Zeus

Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=genitive
Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=genitive
el, Δίας, ''Días'' is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion, who rules as king of the gods of

Mount Olympus

. His name is cognate with the first element of his Roman equivalent Jupiter. His mythology and powers are similar, though not identical, to those of Indo-European deities such as Jupiter, Perkūnas, Perun,

Indra

, and Dyaus.

Zeus is the child of Cronus and Rhea, the youngest of his siblings to be born, though sometimes reckoned the eldest as the others required disgorging from Cronus's stomach. In most traditions, he is married to

Hera

, by whom he is usually said to have fathered

Ares

, Hebe, and Hephaestus. At the

oracle

of Dodona, his consort was said to be Dione, by whom the ''

Iliad

'' states that he fathered

Aphrodite

. Zeus was also infamous for his erotic escapades. These resulted in many divine and heroic offspring, including

Athena

,

Apollo

,

Artemis

,

Hermes

,

Persephone

,

Dionysus

,

Perseus

,

Heracles

,

Helen of Troy

,

Minos

, and the

Muse

s.

He was respected as an allfather who was chief of the gods and assigned roles to the others: "Even the gods who are not his natural children address him as Father, and all the gods rise in his presence." He was equated with many foreign

weather god

s, permitting Pausanias to observe "That Zeus is king in heaven is a saying common to all men". Zeus' symbols are the

thunderbolt

,

eagle

, bull, and

oak

. In addition to his Indo-European inheritance, the classical "cloud-gatherer" (Greek: , ''Nephelēgereta'') also derives certain iconographic traits from the cultures of the ancient Near East, such as the scepter. Zeus is frequently depicted by Greek artists in one of three poses: standing, striding forward with a thunderbolt leveled in his raised right hand, or seated in majesty.

Name

The god's name in the nominative is (''Zeús''). It is inflected as follows: vocative: ('); accusative: (); genitive: (); dative: (). Diogenes Laërtius quotes Pherecydes of Syros as spelling the name .

''Zeus'' is the Greek continuation of *'' ,'' the name of the Proto-Indo-European god of the daytime sky, also called *' ("Sky Father"). The god is known under this name in the Rigveda (Vedic Sanskrit '' Dyaus/Dyaus Pita''),

Latin

(compare ''Jupiter'', from ''Iuppiter'', deriving from the Proto-Indo-European vocative *'), deriving from the root *''dyeu''- ("to shine", and in its many derivatives, "sky, heaven, god").
Zeus is the only deity in the Olympic pantheon whose name has such a transparent Indo-European etymology.

The earliest attested forms of the name are the Mycenaean Greek , ''di-we'' and , ''di-wo'', written in the Linear B syllabic script.

Plato

, in his ''Cratylus'', gives a folk etymology of Zeus meaning "cause of life always to all things", because of puns between alternate titles of Zeus (''Zen'' and ''Dia'') with the Greek words for life and "because of". This etymology, along with Plato's entire method of deriving etymologies, is not supported by modern scholarship.

Diodorus Siculus wrote that Zeus was also called Zen, because the humans believed that he was the cause of life (zen). While

Lactantius

wrote that he was called Zeus and Zen, not because he is the giver of life, but because he was the first who lived of the children of Cronus.

Mythology

Birth

Cronus sired several children by Rhea:

Hestia

,

Demeter

,

Hera

,

Hades

, and

Poseidon

, but swallowed them all as soon as they were born, since he had learned from Gaia and Uranus that he was destined to be overthrown by his son as he had previously overthrown Uranus, his own father, an oracle that Rhea heard and wished to avert.

When Zeus was about to be born, Rhea sought Gaia to devise a plan to save him, so that Cronus would get his retribution for his acts against Uranus and his own children. Rhea gave birth to Zeus in Crete, handing Cronus a rock wrapped in swaddling clothes, which he promptly swallowed.

Infancy

Varying versions of the story exist:

# According to Hyginus, Zeus was raised by a nymph named Amalthea. Since Saturn (Cronus) ruled over the

Earth

, the

heaven

s and the

sea

, she hid him by dangling him on a

rope

from a

tree

so he was suspended between earth, sea and sky and thus, invisible to his father.
# According to Apollodorus, Zeus was raised by a

goat

named Amalthea in a cave called Dictaeon Antron (Psychro Cave). A company of soldiers called Kouretes danced, shouted and clashed their spears against their shields so that Cronus would not hear the baby's cry.

King of the gods

After reaching manhood, Zeus forced Cronus to disgorge first the stone (which was set down at

Pytho

under the glens of

Parnassus

to be a sign to mortal men, the

Omphalos

) then his siblings in reverse order of swallowing. In some versions, Metis gave Cronus an

emetic

to force him to disgorge the babies, or Zeus cut Cronus's

stomach

open. Then Zeus released the brothers of Cronus, the Hecatonchires and the

Cyclopes

, from their dungeon in

Tartarus

, killing their guard, Campe. As a token of their appreciation, the Cyclopes gave him

thunder

and the thunderbolt, or

lightning

, which had previously been hidden by Gaia.

Together, Zeus, his brothers and sisters, Hecatonchires and Cyclopes overthrew Cronus and the other Titans, in the combat called the Titanomachy. The defeated Titans were then cast into a shadowy underworld region known as Tartarus.

Atlas

, one of the titans who fought against Zeus, was punished by having to hold up the sky.

After the battle with the Titans, Zeus shared the world with his elder brothers,

Poseidon

and

Hades

, by drawing lots: Zeus received the sky and air, Poseidon the waters, and Hades the world of the dead (the underworld).

