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Zagreus
The supreme god Greek Orphism and said to be a son of
Zeus and Persephone. At the instigation of Hera, Zagreus
was torn to pieces by the Titans and when they proceeded
to devour him Zeus appeared on the scene. Driving the
Titans back with thunderbolts he succeeded in saving
the heart and gave it, still beating, to Semele to eat.
From her and Zeus the divine child Dionysus, the Greek
god of wine, was born.
Zalmoxis
A god of the Getae and Dacians, a people of Thrace near
the Hellespont. Assuming a human form, he lived among
humans but disappeared into the underworld for three
years and returned in the fourth. He was said to have
brought mystic lore regarding the immortality of the
soul from Egypt and from Pythagoras, introducing this
concept, together with the arts of civilization, to
his people.
Zelus
Zelus ("zeal") is the personification of zeal or emulation.
He is the son of Styx and the Titan Pallas, brother
of Nike, Cratos and Bia. Zelus is the constant companion
of Zeus.
Zephyrus
Zephyrus is the Greek god of the west wind, believed
to live in a cave on Thrace. He is the son of Eos and
Astraeus, the brother of Boreas, Eurus and Notus. He
abducted the goddess Chloris and gave her dominion over
flowers. In Roman myth, he is Favonius, the protector
of flowers and plants.
Zethus
A son of Zeus and Antiope, and twin brother of Amphion.
The two brothers helped building the walls of Thebes.
His wife is Aedon, although the Greek poet Pindar mentions
Thebe as his wife. In contrast to his brother, who was
artistic, Zethus had a rough nature and was a passionate
hunter.
Zeus
Zeus, the youngest son of Cronus and Rhea, he was the
supreme ruler of Mount Olympus and of the Pantheon of
gods who resided there. Being the supreme ruler he upheld
law, justice and morals, and this made him the spiritual
leader of both gods and men. Zeus was a celestial god,
and originally worshiped as a weather god by the Greek
tribes. These people came southward from the Balkans
circa 2100 BCE. He has always been associated as being
a weather god, as his main attribute is the thunderbolt,
he controlled thunder, lightning and rain. Theocritus
wrote circa 265 BCE: "sometimes Zeus is clear, sometimes
he rains". He is also known to have caused thunderstorms.
In Homer's epic poem the Iliad he sent thunderstorms
against his enemies. The name Zeus is related to the
Greek word dios, meaning "bright". His other attributes
as well as lightning were the scepter, the eagle and
his aegis (this was the goat-skin of Amaltheia). Before
the abolition of monarchies, Zeus was protector of the
king and his family. Once the age of Greek kings faded
into democracy he became chief judge and peacemaker,
but most importantly civic god. He brought peace in
place of violence, Hesiod (circa 700 BCE) describes
Zeus as "the lord of justice", Zeus was also known as
"Kosmetas" (orderer), "Soter" (savior), "Polieos" (overseer
of the polis -city) and also "Eleutherios" (guarantor
of political freedoms). His duties in this role were
to maintain the laws, protect suppliants, to summon
festivals and to give prophecies (his oldest and most
famous oracle was at Dodona, in Epirus -northwestern
Greece). As the supreme deity Zeus oversaw the conduct
of civilized life. But the "father of gods and men"
as Homer calls him, has many mythological tales.
His most famous was told by Hesiod in his Theogony,
of how Zeus usurped the kingdom of the immortals from
his father. This mythological tale of Zeus' struggle
against the Titans (Titanomachy) had been caused by
Cronus, after he had been warned that one of his children
would depose him. Cronus knowing the consequences, as
he had overthrown his father Uranus. To prevent this
from happening Cronus swallowed his newborn children
Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon, but his wife
Rhea (who was also his sister) and Gaia her mother,
wrapped a stone in swaddling clothes in place of the
infant Zeus. Cronus thinking it was the newborn baby
swallowed the stone. Meanwhile Rhea had her baby taken
to Crete, and there, in a cave on Mount Dicte, the divine
goat Amaltheia suckled and raised the infant Zeus.
