Zeus

The character of Zeus may seem to be one dimensional as simply just the king of the gods. However he is a much more complex deity. The simple description of Zeus in the Homeric Hymns shows just how basically he was portrayed:

‘It is Zeus whom I shall sing, The most powerful and the greatest of the Gods, All seeing, mighty, who in all things accomplishes his will. Oft-times he converses with Thetis by his side. Be gracious to u, o all-seeing son of Kronos, O most glorious and most great one!’[1]

Zeus earned his place as the supreme ruler of the gods and therefore is the most famous and widely known of the Ancient Greek gods. The story of how he did this was told by Hesiod in the ‘Theogony’. This tells the story of the mating of the goddess Gaia (earth) with Uranus (heavens) and the castration of Uranus by their son Cronos. From the severed genitals of Uranus came Aphrodite goddess of Love. To the ancient Greeks this story was a matter of faith and helped explain how and why the world works as it does. This came to be known as the origins of Greek mythology. The story continues with the freeing of his siblings from Gaia’s womb and these were known as the Titans. Cronos married Rhea but did not want children and ate every baby that was born due to his fear of being overthrown by them. Rhea hid one baby Zeus before he could be killed by his father. The image depicts Rhea presenting a rock wrapped in a blanket disguised as their baby Zeus in order to trick Cronos into swallowing it. When Zeus had grown up he returned and killed his father cutting open his stomach.

All of the children emerged from Cronos and this was the birth of the Olympian Gods. This theme of conflict between father and son was one that was very apparent in the lives of the Greeks. This is due to the close family life style many of them lead with a great concern over succession and the father and son fighting over power.

This resulted in Zeus being very popular when it came to being worshipped. Due to Zeus’ omnipotence he generally presided over all of Greece and was rarely the patron of specific cities. Zeus was mainly worshipped for as said by Jennifer Larson “being father of the gods and men”, but his main cults were about upholding; authority, standards of behaviour and family values. However these are just some of the cults that praised Zeus.

Zeus was seen as not only being the ruler of the weather but as the weather itself. Zeus’ true form was the lightning bolt which was given to him by the Cyclopes after the defeat of the Titans as a symbol of victory. I feel this is a fitting symbol for Zeus as it is the most spectacular of all types of weather. It is something that should be feared and if it is not respected (being out in a thunderstorm) it can strike you at any moment just like Zeus.

The ancient Greeks interpreted the apparent formation of clouds on mountain tops as the work of Zeus. One of the many examples in Greek literature linking Zeus to mountains and his famous thunderbolt can be found in Homer's Iliad. ‘As when from the high peak of a great mountain lightening gatherer Zeus stirs a dense cloud’.[2] The place closest to the heavens was therefore seen as a fitting place to worship him from. An example of sacrifices that occurred on mountain tops are the cult of Zeus Hellanious or Panhellenious in Aigina, where the pious King Aiakos sacrificed to Zeus on the highest peak known as Oros and ended a drought that threatened all of Greece.

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[1] Homeric Hymn 23: To the Son of Kronos, Most High

[2] Iliad 16.297-299