Essay about Zeus

Zeus is the God of the sky, lightening, order law, and justice. He was the youngest son of Kronos and Rhea, and rose to power and became the ruler of all the Gods on Mount Olympus. Since Zeus was the most powerful God on Mount Olympus he had many different partners, which resulted in many different kids. Leto is the kid to the Titans Coues and Pheobe, she grew up to be the Goddess of Motherhood for the Titans. Leto lived on Mount Olympus where she met Zeus and they ended up falling in love.

I chose to write about Zeus for my independent project. By the time my paper is written and finished, I can only hope to have discovered more and more information about him than at the beginning of this essay. Some things I do want to remember and learn about him are what made him so great, is he the Greek God’s leader, and what did he accomplish? When somebody speaks about Greek mythology, it seems as though everyone wants to talk about Zeus. Another thing that I hear very often when Zeus is mentioned is the fact that he controls/carries the lightning bolt. That is Zeus’s symbol. I have for a long while been itching to take in more about him yet never thought to consider his history until today.

Since the beginning of time the people of the world have their share of beliefs. Greek mythology is the arguably the most popular region of study. In Ancient Greece every citizen had a patron that would protect them and pantheism was commonplace. The Romans admired the Greeks in their art and culture and even took different aspects of their gods. Polytheism was widely accepted in all cultures so the seed of mythology bloomed. The time line of the creations of gods to the end of their reign is an important factor in Greek Mythology.

The supreme ruler and king of gods, Zeus, is often mentioned as Jupiter and the sender of thunder, lightning, rain, and wind (Britannica.com). “Zeus was the first of the gods and a very imposing figure. Often referred to as ‘the father of gods and men,’ he is a sky god who controls lightning.” (Britannica.com) Although the god is labeled most powerful and the mightiest of all, he is not perfect. Zeus is known for his promiscuous action. Often times he fell in love with one woman after the other and attempted to disguise his infidelity from his wife. Zeus left no woman behind in his crazy love-life, the god married and had children with his sister, Hera and. Hera was not Zeus’ only siblings. He also had two brothers, Poseidon and Hades and another sister named Hestia. His parents are known as Cronus and Rhea. Zeus was not just handed the title “god of the sky,” instead him and his two brothers drew lots. The sea was given to Poseidon, the underworld to Hades, and Zeus was named lord of the sky, rain god, and cloud gatherer. The eagle is considered sacred to this god. Zeus also treasures the oak tree. It is often told that the gods will was revealed by the rustling of the oak tree. (Hamilton 27)

Greek and Roman mythology is well know. The people of that time period were passionate about the gods and did everything in their power to please them. Like most religions the goal is be like one of the gods in order to achieve good fortune or to gain everlasting life. One of the most interesting characteristics about the Greek and Roman Gods is how the gods are not perfect in that they make the same mistakes that the average human would make. These characteristics were put into place to allow ancient Greeks and Romans to effectively relate to the gods making them more believable. This is unlike other religions where the god(s) are shown as the all perfect character making no mistakes. These characteristics relate back to the family and

“The supreme deity of Greek mythology has his lusty, tempestuous story recast in engaging fashion by Stone”(ProQuest). Zeus was thought of as the father of gods and men. While he did not make them, he protected them, and therefore was considered a father to them. He ruled over the sky and air, and controlled everything that happened in his domains from his throne on Mount Olympus. To gain his throne, he overthrew his father, Cronos, with the help of his siblings, and then dividing up the realms between him and his two elder brothers. Zeus became lord of the sky and rain, Poseidon took the title lord of the sea, and Hades became ruler of the underworld. He then banished his father to the shadowy Tartarus in the underworld. Zeus was the most

Zeus, the god of the sky, ruler of the olympian gods, filler of Gaia’s' prophecy, “supreme deity in Greek religion”, (Cartwright, 2013), was a very mighty god as well as a big lothario. Zeus liked reverence, respect and morality and punished all who were impious and blasphemous, which is strange since he had forty some children or more from many women, which didn’t demonstrate much respect to his wife Hera. Zeus had many symbols such as the thunderbolt, sceptre, eagle, oak tree, and the aegis, all of which have a story behind them. The famous thunderbolt which Zeus is known for, represents ruling over the elements and was a gift given by the cyclops and turned into his major weapon which is retrieved by the eagle (which represented his ruling over the sky). The aegis was “forged by the Cyclopes in Hephaestus’ forge” (Karas, 2017), which is thought to be animal skin and offers protection to a god. The oak tree represents religion which is what Zeus stands for since he was the main god in ancient times. Lastly the sceptre represented Zeus being a ruler of the gods.