Gaia resented the way Zeus had treated the Titans, because they were her children. Soon after taking the throne as king of the gods, Zeus had to fight some of Gaia's other children, including the Gigantes. It was prophesied that the Gigantes, children of Gaia born from Uranus's blood, could not be killed by the gods alone, but they could be killed with the help of a mortal. Hearing this, Gaia sought for a certain plant (pharmakon) that would protect the Gigantes even from mortals. Before Gaia or anyone else could get it, Zeus forbade

Eos

(Dawn),

Selene

(Moon) and

Helios

(Sun) to shine, harvested all of the plant himself and then he had

Athena

summon the mortal

Heracles

. Porphyrion, the king of the Gigantes,

Pindar

, ''Pythian'
8.12–18
attacked Heracles and Hera, but Zeus caused Porphyrion to lust after Hera, whom Porphyrion then tried to rape, but Zeus struck Porphyrion with his thunderbolt and Heracles (or Apollo) killed him with an arrow. Zeus, with the help of other Olympians and Heracles, destroyed the Gigantes.

After the Gigantes failed to defeat Zeus, Gaia mated with Tartarus and gave birth to Typhon. The monstrous Typhon challenged the reign of Zeus. Zeus fought against him in a cataclysmic battle and defeated him with his thunderbolt. He then trapped Typhon in Tartarus. According to

Pindar

, however, Typhon was trapped in Mount Etna.

Zeus' reign was once challenged by Hera, Poseidon, and Athena, who wished to bind Zeus and overthrow him. The Nereid

Thetis

called the Hecatoncheire Briareus to rescue Zeus. The other Olympians were scared of Briareus, who then freed Zeus.

Prometheus and conflicts with humans

When the gods met at Mecone to discuss which portions they will receive after a sacrifice, the titan

Prometheus

decided to trick Zeus so that humans receive the better portions. He sacrificed a large

ox

, and divided it into two piles. In one pile he put all the meat and most of the fat, covering it with the ox's grotesque stomach, while in the other pile, he dressed up the bones with fat. Prometheus then invited Zeus to choose; Zeus chose the pile of bones. This set a precedent for sacrifices, where humans will keep the fat for themselves and burn the bones for the gods.

Zeus, enraged at Prometheus's deception, prohibited the use of fire by humans. Prometheus, however, stole fire from Olympus in a fennel stalk and gave it to humans. This further enraged Zeus, who punished Prometheus by binding him to a cliff, where an eagle constantly ate Prometheus's liver, which regenerated every night. Prometheus was eventually freed from his misery by

Heracles

.

Now Zeus, angry at humans, decides to give humanity a punishing gift to compensate for the boon they had been given. He commands Hephaestus to mold from earth the first woman, a "beautiful evil" whose descendants would torment the human race. After Hephaestus does so, several other gods contribute to her creation.

Hermes

names the woman '

Pandora

'.

Pandora was given in marriage to Prometheus's brother

Epimetheus

. Zeus gave her a jar which contained many evils. Pandora opened the jar and released all the evils, which made mankind miserable. Only hope remained inside the jar.

When Zeus was atop Mount Olympus he was appalled by human sacrifice and other signs of human decadence. He decided to wipe out mankind and flooded the world with the help of his brother

Poseidon

. After the flood, only

Deucalion

and Pyrrha remained. This flood narrative is a common motif in mythology.

In the ''Iliad''

The ''

Iliad

'' is a poem by

Homer

about the Trojan war and the battle over the City of

Troy

, in which Zeus plays a major part.

Scenes in which Zeus appears include:

* Book 2: Zeus sends Agamemnon a dream and is able to partially control his decisions because of the effects of the dream
* Book 4: Zeus promises

Hera

to ultimately destroy the City of Troy at the end of the war
* Book 7: Zeus and

Poseidon

ruin the Achaeans fortress
* Book 8: Zeus prohibits the other Gods from fighting each other and has to return to

Mount Ida

where he can think over his decision that the Greeks will lose the war
* Book 14: Zeus is seduced by

Hera

and becomes distracted while she helps out the Greeks
* Book 15: Zeus wakes up and realizes that his own brother,

Poseidon

has been aiding the Greeks, while also sending

Hector

and

Apollo

to help fight the Trojans ensuring that the City of Troy will fall
* Book 16: Zeus is upset that he couldn't help save Sarpedon's life because it would then contradict his previous decisions
* Book 17: Zeus is emotionally hurt by the fate of

Hector

* Book 20: Zeus lets the other Gods lend aid to their respective sides in the war
* Book 24: Zeus demands that

Achilles

release the corpse of

Hector

to be buried honourably

Other myths

Zeus slept with his great-granddaughter, Alcmene, disguised as her husband

Amphitryon

. This resulted in the birth of

Heracles

, who would be tormented by Zeus's wife

Hera

for the rest of his life. After his death, Heracles's mortal parts were incinerated and he joined the gods on Olympus. He married Zeus and Hera's daughter, Hebe, and had two sons with her, Alexiares and Anicetus.

When

Hades

requested to marry Zeus's daughter,

Persephone

, Zeus approved and advised Hades to abduct Persephone, as her mother

Demeter

wouldn't allow her to marry Hades.

Zeus fell in love with

Semele

, the daughter of Cadmus and

Harmonia

, and started an affair with her. Hera discovered his affair with Semele when she later became pregnant, and persuaded Semele to sleep with Zeus in his true form. When Zeus showed his true form to Semele, his lightning and thunderbolts burned her to death. Zeus saved the fetus by stitching it into his thigh, and it would be born as

Dionysus

.

