04. ZEUS

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Greek gods in general

• centralized monarchy, with Zeus at top
• organized political state, like human state
• one theory: deities first lived in own sphere of influence, later brought to heaven by Zeus
  • Artemis (goddess of hunt)--forests, meadows
  • Zeus (weather god)--sky
• gods also said to live on Mt. Olympus
  • in north-central Greece, very high (9750+ feet) and remote
• just like humans, on an exaggerated scale
  • motivated by love, jealousy, pride
• immortal, but subject to fate

Zeus

• various traditions about his infancy, when hidden from Kronos
  • Crete--hidden in cave on Mt. Dicte
    • Dictaean Zeus mentioned on Mycenaean tablet c. 1385 B.C.
    • connection to Minoan religion? mountain and cave shrines
    • Crete also has tradition of Zeus' death (!)--Mt. Juktas
      • leads to tradition that Cretans are liars!
  • Arcadia--hidden in cave on Mt. Lykaion
    
• name--Zeus = Dios, "bright/shining sky"
  • same in Latin: Ju-piter = Greek Zeus pater, Zeus father
  • same in Sanskrit: Dyaus pitar
  • so he is an Indo-European god, enters Greece c. 2000 B.C.
    • when Greeks meet Minoans, Semitic peoples, encounter an earth mother--Potnia
    • earth mother and sky father marry and produce other gods--Greek pantheon
• chief sanctuaries
  • Olympia--temple of Zeus c. 460 B.C.
  • Dodona--great oracle of Zeus
    
• Zeus' responsibilities and attributes
  • god of justice, hospitality, weather--so represents both nature and culture
    • thunderbolt is his scepter, spear, and "divine phallus that brings rain to fertilize the earth" (H&P p. 182)
  • patron of the Olympic Games
  • H&P p. 183 say he is not omniscient--but most would say he is
  • H&P p. 183 say he is not all-powerful--most would agree with this
    • he wants to save his son in the Trojan War, but cannot or does not
    • not always clear whether he can't change the rules of the universe, or whether he knows he shouldn't
• Zeus the great lover
  • every hero gains status if descended from Zeus
    • so lots of affairs with humans attributed to him
  • likes to play dress-up
    • visits Danae disguised as a shower of gold
    • visits Leda disguisedas a swan
    • visits Europa disguised as a bull
    • carries off Ganymede disguised as an eagle
  • astronomers named the moons of Jupiter (= Zeus) after his various lovers