The Similarities And Differences Between The 8th And 7th Century Bce

Even though he didn’t grow up around his father, Cronos, Zeus inherited a lot of the same instincts and anxiety. As generations continued, Zeus had learned from mistakes of the previous generations. Therefore, he began to get smarter with his power. When Gaia told her grandson Zeus of this mischievous plan he was eager to do it in order for history not to repeat itself. Zeus believed that if Metis, his wife gave birth, his offspring would be “first the gray-eyed girl, Tritogeneia, equal to her father in strength and wisdom, but then a son with an arrogant heart who would one day be king of gods and men, but Zeus stuffed the goddess into his stomach first so she would devise with him good and evil” (156). Zeus had heard about all the misfortunes of wives deceiving their husbands and children overthrowing their fathers and decided if he stopped a plan before it even got a chance to begin then he wouldn’t have to worry about being

In greek culture the gods started with a war, which led to a very impact full fall, the fall of Kronos. Kronos is the king of the titans, but every king has his downfall. The king had to have his queen and Kronos's queen was his downfall. The queen didn’t stop trying for children and every time she gave birth, the child was swallowed by their father. That is until Zeus came along.

To fully understand the poems; Metamorphoses and Theogony, one needs to understand more about the writers. Hesiod was a greek poet, who lived around 700BC, and was inspired by muses to write epic poetry. Theogony is considered one of earliest works and concerns itself with the cosmogony, or the origins of the world and theogony, or the gods, and pays specific detail to genealogy (West, 1996: 521). Ovid, on the other hand, was a Roman poet, born in 43 BC – the year after the assassination of Julius Caesar and lived during Augustus’s reign. It’s said that his father took him to Rome to become educated in the ways of

Once Zeus was fully grown he returned to his father’s realm and with the help of his mother, hoodwinked Cronus to drink an emetic that made him disgorge his children (Leadbetter). It was these children: Hades, Poseidon, Hestia, Hera and Demeter who helped Zeus wage the Titan war against Cronus. The women titans refused to help Cronus defeat the Olympians and even a few male titans helped aid the Olympians. After ten years of battles, the Olympians were able to banish the Titans into the Underworld (Titanomachy). It was after this war that Zeus seized the throne and divided the sky, the underworld, and the sea amongst him and his brothers. (Hades: the underworld, Poseidon: the sea, and Zeus: the sky.)

Zeus was the child of the Titans, Cronus and Rhea, and was the youngest of all his siblings. Cronus , Zeus’ father, had been warned that one of his children would overthrow him. Cronus knew the consequences, for he had overthrown his father, Uranus. To prevent this from

her to give him the baby so he could swallow it. She hid Zeus in a

Hesiod’s gods lost their carelessness and gaiety of the Homeric gods, became the moral forces, severe guardians of order and justice, born of Zeus. The role of gods according to Hesiod belongs not only the Olympian gods with human form, like Zeus or Apollo, but the Earth, Sky, Star, Wind, Fight, Lies, Victory, Wisdom, violence, etc. Zeus as for Hesiod is not just carrier of the power, as Uranus and Kronus, but also the embodiment of a long-awaited order, keeper and guardian of ethics. The desire to have a better life and a constant feeling of dissatisfaction are natural for people, and the gods tend, on the contrary, to complicate people’s lives and create new difficulties. Thus, the Hesiod’s style of poetry is close to Homer’s one, but because of the general didactic orientation Hesiod’s poetry is almost out of bright Homeric metaphors, similes and epithets.

In ancient Greek Myths, the description of Zeus’ character can range from a heroic leader to that of a vile dictator, depending on the author’s intention. This contrast is especially noteworthy when comparing Hesiod’s Theogony with Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound, as Zeus is presented as the world’s protector in the former, while he is portrayed as selfish and ruthless in Aeschylus’ tale.

The Theogony is one of the most well-known sources of ancient Greek Mythology. It was written around 700 BC and delineates the emergence of the universe as well as the gods’ births and origins. Hesiod begins and ends the poem with a reference to the Heliconian Muses, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, goddesses of the arts as well as proclaimers of heroes and gods. In the beginning of the poem, Hesiod discloses that by order of the Muses he has to begin and end his stories of the gods with a reference to them (Hesiod quoted by Evelyn-White, Hugh G., Theogony 2004: 29-35).

