Zeus Essay

Zeus is the God of the sky, lightening, order law, and justice. He was the youngest son of Kronos and Rhea, and rose to power and became the ruler of all the Gods on Mount Olympus. Since Zeus was the most powerful God on Mount Olympus he had many different partners, which resulted in many different kids. Leto is the kid to the Titans Coues and Pheobe, she grew up to be the Goddess of Motherhood for the Titans. Leto lived on Mount Olympus where she met Zeus and they ended up falling in love.

Once Zeus was fully grown he returned to his father’s realm and with the help of his mother, hoodwinked Cronus to drink an emetic that made him disgorge his children (Leadbetter). It was these children: Hades, Poseidon, Hestia, Hera and Demeter who helped Zeus wage the Titan war against Cronus. The women titans refused to help Cronus defeat the Olympians and even a few male titans helped aid the Olympians. After ten years of battles, the Olympians were able to banish the Titans into the Underworld (Titanomachy). It was after this war that Zeus seized the throne and divided the sky, the underworld, and the sea amongst him and his brothers. (Hades: the underworld, Poseidon: the sea, and Zeus: the sky.)

Beginning around 700 B.C., stories by Homer and other Greek poets told of the lives of powerful gods who involved themselves in human affairs. Supreme among these gods was Zeus, but to the Romans he was known as Jupiter. Zeus was the supreme god and ruler of Olympus. He was known by many titles: Lord of the Sky, the Cloud- gatherer, the Rain-god, and Zeus the Thunderer. All of which are the most popular names dating back to ancient Greek history and mythology.

her to give him the baby so he could swallow it. She hid Zeus in a

In ancient Greek Myths, the description of Zeus’ character can range from a heroic leader to that of a vile dictator, depending on the author’s intention. This contrast is especially noteworthy when comparing Hesiod’s Theogony with Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound, as Zeus is presented as the world’s protector in the former, while he is portrayed as selfish and ruthless in Aeschylus’ tale.

Even though it is easier to determine the god’s character traits through his actions and statements, there are countless examples of hidden praise in the story. Many references to the god, presenting great, well-known individuals as “children of Zeus”, lead the reader to associate power with Zeus. One of the first gods praised by the Muses is Zeus. They declare him the “most excellent among gods and supreme in power” (Hesiod quoted by Evelyn-White, Hugh G., Theogony 2004: 36-52). Although they move on to acclaim other deities, Zeus’ importance is still evident, as they “gladden the heart of Zeus” with every new

Greek mythology has been passed on and retold over generations. Literature and movies have been created to entertain as well as provide specific themes based off of myths. There are many heroes that mythology talks about and each one has lived an epic life, but there is one famous hero that has been immortalized throughout history. Hercules is the son of Zeus and a mortal named Alcmene. Zeus impregnated her while her husband was away and this is where his story began. Zeus' wife, Hera, found out about the affair and was outrageous about his careless actions. She tried to prevent Hercules' birth; however, when that didn't work she sent snakes to kill the baby. Hercules was too mighty for the snakes and strangled them before they could even hurt him. As stated in this source, "Hera remained angry. How could she get even? Hera knew that she would lose in a fight, and that she wasn't powerful enough to prevent Zeus from having his way. Hera decided to pay Zeus back for his infidelity by making the rest of Hercules' life as miserable as she could" (Crane WEB). Hercules grew up to be a great young warrior and was all around. With this god-like strength, also came an uncontrollable temper that made him react at times without thinking, but later made him realize the wrongdoings of his violence. He later then married a woman named Megara and had two beautiful children. But one day, Hera instilled a fit of rage into Hercules and made him slaughter his family with his very own hands. He was shocked by his actions and asked Apollo for assistance since he was drowning in guilt. Apollo later then gave him specific tasks to help Hercules redeem himself for the bloodshed he caused. The hero was sent to Eurystheus, and under his strict hand, he was to accomplish twelve labors over the next twelve years.

Zeus was not faithful; Hera had a belligerence toward Zeus. She started a revolt against him and planned to kill him. She thought that she could strap him under a tree with some ropes and whip him. It seemed like the plan would work but it only became total chaos. Zeus came back, and punished Hera in a portentous way by hanging her and whipping her. He made her promise not to harm him again.

