For other uses, see Zeus (disambiguation). Statue of Zeus Phidias created the 12-m (40-ft) tall statue of Zeus at Olympia about 435 BCE. The statue was perhaps the most famous sculpture in ancient Greece, imagined here in a 16th-century engraving. Zeus (Greek: nominative Ζεύς, Zeús accusative Δíᾰ, Día, genitive Δíος, Díos) is the leader of the gods, ruler of Mount Olympus, and god of the sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His attributes included thunder and the lightningbolt, the scepter, and the eagle. The son of Cronus and Rhea, he was among the youngest of his siblings Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon. He was married to Hera, although some sources seem to imply that his original wife was Dione, about whom little is known. Known for his numerous affairs and lovers, he also had pederastic relationships, such as with Ganymede. His numerous affairs resulted in many offspring, some of the more wellknown being Apollo and Artemis by Leto, Hermes by Maia, Dionysus by Semele, Perseus by Danae, Heracles by Alcmene, and the Muses by Mnemosyne; By Hera, he sired Ares, Eileithyia, Hebe and Hephaestus. According to Homer, he was the father of Aphrodite by Dione. His Roman counterpart was Jupiter, and his Etruscan counterpart was Tinia. Contents 1 Cult of Zeus 1.1 History 1.2 Role and epithets 1.3 Panhellenic cults of Zeus 1.4 Some local Zeus-cults 1.4.1 Cretan Zeus 1.4.2 Zeus Lykaios in Arcadia 1.4.3 Subterranean Zeus 1.5 Oracles of Zeus 1.5.1 The Oracle at Dodona 1.5.2 The Oracle at Siwa 1.5.3 Other oracles of Zeus 1.6 Zeus and foreign gods 2 Zeus in myth 2.1 Birth 2.2 Childhood 2.3 Zeus becomes king of the gods 2.4 Zeus and Hera 2.5 Consorts and children 2.5.1 Deific mother 2.5.2 Mortal/nymph/other mother 2.6 Zeus miscellany 2.7 The Twelve Olympians 3 Spoken-word myths - audio files 4 Notes 5 References 6 External links Cult of Zeus Bust of Zeus in the British Museum History Zeus is a continuation of *Di̯ēus the god of the sky in Indo-European religion, also called *Di̯eus ph₂tēr "Sky Father". The god is known under this name in Vedic (cf. Dyaus/Dyaus Pita), Latin (cf. Jupiter; Deus pater), and in Germanic and Norse mythology (cf. *Tīwaz > OHG Ziu, ON Týr). In the Greek and Roman mythology, the god of the sky was also the supreme god, whereas this function was filled out by Odin among the Germanic tribes. Accordingly, they did not identify Zeus/Jupiter with either Tyr or Odin, but with Thor(Þórr). Zeus is the only deity in the Olympic pantheon whose name has such a transparent Indo-European etymology [1]. In addition to his Indo-European inheritance, the classical Zeus also derives certain iconographic traits from the cultures of the ancient Near East, such as the scepter. Zeus is envisaged by Greek artists especially in two poses: standing, striding forward a thunderbolt levelled in his raised right hand and seated in majesty. Aside from forced transforming, Zeus is known to punish those who veered out of his pleasure with lightning bolts. Role and epithets Zeus played a dominant role, presiding over the Greek Olympian pantheon. He fathered many of the heroes and heroines and was featured in many of their stories. Though the Homeric "cloud gatherer" was the god of the sky and thunder like his Near-Eastern counterparts, he was also the most supreme cultural artifact; in some senses, he was the embodiment of Greek religious beliefs and the archetypal Greek deity. The epithets or titles applied to Zeus emphasized different aspects of his wide-ranging authority: Olympios emphasized Zeus's kingship over both the gods and the Panhellenic festival at Olympia. A related title was Panhellenios, ('Zeus of all the Hellenes') to whom Aeacus' famous temple on Aegina was dedicated. As Xenios, Zeus was the patron of hospitality and guests, ready to avenge any wrong done to a stranger. As Horkios, he was the keeper of oaths. Liars who were exposed were made to dedicate a statue to Zeus, often at the sanctuary of Olympia. As Agoraios, Zeus watched over business at the agora, and punished dishonest traders. Panhellenic cults of Zeus The major center at which all Greeks converged to pay honor to their chief god was Olympia. The quadrennial festival there 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 certain modes of worshipping Zeus that were shared across the Greek world. Most of the above titles, 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. On the other hand, certain cities had Zeus-cults that operated in markedly different ways. Some local Zeus-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. A few examples are listed below. Cretan Zeus On Crete, Zeus was worshipped at a number of caves at Knossos, Ida and Palaikastro. The stories of Minos and Epimenides suggest that these caves were once used for 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". 