Alternatively, In the Orphic tradition, Zeus wanted to marry his mother Rhea. After Rhea refused to marry him, Zeus turned into a snake and raped her. Rhea became pregnant and gave birth to

Persephone

. Zeus in the form of a snake would mate with his daughter Persephone, which resulted in the birth of

Dionysus

.

Zeus granted Callirrhoe's prayer that her sons by Alcmaeon, Acarnan and Amphoterus, grow quickly so that they might be able to avenge the death of their father by the hands of Phegeus (king of Psophis), Phegeus and his two sons.

Both Zeus and

Poseidon

wooed

Thetis

, daughter of Nereus. But when Themis (or Prometheus) prophesied that the son born of Thetis would be mightier than his father, Thetis was married off to the mortal Peleus.

Family

Seven wives of Zeus

According to Hesiod, Zeus had seven wives. His first wife was the Oceanids, Oceanid Metis, whom he swallowed on the advice of Gaia and Uranus, so that no son of his by Metis would overthrow him, as had been foretold. Later, their daughter

Athena

would be born from the forehead of Zeus.

Zeus then married his aunt and advisor Themis, who bore the three Horae (Seasons): Eunomia (Order), Dikē (Justice), Eirene (Peace); and the three Moirai (Fates): Clotho (Spinner), Lachesis (Allotter), and Atropos (Unbending). Zeus then married his third wife, another Oceanid, Eurynome (Oceanid), Eurynome, who bore the three Charites (Graces): Aglaea (Splendor), whom Hephaestus married, Euphrosyne (Joy), and Thalia (Good Cheer).

Zeus's fourth wife was his sister,

Demeter

, who bore

Persephone

. The fifth wife of Zeus was another aunt, the Titan Mnemosyne, whom he seduced in the form of a mortal shepherd. Zeus and Mnemosyne had the nine Muses: Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polymnia, Urania, and Calliope. His sixth wife was the Titan Leto, who gave birth to

Apollo

and

Artemis

on the island of Delos.

Zeus's seventh and final wife was his elder sister

Hera

.

Zeus and Hera

Zeus was the brother and consort of

Hera

. By Hera, Zeus sired

Ares

, Hebe and Hephaestus, though some accounts say that Hera produced these offspring alone. Some also include Eileithyia, Eris (mythology), Eris, Enyo and Angelos (Greek mythology), Angelos as their daughters. In the section of the Iliad known to scholars as the Deception of Zeus, the two of them are described as having begun their sexual relationship without their parents knowing about it. Zeus mated with several nymphs and was seen as the father of many mythical mortal progenitors of Greeks, Hellenic dynasties. Aside from his seven wives, relationships with immortals included Dione (Titaness), Dione and Maia (mythology), Maia. Among mortals were

Semele

, Io (mythology), Io, Europa (mythology), Europa and Leda (mythology), Leda (for more details, see below) and with the young Ganymede (mythology), Ganymede (although he was mortal Zeus granted him eternal youth and immortality).

Many myths render Hera as jealous of his amorous conquests and a consistent enemy of Zeus' mistresses and their children by him. For a time, a nymph named Echo (mythology), Echo had the job of distracting Hera from his affairs by talking incessantly, and when Hera discovered the deception, she cursed Echo to repeat the words of others.

Transformation of Zeus

Children

¹The Greeks variously claimed that the Moires/Fates were the daughters of Zeus and the Titaness Themis or of primordial beings like Chaos (mythology), Chaos, Nyx (mythology), Nyx, or Ananke (mythology), Ananke.

²The Charites/Graces were usually considered the daughters of Zeus and Eurynome but they were also said to be daughters of Dionysus and Aphrodite or of Helios and the naiad Aegle.

³Some accounts say that Ares, Hebe, and Hephaestus were born parthenogenesis, parthenogenetically.

⁴According to one version, Athena is said to be born parthenogenetically.

⁵Helen was either the daughter of Leda or Nemesis.

⁶Tyche is usually considered a daughter of Aphrodite and Hermes.

Roles and epithets

Zeus played a dominant role, presiding over the Ancient Greece, Greek Olympian pantheon. He fathered many of the heroes and was featured in many of their Cult (religion), local cults. Though the Homeric "cloud collector" was the god of the sky and thunder like his Near-Eastern counterparts, he was also the supreme cultural artifact; in some senses, he was the embodiment of Greek religion, religious beliefs and the archetype, archetypal Greek deity.

Aside from local epithets that simply designated the deity as doing something random at some particular place, the epithets or titles applied to Zeus emphasized different aspects of his wide-ranging authority:

*Zeus Aegiduchos or Aegiochos: Usually taken as Zeus as the bearer of the Aegis, the divine shield with the head of Medusa across it, although others derive it from "goat" () and ''okhē'' () in reference to Zeus' nurse, the divine goat Amalthea.
*Zeus Agoraeus (Αγοραιος): Zeus as patron of the marketplace (agora) and punisher of dishonest traders.
*Zeus Areius (Αρειος): either "warlike" or "the atoning one".
*Zeus Eleutherios (Ἐλευθέριος): "Zeus the freedom giver" a cult worshiped in Ancient Athens, Athens
*Zeus Horkios: Zeus as keeper of oaths. Exposed liars were made to dedicate a votive statue to Zeus, often at the sanctuary at Olympia
*Zeus Olympios (Ολύμπιος): Zeus as king of the gods and patron of the Panhellenic Games at Olympia, Greece, Olympia
*Zeus Panhellenios ("Zeus of All the Names of the Greeks, Greeks"): worshipped at Aeacus's temple on Aegina
*Zeus Xenios (Ξένιος), Philoxenon, or Hospites: Zeus as the patron of hospitality (''xenia (Greek), xenia'') and guests, avenger of wrongs done to strangers

