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Who was Zeus?

2024-01-08 09:27:00, Blog CNA

Who was Zeus?

In ancient mythology, Zeus was considered "Lord of the gods and mankind", whose name means "The Enlightened One". It was introduced to ancient Greece by Indo-European immigrants, probably from the steppes between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.

His cult, which soon gained supremacy over the Earth goddess, was established in Greece around the second millennium BC.

Called the "cloud gatherer", Zeus was the god of the skies, rain, lightning and thunder. To reflect these powers, the symbols of Zeus were the thunderbolts, which the Cyclops prepared for him and could be used as powerful weapons, as well as the eagle, the most majestic of birds.

In addition to being the God of the heavens, Zeus was also an important god to the people, ensuring that cities were governed by laws and the homes of their inhabitants were safe.

According to Hesiod, Zeus first married the Titan goddess of the second generation, Metis (meaning Wisdom).

According to the legend, after some time, Zeus had a terrible headache, and when Hephaestus, the God of forging, opened his head with an ax to take away the pain, the goddess Athena emerged, fully grown and armed to the teeth.

Athena was not the last child of Zeus, as he was famous for his adventures, which often infuriated his sister and second wife, Hera. In fact, depending on the sources we refer to, he had at least 100 children, some with goddesses and some with mortal women.

For example, Persephone, who would become the goddess of Hades, was the daughter of Zeus, fathered by his sister, Demeter. Zeus impregnated the Titan goddess Leto, with whom he fathered Apollo and Artemis. Semele, a mortal woman was the mother of Dionysus. Hermes, the messenger god, was his son with Maia, a Titan of the second generation.

The "legitimate" children that Zeus had with Hera were Ares, the god of war as well as Hebe (of youth) and Eileitia, (goddess of childbirth).

Other children of Zeus were Achilles, the famous hero, and Heracles, whose mother was Alcmene, the granddaughter of Zeus./ bota.al