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 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 Euhemerism have not survived, but Christian patristic writers took up the suggestion with enthusiasm. Zeus Lykaios in Arcadia The title Lykaios is morphologically connected to lyke "brightness", and yet it looks a lot like lykos "wolf". This semantic ambiguity is reflected in the strange cult of Zeus Lykaios in the backwoods of Arcadia, where the god takes on both lucent and lupine features. On the one hand, he presides over Mount Lykaion ("the bright mountain") the tallest peak in Arcadia, and home to a precinct in which, allegedly, no shadows were ever cast (Pausanias 8.38). On the other hand, he is connected with Lycaon ("the wolf-man") whose ancient cannibalism was commemorated with bizarre, recurring rites. According to Plato (Republic 565d-e), a particular clan would gather on the mountain to make a sacrifice every eight 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 eight-year cycle had ended. Subterranean 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 ("kindly" or "honeyed") while other cities had Zeus Chthonios ("earthy"), Katachthonios ("under-the-earth) and Plousios ("wealth-bringing"). These deities might be represented indifferently as snakes or men in visual art. 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, and the Spartans even had a shrine to Zeus Agamemnon. 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. The Oracle at Dodona The cult of Zeus at Dodona in Epirus, where there is evidence of religious activity from the 2nd millennium BC onward, centered around 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 (Odyssey 14.326-7). 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 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 oasis of Siwa in the Western Desert of Egypt did not lie within the bounds of the Greek world before 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 Persian War. Zeus Ammon was especially favored at Sparta, where a temple to him existed by the time of the Peloponnesian War (Pausanias 3.18). After Alexander made a trek into the desert to consult the oracle at Siwa, the figure arose of a Libyan Sibyl. Other oracles of Zeus The chthonic Zeuses (or heroes) Trophonius and Amphiaraus were both said to give oracles at the cult-sites. Zeus and foreign gods Zeus was equivalent to the Roman god Jupiter (from Jovius Pater or "Father Jove") and associated in the syncretic classical imagination (see interpretatio graeca) with various other deities, such as the Egyptian Ammon and the Etruscan Tinia. He (along with Dionysus) absorbed the role of the chief Phrygian god Sabazios in the syncretic deity known in Rome as Sabazius. Zeus in myth The Chariot of Zeus, from an 1879 Stories from the Greek Tragedians by Alfred Church 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 overcome by his own son as he had overthrown his own father— an oracle that Zeus was to hear and avert. But when Zeus was about to be born, Rhea sought Uranus and 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. Childhood Rhea hid Zeus in a cave on Mount Ida in Crete. According to varying versions of the story: He was then raised by Gaia. He was raised by a goat named Amalthea, while a company of Kouretes— soldiers, or smaller gods— danced, shouted and clashed their spears against their shields so that Cronus would not hear the baby's cry. (See cornucopia.) He was raised by a nymph named Adamanthea. Since Cronus ruled over the Earth, the heavens 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. He was raised by a nymph named Cynosura. In gratitude, Zeus placed her among the stars. He was raised by Melissa, who nursed him with goats-milk Zeus becomes king of the gods After reaching manhood, Zeus forced Cronus to disgorge the other children in reverse order of swallowing: first the stone, which was set down at Pytho under the glens of Parnassus to be a sign to mortal men, the Omphalos, then the rest. In some versions, Metis gave Cronus an emetic to force him to disgorge the babies, or Zeus cut Cronus' stomach open. Then Zeus released the brothers of Cronus, the Gigantes, the Hecatonchires and the Cyclopes, from their dungeon in Tartarus (The Titans; he killed their guard, Campe. As gratitude, the Cyclopes gave him thunder and the thunderbolt, or lightning, which had previously been hidden by Gaia.) Together, Zeus and his brothers and sisters, along with the Gigantes, 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. After the battle with the Titans, Zeus shared the world with his elder brothers, Poseidon and