Additional names and epithets for Zeus are also:

A

*Abrettenus (Ἀβρεττηνός) or Abretanus: surname of Zeus in Mysia
*Achad: one of his names in Syria.
*Acraeus (Akraios): his name at Smyrna. Acraea and Acraeus are also attributes given to various goddesses and gods whose temples were situated upon hills, such as Zeus,

Hera

,

Aphrodite

, Pallas,

Artemis

, and others
*Acrettenus: his name in Mysia.
*Adad: one of his names in Syria.
*Zeus Adados: A Hellenization of the Canaanite religion, Canaanite Hadad and Assyrian religion, Assyrian Adad, particularly his solar cult at Heliopolis (Syria), Heliopolis.
*Adultus: from his being invoked by ''adults'', on their marriage.
*Aleios (Ἄλειος)
*Amboulios (Αμβουλιος, "Counsellor") or Romanization of Greek, Latinized Ambulius
*Apemius (Apemios, Απημιος): Zeus as the averter of ills
*Apomyius (Απομυιος): Zeus as one who dispels flies
*Aphesios (Αφεσιος; "Releasing (Rain)")
*Astrapios (Αστραπαιος; "Lightninger"): Zeus as a

weather god

B

*Basileus (Βασιλευς, "King, Chief, Ruler")
*Bottiaeus/ Bottaios (Βοττιαίος, "of the Bottiaei"): Worshipped at Antioch Libanius wrote that Alexander the Great founded the temple of ''Zeus Bottiaios'', in the place where later the city of Antioch was built.
*Dodonian Zeus, Zeus Bouleus/ Boulaios (Βουλαίος, "of the Council"): Worshipped at Dodona, the earliest

oracle

, along with Zeus Naos
*Brontios ("Thunderer"): Zeus as a

weather god

C

*Cenaean (Kenaios/ Kenaius, Κηναῖος): a surname of Zeus, derived from cape Cenaeum

D

*Diktaios (Δικταιος): Zeus as lord of the Dikte mountain range, worshipped from Mycenaean Greece, Mycenaean times on Crete
*Dodonian/ Dodonaios (Δωδωναῖος): meaning of Dodona

E

*Eleutherios (Ἐλευθέριος, "of freedom"). At Athens after the Battle of Plataea, Athenians built the Stoa of ''Zeus Eleutherios''. Some writers said that was called "of freedom" because free men built the portico near his shrine, while others because Athenians escaped subjection to the power of Persia and they were free.
*Epidotes, Epidôtês/ Epidotes (Επιδωτης; "Giver of Good"): an epithet of Zeus at Mantineia and Sparta
*Euênemos/ Euanemos (Ευηνεμος; "of Fair Winds", "Giver of Favourable Wind") or Romanization of Greek, Latinized Evenemus/ Evanemus

G

*Zeus Georgos (, "Zeus the Farmer"): Zeus as god of crops and the harvest, worshipped in Athens

H

*Zeus Helioupolites ("Heliopolite" or "Heliopolitan Zeus"): A Hellenization of the Canaanite religion, Canaanite Baʿal (probably Hadad) worshipped as a sun god at Heliopolis (Syria), Heliopolis (modern Baalbek) in Syria
*Herkeios (Ἑρκειος, "of the Courtyard") or Romanization of Greek, Latinized Herceius
*Hetareios (Ἑταιρεῖος, "of fellowship"): According to the ''Suda'', Zeus was called this among the Cretans.
*Hikesios (Ἱκεσιος; "of Suppliants") or Romanization of Greek, Latinized Hicesius
*Hyetios (Ὑετιος; "of the Rain")
*Hypatos (Ὑπατος, "Supreme, Most High")
*Hypsistos (Ὕψιστος, "Supreme, Most High")

I

*Ikmaios (Ικμαιος; "of Moisture") or Romanization of Greek, Latinized Icmaeus
*Ithomatas (Ιθωμάτας)

K

*Zeus Kasios ("Zeus of Mount Kasios" the modern Jebel Aqra) or Romanization of Greek, Latinized Casius: a surname of Zeus, the name may have derived from either sources, one derived from ''Casion'', near Pelusium in Egypt. Another derived from Mount Kasios (Casius), which is the modern Jebel Aqra, is worshipped at a site on the Syrian–Turkish border, a Hellenization of the Canaanite religion, Canaanite mountain and

weather god

Baal Zephon
*Kataibates (Καταιβάτης, "descending") or Romanization of Greek, Latinized Cataebates, because he was sending-down thunderbolts or because he was descending to earth due to his love of women.
*Keraunios (Κεραυνιος; "of the Thunderbolt") or Romanization of Greek, Latinized Ceraunius
*Klarios (Κλαριος; "of the Lots") or Romanization of Greek, Latinized Clarius
*Konios (Κονιος; "of the Dust") or Romanization of Greek, Latinized Conius
*Koryphaios (Κορυφαιος, "Chief, Leader") or Romanization of Greek, Latinized Coryphaeus
*Kosmêtês (Κοσμητης; "Orderer") or Romanization of Greek, Latinized Cosmetes
*Ktesios (Κτησιος, "of the House, Property") or Romanization of Greek, Latinized Ctesius

