Zeus
Publié le 17/01/2022
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(Day, Bright Sky) Greek The chief god
of Greek mythology. He was the son of Cronus
and Rhea, both Titans; brother of Hades, Hestia,
Demeter, Poseidon, and Hera, who was also his
wife. Over time the Romans attributed many of the
legends of Zeus to their own supreme god, Jupiter.
Zeus was a sky and weather god, having authority
over the sky, the winds, the clouds, rain, thunder,
and lightning. His name has a close connection with
the Latin word for day, dies. Zeus was also the god
of battle, the patron of games and agriculture and
protector of the state. He was called the father of both gods and humans. After defeating his father, Cronus,
Zeus reigned supreme over the gods of Olympus, the
home of the gods. He was the father of many children
by Titanesses, goddesses, Nymphs, and mortal women.
Among his offspring were Apollo, Ares, Artemis,
Athene, and Dionysus. (See The Loves of Zeus, below.)
His most famous sanctuary was at Dodona.
Zeus is often depicted as wearing a crown of oak
leaves (the oak tree was sacred to him), and bearing
a scepter in one hand and a thunderbolt in the other.
Often he wore his shield, called an Aegis, and had an
eagle at his feet.
The Childhood of Zeus Cronus the Titan,
father of Zeus, learned that one of his children would
kill him, so he swallowed his children as soon as they
were born. Thus Hades, Hestia, Demeter, Hera, and
Poseidon disappeared into his mouth. But Rhea, wife
of Cronus and mother of Zeus, saved her last child by
wrapping a stone in swaddling clothes and presenting
it to Cronus, who promptly swallowed it. The stone
was called the Omphalos, later set up at Delphi as
the "navel of the Earth." Rhea hid Zeus in a cave on
Mount Ida (2), in Crete. There he was nursed by the
she-goat Amalthea and the Nymphs Adrastia and
Ida (1). Young warriors known as the Curetes clashed
their weapons together to disguise the infant's cries.
Zeus Rescues His Siblings After young Zeus
grew to manhood, he left Mount Ida, where he had
been sheltered by Nymphs, and went to visit the
Titaness Metis. Metis was very wise. She advised
Zeus how to get Cronus, the Titan father of Zeus,
to disgorge his brothers and sisters, whom Cronus
had swallowed. Zeus was to disguise himself as a
cupbearer and offer Cronus a drink so vile that the
Titan would immediately vomit and his offspring
would reappear. This Zeus did and all went according
to plan. His brothers and sisters, Hestia, Demeter,
Hera, Hades, and Poseidon were expelled alive and
well from the body of their father. The stone, which
Cronus had been made to believe was Zeus wrapped
in baby clothes, was also expelled and later set up at
Delphi as the Omphalos, or navel, of the Earth.
The War with the Titans Once Zeus had
induced Cronus into releasing his brothers and
sisters, the siblings decided to go to war against Cronus
and the Titans. For 10 long years, Zeus fought
against the Titans, who were led by the mighty
Atlas, for Cronus was now old. Finally Zeus enlisted
the help of Gaia (Earth), who advised him to release
the Cyclopes and the Hundred-Handed Ones (the
Hecatoncheires), who had been imprisoned in the
Underworld. Zeus did this, and in gratitude the
Cyclopes gave Zeus the thunderbolt as a weapon.
They gave a helmet of invisibility to Hades, and to
Poseidon, a trident. With these weapons and the help
of the Hundred-Handed Ones, Cronus and all the
Titans were overthrown, and never troubled Greece
again. Atlas was ordered, as punishment, to carry the
sky on his shoulders forevermore.
When the war was over, the three brothers, Zeus,
Poseidon, and Hades, drew lots to see who should
rule the universe. To Poseidon fell the rule of the seas
and rivers; to Hades, the Underworld; and to Zeus all
the rest of the universe, except for Olympus, which
was to be the realm of all the gods and goddesses.
The war between the Titans and the Olympian
gods may have been a symbolic description of the
invasion of the land now called Greece, by the
migrating tribes who became the first Greeks. They
brought their gods with them, including Zeus. The ancient gods were displaced or absorbed by those of
the conquerors.
Zeus and Hera The wife of Zeus was his sister,
Hera. One of the most famous myths about their
coming together was that Zeus took the form of a
cuckoo, who appeared before her wet and shivering.
Touched by pity, Hera wrapped the bird in her arms
to warm it. Then Zeus resumed his usual form and
persuaded Hera to become his wife. They were
solemnly married on Mount Olympus. Although
Hera remained the official consort of Zeus, the god
continued to court goddesses, nymphs, and mortal
women, so that Hera lived in constant anger and
jealousy.
By Hera, Zeus had two sons, Ares and Hephaestus,
and one daughter, Hebe. Some versions of the
myth say that Hera gave birth to Hephaestus, the
smith god, without any help from Zeus. Hera and
Zeus were also the parents of Eileithya, according
to some sources.
Zeus and Metis According to the Greek poet
Hesiod, Zeus's first wife was not Hera, but Metis,
the wise one. She conceived a child by Zeus. Warned
by Uranus and Gaia that the child would pose a
threat to him, Zeus swallowed Metis, thus absorbing
wisdom into himself. The child was born, nevertheless.
It was the great goddess Athene, who sprang
fully grown and clad in armor from the forehead of
Zeus.
The Loves of Zeus Zeus was a wise and just ruler
but, in spite of the anger and jealousy of his wife, Hera,
he was inclined to have numerous love affairs. Scholars
explain the amorous exploits of Zeus as symbols of
the new and powerful religion taking over lesser
religious traditions and merging with them, which is
what happened in ancient Greece as various migrating
tribes overcame and sometimes absorbed the ancient
inhabitants and their cults. Perhaps, more simply, the
ancient Greeks were trying to create for themselves
the noble ancestry that would have come from the
union of the great god Zeus with their ancestors.
To make a conquest, Zeus sometimes assumed a
different shape. He became a cuckoo for Hera, a swan
for Leda, a bull for Europa, and a quail for Leto. Among the supernatural females Zeus dallied with
were
Electra (2), daughter of Atlas, mother of Harmonia
(though some say that Harmonia was
the daughter of Ares and Aphrodite)
Eurynome, daughter of Oceanus and Tethys,
who bore The Three Graces
Leto, who became the mother of Apollo and
Artemis
Maia (1), daughter of Atlas and Pleione, mother
of Hermes
Mnemosyne (Memory), who gave birth to nine
daughters who were the Muses
Taygete, daughter of Atlas, mother of Lacedaemon
Themis (Law), who bore the Horae (Seasons);
Eunomia (Wise Legislation); Dike (Justice);
Eirene (Peace); and the Fates, who are the
daughters of Nyx (Night)
Among the mortal women Zeus mated with were
Antiope, daughter of King Nycteus of Thebes,
who bore twin sons Amphion and Zethus.
Danae, daughter of Acrisius, who bore Perseus
Europa, daughter of Agenor and Telephassa
Io, sister of Phoroneus, who bore Epaphus
Leda, wife of Tyndareus, who bore Pollux and
Helen by Zeus and Castor and Clytemnestra
by Tyndareus
Niobe, daughter of Tantalus and the nymph
Laodice, who bore Argos, founder of the city
of Argos.
Semele, daughter of Cadmus, who bore Dionysus
Among the Olympian goddesses was Demeter,
who bore Persephone. He also had an affair with
Lamia, a queen of Libya, whose children Hera killed
as they were born. Lamia became a demon who
devoured children.
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