About Harmonia – Greek Mythological Goddess of Harmony

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Harmonia is the goddess of Greek mythology that represents harmony, particular as it has to do with relationships between people. Aside from that, she isn’t considered to be one of the major goddesses in Greek mythology even though she did play a part. There is also some discrepancy as to what her origins were because her story did change depending on the source. Here is more information about who Harmonia was and the part she played in Greek mythology:

Birth of Harmonia

There are two stories of her origin that can be found in Greek mythology. The most widely held belief is that Harmonia was one of the children of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and Ares, the god of war. The pair had other children, as well, including Eros, Phlegyas, Adrestia, Phobos, and Deimos. In another version of the story, Harmonia was a child of Zeus with one of his consorts, Electra. In this second version of her origin, Harmonia is still associated with Aphrodite because she is one of Aphrodite’s allies.

Life of Harmonia

No matter which source you look at, the details of Harmonia’s life tend to be similar. In multiple versions of her story, she is said to be the wife of Cadmus, who is said to be the founder of Thebes and also its first king. This would make Harmonia the first queen of Thebes. Their tenure as king and queen of Thebes didn’t last and the when Cadmus was required to leave the kingdom, Harmonia went with him. The pair did have several children, named Ino, Polydorus, Autonoe, Agave, and Semele.

Wedding of Harmonia and Cadmus

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. When Harmonia became Cadmus’ wife, the pair ruled Thebes togethr.

Harmonia and the Cursed Necklace

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. It seems as if no on was exempt from the necklace’s harm and everyone who wore it experienced misfortune.

It is also said that Harmonia has a natural opposite. Eris, the goddess of disharmony and strife, was the opposite of all Harmonia stood for. It seems as if the Ancient Greeks understand that two strong emotions needed to complement each other. The Romans also had the equivalent of these goddesses. Harmony was Concordia and Eris was Discordia.

Source:

Wikipedia – Harmonia (mythology)

Wikipedia – Cadmus

Categorized in: Greek Mythology

This post was written by Greek Boston