Why Is Zeus A Bad God

Alayna Abbott Mr. Balistreri English 1 6 February, 2017 Zeus Greek God of the rain, lightning, the sky, thunder, and the ruler of all olympian gods. Most of you may know who im talking about, but if you don’t it’s Zeus. I’m here to tell you about what made him who he is today, and the stories that he is in. You’ll also learn the importance of him growing up, and what got him to where he is today.

He can’t let his rage and emotions get the best of him as that can hinder his decisions and have catastrophic effects. As the most powerful god he should set an example to the other gods but just the opposite he is showing them just how weak he is as he can’t even control himself yet alone the other gods and the mortals. Zeus a god that is full of power but constrained to fully take advantage of it as he lets his emotions get the best of him. He acts through impulse and thus sometimes doesn’t take the best decisions the he should

Believe it or not Zeus is actually a good guy, he did many good deeds as a god. Zeus is a benevolent god because he taught mankind and gods good manners and kindness in addition Zeus was very wise and helped many others.

Especially after Io’s entrance and the recount of her story, Hera seems more like a jealous wife than the noble queen she is presented as in Hesiod’s work. Her attitude towards Io is blamed on Zeus, who has not only provoked Hera’s actions but is her husband and thus responsible for Hera, as it was customary in ancient Greece.

Zeus was not faithful; Hera had a belligerence toward Zeus. She started a revolt against him and planned to kill him. She thought that she could strap him under a tree with some ropes and whip him. It seemed like the plan would work but it only became total chaos. Zeus came back, and punished Hera in a portentous way by hanging her and whipping her. He made her promise not to harm him again.

Hera, he had countless affairs and many children. His father, who he overthrew, was Cronos, and his mother was Rheas. He had five siblings, Poseidon and Hades, who he divided the realms with, Demeter, Hera, and Hestia. He was married to his sister, Hera, and had four children with her, Ares, Eileithyia, Hebe, Enyo, Eris, Angelos, and Hephaestus. Other gods that he had children with were Demeter, who gave birth to Persephone; Dione, who gave birth to Aphrodite; Eurynome, who gave birth to the Charities (Aglaea, Euphrosyne, and Thalia), and 23 other gods who bore him around 35 other children. While he had many affairs with gods, he had even more with mortals. A few of the many were Electra, who gave birth to Dardanus, Harmonia, and Iasius; Europa who gave birth to Minos, Rhadamanthys, Alagonia, Carnus, Dodon, and Sarpedon; and Leda, who gave birth to Polydeuces and Helen. He had another 43 affairs with mortals, and at least 54 other children with

Zeus is the highest form of power among the gods, the ruler of both mortals and immortals. Through The Iliad, Zeus thinks he is in charge, but he is afraid of prophecies and fate. In the backstory of The Iliad, most know that Zeus wanted to have sex with Thetis, but he was afraid that the child they would bear together would be stronger than himself, as the prophecy stated ‘the first son of Thetis will be stronger than his father’. Dictated by his fate, Zeus refrained from having sex with her and married her off to another man so they would have a child together. Zeus is constantly expression that he is afraid of being undermined, but he is also to arrogant at points to admit that he’s not as powerful as he portrays himself. He’s fearful that someone will uncover his weaknesses and not respect him. By the start of The Iliad, Zeus is still afraid of people viewing him negatively, mortals and gods alike.

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.

Zeus is the Greek god of the sky and ruler of the Olympians. Zeus overthrew his father, Cronus, then drew lots with his brothers in order to decide who would succeed their father on the throne. Zeus was the winner of the draw and became the almighty ruler of the gods, as well became the lord of the sky and rain. Zeus was one who was easily angered which was not a good thing sometimes.. He also easily fell in love and had affairs with various women. Some of the abilities he possessed was the ability to throw lightning bolts. He had a winged horse called a Pegasus which carried his lightning bolts and he had trained an eagle to retrieve his lightning bolts.

Iris explains that Hera’s actions towards Heracles have been kept a secret as, “Until he fully completed his bitter trials/ Necessity was keeping him safe, Nor would his father Zeus/ Allow either [her] or Hera to harm him at any time” (Eur. Her.827-29). As soon as Zeus stopped protecting his heroic son, Hera saw her chance to harm Heracles, or in this case his family. If Zeus continued to watch over him, there may have been a much smaller chance of Heracles being taken over by madness, thus murdering his family.

Although Zeus had a dozen of love affairs he created a “union” wit Hera that resulted in four children. Arguments soon began to arise between Zeus and Hera and became a part of their daily lives. Zeus continued to have one affair after another with different goddesses. Hera could not punish Zeus for

He was, however, short tempered, and was the cause of many ferocious storms on Earth. Alongside Zeus were many other gods, say, Hades, and Athena, who popped out of his head. He rose from his empty, disconsolate childhood to be the book inspiring, character-rich Zeus. The greeks were devout to their gods. They believed that the gods controlled nature and the path of their lives.

Zeus has had a pretty bad life, but it turned out to be good. Zeus was a god of the skies, and God of Olympian Gods. As god of the skies, he could shake his aegis, produce storms, tempests, and intense darkness. At his command thunder can roar, lightning can strike, and the clouds can pour out all the rain that he could desire. Zeus could basically do anything that involved nature.

I think it was an example of what not to do and most certainly not cheat on your wife. Being that Zeus cheated on his wife she in return punished his mistresses and the children they conceived. I believe this story was told because it was intended to teach a lesson on what effects can take place if one cheats on his wife.

Zeus is the God of the sky and thunder. He plays important role in the Iliad as he is the God that many mortals pray to and rely on for help. Even other Gods look up to him and ask him for favors. In the Iliad Zeus along with other Gods are overlooking the Trojan war and using his God like powers to sway the results. Though others look up to him he feels an obligation to please others which causes him to influence the Trojan war on both sides. I chose this character because of how he appeases to mortals and Gods, though he makes promises to help the other side he stays loyal to the Trojans, and mortals and Gods pray to and look up to him.