Hades, by drawing lots: Zeus got the sky and air, Poseidon the waters, and Hades the world of the dead (the underworld). The ancient Earth, Gaia, could not be claimed; she was left to all three, each according to their capabilities, which explains why Poseidon was the "earth-shaker" (the god of earthquakes) and Hades claimed the humans that died. (See also: Penthus) 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, the monsters Typhon and Echidna. He vanquished Typhon and trapped him under a mountain, but left Echidna and her children alive as challenges for future heroes. Zeus and Hera Zeus was brother and consort of Hera. The only issue of their union was Ares, though Hera produced other offspring of her own: Hephaistos, Eileithyia, Hebe. The conquests of Zeus among nymphs and the mythic mortal progenitors of Hellenic dynasties are famous. Olympian mythography even credits him with unions with Demeter, Latona, Dione and Maia. Among the mortals: Semele, Io, Europa and Leda. (For more details, see below). Mythic anecdote renders 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 had the job of distracting Hera from his affairs by incessantly talking: when Hera discovered the deception, she cursed Echo to repeat the words of others. Consorts and children Deific mother Mother Children Ananke Adrasteia Moirae (Fates) Atropos Clotho Lachesis Demeter Persephone Dione Aphrodite Hera Ares Eileithyia Hephaestus Hebe Eos Ersa Leto Apollo Artemis Maia Hermes Metis Athena Mnemosyne Muses (Original three) Aoide Melete Mneme Muses (Later nine) Calliope Clio Erato Euterpe Melpomene Polyhymnia Terpsichore Thalia Urania Selene Ersa Nemea Pandia Thalassa Aphrodite Themis Astraea Dike Horae First Generation Auxo Carpo Thallo Second Generation Dike Eirene Eunomia Moirae (Fates) Atropos Clotho Lachesis Mortal/nymph/other mother Mother Children Aegina Aeacus Alcmene Heracles Antiope Amphion Zethus Callisto Arcas Carme Britomartis Danae Perseus Elara Tityas Electra Dardanus Iasion Europa Minos Rhadamanthys Sarpedon Eurynome Charites(Graces) Aglaea Euphrosyne Thalia Himalia Cronius Iodame Thebe Io Epaphus Lamia  ??? Leda Polydeuces (Pollux) Helen of Troy Maera Locrus Niobe Argos Pelasgus Olympias Alexander the Great Plouto Tantalus Podarge Balius Xanthus Pyrrha Hellen Semele Dionysus Taygete Lacedaemon Thalia Palici Unknown mother Litae Unknown mother Tyche Unknown mother Ate Zeus miscellany Though Zeus could be petty and malicious, he also had a righteous element, perhaps best exemplified in his aid on behalf of Atreus and his murder of Capaneus for unbridled arrogance. He was also the protector of strangers and travelers against those who might seek to victimize them. Zeus turned Pandareus to stone for stealing a bronze dog from one of his temples on Crete. Zeus killed Salmoneus with a thunderbolt for attempting to equal him, riding around on a bronze chariot and loudly imitating thunder. As a child, Zeus had a friend named Celmis. Many years later, Rhea became offended by the antics of Celmis and asked Zeus to turn him into a lump of steel or diamond. Zeus obliged. Zeus turned Periphas into an eagle after his death, as a reward for being righteous and just. At the marriage of Zeus and Hera, a nymph named Chelone was disrespectful (or refused to attend). Zeus condemned her to eternal silence. When Memnon died, Zeus felt pity for his mother, Eos, the dawn-goddess, and granted him immortality. Zeus made the decision to marry Aphrodite off to Hephaestus in order to prevent violence over her between the many gods who lusted after the goddess of beauty. Zeus, with Hera, turned King Haemus and Queen Rhodope into mountains (the Balkan mountains, or Stara Planina, and Rhodope mountains, respectively) for their vanity. Zeus exchanged a caduceus for the first flute with Hermes. Zeus (other accounts say Cybele, Hera or Aphrodite) turned Atalanta and Hippomenes (or Melanion) into lions because they had sex in one of his temples. Zeus blinded Tiresias but also gave him the gift of prophecy (though according to some versions of the story, it was actually Hera who did the blinding). Zeus punished Hera by dangling her by her toes from the sky. Of all the many, many children Zeus spawned, Hercules is often referred to as his favorite. Indeed, Hercules was often called by various gods and people as "the favorite son of Zeus". Unlike in the TV show "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys"(where Hercules resents both the title and his father for much of the shows run), Zeus and Hercules were very close and in one story, where a giant monster threatens Olympus and the Oracle at Delphi decreed that only the combined efforts of a lone god and mortal could stop the creature, Zeus chose Hercules to