When we talk about religion in antiquity, very few gods came close to Zeus in terms of popularity and worship. Zeus was the king of the gods and ruler of Mount Olympus; he was god of the sky, lightning, thunder, law, order, and justice. He was first worshiped by the Greeks, then by the Romans (who referred to him as Jupiter), and then by the peoples of many other parts of the world. As the father of the gods, Zeus ensured that each deity performed their individual duty, punished their misdeeds, settled their disputes, and acted as their all-knowing counselor and mighty friend.
Zeus also loved to frequently interfere in human lives. He often took a paternal interest in the actions and well-being of mortals. He watched over them with tender solicitude, rewarding truth, charity, and fairness, while severely punishing perjury and cruelty. Even though he’s mostly remembered for his wild love affairs with numerous mortal women, Zeus was also the protector of the poorest and demanded that the wealthy inhabitants of the earth be attentive to the needs of their less fortunate fellow citizens. Take a look at these 25 Fascinating Facts About Zeus.
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Zeus was the child of Kronos and Rhea, the youngest of his siblings, though sometimes he is reckoned the oldest, as the others required disgorging from Kronos’s stomach.
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Zeus avoided being swallowed by his father, who had been told one of his children would overthrow him, when Rhea hid him in a cave on Mount Ida in Crete and sought help from Gaia.
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According to another legend, Zeus was raised by a goat named Amalthea, while a company of soldiers danced, shouted, and clashed their spears against their shields every night so that Kronos would not hear the baby’s cries.
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Zeus vanquished his father and released his siblings, who were still living in Kronos’s stomach.
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Thanks to this action and after the revolt against his father, Zeus became the ruler of heaven and earth. Along with Hades (god of the underworld) and Poseidon (god of the sea), Zeus shared the rule of the world and became king of Olympus.
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Even though he’s known for causing thunder and lightning, Zeus was once a rain god. One way or another, he was always associated with the weather.
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Maybe that explains why the legendary Greek poet Homer believed heaven was located on the summit of Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece and the logical home for a weather god.
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Physically, Zeus is often described or depicted in art as a strong, tall, muscular man, with a black or gray beard and long curly hair.
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His wife, Hera, was also his sister. However, Zeus was not very faithful to her and he’s widely known for his many erotic escapades. These relationships resulted in many godly and heroic offspring, including Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Persephone, Dionysus, Perseus, Minos, the Muses, and the great Heracles.
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Zeus fathered Heracles, the most famous mythical hero of all time, by deception. He disguised himself as Amphitryon, Alcmene’s husband, in order to have sex with her.
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Very few are aware that before Zeus married Hera, he had already been married twice. After the victorious war against his father, Zeus married Metis, the Titaness of wisdom and daughter of Okeanos and Tethys. After his marriage to Metis, Zeus married Themis, the Titaness of justice. With her he had the Moirae (the Fates), the Horae (the Hours), and Astraea.
Source: greekgodsandgoddesses.net, Image: commons.wikimedia.orgIf you enjoyed this list, you may also enjoy these 25 Fascinating Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Greek Gods.
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According to Works and Days by Hesiod, Zeus was a carefree god who loved to laugh out loud. He was regarded as wise, fair, merciful, and prudent. He was also unpredictable—nobody was able to guess the decisions he would make.
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Zeus was also known for his bad temper; he was easily angered, which could be very destructive. When angry he would hurl lightning bolts and cause violent storms that wreaked havoc on Earth.
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Maybe that explains why his servants were named Force and Violence.
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Zeus’s punishments could be really severe. For example, when Prometheus stole fire from him and gave it to humans, he condemned Prometheus to having his liver eaten daily by a giant eagle.
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Athena was said to have sprung from Zeus’s head. She was his favorite child, with whom he shared the thunderbolt and aegis (his shield).
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The Temple of Olympian Zeus is a colossal ruined temple in the center of Athens that was dedicated to Zeus. Construction began in the sixth century BCE during the rule of the Athenian tyrants, who envisaged building the greatest temple in the ancient world. When it was completed under the reign of the Roman emperor Hadrian in the second century CE, it was renowned as the largest temple in Greece and housed one of the largest cult statues in the ancient world.
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Depictions of Zeus as a bull, the form he took when raping Europa, are found on the Greek two-euro coin and on the UK identity card for visa holders. Mary Beard, professor of Classics at Cambridge University, has criticized this for its seeming glorification of rape.
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The Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes erected a statue of Zeus Olympios in the Judean Temple in Jerusalem. Hellenized Jews referred to this statue as Ba’al Shamen, which means “lord of heaven.”
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Zeus was identified with the Roman god Jupiter and associated in the syncretic classical imagination with various other deities, such as the Egyptian Ammon and the Etruscan Tinia.
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Although most oracle sites were usually dedicated to Apollo, heroes, or various goddesses like Themis, a few sites were dedicated to Zeus. In addition, some foreign oracles, such as Ba’al’s at Heliopolis (Lebanon), were associated with Zeus in Greek or Jupiter in Latin.
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The major center where all Greeks converged to pay homage to their chief god was Olympia. Their quadrennial festival featured the famous Olympic Games, which were held each year to honor Zeus.
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Zeus believed in the importance of keeping one’s word and would punish anyone who lied or deceived others in business.
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His sacred bird was the golden eagle, which he kept by his side at all times. Like him, the eagle was a symbol of strength, courage, and justice. It later became a prominent symbol used in ancient Rome, especially as the standard of a Roman legion.
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Well before Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, and other global religions, Zeus was the first god to enjoy worldwide fame and acceptance. Thanks to the ancient Greek kingdoms and empires, with Alexander the Great’s being the greatest example, Zeus and ancient Greek religion traveled to most parts of the then known world. With the rise of the Roman Empire, which had adopted the Greek religion, Zeus became the first god of antiquity to enjoy worship in many different regions of the world.
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