When Zeus had grown into a young man he returned to
his fathers domain, and with the help of Gaia, compelled
Cronus to regurgitate the five children he had previously
swallowed (in some versions Zeus received help from
Metis who gave Cronus an emetic potion, which made him
vomit up Zeus' brothers and sisters). However, Zeus
led the revolt against his father and the dynasty of
the Titans, defeated and then banished them. Once Zeus
had control, he and his brothers divided the universe
between them: Zeus gaining the heavens, Poseidon the
sea and Hades the underworld. Zeus had to defend his
heavenly kingdom. The three separate assaults were from
the offspring of Gaia: they were the Gigantes, Typhon
(Zeus fought them with his thunder-bolt and aegis) and
the twin brothers who were called the Aloadae. The latter
tried to gain access to the heavens by stacking Mount
Ossa on top of Mount Olympus, and Mount Pelion on top
of Mount Ossa, but the twins still failed in their attempt
to overthrow Zeus. As he did with the Titans, Zeus banished
them all to "Tartarus", which is the lowest region on
earth, lower than the underworld.
According to legend, Metis, the goddess of prudence,
was the first love of Zeus. At first she tried in vain
to escape his advances, but in the end succumbed to
his endeavor, and from their union Athena was conceived.
Gaia warned Zeus that Metis would bear a daughter, whose
son would overthrow him. On hearing this Zeus swallowed
Metis, the reason for this was to continue to carry
the child through to the birth himself. Hera (his wife
and sister) was outraged and very jealous of her husband's
affair, also of his ability to give birth without female
participation. To spite Zeus she gave birth to Hephaestus
parthenogenetically (without being fertilized) and it
was Hephaestus who, when the time came, split open the
head of Zeus, from which Athena emerged fully armed.
Zeus had many offspring; his wife Hera bore him Ares,
Hephaestus, Hebe and Eileithyia, but Zeus had numerous
liaisons with both goddesses and mortals. He either
raped them, or used devious means to seduce the unsuspecting
maidens. His union with Leto (meaning the hidden one)
brought forth the twins Apollo and Artemis. Once again
Hera showed her jealousy by forcing Leto to roam the
earth in search of a place to give birth, as Hera had
stopped her from gaining shelter on terra-firma or at
sea. The only place she could go was to the isle of
Delos in the middle of the Aegean, the reason being
that Delos was, as legend states, a floating island.
One legend says that Aphrodite was the daughter of Zeus
and Dione.
Besides deities, he also fathered many mortals. In some
of his human liaisons Zeus used devious disguises. When
he seduced the Spartan queen Leda, he transformed himself
into a beautiful swan, and from the egg which Leda produced,
two sets of twins were born: Castor and Polydeuces and
Clytemnestra and Helen of Troy. He visited princess
Danae as a shower of gold, and from this union the hero
Perseus was born. He abducted the Phoenician princess
Europa, disguised as a bull, then carried her on his
back to the island of Crete where she bore three sons:
Minos, Rhadamanthys and Sarpedon. Zeus also took as
a lover the Trojan prince Ganymede. He was abducted
by an eagle sent by Zeus (some legends believe it was
Zeus disguised as an eagle). The prince was taken to
Mount Olympus, where he became Zeus' cup-bearer. Zeus
also used his charm and unprecedented power to seduce
those he wanted, so when Zeus promised Semele that he
would reveal himself in all his splendor, in order to
seduce her, the union produced Dionysus, but she was
destroyed when Zeus appeared as thunder and lightening.
Themis, the goddess of justice bore the three Horae,
goddesses of the seasons to Zeus , and also the three
Moirae, known as the Fates. When Zeus had an affair
with Mnemosyne, he coupled with her for nine consecutive
nights, which produced nine daughters, who became known
as the Muses. They entertained their father and the
other gods as a celestial choir on Mount Olympus. They
became deities of intellectual pursuits. Also the three
Charites or Graces were born from Zeus and Eurynome.
From all his children Zeus gave man all he needed to
live life in an ordered and moral way. Zeus had many
Temples and festivals in his honor, the most famous
of his sanctuaries being Olympia, the magnificent "Temple
of Zeus", 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". Also the
Olympic Games were held in his honor. The Nemean Games,
which were held every two years, were to honor Zeus.
There were numerous festivals throughout Greece: in
Athens they celebrated the marriage of Zeus and Hera
with the Theogamia (or Gamelia). The celebrations were
many: in all, Zeus had more than 150 epithets, each
one being celebrated in his honor.
In art, Zeus was usually portrayed as bearded, middle
aged but with a youthful figure. He would look very
regal and imposing. Artists always tried to reproduce
the power of Zeus in their work, usually by giving him
a pose as he is about to throw his bolt of lightening.
There are many statues of Zeus, but without doubt the
Artemisium Zeus is the most magnificent. Iit was previously
thought to be Poseidon, and can be seen in the Athens
National Archaeological Museum Zibelthiurdos
A Thracian storm god.
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