(g.) Zeus
(l.) Jupiter, Ju "sky" + piter/pater "father"
Dios, Di "bright"
Imported sky-god with the the migration of patriarchal Indo -European cultures
Domain:
Dodona, sanctuary worshipped of Dios and Dione (not Hera). Zeus' oracle interpreted the rustling
of oak tree leaves, burnt offerings, and the cooing of doves to prophecy.
Peloponnesus, worshipped at the Temple of Zeus in Olympia (Est. 5th c BC), the original site of
the a sanctuary and temple complex that was the original site of the Olympic games in 776 BCE.
Genealogy: Cronus + Rhea. Husband of Hera, cuckold of many - mortal and immortal.
Claim to Fame: God of all, weather, storms, oaths, xenia ("guest/host relationship"), suppliants.
Iconography: Eagle, sceptre, crown, aegis
Literature: Hesiod's Theogony
Myth
I. Birth: Cronus swallowed each of his six children of Cronus and Rhea (Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, Zeus), paranoid that the prophecy of Uranus would continue. Rhea and Zeus conspire and substitute a swaddled stone when Zeus is "born" (came to be known as the omphalus, "navel"). While Cronus continues to rule unaware, Zeus is reared in Crete on Mt. Dicte by Amalthea ("goat") and Melissa ("bee"). His cries are hidden from Cronus by the clamouring of the Curetes ("young men"), devotees of the Mother Goddess who wield cymbals and drums. He subsists on the bounty of nature, a cornucopia ("horn of plenty"), until he is of age to overthrow his father.Zeus symbolizes a fusion of Minoan and Mycenaean Cultures in that he integrates the existing earth religions with the dominant iIndo-European belief system. With his import follow a series of myths that replace indigenous social beliefs of matriarchy, polygamy, and transpomorphism, with patriarchy, monogamy, and anthropomorphism.
II. Coming of Age: Zeus returns to Mt. Othrys and rescues his siblings (and the omphalus) from his father Cronus, then seeks to establish his new rule.
- Titanomachy: The Olympians, Themis (and her son Prometheus), the Cyclopes, and 100-handers,
of Mt. Olympus, engage the Titans in a 10 year battle that results in their defeat. They are
locked away in Tartarus for their misdeeds. Atlas (titan) is punished for his misalliance by the
penalty of having to physically separate earth and sky, preventing the procreation of any more
earthy beasts.
- Gigantomachy: The Gegeneis ("earth born", "giants"), born from the spilled blood of Uranus, sent
by the titans, and are defeated handily by the Olympians with the help of Heracles.
- Typhonomachy: Zeus battles Typhon (a.k.a. Typhoeus, Typhaon, son of Gaia and Tartarus), a
snaky, fire breathing, 100 head (subsequently 100 voices), that set the world aflame. He is
defeated with some difficulty and is hurled beneath Mt. Etna to Tartarus.
With his nemesis' defeated, Zeus attains the throne on Mt. Olympus and ascends his new rule.
III. Affairs:
- Metis ("wisdom"), swallowed by Zeus = Athena
- Mnemosyne (titan, "memory") = Muses, the patron Goddesses of the Arts
- Themis ("law") = 3 Fates: Clotho ("spinner"), Lachesis ("apportioner"), Atropos ("inflexible")
= 3 Horae: Eunomia ("good order"), Dike ("justice"), Eirene ("peace")
- Eurynome ("wide dominion") = 3 Charites/Gratiae ("Graces"), associated with Aphrodite
... And much, much more.
IV. Zeus and Lycaon: Disguised as a mortal to calibrate the moral fibre of mankind, Zeus feasted at the castle of Lycaon, King of Arcadia. To test his divinity, Lycaon serves Zeus human flesh, which evokes the wrath of Zeus to destroy all of mankind. Lycaon is transformed into a wolf (Lykos "wolf"), and Zeus threatens to ignite the world. The Gods, fearful of their own annihilation, suggest he flood the earth instead, of which only the two mortals Deucalon (son of Prometheus) and Pyrrha (daughter of Epimetheus) are the sole survivors.
Wracked with guilt, Zeus looks to repopulate the earth. The couple visit the Oracle of Themis, who order them to cover their head, loosen garments, and "toss the bones of the earth over their shoulder". Wily Deucalon reasons that stones are the bones of the earth, so he and Pyrrha obey and form the iron age(his becomes man, hers become women).
The couple has a son, Hellen, who is the eponymous founder of the Hellenes (Greeks).
