Dione (Titaness)

Dione Titaness and Okeanid (Mother of Aphrodite in some versions)

Dione (Διώνη), in Greek mythology, was the goddess of the nymphs. She was loved by Zeus, who, in some versions, was Aphrodite, the goddess of love, beauty and sexuality. Hesiod gives as his parents Oceanus and Tethys, which integrate the Oceanides;. when this version is applied, Aphrodite is that happens to be the daughter of Talassa Uranus. In other versions, such as Pseudo-Apollodorus, Dione is one of titânides, daughter of Uranus and Gaia;. According to Higino, Dione is daughter of Ether and Earth, and Venus is the daughter of Dione and Jove  Dione should not be confused with Dione, daughter of Atlas and wife of Tantalus, who had Niobe and Pelops, but abandoned him when he learned that he had killed Pelops. The Dione name is also formed based on Diós, singular genitive of Dzeus (Zeus). So we can understand that Dione is "bright, luminous" as Zeus means "light, clarity, brilliance". It was nicknamed Venus Flytrap.Dione (Gr: Διωνη) is one of the Okeanides, her name means "the divine." One of the lesser accepted theories about Aphrodite's birth is that Zeus and Dione, and Dione is the mother of Aphrodite. Dione is mentioned in The Illiad

- but fair Aphrodite flung herself upon the knees of her mother Dione. She clasped her daughter in her arms, and stroked her with her hand and spake to her, saying:

“Who now of the sons of heaven, dear child, hath entreated thee thus wantonly, as though thou wert working some evil before the face of all?” [375] To her then made answer laughter-loving Aphrodite:

“Tydeus' son, Diomedes high of heart, wounded me, for that I was bearing forth from out the war my dear son Aeneas, who is in my eyes far the dearest of all men. For no longer is the dread battle one between Trojans and Achaeans; [380] nay, the Danaans now fight even with the immortals.”

To her then made answer Dione, the fair goddess: “Be of good heart, my child, and endure for all thy suffering; for full many of us that have dwellings on Olympus have suffered at the hands of men, in bringing grievous woes one upon the other. [385] So suffered Ares, when Otus and mighty Ephialtes, the sons of Aloeus, bound him in cruel bonds, and in a brazen jar he lay bound for thirteen months; and then would Ares, insatiate of war, have perished, had not the stepmother of the sons of Aloeus, the beauteous Eëriboea, [390] brought tidings unto Hermes; and he stole forth Ares, that was now sore distressed, for his grievous bonds were overpowering him. So suffered Hera, when the mighty son of Amphitryon smote her on the right breast with a three-barbed arrow; then upon her too came pain that might in no wise be assuaged. [395] And so suffered monstrous Hades even as the rest a bitter arrow, when this same man, the son of Zeus that beareth the aegis, smote him in Pylos amid the dead, and gave him over to pains. But he went to the house of Zeus and to high Olympus with grief at heart, pierced through with pains; [400] for into his mighty shoulder had the shaft been driven, and distressed his soul. But Paeëon spread thereon simples that slay pain, and healed him; for verily he was in no wise of mortal mould. Rash man, worker of violence, that recked not of his evil deeds, seeing that with his arrows he vexed the gods that hold Olympus. [405] And upon thee has the goddess, flashing-eyed Athene, set this man—fool that he is; for the heart of Tydeus' son knoweth not this, that verily he endureth not for long who fighteth with the immortals, nor do his children prattle about his knees when he is come back from war and the dread conflict. [410] Wherefore now let Tydeus' son, for all he is so mighty, beware lest one better than thou fight against him, lest in sooth Aegialeia, the daughter of Adrastus, passing wise, wake from sleep with her long lamentings all her household, as she wails for her wedded husband, the best man of the Achaeans, even she, [415] the stately wife of horse-taming Diomedes.”

She is also in Apollo and Artemis birth.

