Zeus Role In Mythology

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.

Zeus’s role in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter has him being shown as someone who can be seen as thoughtless, but still highly regarded. While Zeus is being put in the spotlight for giving Persephone to his brother, Demeter is wreaking havoc on the mortal world trying to find Persephone with Hekate. Demeter is Persephone’s mother and Zeus has given her to Hades to be his wife. Zeus’s prominence is being displayed as he is shown to be an important figure in both Persephone’s rape and the Hymn itself, but he is also being showed in a light that allows the reader to see that even the almighty Zeus can make mistakes. Zeus is being shown as someone who does not think before acting, allowing him to give his own daughter to his brother as his wife without

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

Throughout this course, I have learned about what a myth is and all of the themes that fit into myths. The most common themes seen throughout the myths we have studied during this course are fate, pride and hubris, heroism, justice and vengeance, and beauty. I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about mythology throughout this course and I have always felt that the controlling question driving this course is, why is mythology so important to us, even today? It is important to know the answer to this question and to know about the different themes seen throughout the myths studied in this course.

“The Story of Cronus” is an interesting myth where Cronus eats his children in fear that they would one day take his throne and overpower him. Rhea, his wife, hid their last child, a god named Zeus in a cave in the heart of Mount Ida. He throve rapidly and soon developed great physical powers along with wisdom and intelligence. With the help of Metis, Zeus succeeded in forcing his father to disgorge his siblings. This caused a war in which Zeus had won with the help of the giants. This myth has the theme the struggle for power since Cronus is afraid of his children overpowering him. The novel The Lightning Thief, has the same theme as well since Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon fight with each other.

“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

In The Iliad, Homer plays with the ideas that Zeus, the god and leader of all, ultimately may not be in charge. Countless times during the text, Zeus bends to the wills of prophecies, mortals, and even other gods. As the story develops, Zeus becomes less in charge and more of a puppet for mortals and gods who have contrivances for and against him. Through prophecy, Achilles, and Hera, this essay will glimpse at the idea of Zeus simply being a puppet on strings in the hands of war.

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 was the son of Cronus and Rhea. When Cronus heard someone say that one of his sons would overthrow him just like he did to his father he got very angry and scared. This led to Cronus swallowing each of his children to make sure he stayed in power. Only one of the children got out by having Rhea feed Cronus a stone wrapped in cloth instead of Zeus. After Rhea saved Zeus he left and trained because he would one day come back and overthrow his father and force his to give back his siblings.

Zeus, his name is synonymous with Greek mythology and religion. God of the weather and sky he used his powers of wind, lightning, and thunder to uphold the law and keep order. He ruled Mount Olympus as well as the pantheon of gods who lived there. Watching over mankind he would punish those who defied him and help those who were wronged. However, Zeus did have his flaws. His quick tempered nature combined with his lust for women made him relatable to the common man. From his coming to power until the beginning of Christianity, this complex god would have no equal.

* The Greek god Zeus (3rd. century BC. and the Indian god Manou-Maisei (dates from circa 100 CE), who came to the Earth illegally and brought false information into the houses of people, the information that stopped human life on Earth, are brought before the court!

In my graphic representation, a mad god, Zeus, is throwing lightning bolts at Odysseus’ frightened men because they ate the sun god’s cattle. The men are falling off their ship, dying, as the lightning bolts strike the boat. I have the boat on fire too show that it has already been struck by the lightning. My picture is arranged with having the largest things be Zeus and the clouds and the smallest things being Odysseus’ men and their ship.

It is well known that Zeus has many family connections, especially surrounding his numerous offspring. Among those children are the more known ones that include Athena, often thought to be Zeus’ favourite child, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Heracles, Perseus, and Dionysus (289-300). Other familial connections include Poseidon and Hades

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).

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.