History Headscratchers / ClassicalMythology

*** Also, let's face it. Zeus had to chose between Hera (his wife and well known bombshell when she was mad), Athena (his favourite daughter and very creative with revenges) and Aphrodite (the GODDESS OF BEAUTY.) Even for the king of gods who is overpowered even against all of the rest, that was NOT a comfortable situation to be in. No wonder he first stalled judgment and then bailed altogether. He probably hoped the ladies would just calm down if he refused to decide for a while.

** The TLDR version of the story is that Archimedes proved that the crown ''was'' diluted by the dishonest goldsmith using cheaper silver than the amount of gold that the king paid for. The density of a golden crown with silver mixed in was less than that of a lump of gold of the same weight, so the differences between them became clear whether they displaced different amounts of water when they were tossed in or whether they were balanced on a scale then put in water. (UsefulNotes/Galileo confirmed that the latter method would work, as some scholars question whether the bathtub story is true.) The real question is what the king did to the crooked goldsmith.

* Gods turning their enemies into {{baleful polymorph}}s I get but they also transform people out of pity or as a reward. Wouldn't being stuck as a sunflower forever be a FateWorseThanDeath?

* Why is Hera never depicted having at least some resentment towards Hermes? In almost every case when Zeus has a child from an affair, [[WomanScorned she either torments the mother]], [[AffairBlameTheBastard the child]] or both. Other gods aren't exempt from this as she tried to stop Leto from giving birth to Artemis and Athena. While Zeus was able to keep the affair secret until Hermes was born, it still doesn't explain why she's never shown to have any beef with Hermes or his mother Maia who Zeus had the affair with.

* Why in Tartarus did Zeus think marrying Aphrodite to Hephaestus would help stop other gods from fighting over her? Given Hephaestus isn't one of the heavy hitters and Zeus himself is a chronic adulterer, why would he think the plan would work?

** He's also the god of disease, remember? Zeus knows that he's carrying. Do ''you'' want to [[BrainBleach bang]] Papa [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} Nurgle]]?

** That or she was thinking "Oooh I ask him to prove himself and he's dithering, he is definitely hiding something, better stick to my first request." As to why she doesn't think of other ways Zeus could prove himself, well, Hera put a bee in her bonnet and she specifically mentioned asking to see Zeus in his divine form to make sure so makes sense Semele would connect the two. As for feeling bad for Zeus... yes he was in an impossible situation (even if he had brought up "Hey don't you think this sort of thing is what Hera, you know, my notoriously jealous wife, would love you to think and ask of me? Think for a minute please...", Semele would have seen it as trying to derail the topic) though remember he was cheating on his wife with a woman, who in some versions at least was his own priestess.