Zeus was birthed by the Titans Cronus, the god of time, and Rhea, the goddess of female fertility. He was the youngest of six siblings, which were all consumed by his father, who out of his fear of one of his children overthrowing him, “swallowed every child Rhea…[had given] birth to” (Gods, 2017). He was able to grow up without his father devouring him since his mother and Gaia had tricked Cronus into believing

Zeus is the highest form of power among the gods, the ruler of both mortals and immortals. Through The Iliad, Zeus thinks he is in charge, but he is afraid of prophecies and fate. In the backstory of The Iliad, most know that Zeus wanted to have sex with Thetis, but he was afraid that the child they would bear together would be stronger than himself, as the prophecy stated ‘the first son of Thetis will be stronger than his father’. Dictated by his fate, Zeus refrained from having sex with her and married her off to another man so they would have a child together. Zeus is constantly expression that he is afraid of being undermined, but he is also to arrogant at points to admit that he’s not as powerful as he portrays himself. He’s fearful that someone will uncover his weaknesses and not respect him. By the start of The Iliad, Zeus is still afraid of people viewing him negatively, mortals and gods alike.

The manner in which Hesiod presents Zeus’s thoughts regarding his interaction with Prometheus help to provide us with a better understanding of Zeus’s characteristics. Lines 530-531 of Theogony, which describe the eventual freedom of Prometheus, stipulate that this came “not without the will of Zeus,” enhancing the efficacy of Zeus’s ultimate power. Hesiod had previously mentioned Zeus’s intelligence, but he delves more deeply into this attribute in examining the conflict at Mekone between Zeus and Prometheus. “Zeus, eternally wise, recognized the fraud and began to rumble in his heart trouble for mortals, and it would be fulfilled.” (Hesiod 552-55). Here, Hesiod’s audience begins to understand Zeus as an extremely wise, but vengeful god, an image which agrees with Homer’s Iliadic Zeus, and all other accounts of the god in ancient Greek literature. Hesiod goes on, however, to extend

Zeus was birthed by the Titans Cronus, the god of time, and Rhea, the goddess of female fertility. He was the youngest of six siblings, which were all consumed by his father, who out of his fear of one of his children overthrowing him, “swallowed every child Rhea…[had given] birth to” (Gods, 2017). He was able to grow up without his father devouring him since his mother and Gaia had tricked Cronus into

Zeus can be compared to Superman in the sense that he is powerful, he protects the weak, and punishes the wicked. He is a human-like god in a sense he commits adultery, and is often to his wife Hera. The real life ideals represented by Zeus’s role, is one of a just and powerful character that gets justice against those that are bad and by protecting the good and weak. For Zeus being the god over all the Olympian gods it is quite easy to be powerful and just. In real life instance the justice system is the one to execute injustice through the law, the police and court system. This enables the victims that a sense of justice has been served.

The mythological character and God, Zeus, is portrayed in many ways, by many different people. Hesiod describes Zeus as being relentless in his fury. When he gets mad he unleashes all of his power. If his brother Hades wasn’t in charge of the Underworld, he’d make all of Hell break loose. For example, in Hesiod’s Theogony, which is about when Zeus defeated his father, Cronus, he says, “Then Zeus did not hold back any longer, but now immediately his heart was filled with strength and he showed clearly all his force.” (Morford and Lenardon 85) He tends to treat others, mortals and immortals, very unfairly. Two mortals could do the same exact type of sacrilege towards him, and depending on how he felt that day, he would take two very different approaches to how he would treat them. He also doesn’t take any threats towards him very lightly at all. If anyone ever threatens him, he normally punishes them very severely, if he doesn’t destroy them completely. Hesiod’s approach to Zeus’ behavior is overdramatic, and makes it seem more extreme than it probably would’ve been.

Zeus was known for a number of things, but his love affairs was one of the numerous things he was famous for. Zeus was the king of all the gods, he was known for the god of the skies, weather, fate and laws. Out of all of his lovers he had over the years, his first was known as Aphrodite. She was the goddess of beauty and was followed by Zeus when she first emerged from the great sea, but she managed to escape him. It did not take much time for Zeus’ wife Hera to realize that their marriage was falling into the deep end. Zeus had a deep lust which then made Hera’s jealousy fester. (Summary 1).