fight by his side. They proceeded to defeat the creature. It is generally believed among scholars that Zeus showed so much preferred treatment to Hercules because he saw so many elements of himself in Hercules, most notably in Hercules' physical power, his taste for women, his deep commitment to those closest to him, and his sense of good and just. His favorite pet was an eagle, which he kept at his side at all times. Like him, the eagle was a symbol of strength, courage, and justice. Zelus, Nike, Cratos and Bia were Zeus' retinue. The Twelve Olympians Greek name English name Description Ἀφροδίτη Aphrodite Goddess of beauty and love. Απόλλων (Apóllōn) Apollo God of the light, music, healing, prophecy, and poetry. Ἀρης Ares God of war. Ἀρτεμις Artemis Goddess of the hunt and the moon. Ἀθηνᾶ Athena Goddess of wisdom and strategy in war. Δημητηρ Demeter Goddess of agriculture. Ἡφαιστος (Hepháistos) Hephaestus God of fire and the forge. Ἥρα Hera Goddess of marriage, wife of Zeus. ʽἙρμῆς Hermes God of travel, thieves, and commerce. Messenger of the gods. Εστία Hestia Goddess of the hearth. Eventually replaced by Dionysus. Ποσειδῶν Poseidon God of the sea. Ζεύς Zeus King of the gods. Spoken-word myths - audio files Zeus Myths as told by story tellers 1. Zeus and Tantalus, (including Pelops and Poseidon episode), read by Timothy Carter Bibliography of reconstruction: Homer, Odyssey, 11.567 (7th c. BC); Pindar, Olympian Odes, 1 (476 BC); Euripides, Orestes, 12-16 (408 BC); Apollodorus, Epitomes 2: 1-9 (140 BC); Ovid, Metamorphoses, VI: 213, 458 (AD 8); Hyginus, Fables, 82: Tantalus; 83: Pelops (1st c. AD); Pausanias, Description of Greece, 2.22.3 (AD 160 - 176) 2. Zeus and Ganymede, read by Timothy Carter Bibliography of reconstruction: Homer, Iliad 5.265ff; 20.215-235 (700 BC); Anonymous, Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 202ff. (7th c. BC); Sophocles, The Colchian Women (after Athenaeus, 602) (b. 495 - d. 406 BC); Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulis (410 BC); Apollodorus, Library and Epitome iii.12.2 (140 BC); Diodorus Siculus, Histories 4.75.3 (1st c. BC); Virgil, Aeneid 5. 252 - 260 (19 BC); Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.155ff. (AD 1 - 8); Hyginus, Poetica Astronomica II.16 Eagle; II.29 Aquarius (2nd c. AD); Lucian, Dialogues of the Gods (AD 170); First Vatican Mythographer, 184 Ganymede; Second Vatican Mythographer 198 Ganymede Notes ^ Burkert (1985). Greek Religion, 321. References Burkert, Walter, (1977) 1985. Greek Religion, especially section III.ii.1 (Harvard University Press) Cook, Arthur Bernard, Zeus: A Study in Ancient Religion, (3 volume set), (1914-1925). New York, Bibilo & Tannen: 1964. ASIN B0006BMDNA Volume 1: Zeus, God of the Bright Sky, Biblo-Moser, June 1, 1964, ISBN 0819601489 (reprint) Volume 2: Zeus, God of the Dark Sky (Thunder and Lightning), Biblo-Moser, June 1, 1964, ISBN 081960156X Volume 3: Zeus, God of the Dark Sky (earthquakes, clouds, wind, dew, rain, meteorites) 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. Mitford,William, The History of Greece, 1784. Cf. v.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. [1] Nilsson, Martin P., History of Greek Religion, 1949. Rohde, Erwin, Psyche: The Cult of Souls and Belief in Immortality among the Greeks, 1925. Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, 1870, [2], article on Zeus [3] External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Zeus Pictures of the Altar of Zeus and its meaning in Scripture Carlos Parada's Greek Mythology Link The myths of Zeus and Ganymede; and Zeus and Tantalus Cult Of Zeus The Loves Of Zeus Greek deities series Primordial deities | Titans | Aquatic deities | Chthonic deities Twelve Olympians Zeus | Hera | Poseidon | Hades | Hestia | Demeter | Aphrodite Athena | Apollo | Artemis | Ares | Hephaestus | Hermes | Dionysus NOTE: Categorising a story as a myth does not necessarily imply that it is untrue. Religion and mythology differ, but have overlapping aspects. Many English speakers understand the terms "myth" and "mythology" to mean fictitious or imaginary. However, according to many dictionary definitions, these terms can also mean a traditional story or narrative that embodies the belief or beliefs of a group of people, and this Wikipedia category should be understood in this sense only. The use of these terms in this category does not imply that any story so categorized is historically true or false or that any belief so embodied is itself either true or false. Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeus" Categories: Characters in the Iliad | Mythological kings | Greek gods | Indo-European mythology | Sky and weather gods | Thunder gods | Pederastic heroes and deities | Savior gods