     Mythology is a way that the ancient societies explained why things are the way they are and how they came to being. Two ancient societies are infamous for their mythology. These societies are Greece and Rome. Great authors were made be the mythological works they wrote. Homer was a famous author who is best known for his epics. It is from these epics that most of the gods and actual myths well known. I am writing of two of these gods in particular, Saturn and Dionsysus.

Zeus, the god of the sky, ruler of the Olympian gods, filler of Gaia’s' prophecy, “supreme deity in Greek religion”, (Cartwright, 2013), was a remarkable god as well as a tremendous lothario. Zeus liked reverence, respect and morality and punished all who were impious and blasphemous, which is peculiar since he had forty some children or more from many women, which didn’t demonstrate much respect to his wife Hera. Zeus had many symbols such as the thunderbolt, sceptre, eagle, oak tree, and the aegis, all of which have a story behind them. The famous thunderbolt which Zeus is known for, represents ruling over the elements and was a gift given by the Cyclops and turned into his major weapon which is retrieved by the eagle (which represented his ruling over the sky). The aegis was “forged by the Cyclopes in Hephaestus’ forge” (Karas, 2017), which is thought to be animal skin and offers protection to a god. The oak tree represents religion which is what Zeus stands for since he was the main god in ancient times. Lastly the sceptre represented Zeus being a ruler of the gods.

Hercules found the boar on Mount Erymanthus and cornered it into a snow bank, immobilizing it. He tossed the boar over his shoulder and carried it back to Eurystheus, who cowered as usual in his storage jar.

Hellenistic art, let alone architecture, was a period of dramatic transformations that deterred greatly from the Greek Classical period. While the Classical Greek concepts were not entirely abandoned, the Hellenistic period expanded the formal horizons with dramatic posing, sweeping lines, and high contrast of light, shadow and emotion, something greatly different from the Classical artists ideas. The conventions and rules of the Classical period gave way to experimentation and a sense of freedom that allowed the artists of the Hellenistic period to explore their subjects from unique points of view that they had not previously done. The Altar to Zeus in Pergamon is the perfect representation of the Hellenistic period. Pergamon contained

Zeus was the supreme god and ruler of Olympus. He was known by many names: Lord of the Sky, the Rain-god, the Cloud-gatherer, and Zeus the Thunderer. Zeus was the sixth child born to Cronus and Rhea behind Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Dementer, and Hera. The high soaring eagle was sacred to him, and to the Romans he was known as Jupiter. Zeus was a strong, mighty, awesome, glorious, and wise god. Although, he was very foolish and naïve with hiding his love affairs from Hera.

Zeus, most likely the most renowned god of all gods, the mighty god of lightning has taken part in some of the most widely known myths of all times. Zeus has taken part in many Greek and Roman myths alike, either as Zeus or as his Roman counterpart of Jupiter. Unlike most gods in mythology though, Zeus is the main character in almost all of the myths he is mentioned in. Whether the myth is about his epic clash against the Titans, his fight against the Giants or even about his extramarital affairs, Zeus always seems to come out of these conflicts unaffected and triumphant. When examining Zeus’ character though, it is important to note that Zeus is a god that exhibits human characteristics throughout most of his myths. Growth is one of the

Zeus was known for a number of things, but his love affairs was one of the numerous things he was famous for. Zeus was the king of all the gods, he was known for the god of the skies, weather, fate and laws. Out of all of his lovers he had over the years, his first was known as Aphrodite. She was the goddess of beauty and was followed by Zeus when she first emerged from the great sea, but she managed to escape him. It did not take much time for Zeus’ wife Hera to realize that their marriage was falling into the deep end. Zeus had a deep lust which then made Hera’s jealousy fester. (Summary 1).

What would one think if he goes back in time to a period where myths were common? Would one believe it to be true or hold his own opinion? I would say it depends on the situation and on what type of myth it is. Classical period was full of myths. There were many aspects to mythology that were held important in the classical era. One of the most significant aspects of the Greek mythology was that it was the primary concept to put humans at the midpoint of the universe. Not like the animal deities of the Egyptians and Mesopotamians, the gods of the Greeks were human in form. Not only did they have human physical character, but they symbolized the touching flaws of humans as well. Unlike the gods of other ancient