Zeus

Statue of Zeus at his temple in Olympia.

### Children

Apollo, Ares, Artemis, Athena, Eileithyia, Enyo, Eris, Hebe, Hephaestus, Heracles, Hermes, Persephone

### Counterparts

Jupiter, Teshub, Ba'al, Marduk, Amun, Thor, Indra

**Zeus** is a Greek god of sky, lightning, thunder, law, order, and justice, as well as the King of the Gods.

## Overview

Zeus was the youngest son of the titan Cronus, and the only not swallowed by his father. His mother, Rhea, managed to hide him away at the island of Crete, where he was raised in secret. Eventually he would liberate his five devoured siblings, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter and Hestia, and together they dethroned Cronus.

Zeus would then divide the world with his two brother, Poseidon and Hades, by pulling straws: Zeus would rule over the sky, Poseidon the sea and Hades the Underworld. He would then go on to marry his (*hieros gamos*) sister Hera, but had several affairs with both other deities and mortal women, and became the father of countless deities and demigods. His children with Hera would Ares, Hebe and possible Hephaestus (though he might also be the individual son of Hera).

His other children include:

* Apollo and Artemis with the goddess Leto.
* Athena, with Metis. After hearing that the children of Metis might usurp Zeus, like he did Cronus, so he swallowed her. Metis managed to birth Athena inside Zeus, who emerged from the head of Zeus. According to other she was the daughter of Zeus alone.
* Hermes, with the goddess Maia.
* Dionysus, with the mortal Semele, whom Zeus had to carry in his thigh after accidentally killing her with his godly power.
* The mousai or muses with the goddess Mnemosyne. The Calliope, Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polyhymnia and Urania.
* Heracles, great demigod-hero with the mortal Alcmene.

## Centres, symbols and epithets

Zeus' main cult centres were the Oracle of Dodona and the town of Olympia were his main-temple was located. His main symbols were the thunderbolt, royal sceptre, the throne, the olive branch, the oak and eagle.

Notable epithets of Zeus

* *Zeus agoraios*, worshipped by the people of Athens as the defender of democracy and the cretans on Mount Ida.
* *Zeus eleutherios*, protector of freedom.
* *Zeus soter*, the saviour.
* *Zeus bulaios*, the counselor.
* *Zeus horkios*, oath-aspect.
* *Zeus ksenios*, hospitality-aspect.
* *Zeus hikesios*, protector of suppliants.
* *Zeus epopsios*, opponent of injustice.

## Connections to other cultures

Zeus shares similarities with several other gods Mediterranean, Ancient Near Eastern and Indo-European mythologies and religions.

His ascendancy to become the king of the gods parallels the Hittite story to Teshub usurping his father, Kumarbi, who in turn had usurped the primeval sky-god Anu. After banishing Kumarbi into the underworld, the monstrous being Ullikummi is send to challenged Teshub and the other gods, who defeated him. Teshub parallels Zeus, Kumarbi parallels Cronus, Anu parallels Ouranos and Ullikummi parallels Typhon.

Zeus combat with Typhon has also been likened to more distance myths from in the Ancient Near East. In the semitic city of Ugarit this could be paralleled with the battle between Ba'al, the god of weather, and Yamm, the god of the sea and rivers. In Babylon Marduk bears a resemblance to Zeus in his primeval battle against Tiamat and ascendancy to become the king of the gods.

Zeus (and the Roman god Jupiter) has also been linked with Perkūnas, Baltic god of the sky, weather, war, and order, being the principal god associated with the astronomical phenomena, lighting and thunder, as well as protection and the calendar.

## References

1. ↑ Castrén, Paavo. *Antiikin myytit*
2. ↑ Castrén, Paavo. *Antiikin myytit*
3. ↑ Castrén, Paavo. *Antiikin myytit*
4. ↑  Wade, Jenny. *The Castrated Gods and their Castration Cults: Revenge, Punishment, and Spiritual Supremacy*
5. ↑ Rutherford, Ian. *Hesiod and the Literary Traditions of the Near East*
6. ↑ Rutherford, Ian. *Hesiod and the Literary Traditions of the Near East*
7. ↑ Tumėnas, Vytautas. *The common attributes between the Baltic thunder god Perkūnas and his antique equaivalents Jupiter and Zeus*