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Zeus and Ganymede are the most prominent homosexual couple in ancient Greek mythology. Ganymede, son of the king of Troy, was the most beautiful ephebus in the world. One day, Zeus spotted Ganymede while on a hunt in the mountains. The king of gods fell in love with Ganymede, turned himself into an eagle, and abducted the youth to Mount Olympus. There Zeus granted him immortality, took him as a lover, and gave him the office of cupbearer serving ambrosia and nectar to the gods. The myth contains several layers of meaning: it deals with seduction, it puts forth the model of Greek love between a mature man and an adolescent youth, and it affirms the power of ephebi whose beauty granted them access to divine status. Artists usually portray the act of abduction of the boy by the eagle and depict their entangled bodies. Ganymede has also been portrayed as a youth resisting Zeus in courtship ritual or as a docile cub bearer on Mount Olympus.
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