The Beginnings Loves of Zeus - CliffsNotes However, the deed was done. However, in making their gods humanly comprehensible they tended to trivialize them as well, depriving them of some of their original power and mystery. As an adolescent, he may have issues with authority figures. Check out Tutorbase! A Zeus father wants to found a dynasty as part of his personal vision. Voted up, awesome, and interesting :). The other members of the pantheon resided there with Zeus and were subject to his will. So if you want to sound like a literary expert when someone asks you a question about mythology and you just break out a few lines by Tennyson or Lord Byron, this is the book for you! For example, in Athens, Zeus was also the god of farming and the harvestand in Crete, Zeus was god of the sun! His predominance in the Olympian pantheon is largely asserted by the fact that he fathered seven of the major gods. Need more help with this topic? Each of them has their own unique story as to why . They were constantly bickering with one another, seemingly incapable of getting along. 15 Great Facts about Zeus in Greek Mythology If youre not familiar with Greek gods at all, this is the perfect place to start your mythological journey into the world of Olympus. In previous sections we have seen Zeus's power as king of the gods and a dispenser of justice to men, but here we see him as a procreator. But Hera knew it was Io, so she put her under guard. It is tempting to say that his primary occupation is that of seducer. On occasion their mothers were notable for something besides merely attracting Zeus with their beauty. suziecat7 from Asheville, NC on May 29, 2011: Excellent Hub. How did she give birth to the person who was responsible for the birth of the person who inspired her to give birth, you ask? However, polygamy was foreign to the Greeks and unacceptable, so they had to make him promiscuous. Ida (where Paris of Troy was later a shepherd and where Zeus had been raised in safety from his father), Zeus paid Ganymede's father with immortal horses. He does not take other people all that seriously. Fooled, Hera took the bird to her bosom to comfort it. The root of both "Zeus" and "Jupiter" is in a proto-Indo-European word for the often personified concepts of "day/light/sky". . The battled raged for 10 years, but finally Zeus and his siblings won out. Fire inside. She really did have a terrible husband who fathered children with every maiden, goddess, and nymph that crossed his path. Thats where knowing how to find and understand literary elements comes in. In some accounts, he was said to be the son of Zeus and Hera; in others, he was the son of Hera alone, conceived in order to get back at Zeus for bringing forth Athena. His wrath was so feared that even the Gods have to be wary around him. Dr. Bolen is a Jungian analyst who found that the study of Greek Gods in Mythology was helping her patients by showing her which god's or goddess's traits were needed to cultivate to help them to get well. According to mythology, Zeus wanted his son Hercules to drink some of Hera's milk. He is in his element at fancy restaurants or cigar bars where real men eat lunch, play golf or go hunting together, as membership in exclusive places are bastions of power that serve his purposes. He frequently shows up as an eagle, as when he abductedGanymede,or a bull. Zeus, Archetype of the Sky, Power, and Supremacy - Owlcation Heras birth rank was equal to Zeuss, as she was a daughter of Rhea and Cronus. Unfortunately for them, Zeuss loyal friend Briareus (a Titan who Zeus had feed from Tartarus), rescued Zeus easily. His choice of partners reflects this lack, and as he grows older, his partners may get younger and younger, a classic example of an aging man who carries on with a series of young, compliant girls. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Gill, N.S. SAT is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination BoardTM. Because so many statues of Zeus have survived, we know quite accurately what the ancient Greeks thought he looked like: very tall and muscular, with long curly hair and big, bushy beard. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/fast-facts-about-zeus-116579. The Roman name for Zeus is Jupiter and sometimes Jove. These retellings are just a taste of all the many, many myths of Zeus! An excellent question! Europa was a Princess of Sidon, whose beauty Zeus had spied from Mount Olympusso he decided to seduce her. In the story of the Trojan War, Zeus, as a judge, listens to the claims of other gods in support of their side. And his two legitimate daughters were almost nonentities. He is a baby who shows a strong will right from the beginning. He's also often depicted with the three-headed dog, Cerberus. She is known for being the Goddess of Marriage & Birth. Zeus on Facebook. Their children, the Titans (Prometheus who gave fire to man is probably . credit for rescuing his brothers and sisters from their father and titan Cronus, Zeus became king of heaven and gave his brothers, Poseidon and Hades, the sea and the underworld, respectively, for their domains. Previous Zeuss tendency to live in his head forces him to cut off his bodily experiences or his sensual self. If you want it to be more dramatic and one of you can draw well, it could still be a heavy rain with thunderbolts, but show that it's not killing the plants, make them look healthy. Zeus and his now-regurgitated siblings then waged war on Cronus and eventually overthrew the Titans and imprisoned them for eternity in Tartarus, a place of eternal suffering and torment. In Orphic legend (i.e., based on the stories of Orpheus ), Dionysusunder the name Zagreus was the son of Zeus by his daughter Persephone. 358 followers 358 connections. Zeus took the sky to rule, Poseidon received the sea, and Hades got the underworld. Now, without further ado, here are six more mythological stories about Zeus. Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here: PrepScholar 2013-2018. The titan had tricked Zeus into taking the non-meat portion of the original sacrifice so that mankind could enjoy the food. It explains the distant generation of Fathers my parents, and people my age, to a lesser degree, grew up with. Zeus is a sky god with control over weather, especially of rain and lightning. It was also decreed that earth, and Olympus in particular, would be common to all three. Zeuss son Ares was rejected by his father, which had a big psychological affect on him all his life. Ixionas, abusing the hospitality which Zeus offered him, tried to reach Hera with erotic mood. The Beginnings Prometheus and Man, and The Five Ages of Man and the Flood, Next He is king on Mount Olympus, the home of the Greek gods. Zeus fathers try to mold their children into what they want them to be. He may help his children to get ahead in the world. He is realistic, confident, and does not take things personally. Thats why we recommend this book for people who are already familiar with the myths. He gave Athena symbols of his power, and settled a dispute between Apollo and Hermes when Hermes stole cows from his elder half-brother, and they once again became friends. Prometheus, who happened to be Deucalions father, had convinced him to build and ark and ride out the storm. He has made it to the top if he is welcome in the company of other men who have reached this pinnacle of success. Zeus is a sky god with control over weather, especially of rain and lightning. Athena was probably a pre-Hellenic goddess and was later taken over by the Greeks. Ganymede had been a mortal prince of Troy when his great beauty caught the eye of Jupiter/Zeus. Zeuss siblings (Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon) became the first gods of the Greek Pantheon. Prometheus pointed out that her sufferings were far from over, but that after long journeying she would reach the Nile, be changed back into human shape, give birth to Epaphus, the son of Zeus, and receive many honors. He may come out of this period more humbled, and reconstruct or try to live his life differently now. After deposing Cronus, Zeus and his brothers drew lots to see which portion of the world would be ruled by each. According to the Greek poet Homer, heaven was located on the summit of Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece and the logical home for a weather god. Zeus thinks vulnerability or a show of emotions is stupid and weak. After many sacrifices, Zeus relented and told them, through the goddess Themis (goddess of justice) to throw the bones of their mothers over their shoulders. Zeus was a very powerful God, so powerful in fact that he alone . After all, how could humans possibly live free of strife and conflict if the very gods who pulled the puppet strings were themselves constantly fighting? And one was a monster of depravity: Tantalus, who served up his son Pelops as food to the gods. Poseidon Facts and Information on Greek God Poseidon Knowing that he was to be overpowered by his own son, Kronos swallowed each of them at birth. Report this profile . But his perceptions of his children often are not accurate, and his values and prejudices carry a lot of weight to them. He is a pragmatist, he understands the world, and can assess how he fits into a situation. Gill is a Latinist, writer, and teacher of ancient history and Latin. Cyllene was reputed to be . He ruled as king on Mount Olympus, which is the highest point in Greece. That potion made Cronus vomit up all his children! Eventually Zeus sent his son Hermes to deliver lo from Argus, which was very difficult because Argus never slept. This article was most recently revised and updated by, From Athena to Zeus: Basics of Greek Mythology, Ancient Origins - The unshakeable power of Zeus, prime mover of ancient Greek deities, Zeus - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Zeus - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), Europa being abducted by Zeus disguised as a bull. In Greek mythology, Ganymede was made immortal when Zeus took him to Mt. Infectious. Galileo discovered the bright moon of Jupiter which we know of as Ganymede. Zeus then was attracted by his sister Demeter, who resisted him. Before Zeus was born, it was prophesied that he would be the most powerful of all gods. As youll see in the myths below, Zeus pursued every woman he found attractiveeven though he was married!and often ruined their lives in the process. While he slept, the gods tied him to a chair with a hundred knots and took his lightning bolt from him. Then she discusses each Son, what his personality was like, and how his "upbringing" in the myths shaped who he became. The first was Metis (Wisdom), whom Zeus swallowed just before she gave birth to Athena because he knew that her second child would dethrone him. Now maybe he can relax and enjoy his life more. Poseidon was god of the sea, earthquakes, storms, and horses and is considered one of the most bad-tempered, moody and greedy Olympian gods. Zeus does favors for people, but a time comes when he calls in a favor. Some may recall this archetype from The Godfather trilogy or the Sopranos TV show. When he impregnated Leda, he appeared as a swan; When he abducted Ganymede, he appeared as an eagle in order to take Ganymede to the home of the gods where he would replace Hebe as cupbearer; and, when Zeus carried off Europa, he appeared as a tempting white bullalthough why the Mediterranean women were so enamored of bulls is beyond the imaginative capacities of this urban-dwellersetting in motion the quest of. Jean Bakula (author) from New Jersey on July 21, 2011: Thank you for taking the time to read about Zeus. And from her descendants would come Heracles, the man who would set Prometheus free. A "Zeus" is always looking for what he wants or needs to acquire. He didn't do anything that wasn't expected of a Greek man of that era and provided men with the justice they deserve. His liaison with Metis, of course, produced the warrior goddess of wisdom and courage, Athena. Nine days later she gave birth to Apollo, the god of light and inspiration, on the island of Delos.