.

Legacy

A moon named Dia orbits the planet Jupiter. This moon is named after the mythological character Dia from ancient stories.