en-us-Zeus: God of Thunder in Greek Mythology

06/09/2020
     Zeus: Greek God of Thunder may have been the Most Relevant God in Greek Mythology! Nowadays he is the most searched Greek God on the internet, check out all about him on our website below!

Zeus in Greek Mythology:

     Zeus is the father of the gods, who exercised authority over the Olympic gods in ancient Greek religion. It is the god of the heavens, lightning, lightning that maintains order and justice in Greek mythology. Its Roman equivalent is Jupiter, while its Etruscan equivalent is Tinia; some authors have established their Hindu equivalent as Indra. Son of the Titan Cronos and Reia, Zeus is the youngest of his brothers; in most traditions he is married, first to Métis, breeding the goddess Athena and then to Hera, although in the oracle of Dodona, his wife is Dione, with whom, according to the Iliad, he would have generated Aphrodite. 

     He is known for his erotic adventures, which often resulted in divine and heroic descendants, such as Athena, Apollo and Artemis, Hermes, Persephone (with Demeter), Dionysus, Perseus, Heracles, Helena de Troia, Minos, and the Muses (by Mnemosine) ; with Hera, he would have had Ares, Ennio, Ilitia, Éris, Hebe and Hephaestus. As the German scholar pointed out in his book Greek Religion, "even the gods who are not natural sons of Zeus address him as Father, and all the gods stand before his presence." For the Greeks, it was the King of the Gods, who oversaw the universe. In the words of the ancient geographer Pausânias, "that Zeus is king in the heavens is a saying common to all men." In Theogony, of Hesiod, Zeus is responsible for delegating to each of the gods their proper functions. In Homeric Hymns he is referred to as the "chief of the gods".

Zeus Greek God Symbol:

     Its symbols are the ray, the eagle, the bull and the oak. In addition to his clear Indo-European heritage, his classic description as a "cloud collector" also derives certain iconographic features from the cultures of the Ancient Near East, such as the scepter. Zeus was often represented by the ancient Greek artists in two different poses: one, standing, leaning forward, holding a lightning bolt at the height of his right hand, raised; in the other sitting, in a majestic pose. There were many statues erected in his honor, the most magnificent of which was his statue in Olympia, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Originally, the Olympic Games were held in his honor.

Zeus is God of What?

     Zeus was popularly known for being the God of Thunder. In the Minoan Civilization, Zeus was not worshiped by the general population, but only in small minority cults that saw him as a demigod who had ended up being killed. The first records of his name are in the Mycenaean Greek, in di-we and di-wo forms, written in the Linear B. Zeus syllabary, referred to poetically by the vocative Zeu pater ("O, father Zeus"), is a continuation of * Di̯ēus , the proto-Indo-European god of the daytime sky, also called * Dyeus ph2tēr ("Father Sky"). 

     This same god is known by this name in Sanskrit (Dyaus / Dyaus Pita), Latin (Jupiter, by Iuppiter, from the proto-Indo-European vocative * dyeu-ph2tēr), which is derived from the basic form * dyeu- ("shine" , and its various derivatives - "heaven", "god"). In Germanic mythology, however, the parallel can be found in * Tīwaz> ancient Germanic Ziu, ancient Nordic Týr, while Latin also presents the forms god, dīvus and Dis (a variation of dīves), from the related noun * deiwos. For the Greeks and Romans, the god of heaven was also the supreme god. Zeus is the only deity in the Olympic pantheon whose name has such an evident Indo-European etymology.

TITLES OF ZEUS:

     Zeus played a dominant role, presiding over the Olympic pantheon of Ancient Greece. He was the father of many heroes, and was part of several local cults. Although the Homeric "cloud collector" was a god of heaven and thunder, like his eastern counterparts, he was also the supreme cultural artifact; in a way, it was the embodiment of Greek religious beliefs, and the archetype of Greek deity. In Neoplatonism, the figure of Zeus familiar with Greek mythology is associated with the Demiurge, or Divine Mind (nous). Specifically within Plotinus' work, Aeneas, and in Proclo's Platonic Theology. In addition to the local epithets, who simply designated that the deity had done something in a certain place, the epithets or titles applied to Zeus emphasized different aspects of his broad authority:
  • Zeus Olympio, emphasized Zeus' royalty and his dominion over the gods, as well as his specific presence at the Olympian Pan-Hellenic Festival.
  • Zeus Pan-Hellenic ("Zeus of all the Hellenes"), to whom the famous temple of Eaco in Aegina was dedicated.
  • Zeus Xenius, Philoxenus or Hospitals: Zeus who was the patron of hospitality and guests, ready to avenge any wrong done to a foreigner.
  • Zeus Orquio: Zeus protector of oaths. Liars who had been exposed were forced to dedicate a statue to Zeus, often in the sanctuary at Olympia.
  • Zeus Agoreu: Zeus who took care of business now and punished dishonest traders.
  • Zeus Egíoco: Zeus who carried the aegis, with which he infused terror in the wicked and his enemies. Other authors derived this epithet from αἴξ ("goat") and οχή, interpreting it as an allusion to the legend that Zeus was breastfed by Amalthea.

