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Zeus: The supreme deity of the Greek pantheon |
The superior deity of the Greek pantheon. Zeus (or Dias) was the superior god of the ancient Greek, the "father of men and gods" according to Homer. He was the son of Cronus and Rhea and brother of Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Demeter and Hera. He was Hera's husband as well.
When Rhea gave birth to a baby, Cronus grabbed it and swallowed it so as to avoid an oracle to happen according to which one of his children was going to dethrone him. Rhea in order to save the last son (Zeus) she was pregnant to goes to Crete (see Theogony 459) and there in a cave of mountain Dikti or Idi she delivered the child and gave it to the Nymphs Adrasteia and Idi and to the Courites. When she returned to her heavenly husband she gave him a stone in swaddling clothes and he swallowed it without any suspicion.
The ancient writers refer to Zeus' nutrition in many different ways. According to one version on mountain Dicte of Crete Zeus drank the milk of a goat named Amaltheia. The goat Amaltheia was a dreadful animal. She came from Sun and her look was so frightening that Titans could not put up with her. That is why they had asked Gaia to hide her in a den in the island of Crete. They took Zeus there. According to many others Amaltheia was a nymph; this is more believable.
According to Athineus Zeus was raised by doves. "They brought him ambrosia from the sides of the ocean. An eagle with sharp claws took the nectar every night from the source and brought it to him through the air. This is why Zeus after beating his father Cronus gave immortality to the eagle and made him a star. As far as the doves are concerned gave them the nice duty to announce the seasons. ". According to others the care of the raise of Cronus' son was assigned to the two daughters of the king of Crete Mellitus, Adrasteia and Melissa.
The Courites danced war dances around the infant, when it cried, hitting their swords on their shields so as not the crying to be heard. They were his protectors. Zeus grew up with many precautions, hidden in the mountains of Crete. Then he had to fight with his father, Cronus, beat him and make him spit out all the children he had swallowed so far. As many were saying Zeus castrated Cronus, like Cronus had castrated his own father, Uranus. Then he released the Cyclops who made lighting for him and later the Hecatonchires. Having become strong with them and even more with Ocean's daughter, Styga, and her children, Violence and Cratos, Zelus and Victory, Zeus fought for ten whole years the Titans, the older "gods", who did not accept him as the leader. And when he threw them in Tartars, was in the need to fight the sons of Iapetus, Atlas and Menoetius, Prometheus and Epimetheus. Then he sentenced Atlas to hold forever the dome and nailed Prometheus in Caucasus. And when the Giants came to take revenge for what happened to the Titans he beat them as well with the help of Poseidon, Athena and Hercules. In the end, he fought with Typhoon, and unbeatable monster, offspring of Tartarus and Earth or Hera. At that time Zeus was in great danger because Typhoon rolled himself with his tails around Zeus' body, cut his neurons and threw him half dead in a precipice. Then winged Hermes helped him stealing the nerves and giving them to Zeus, and Aegipanas stitched them again for him. So Zeus could feel his strength back again and discipline Typhoon.
As a recognized chief Zeus shared the world with his brothers. At the sharing Poseidon got the sea, Hades the underworld and Zeus got the shy and earth. So Zeus became the superior governor and restituted peace in the world, which he governed from the peaks of Olympus. But even then Zeus had problems. He coped with a conspiracy of Hera (his wife), Poseidon and Athena inside his own palace. He avoided being dethroned only with Thetis' action that brought from the depth of the ocean as a supporter of Zeus giant Briareus, respected by everyone. This conspiracy of the palace against Zeus was not the only hostile action of Hera, since according to some variations of the myths Hera had prompted the Titans against Zeus preferring as king of the gods Cronus or Atlas. She even had given birth to Typhoon to Destroy Zeus.
Myths attributed to Zeus many romances with goddesses and mortal women that usually caused Hera's criminal jealousy. According to these Zeus changed into animals, birds, rain, etc., and had intercourse with the ones he fell in love with. So he gave birth to numerous gods, demigods and heroes. That's why most king generations of ancestry were proud of coming from him. His symbols of reign were the lightning, eagle, oak tree and mace. He was worshiped everywhere in Greece. But he was particularly worshiped in Athens, where was build the famous Olympion was built, in Olympia, where the Olympic Games were held on his honor, in Dodona, in Crete, in Ithomi, etc. The Romans called him Jupiter and thought of him above all other Italian gods. Some adjectives attributed to him were stygious (infernal), pluvius (rainy), uvidus (vigorous) and other.
In art, that inspired a lot, he was usually pictured sitting on his throne holding the lightning. Two of his most famous ancient statues were "Olympius Zeus" by Phidias and "Ithomates Zeus" by Ageladus.
Historic analysis - Comments
Zeus as a son of Titan Cronus and Rhea came form the Titans. Although his parents lived according to the Greek mythology somewhere in the ocean, in the island of Makaron, it was necessary that Rhea delivered him in Crete where he was raised by nymphs Adrasteia and Idi or according to others nymph Amaltheia. The Courites protected him with their weapons (swords and shields). But on the mountain where he lived he ate among other things ambrosia or drank nectar. Ambrosia during ancestry was the food of gods and nectar (that came from ambrosia) was their drink. An eagle or dove brought him every night ambrosia and nectar from a source in the sides of the ocean through the air. Could this eagle or dove be a flying device that traveled every night to the island of Makaron (see Atlantis) to bring to the baby food and other supplies that did not exist in Crete? Besides, let's not forget that the newborn Zeus was a "god", that is his blood was royal and his mother raised him to be a king. Zeus after dethroning his father released his brothers from prison ("Cronus ate his children" the myths say "but being gods they were alive"). To establish his reign he had to fight the other Titans in a fratricide, terrible battle of the Titans (Titanomachy). After beating the Titans the new "gods" were suddenly attacked by the Giants who doubted their reign. A new circle of terrible war started, Gigantomachy, in which the new "gods" won again.
Greek mythology says that Zeus built his palace and governed from the top of Olympus (Thessaly) although he grew up in Crete. Despite the fact that he came from the generation of the Titans who lived in the ocean and his father and grandfather (Uranus) governed the world from their palace in the islands of Eden of Makaron, he chose the top of a mountain (not a mountain of Crete where he grew up but a mountain in Thessaly) to live and govern along with the other gods.
This is a real change of the home of the Kingdom of gods, registered in myths. Or did the ancient Greeks or Pregreeks later adjusted myths according to their tradition having them live in their own village? Or is it that the Atlantians who survived the great cataclysm, Deucalion (nephew of Atlas) and his family who survived the destruction of Thessaly moved there his worship (the fact that Deucalion became the king of Thessaly matches this version). All these are under investigation.
However, whichever of the three is true, myths admit that Zeus, although he reigned from Olympus, he contacted his friends the Giants, Cyclops or Titans who lived in the ocean and helped him (for instance Giant Vriires came from the ocean to help him cope with Hera's coup.
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