Term Paper on "Zeus -- the Father of the Gods"

Term Paper 6 pages (1973 words) Sources: 4 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Zeus -- the Father of the Gods

According to Ronald Leadbetter, the Greek god Zeus, "the youngest son of Cronus and Rhea, was the supreme ruler of Mount Olympus and of the Pantheon of the Gods" who lived in opulent splendor and magnificence on this mountain in Greece. Since Zeus was the supreme ruler and the "Father of the Gods," it was his responsibility to uphold "law, justice and morals" which made him "the spiritual leader of both gods and goddesses and mortal men" ("Zeus," Internet).

It is not exactly clear how or when the ancient Greeks first began to worship Zeus as the supreme leader of the gods. Some scholars argue that the name of Zeus originated in specific Indo-European cultures some 5,000 years ago. For example, the name of the chief Indo-European divinity, a male god, survives today with Zeus pater or "Father Zeus" and Jupiter, the Roman name for Zeus. This evidence supports the idea that the Indo-European culture responsible for creating the name and character of Zeus "was patriarchal and regarded the father not merely as a parent but as the authority figure over the household."

In contrast, other evidence suggests that some Indo-European cultures were patrilineal, being the line of descent of children through a father. In addition, there is evidence that some Indo-European cultures had the notion of a king which resulted in the title of King Zeus (Gimbutas, 78).

The earliest archeological evidence for the worship of Zeus as the "King of the Gods" dates back to the days of the Mycenaeans. During the height of the Minoan civilization on the Greek island of Crete, the Mycenaeans occupied a vast area of the Greek mainland and recent evidence points out that this group of ancient Greeks "worshipped primarily the male-dominated pantheon of the gods" (Hurwitt, 178). The names of numerous gods and goddesses have been found on what are known as Linear B. tablets, names like Hera, the wife of Zeus, Poseidon, the ruler of the seas, and of course Zeus. Thus, the name of Zeus became the foundation of ancient

Greek mythology, but by the time of the polis or "city-state" in Greece, most notably the city of Athens, Zeus was no longer the "King of the Gods," for he became "chief judge and peacemaker" for the polis as well as a "civic god" that watched over the polis.

During the height of Athenian democracy, circa 350 B.C.E., Zeus "was also known as Kosmetas ("The Orderer"), Soter ("The Savior"), Polieos (the overseer of the polis) and Eleutherios, "the guarantor of political freedom" (Leadbetter, "Zeus," Internet). From this information, it is abundantly clear that Zeus as the "Father of the Gods" and the protector of the polis and all of ancient Greek society highly influenced the creation of other gods in later Greek societies and throughout Western civilization.

The most important of all ancient Greek institutions related to Zeus was the Olympic games, "a religious festival associated with a large sanctuary for Zeus, King of the Gods of the Greeks" (Ferguson, 176). This sanctuary was located at the foot of Mount Olympus in the northwestern Peloponnese, where the games were held in honor of Zeus every four years beginning in 776 B.C.E. Not surprisingly, only men were allowed to compete in the Olympic games which forced Greek women to hold their own separate festival at Olympia on a different date in honor of Zeus's wife Hera. Besides serving as a place to hold the games, this sanctuary to Zeus also provided "an architectural focus for public gatherings, where people could congregate and openly worship Zeus, Hera and other gods and goddesses of the Greek Pantheon" (Gimbutas, 214).

Socially, this physical environment complemented the growing tradition that the games of Zeus were panhellenic, i.e., open to all Greeks regardless of social, political or financial status. Also, religion provided the basis for almost all community activity throughout the long and often violent history of Greece. Sporting activities, such as those at Olympus in honor of Zeus, "took place in the religious context of festivals honoring specific gods," one being Zeus who held the power to "summon festivals and give prophecies" and reigned supreme over "the conduct of civilized life" (Leadbetter, "Zeus," Internet).