Among other names and epithets given to Zeus are:

    • Zeus Meilíquio (Meilichios, "facilmente acessível"): Zeus assimilou um daimon ctônico arcaico, propiciado em Atenas, o Meilíquio.
    • Zeus Taleu (Zeus Tallaios, "Zeus solar"): o Zeus que era cultuado em Creta.
    • Zeus Labrando (Labrandos): venerado na Cária, seu local de culto era em Labraunda, e era representado empunhando um machado de ponta dupla (lábris). Estava associado ao deus hurrita do céu e da tempestade, Texube.
    • Zeus Nao (Naos) e Zeus Búleo (Bouleus): formas de Zeus cultuadas em Dodona, o oráculo mais antigo. Alguns autores acreditam que os nomes de seus sacerdotes, os selos, teriam dado origem ao nome de helenos, dado ao povo grego desde a Antiguidade.
    • Zeus Cássio: o Zeus de monte Acra, vale de montanhas entre a Síria e Turquia.
    • Zeus Itômio ou Itomeu (Ithomatas): o Zeus do monte Itome, na Messênia.
    • Zeus Astrápeo (Astrapios, "relampejante")
    • Zeus Brôncio ou Bronteu ("trovejante")

Children's:

  • Aphrodite;
  • Agdistis;
  • Ângelo;
  • Apollo;
  • Ares;
  • Artemis;
  • Athena;
  • Dionysus;
  • Eacus;
  • Ennio;
  • Epaphus;
  • Eris;
  • Ersa;
  • Hebe;
  • Hephaestus;
  • Helen of Troy;
  • Heracles;
  • Hermes;
  • Illithia;
  • Lacedemon;
  • Minos;
  • Pandia;
  • Persephone;
  • Perseus;
  • Radamanto;
  • Thanks;
  • The hours;
  • The Litai;
  • The Muses;
  • The Moiras.

Check: All for Greek Underworld

YOUR BIRTH:

     Kronos had several children with Reia: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon, but he swallowed them (minus Poseidon, Hades and Hera) as soon as they were born, after hearing from Gaia and Uranus that he was destined to be deposed by his son, just as he had deposed his own father - an oracle that Reia became aware of and could avoid. When Zeus was about to be born, Reia sought out Gaia and devised a plan to save him, so that Cronos would be punished for his actions against Uranus and his own children. Reia gave birth to Zeus on the island of Crete, and gave Cronos a stone wrapped in baby clothes, which he promptly swallowed. Reia would have hidden Zeus in a cave on the Dicty hills in Crete. According to the various versions of the story, it would have been created:
  • By Gaia;
  • For a goat called Amalthea, while a platoon of curettes - soldiers or lesser gods - danced, screamed and beat their spears against their shields so that Cronos would not hear the baby's cry (see cornucopia);
  • By a goat named Aix (who belonged to the nymph Amalthea), and from her skin Zeus made Aegis;
  • By a nymph called Adamanteia. Since Kronos was lord of the earth, the heavens and the sea, she hid him hanging by a rope from a tree, so that he, being neither on earth, nor in sky nor at sea, would have been invisible to her father;
  • For a nymph called Cinosura, and as a thank you, Zeus would have placed her among the stars.By Melissa, who breastfed him with goat's milk and honey.

Zeus and The Capricorn Sign:

     In Greco-Roman Mythology, Capricorn, or sea goat, is the memory of the goat Aegipan, which was placed by Zeus among the constellations because he was suckled together with Zeus, by the goat Amalthea (in another version, Almateia was the nymph who owned the Aix goat that gave milk to newborn Zeus). During the fight against the Titans, he was the one who put the fear called panikos on enemies. The lower part of his body was of fish, because he threw shells, instead of stones, at the enemy. According to Greek priests and some poets, when the gods were gathered in Greece, Typhon suddenly appeared, a terrible monster and enemy of the gods. These, in fear, changed their form, Hermes becoming an ibis, Apollo the bird known by the name Thracian and Artemis in a cat. 

     For this reason, the Greeks do not allow these creatures to be injured, because they are representations of the gods. Pan, according to them, threw himself into the river, and turned his lower body into fish, and the rest into a goat, thus escaping Typhon. Zeus, admiring his cleverness, placed him among the constellations.