Zeus was birthed by the Titans Cronus, the god of time, and Rhea, the goddess of female fertility. He was the youngest of six siblings, which were all consumed by his father, who out of his fear of one of his children overthrowing him, “swallowed every child Rhea…[had given] birth to” (Gods, 2017). He was able to grow up without his father devouring him since his mother and Gaia had tricked Cronus into believing

However, Uranus was afraid that Cronus might overpower him and one day obtain all his power. Knowing this Uranus purposely tried to kill Cronus in multiply occasions, but Gaea would always protect him. One day Gaea and Cronus made a plan to have Cronus challenge Uranus and take over his power. So it happened, Cronnus challenged his father and was victorious during their battle and Uranus was left to rot (Bernard 1) "Now Cronus had become king of gods by killing his father Uranus” (Bernard 3). In both Greek and Roman Mythology, the relationship between parents and children are distorted, strained, and bizarrely transformed, because of their greediness for power and obsessiveness to be better than the other.

The manner in which Hesiod presents Zeus’s thoughts regarding his interaction with Prometheus help to provide us with a better understanding of Zeus’s characteristics. Lines 530-531 of Theogony, which describe the eventual freedom of Prometheus, stipulate that this came “not without the will of Zeus,” enhancing the efficacy of Zeus’s ultimate power. Hesiod had previously mentioned Zeus’s intelligence, but he delves more deeply into this attribute in examining the conflict at Mekone between Zeus and Prometheus. “Zeus, eternally wise, recognized the fraud and began to rumble in his heart trouble for mortals, and it would be fulfilled.” (Hesiod 552-55). Here, Hesiod’s audience begins to understand Zeus as an extremely wise, but vengeful god, an image which agrees with Homer’s Iliadic Zeus, and all other accounts of the god in ancient Greek literature. Hesiod goes on, however, to extend

The mythological character and God, Zeus, is portrayed in many ways, by many different people. Hesiod describes Zeus as being relentless in his fury. When he gets mad he unleashes all of his power. If his brother Hades wasn’t in charge of the Underworld, he’d make all of Hell break loose. For example, in Hesiod’s Theogony, which is about when Zeus defeated his father, Cronus, he says, “Then Zeus did not hold back any longer, but now immediately his heart was filled with strength and he showed clearly all his force.” (Morford and Lenardon 85) He tends to treat others, mortals and immortals, very unfairly. Two mortals could do the same exact type of sacrilege towards him, and depending on how he felt that day, he would take two very different approaches to how he would treat them. He also doesn’t take any threats towards him very lightly at all. If anyone ever threatens him, he normally punishes them very severely, if he doesn’t destroy them completely. Hesiod’s approach to Zeus’ behavior is overdramatic, and makes it seem more extreme than it probably would’ve been.

The story of Cronos, king of the Titans, was that he had four children with his wife Rhea. These Children are Hestia, Demeter, Poseidon, and Hades, all of whom he swallowed because his parents had warned that he would be overthrown by his child. When Zeus was born, Rhea hid him in Crete and tricked Cronos into swallowing a stone instead. Zeus grew up with nymphs and a goat named Amalthae. When Zeus heard what had happened to his siblings he gave Cronos poison, which forced Cronos to throw-up his brothers and sisters. A war was then fought between the two groups, and the Olympians won, and ruled over the

Zeus’ affinity for being the main character of a myth is no different in the epic myth about his fight against Cronus and the Titans or the “Titanomachy.” In this larger-than-life battle Zeus has to overthrow his father Cronus and take his predestined place as king of the gods. In this myth however, Zeus has to grow and overcome many challenges that stand in his way to greatness. Zeus has to ask for help from his mother in order to be able to free his sibling from his father Cronus who had swallowed them whole. After Zeus frees his siblings he has to face the mighty Titans, so he asks the Cyclops and the Hecatonchires to aid him in this battle that lasts