In his long poem Works and Days, the Greek poet Hesiod identifies Zeus as "the fountain of justice in all human affairs," a marked contrast to the portrayal of Zeus in Homeric poetry which primarily concerns the fate of his favorite warriors in battle, such as Odysseus, Achilles, Agamemnon and Menelaus. Hesiod presents justice as a divine quality that will assert itself to punish all those who commit evil, such as found in the lines "Zeus ordains law for men, that fishes and wild beasts and birds should eat each other, for they have no justice, but to human beings, he has given justice, which is far the best" (Hurwitt, 194).

Zeus also played a major role in the position of women in ancient Greek society. Overall, marriage, procreation and family property were all under the control of men, while women remained under the guardianship of their fathers, brothers and those linked to the political arena of Greek society. Once again, the poet Hesiod helps us to understand this situation by relating the myth of the first woman named Pandora. According to this legend, Zeus, the King of the Gods, created Pandora as a punishment for men when Prometheus, a divine being and enemy of Zeus, stole fire from Zeus to give it to the human friends of Prometheus. As a result, Pandora let loose evils and diseases into the previously trouble-free world of men by removing the lid from a jar or box" which Zeus had filled for her (Ferguson, 234).

This is the proverbial "Pandora's Box" which Zeus created as a punishment for man, much like the Forbidden Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden in the Book of Genesis. Whether this legend of "Pandora's Box" is linked to the events related in the Old Testament is unknown, yet it is clear that the mythological figure of Zeus played a major role in the development of many religious mythologies throughout Western Europe.

Historically, the figure of Zeus as the ruler of Mount Olympus and the "Father of the Gods" is closely linked to the story of Alexander the Great who conquered much of the known world circa 330 B.C.E. According to John Ferguson, when Alexander took over Egypt, he most probably "presented himself as the successor to the Persian king in the form of Zeus." In 331 B.C.E., Alexander founded the city of Alexandria and during this time, he paid a mysterious visit to the oracle of the Egyptian god Ammon, whom the Greeks regarded as being identical to Zeus. Exactly what transpired at this visit is not known, but Alexander quickly let it be known to all those he had conquered that "he was the son of Zeus and that he joyfully accepted this title as being absolutely true" (267).

Scholarly debate continues over Alexander's true motives for desiring the Greeks to acknowledge him as the son of Zeus. One popular theory holds that Alexander sought this kind of divinity because "he believed that the Greek polis would be forced to obey his orders without question, due to "being the son of Zeus whose power and authority superseded all earthbound political and religious regimes" (Hurwitt, 256). Without a doubt, due to his great conquests throughout Central Europe and Greece itself, Alexander was convinced that he was the son of Zeus. In Greek mythology, many stories are told of Zeus producing children by mating with a human female and most of the children that resulted from these matings were legendary mortals, such as Heracles and Perseus. But because Alexander had conquered so much of the known world at the time, he firmly believed that his feats were of superhuman origin. In essence, Alexander's accomplishments demonstrated that "he had achieved god-like power and therefore must be a god himself," namely, as the son of all-powerful Zeus (Hurwitt, 257).

Besides being represented as the "King of the Gods" in Greek mythology, Zeus served as the ultimate inspiration for one of the greatest buildings ever constructed in Western civilization. This was known as the Temple of Zeus at Olympia which held "the gold and ivory statue of the enthroned Zeus, sculpted by Phidias and hailed as one of the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World" (Leadbetter, "Zeus," Internet). This magnificent structure, now lost to time and history, contained within its pediments, a triangular space or gable at the ends of a building, numerous centaurs celebrating the wedding feast of Peirithous.

According to Greek legend, at this celebration, the centaurs became drunk and tried to abduct the bride and her handmaidens. But Zeus, who considered this act as a breech of Greek hospitality, "chastised the centaurs and cursed them forevermore." This event then became a symbol of Zeus's power over man and beast and… READ MORE

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