Check: Top 10 Capricorn Quotes

KING OF THE GODS:

     After reaching adulthood, Zeus forced Kronos to first vomit the stone that had been given to him in place - in Pito, under the valleys of Mount Parnassus, as a sign to mortals: the Omniphal, "navel" - and then his brothers, according to the order in which they had been swallowed. In some versions, Métis gave Cronos an emetic to force him to vomit the babies, while in others Zeus himself would have cut Cronos' belly open. Then Zeus freed Crono's brothers, the giants, the hecatonchers and the Cyclops, who were trapped in a dungeon in Tartarus, after killing Campe, the monster that watched over them. To show his thanks, the Cyclops presented him with thunder and the lightning, which had previously been hidden by Gaia. Zeus then, together with his brothers and sisters, the giants, hecatonchers and cyclops, deposed Cronos and the other titans, during the battle known as Titanomaquia. The Titans, after being defeated, were dispatched to Tartarus, while one of them, Atlas, was ordered to permanently hold the sky.
     After the battle with the Titans, Zeus divided the world with his older brothers, Posidão and Hades: Zeus took the sky and the air, Posidão with the waters and Hades with the world of the dead (the underworld). The ancient Earth, Gaia, could not be divided, and therefore remained for all three, according to their abilities - which explains why Posidão was the "earth shaker" (the earthquake god), and Hades stayed with humans. who died (see Pentos). Gaia, however, did not approve of the way Zeus treated the Titans, his sons; shortly after assuming the throne as king of the gods, Zeus had to fight other sons of Gaia: the monster Typhon and Echidna. Zeus defeated Typhon, imprisoning him under Mount Etna, but spared the life of Echidna and her children.

ZEUS and HERA:

     Zeus was Hera's brother and consort. With her he had three children: Ares, Hebe and Hephaestus, although some reports claim that Hera would have had them alone. Some versions also describe Ilítia and Éris as daughters of the couple. Zeus' love conquests, however, between nymphs and the mythological deadly progenitors of the Hellenic dynasties are celebrated. Olympic mythography credits him with unions with Leto, Demeter, Dione and Maia. Among the mortals with whom he would have been related were Semele, Io, Europa and Leda and the young boy Ganymede, but Zeus presented him with eternal youth and immortality. and describe her as a consistent enemy of Zeus' lovers and their children. For some time a nymph named Eco was tasked with distracting Hera by talking ceaselessly, thus turning her attention away from her husband's love affairs; when Hera discovered the ploy, he condemned Eco to repeat other people's words permanently.

HELENIC CULTURES:

     The main center of worship for Zeus, where all Greeks went when they wanted to pay homage to their main god, was Olympia. A festival was held every four years, the peak of which was the famous Olympic Games. There was an altar to Zeus in the city, made not of stone but of ashes, obtained from the remains of animal sacrifices made there over the centuries. Zeus shared throughout the Greek world. Most of the titles listed below, for example, could be found in numerous Greek temples from Asia Minor to Sicily. Certain rituals were equally common: the sacrifice of a white animal on a high altar, for example.

ZEUS LICEU:

     The epithet Zeus Liceu (Zeus Lykaios, "Zeus-lobo") was attributed to Zeus only when associated with the archaic festival of Liceias, in the town of Liceia, on the slopes of Monte Liceu, the highest peak in Arcadia. Zeus had only a formal association with the rituals and myths of this rite of passage that involved the ancient threat of cannibalism and the possibility of a transformation into a lycanthrope for the efebos that participated in it. In the vicinity of the old ash pile on which the sacrifices were made, there was a forbidden enclosure on which, supposedly, no shadow was ever cast. 

     According to Plato, a specific clan would gather on the mountain to make a sacrifice to Zeus Lyceum, every nine years, and a small amount of human entrails was added to the entrails of the sacrificed animal; he who consumed the piece of human flesh was supposed to turn into a wolf, and would return to human form only if he did not consume human flesh again until the end of the next nine-year cycle. 

     There were games associated with the Liceias festival, which were interrupted in the 4th century BC with the urbanization of Arcádia (Megalopolis); there, the main temple was dedicated to Zeus Lyceum. Apollo also had an ancient wolf form, Apollo Lyceum (Apollo Lycaeus), venerated in Athens at Lyceum (Lykeion), famous for being one of the places frequented by Aristotle, where he used to teach.

ZEUS IN MOVIE THEATER:

  • Axel Ringvall - in Jupiter på jorden, the character's first known film adaptation;
  • Niall MacGinnis - in the miniseries Jason and the Argonauts, and Angus MacFadyen, in the 2000 remake;
  • Laurence Olivier - in the film Clash of the Titans (Fury of Titans, in Brazil), and Liam Neeson in his 2010 remake, as well as in the sequel, Wrath of the Titans;
  • Anthony Quinn - in the 1990s Hercules: The Legendary Journeys television series;
  • Rip Torn - in the animation Hercules.John Novak - in the Supernatural television series (series), in the 8x16 episode.
  • Luke Evans - in the film Immortals (2011) (Immortals, in Brazil).

Check: Top 10 Immortals Quotes

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