L

*Zeus Labrandos (Λαβρανδευς; "Furious, Raging", "Zeus of Labraunda"): Worshiped at Caria, depicted with a double-edged axe (''labrys''), a Hellenization of the Hurrian religion, Hurrian

weather god

Teshub
*Limenoskopos (Λιμενοσκοπος; "Watcher of Sea-Havens") or Romanization of Greek, Latinized Limenoscopus occurs as a surname of several deities, Zeus,

Artemis

,

Aphrodite

, Priapus and Pan (god), Pan

M

*Maimaktês (Μαιμακτης; "Boisterous", "the Stormy") or Romanization of Greek, Latinized Maemactes, a surname of Zeus, derived from the Attic calendar month name 'Maimakterion' (Μαιμακτηριών, Romanization of Greek, Latinized Maemacterion) and which that month the ''Maimakteria'' was celebrated at Athens
*Zeus Meilichios/ Meilikhios (Μειλίχιος; "Zeus the Easily-Entreated")
*Mêkhaneus (Μηχανευς; "Contriver") or Romanization of Greek, Latinized Mechaneus
*Moiragetes (Μοιραγέτης; "Leader of the Fates", "Guide or Leade of Fate"): Pausanias wrote that this was a surname of Zeus and

Apollo

at Delphi, because Zeus knew the affairs of men, all that the Moirai, Fates give them and all that is not destined for them.

N

*Dodonian Zeus, Zeus Naos: Worshipped at Dodona, the earliest

oracle

, along with Zeus Bouleus

O

*Ombrios (Ομβριος; "of the Rain", "Rain-Giver")
*Ourios (Οὐριος, "of Favourable Wind"). Ancient writers wrote about a sanctuary at the opening of the Black Sea dedicated to the Zeus Ourios (ἱερὸν τοῦ Διὸς τοῦ Οὐρίου). In addition, on the island of Delos a dedication to Zeus Ourios was found. The dedication was made by a citizen of Ascalon, named Damon son of Demetrius, who escaped from pirates.

P

* Philios (Φιλιος; "of Friendship") or Romanization of Greek, Latinized Philius
* Phyxios (Φυξιος; "of Refuge") or Romanization of Greek, Latinized Phyxius
* Plousios (Πλουσιος; "of Wealth") or Romanization of Greek, Latinized Plusius

S

*Skotitas (Σκοτιτας; "Dark, Murky") or Romanization of Greek, Latinized Scotitas
*Sêmaleos (Σημαλεος; "Giver of Signs") or Romanization of Greek, Latinized Semaleus:
*Sosipolis (Σωσίπολις; "City saviour"): There was a temple of Zeus Sosipolis at Magnesia on the Maeander

T

*Talos, Zeus Tallaios ("Solar Zeus"): Worshipped on Crete
*Teleios (Τελειος; "of Marriage Rites") or Romanization of Greek, Latinized Teleus
*Theos Agathos (Θεος Αγαθος; "the Good God") or Romanization of Greek, Latinized Theus Agathus
*Tropaioukho/ Tropaiucho (τροπαιούχῳ, "Guardian of Trophies"): after the Battle of the 300 Champions, Othryades, dedicated the tropaion, trophy to "Zeus, Guardian of Trophies" .

X

* Xenios (Ξενιος; "of Hospitality, Strangers") or Romanization of Greek, Latinized Xenius

Cults of Zeus

Panhellenic cults

The major center where all Greeks converged to pay honor to their chief god was Olympia, Greece, Olympia. Their quadrennial festival featured the famous Games. There was also an altar to Zeus made not of stone, but of ash, from the accumulated remains of many centuries' worth of animals sacrificed there.

Outside of the major inter-polis sanctuaries, there were no modes of worshipping Zeus precisely shared across the Greek world. Most of the titles listed below, for instance, could be found at any number of Greek temples from Asia Minor to Sicily. Certain modes of ritual were held in common as well: sacrificing a white animal over a raised altar, for instance.

Zeus Velchanos

With one exception, Greeks were unanimous in recognizing the birthplace of Zeus as Crete. Minoan culture contributed many essentials of ancient Greek religion: "by a hundred channels the old civilization emptied itself into the new", Will Durant observed, and Cretan Zeus retained his youthful Minoan features. The local child of the Great Mother, "a small and inferior deity who took the roles of son and consort", whose Minoan name the Greeks Hellenized as Velchanos, was in time assumed as an epithet by Zeus, as transpired at many other sites, and he came to be venerated in Crete as Zeus Velchanos ("boy-Zeus"), often simply the ''Kouros''.

In Crete, Zeus was worshipped at a number of caves at Knossos, Mount Ida, Crete, Ida and Palaikastro. In the Hellenistic period a small sanctuary dedicated to Zeus Velchanos was founded at the Hagia Triada site of a long-ruined Minoan palace. Broadly contemporary coins from Phaistos show the form under which he was worshiped: a youth sits among the branches of a tree, with a cockerel on his knees. On other Cretan coins Velchanos is represented as an eagle and in association with a goddess celebrating a mystic marriage. Inscriptions at Gortyn and Lyttos record a ''Velchania'' festival, showing that Velchanios was still widely venerated in Hellenistic Crete.

