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| Background | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zeus (IPA: /zjuːs/; in Greek: nominative: Ζεύς Zeús, genitive: Διός Diós, in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus, and the god of the sky and thunder. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull and the oak. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Zeus was the child of Cronus and Rhea, and the youngest of his siblings. In most traditions he was married to Hera, although at the oracle of Dodona his consort was Dione: according to the Iliad, he is the father of Aphrodite by Dione. He is known for his erotic escapades, including one pederastic relationship with Ganymede. |
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| These resulted in many famous offspring, including Athena, Apollo and Artemis, Hermes, Persephone (by Demeter), Dionysus, Perseus, Heracles, Helen, Minos, and the Muses (by Mnemosyne); by Hera he is usually said to have fathered Ares, Hebe and Hephaestus. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| His Roman counterpart was Jupiter, and his Etruscan counterpart was Tinia. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Temple of Zeus at Olympia | |||||||||||||||||||||||
The major center where all Greeks converged to pay honor to their chief god was Olympia. Their quadrennial festival featured the famous Games. There was also an altar to Zeus made not of stone, but of ash, from the accumulated remains of many centuries' worth of animals sacrificed there. |
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| Aspects of Zeus | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Like other Gods, Zeus was ascribed a number of epithets to refer to different aspects or roles of the god. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zeus Olympios emphasized Zeus's kingship over both the gods in addition to his specific presence at the Panhellenic festival at Olympia. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zeus Panhellenios ('Zeus of all the Hellenes'), to whom Aeacus' famous temple on Aegina was dedicated. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zeus Xenios, Zeus was the patron of hospitality and guests, ready to avenge any wrong done to a stranger. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zeus Horkios, he was the keeper of oaths. Exposed liars were made to dedicate a statue to Zeus, often at the sanctuary of Olympia. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zeus Agoraios, Zeus watched over business at the agora and punished dishonest traders. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zeus Aegiduchos or Aegiochos he was the bearer of the Aegis with which he strikes terror into the impious and his enemies. Others derive this epithet from αίξ ("goat") and οχή and take it as an allusion to the legend of Zeus' suckling at the breast of Amalthea. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zeus Meilichios, "Easy-to-be-entreated", he subsumed an archaic chthonic daimon propitiated in Athens, Meilichios. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| The sacred caves of Zeus | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Although etymology indicates that Zeus was originally a sky god, many Greek cities honored a local Zeus who lived underground. Athenians and Sicilians honored Zeus Meilichios ("kindly" or "honeyed") while other cities had Zeus Chthonios ("earthy"), Katachthonios ("under-the-earth) and Plousios ("wealth-bringing"). | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| These deities might be represented as snakes or in human form in visual art, or, for emphasis as both together in one image. They also received offerings of black animal victims sacrificed into sunken pits, as did chthonic deities like Persephone and Demeter, and also the heroes at their tombs. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| On Crete, Zeus was worshipped at a number of caves at Knossos, Ida and Palaikastro. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| The shrine at Lebadaea in Boeotia might belong to the hero Trophonius or to Zeus Trephonius ("the nurturing"), depending on whether you believe Pausanias, or Strabo. The hero Amphiaraus was honored as Zeus Amphiaraus at Oropus outside of Thebes, and the Spartans even had a shrine to Zeus Agamemnon. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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