Dione in Hesiod Edit In the Theogony of Hesiod (700 BC), Dione is not Aphrodite's mother: this comes from the sea foam created by falling overboard genitals of Uranus, castrated by Cronos. In the genealogy of the gods, it is included only as one of many Oceanidas. Still, Hesiod quotes Dione in the proem, among the most important deities:

The Muses heliconíades begin to sing.They have great and divine the Helicon lot,around the violet source with soft feetdance and the altar of good strong son of Cronos.They bathed the tender skin on Permessoor the source of the horse or the divine Olmioand bursting with feet made choirsbeautiful burning in Helicon apex.Hence rushing hidden by a lot of foggo on night rows casting beautiful voice,hineando Zeus holder umbrella, the sovereign HeraArgos sidewalk aureus sandals,Athena virgin glaucous eyes of Zeus door-umbrella,the luminous Apollo, Artemis poured arrows,Tells us that sustains and the earth trembles,Themis venerable, Aphrodite agile eyes,Hebe golden crown, the beautiful Dione, Aurora, the great sun, the bright moon, Leto, Iapetus, curved think, Earth, the great Ocean, the Black night and the holy being of other immortals always alive.

Dione in pseudo-Apollodorus   According to the pseudo-Apollodorus (second century A.D.), Dione was Aphrodite's mother, said as Homer and one of titânides, daughter of Uranus and Gaia, who thus would be seven and not six as listed Hesiod: Uranus (...) was the father of other children of Gé, namely the Titans: Ocean, Ceos, Hyperion, Cryo, Iapetus and Cronus, the youngest; daughters also called Titânides: Tethys, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Dione and Web.Dione in pseudo-Hyginus EditThe pseudo-Hyginus (second century A.D.) says Dione in a Preface: In Ether and Gaia (...) Ocean, Themis, Tartar Point; the Titans; Briareus, Estérope, Atlas, Hyperion and Polo [Ceos] Saturn [Kronos] Oops [Rhea], Moneta [Mnemosyne] and Dione. 

It is worth noting that in this preface, the Titans should be listed as children of Heaven [Uranus] and earth [Gaia], not Ether and Gaia, but the notation seems to have been lost in transcription. That is, instead of ellipses above, there must have been a stretch as: [... born several abstractions ... and Uranus and Gaia were born ...] 

The Homeric Hymn to Apolo Delio Dione also cites, among the goddesses that accompany Leto to Delos and witness the birth of the god and his sister Artemis: Leto [on the island of Delos] was plagued nine days and nights with untold pain. And they were with them all the most important goddesses, Dione and Rhea and Icnaia and Themis and Amphitrite, who lamented high, and the other immortal goddesses. Then the child jumped the light and all the goddesses launched a scream. Immediately, great Phoebus [Apollo], the goddesses washed with fresh water and wrapped in a thin newly woven white cloth and wrapped with a golden band.Goddesses cited as "most important" seem to be here to titânides Hesiod, with Amphitrite in place of Tethys, Dione as equivalent to Phebe and Icnaia as equivalent to Web. Is absent, however, Mnemosyne. Euripides (in Helena tragedy, 412 BC), and Aeneis also refers to Aphrodite as the daughter of Dione. 

Trivia

• It is possible she was the most beautiful nymph, maybe more beautiful than Tethys and Amphitrite.
• She is among the lovers of Zeus along with Leto, Demeter and Maia to name a few.

Parents

Okeanos & Tethys

Ouranos and Thalassa

Spouse & Lovers

Zeus has been mentioned as Dione's lover, but it has not been officially confirmed

Children

Aphrodite (unofficially)

Ancient Text

"Also she brought forth a holy company of daughters who with the lord Apollo and the Rivers have youths in their keeping -- to this charge Zeus appointed them -- Peitho, and Admete, and Ianthe, and Electra, and Doris, and Prymno, and Urania divine in form, Hippo, Clymene, Rhodea, and Callirrhoe, Zeuxo and Clytie, and Idyia, and Pasithoe, Plexaura, and Galaxaura, and lovely Dione, Melobosis and Thoe and handsome Polydora, Cerceis lovely of form, and soft eyed Pluto, Perseis, Ianeira, Acaste, Xanthe, Petraea the fair, Menestho, and Europa, Metis, and Eurynome, and Telesto saffron-clad, Chryseis and Asia and charming Calypso, Eudora, and Tyche, Amphirho, and Ocyrrhoe, and Styx who is the chiefest of them all. These are the eldest daughters that sprang from Ocean and Tethys; but there are many besides. For there are three thousand neat-ankled daughters of Ocean who are dispersed far and wide, and in every place alike serve the earth and the deep waters, children who are glorious among goddesses."[1]
- Hesiod, Theogony 346