The stories of

Minos

and Epimenides suggest that these caves were once used for Incubation (ritual), incubatory divination by kings and priests. The dramatic setting of

Plato

's ''Laws'' is along the pilgrimage-route to one such site, emphasizing archaic Cretan knowledge. On Crete, Zeus was represented in art as a long-haired youth rather than a mature adult and hymned as ''ho megas kouros'', "the great youth". Ivory statuettes of the "Divine Boy" were unearthed near the Labyrinth at Knossos by Sir Arthur Evans. With the Kouretes, a band of ecstatic armed dancers, he presided over the rigorous military-athletic training and secret rites of the Cretan ''paideia''.

The myth of the death of Cretan Zeus, localised in numerous mountain sites though only mentioned in a comparatively late source, Callimachus, together with the assertion of Antoninus Liberalis that a fire shone forth annually from the birth-cave the infant shared with a Bees (mythology), mythic swarm of bees, suggests that Velchanos had been an annual vegetative spirit.
The Hellenistic writer Euhemerus apparently proposed a theory that Zeus had actually been a great king of Crete and that posthumously, his glory had slowly turned him into a deity. The works of Euhemerus himself have not survived, but Christian patristic writers took up the suggestion.

Zeus Lykaios

The epithet Zeus Lykaios (Λύκαιος; "wolf-Zeus") is assumed by Zeus only in connection with the archaic festival of the Lykaia on the slopes of Lycaeus, Mount Lykaion ("Wolf Mountain"), the tallest peak in rustic Arcadia (ancient region), Arcadia; Zeus had only a formal connection with the rituals and myths of this primitive rite of passage with an ancient threat of cannibalism and the possibility of a werewolf transformation for the ephebos, ephebes who were the participants. Near the ancient ash-heap where the sacrifices took place was a forbidden precinct in which, allegedly, no shadows were ever cast.

According to

Plato

, a particular clan would gather on the mountain to make a sacrifice every nine years to Zeus Lykaios, and a single morsel of human entrails would be intermingled with the animal's. Whoever ate the human flesh was said to turn into a wolf, and could only regain human form if he did not eat again of human flesh until the next nine-year cycle had ended. There were games associated with the Lykaia, removed in the fourth century to the first urbanization of Arcadia, Megalopolis, Greece, Megalopolis; there the major temple was dedicated to Zeus Lykaios.

There is, however, the crucial detail that ''Lykaios'' or ''Lykeios'' (epithets of Zeus and Apollo) may derive from Proto-Greek language, Proto-Greek *, "light", a noun still attested in compounds such as , "twilight", , "year" (lit. "light's course") etc. This, Cook argues, brings indeed much new 'light' to the matter as Achaeus of Eretria, Achaeus, the contemporary tragedian of Sophocles, spoke of Zeus Lykaios as "starry-eyed", and this Zeus Lykaios may just be the Arcadian Zeus, son of Aether, described by Cicero. Again under this new signification may be seen Pausanias' descriptions of Lykosoura being 'the first city that ever the sun beheld', and of the altar of Zeus, at the summit of Mount Lykaion, before which stood two columns bearing gilded eagles and 'facing the sun-rise'. Further Cook sees only the tale of Zeus' sacred precinct at Mount Lykaion allowing no shadows referring to Zeus as 'god of light' (Lykaios).

Additional cults of Zeus

Although etymology indicates that Zeus was originally a sky god, many Greek cities honored a local Zeus who lived underground. Athenians and Sicilians honored Zeus Meilichios (Μειλίχιος; "kindly" or "honeyed") while other cities had Zeus Chthonios ("earthy"), Zeus Katachthonios (Καταχθόνιος; "under-the-earth") and Zeus Plousios ("wealth-bringing"). These deities might be represented as snakes or in human form in visual art, or, for emphasis as both together in one image. They also received offerings of black animal victims sacrificed into sunken pits, as did chthonic deities like

Persephone

and

Demeter

, and also the heroes at their tombs. Olympian gods, by contrast, usually received white victims sacrificed upon raised altars.

In some cases, cities were not entirely sure whether the ''daimon'' to whom they sacrificed was a hero or an underground Zeus. Thus the shrine at Lebadaea in Boeotia might belong to the hero Trophonius or to Zeus Trephonius ("the nurturing"), depending on whether you believe Pausanias, or Strabo. The hero Amphiaraus was honored as Zeus Amphiaraus at Oropus outside of Thebes, Greece, Thebes, and the Spartans even had a shrine to Zeus Agamemnon. Ancient Molossians, Molossian kings sacrificed to Zeus Areius (Αρειος). Strabo mention that at Tralles there was the Zeus Larisaeus (Λαρισαιος).

Non-panhellenic cults

In addition to the Panhellenic titles and conceptions listed above, local cults maintained their own idiosyncratic ideas about the king of gods and men. With the epithet Zeus Aetnaeus he was worshiped on Mount Etna, Mount Aetna, where there was a statue of him, and a local festival called the Aetnaea in his honor. Other examples are listed below. As Zeus Aeneius or Zeus Aenesius (Αινησιος), he was worshiped in the island of Cephalonia, where he had a temple on Mount Ainos, Mount Aenos.

Oracles of Zeus

Although most oracle sites were usually dedicated to

Apollo

, the heroes, or various goddesses like Themis, a few oracular sites were dedicated to Zeus. In addition, some foreign oracles, such as Baʿal's at Heliopolis (Syria), Heliopolis, were interpretatio graeca, associated with Zeus in Greek or Jupiter in Latin.

The Oracle at Dodona

The cult of Zeus at Dodona in Epirus, where there is evidence of religious activity from the second millennium BC onward, centered on a sacred oak. When the ''Odyssey'' was composed (circa 750 BC), divination was done there by barefoot priests called ''Selloi'', who lay on the ground and observed the rustling of the leaves and branches. By the time Herodotus wrote about Dodona, female priestesses called peleiades ("doves") had replaced the male priests.

Zeus' consort at Dodona was not

Hera

, but the goddess Dione — whose name is a feminine form of "Zeus". Her status as a Titan (mythology), titaness suggests to some that she may have been a more powerful pre-Hellenic deity, and perhaps the original occupant of the oracle.

The Oracle at Siwa

The oracle of Ammon at the Siwa Oasis in the Western Desert of Egypt did not lie within the bounds of the Greek world before Alexander the Great, Alexander's day, but it already loomed large in the Greek mind during the archaic era: Herodotus mentions consultations with Zeus Ammon in his account of the Greco-Persian Wars, Persian War. Zeus Ammon was especially favored at Sparta, where a temple to him existed by the time of the Peloponnesian War.

After Alexander made a trek into the desert to consult the oracle at Siwa, the figure arose in the Hellenistic imagination of a Libyan Sibyl.

Zeus and foreign gods

Zeus was identified with the Roman mythology, Roman god Jupiter and associated in the syncretic classical imagination (see ''interpretatio graeca'') with various other deities, such as the Egyptian mythology, Egyptian Amun, Ammon and the Etruscan mythology, Etruscan Tinia. He, along with

Dionysus

, absorbed the role of the chief Phrygian god Sabazios in the Syncretism, syncretic deity known in Rome as Sabazius. The Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes erected a statue of Zeus Olympios in the Judean Temple in Jerusalem. Hellenizing Jews referred to this statue as Baal Shamen (in English, Lord of Heaven).
Zeus is also identified with the Hindu deity

Indra

. Not only they are the king of gods, but their weapon - thunder is similar.

Zeus and the sun

Zeus is occasionally conflated with the Hellenic sun god,

Helios

, who is sometimes either directly referred to as Zeus' eye, or clearly implied as such. Hesiod, for instance, describes Zeus' eye as effectively the sun. This perception is possibly derived from earlier Proto-Indo-European religion, in which the sun is occasionally envisioned as the eye of Dyeus, *''Dyḗus Pḥ_atḗr'' (see Hvare-khshaeta).

The Crete, Cretan Zeus Talos, Tallaios had solar elements to his cult. "Talos" was the local equivalent of Helios.

Zeus in philosophy

In Neoplatonism, Zeus' relation to the gods familiar from mythology is taught as the Demiurge or Divine nous, Mind, specifically within Plotinus's work the ''Enneads'' and the ''Platonic Theology'' of Proclus.

Zeus in the Bible

Zeus is mentioned in the New Testament twice, first in Acts 14:8–13: When the people living in Lystra saw the Apostle Paul heal a lame man, they considered Paul and his partner Barnabas to be gods, identifying Paul with

Hermes

and Barnabas with Zeus, even trying to offer them sacrifices with the crowd. Two ancient inscriptions discovered in 1909 near Lystra testify to the worship of these two gods in that city. One of the inscriptions refers to the "priests of Zeus", and the other mentions "Hermes Most Great" and "Zeus the sun-god".

The second occurrence is in Acts 28:11: the name of the ship in which the prisoner Paul set sail from the island of Malta bore the figurehead "Sons of Zeus" aka Castor and Pollux.

The deuterocanonical book of 2 Maccabees 6:1, 2 talks of King Antiochus IV (Epiphanes), who in his attempt to stamp out the Jewish religion, directed that the temple at Jerusalem be profaned and rededicated to Zeus (Jupiter Olympius).

Zeus in Gnostic literature

Pistis Sophia, a Gnosticism, Gnostic text discovered in 1773 and possibly written between the 3rd and 4th centuries AD alludes to Zeus. He appears there as one of five grand rulers gathered together by a divine figure named Yew.

In modern culture

Movies

Zeus was portrayed by Axel Ringvall in ''Jupiter på jorden'', the first known film adaption to feature Zeus; Niall MacGinnis in ''Jason and the Argonauts (1963 film), Jason and the Argonauts'' and Angus MacFadyen in the Jason and the Argonauts (TV miniseries), 2000 remake; Laurence Olivier in the original ''Clash of the Titans (1981 film), Clash of the Titans'', and Liam Neeson in the Clash of the Titans (2010 film), 2010 remake, along with the 2012 sequel ''Wrath of the Titans''; Rip Torn in the Disney animated feature ''Hercules (1997 film), Hercules'', Sean Bean in ''Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief'' (2010).

TV series

Zeus was portrayed by Anthony Quinn in the 1990s TV series ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys''; Corey Burton in the TV series ''Hercules (1998 TV series), Hercules''; Hakeem Kae-Kazim in ''Troy: Fall of a City''; and Jason O'Mara in the Netflix animated series ''Blood of Zeus''.

Video games

Zeus has been portrayed by Corey Burton in ''God of War II'', ''God of War III'', ''God of War: Ascension'', ''PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale'' & ''Kingdom Hearts 3'' and Eric Newsome in Dota 2. Zeus is also featured in the 2002 Ensemble Studios game ''Age of Mythology'' where he is one of 12 gods that can be worshipped by Greek players.

Other

Depictions of Zeus as a bull, the form he took when abducting Europa (mythology), Europa, are found on the Greek 2-euro (currency), euro coin and on the United Kingdom identity card for visa holders. Mary Beard (classicist), Mary Beard, professor of Classics at Cambridge University, has criticised this for its apparent celebration of rape.''A Point of View: The euro's strange stories''
BBC, retrieved 20 November 2011

Genealogy of the Olympians

Argive genealogy

Gallery

File:Marie Pierre Abduction of Europa.JPG, The abduction of Europa from Zeus
File:Calyx-krater olympian assembly MAN.jpg, Olympian assembly, from left to right: Apollo, Zeus and Hera
File:Schloss Rastatt-Goldener Mann.jpg, The "Golden Man" Zeus statue
File:Getty Villa - Collection (5305219094).jpg, Enthroned Zeus (Greek, c. 100 BC) - modeled after the Olympian Zeus by Pheidas (c. 430 BC)
File:Zeus with Hera.jpg, Zeus and Hera
File:Paris-33 (29998023800).jpg, Zeus statue
File:Poseidon Zeus Marabouparken.JPG, Zeus/Poseidon statue

See also

* Family tree of the Greek gods
* Agetor
* Ambulia – Spartan epithet used for

Athena

, Zeus, and Castor and Pollux
* Hetairideia – Thessalian Festival to Zeus
* Temple of Zeus, Olympia
* Zanes of Olympia – Statues of Zeus

Footnotes

Notes

References

* Apollodorus, ''Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library

* ''Brill’s New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. Antiquity, Volume 15'', Tuc-Zyt, editors: Hubert Cancik, Helmuth Schneider, Brill Publishers, Brill, 2009.
Online version at Brill

* Burkert, Walter, (1985) [1977]. ''Greek Religion'', especially section III.ii.1 (Harvard University Press)
* Arthur Bernard Cook, Cook, Arthur Bernard, ''Zeus: A Study in Ancient Religion'' (3 volume set), (1914–1925). New York, Bibilo & Tannen: 1964.
** Volume 1: ''Zeus, God of the Bright Sky'', Biblo-Moser, 1 June 1964, (reprint)
** Volume 2: ''Zeus, God of the Dark Sky (Thunder and Lightning)'', Biblo-Moser, 1 June 1964,
** Volume 3: ''Zeus, God of the Dark Sky (earthquakes, clouds, wind, dew, rain, meteorites)''
* Cicero, Cicero, Marcus Tullius, ''De Natura Deorum'' in ''Cicero: On the Nature of the Gods. Academics'', translated by H. Rackham, Loeb Classical Library No. 268, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, first published 1933, revised 1951.
Online version at Harvard University Press Internet Archive

* Diodorus Siculus, ''Diodorus Siculus: The Library of History''. translated by C. H. Oldfather, twelve volumes, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989
Online version by Bill Thayer

* Maurice Druon, Druon, Maurice, ''The Memoirs of Zeus'', 1964, Charles Scribner's and Sons. (tr. Humphrey Hare)
* Farnell, Lewis Richard, ''Cults of the Greek States'' 5 vols. Oxford; Clarendon 1896–1909. Still the standard reference.
* Farnell, Lewis Richard, ''Greek Hero Cults and Ideas of Immortality'', 1921.
* Timothy Gantz, Gantz, Timothy, ''Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: (Vol. 1), (Vol. 2).
* Hard, Robin, ''The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology"'', Psychology Press, 2004.
Google Books

* Hesiod, ''Theogony'', in ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd. 1914
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library

* Hesiod, ''Works and Days'', in ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White'', Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library

*

Homer

, ''The Iliad with an English Translation by A. T. Murray, Ph.D. in Two Volumes''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library

*

Homer

; ''The Odyssey with an English Translation by A. T. Murray, Ph.D. in Two Volumes''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library

* Gaius Julius Hyginus, Hyginus, Gaius Julius, ''De Astronomica'', in ''The Myths of Hyginus'', edited and translated by Mary A. Grant, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960
Online version at ToposText

* Gaius Julius Hyginus, Hyginus, Gaius Julius, ''Fabulae'', in ''The Myths of Hyginus'', edited and translated by Mary A. Grant, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960
Online version at ToposText

* Otto Kern, Kern, Otto. ''Orphicorum Fragmenta'', Berlin, 1922
Internet Archive

* Meisner, Dwayne A., ''Orphic Tradition and the Birth of the Gods'', Oxford University Press, 2018.
Google Books

* William Mitford, Mitford, William, ''The History of Greece'', 1784. Cf. Volume 1, Chapter II "Religion of the Early Greeks"
* Moore, Clifford H., ''The Religious Thought of the Greeks'', 1916.
* Nilsson, Martin P.
''Greek Popular Religion''
1940.
* Nilsson, Martin P., ''History of Greek Religion'', 1949.
* Pausanias, ''Pausanias Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library

* Erwin Rohde, Rohde, Erwin, ''Psyche: The Cult of Souls and Belief in Immortality among the Greeks'', 1925.
* William Smith (lexicographer), Smith, William, ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', 1870
Ancientlibrary.com
William Smith, ''Dictionary'': "Zeus

* Strabo, Geographica, ''Geography'', Editors, H.C. Hamilton, Esq., W. Falconer, M.A., London. George Bell & Sons. 1903
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library

External links

stories of Zeus in myth

summary, stories, classical art

cult and statues

from ''National Geographic''

{{Authority control

Zeus,
Deities in the Iliad
Jovian deities
Justice gods
Kings in Greek mythology
Mythological rapists
Oracular gods
Shapeshifting
Sky and weather gods
Thunder gods
Metamorphoses characters