King of the Gods, thundering Zeus. Lord of justice, bringer of rains, and friend of the people.
“Zeus supremely great, to thee our holy rites we consecrate, our prayers and expiations, king divine, for all things to produce with ease through mind is thine. Hence mother earth (gaia) and mountains swelling high proceed from thee, the deep and all within the sky. Kronion (Cronion) king, descending from above, magnanimous, commanding, sceptred Zeus; all-parent, principle and end of all, whose power almighty shakes this earthly ball; even nature trembles at thy mighty nod, loud-sounding, armed with lightning, thundering god. Source of abundance, purifying king, O various-formed, from whom all natures spring; propitious hear my prayer, give blameless health, with peace divine, and necessary wealth.” — Orphic Hymn 15 to Zeus (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.)
Protector, defender, forgiver, Whose will guides all Aegis-bearing Zeus kindly and benevolent lord whom I honour every mid-month may your shield deflect all dangers and may your hands cradle us so we may praise you always
“The mythology was only a way of talking about Zeus, a façon de parler. No one believed that the gods actually had a palace at the top of a mountain in Thessaly. Mythology was always a parable, a transposition of the mysterious into another language. If the Greeks often treated their myth with a sense of fun that might shock generations brought up on scripture and holy books, that was at least partly because they did not take it quite so literally or naively. Ancient Greeks were no less sophisticated than ourselves.”
“When The Emperor is doing his job well, you don’t notice him. He stepped into this position of power to be of service to others. The holder of space and representative of institutions that bring order and balance, he works tirelessly and transparently so that others can feel safe. In its purest form, The Emperor’s rule is ego-less, coming from a place of loving responsibility and an understanding of the importance of healthy structure. Without this integrity, corruption invariably ensues.”
-WTF Is Tarot?…& How Do I Do It by Bakara Wintner
This is how I see Zeus as a Leader, a King, and a Father.
You know a wonderful thing about Zeus that no one seems to talk about??? His love and respect for his daughter, Artemis.
She told him exactly what she wanted and who she wanted to be and instead of denying her in the name of tradition, expectations, and gender roles, he said “Of course, my love. I will grant you everything you desire”.
He didn’t try to force her to be something she wasn’t. He not only allowed her to find herself on her own terms but he completely supported her through it.
I just love that Zeus loves Artemis exactly the way she is and never once tried to change her. I wish more parents were like that.
Olympian god of the sky, Chief god of the Hellenic Pantheon, ruler & protector of the gods & humans
⚡️Invocation:
Father Zeus, holder of lightning, master of storms, ruler of fair Olympus and all who there dwell. All is within your power, all bow to your will, great Zeus who hears all oaths, who sees justice done, who watches over all with benevolent gaze, whose blessings are great; awesome Zeus, I honor you. Guardian of our homes, protector of our children, kind Zeus, I pray to you, Guide me to be just, to act with honor, to keep my promises, to welcome guests freely, to do what’s right. Watch over our home and bring it to abundance, O Zeus, watch over our children, shield them from harm.
⚡️Offerings:
Libations: milk, tea, coffee, rain water
Small cakes
Breads
Red meat
Scaled fish
Fruit
Cinnamon
Laurel
Incense: frankincense, myrrh, or rain scented
Silver, blue, white, and/or gold candles
Figures or pictures of eagles
Figures or pictures of bulls
Eagles and/or bull toys
Oak
Pine
Pictures, paintings, statues, etc of lightning & thunderstorms
Meditate to the sounds of rain and/or a thunderstorm
Enjoy rainy days and/or thunderstorms, relax with tea or coffee and watch the storm outside
Make a playlist for him
Learn about the political climate of your nation, and your state and/or local area
Vote in national & local elections
Learn about your rights
Learn about the legislative & judicial systems of your government
Learn about the history of your country
Learn about his history, read his myths, hymns, poems, etc(YOU NEED TO CONSIDER HISTORICAL CONTEXT WHILE DOING SO, he gets a very bad rap now a days Bc people think a bunch of stories written by sexist rich folk in ancient greece is the literal nature of Zeus)
Learn about weather, storms, & how to tell if one is coming
Learn a new skill
Be fair & just & hear both sides of an argument before making a decision
Be proud of your achievements and yourself
Share your accomplishments with him
Take care of your mental health
take care of friends and family
Take charge & be a leader
Be assertive
Help others whenever you can
Work hard in school or work
Pray to him, tell him about everything, ask for guidance, he is a very fatherly presence
Honor his sisters, Hestia, andDemeter(andHeratoo again)
Honor his children & their mothers, he had COUNTLESS, so im only going to list significant ones, Athena (born from zeus’ head after consuming her titan mother Metis),Artemis&Apollo(FromLeto),Hermes(fromMaia),Ares, (from Hera),Dionysus(fromSemele, a mortal woman), & Persephone(fromDemeter)
HonorAphrodite,Homer describes her as Zeus’ daughter while Hesiod describes her being born from Ourano’s castrated ding a ling falling into sea foam, I subscribe most to the second it aligns with her near eastern origins. But regardless Zeus has a fatherly relationship with her eventually either way, she is adopted by Zeus & raised as his own as she was born from the sea without parents of her own
Support single fathers
Support people with neglectful, absent, or deceased fathers
Donate to organizations like the American Eagle organization
Donate to relief organizations for natural disasters
Participate in local government(volunteer, donate, vote, make your voice heard)
Olympian god of the sky, Chief god of the Hellenic Pantheon, ruler & protector of the gods & humans
⚡️Invocation:
Father Zeus, holder of lightning, master of storms, ruler of fair Olympus and all who there dwell. All is within your power, all bow to your will, great Zeus who hears all oaths, who sees justice done, who watches over all with benevolent gaze, whose blessings are great; awesome Zeus, I honor you. Guardian of our homes, protector of our children, kind Zeus, I pray to you, Guide me to be just, to act with honor, to keep my promises, to welcome guests freely, to do what’s right. Watch over our home and bring it to abundance, O Zeus, watch over our children, shield them from harm.
⚡️Offerings:
Libations: milk, tea, coffee, rain water
Small cakes
Breads
Red meat
Scaled fish
Fruit
Cinnamon
Laurel
Incense: frankincense, myrrh, or rain scented
Silver, blue, white, and/or gold candles
Figures or pictures of eagles
Figures or pictures of bulls
Eagles and/or bull toys
Oak
Pine
Pictures, paintings, statues, etc of lightning & thunderstorms
Meditate to the sounds of rain and/or a thunderstorm
Enjoy rainy days and/or thunderstorms, relax with tea or coffee and watch the storm outside
Make a playlist for him
Learn about the political climate of your nation, and your state and/or local area
Vote in national & local elections
Learn about your rights
Learn about the legislative & judicial systems of your government
Learn about the history of your country
Learn about his history, read his myths, hymns, poems, etc(YOU NEED TO CONSIDER HISTORICAL CONTEXT WHILE DOING SO, he gets a very bad rap now a days Bc people think a bunch of stories written by sexist rich folk in ancient greece is the literal nature of Zeus)
Learn about weather, storms, & how to tell if one is coming
Learn a new skill
Be fair & just & hear both sides of an argument before making a decision
Be proud of your achievements and yourself
Share your accomplishments with him
Take care of your mental health
take care of friends and family
Take charge & be a leader
Be assertive
Help others whenever you can
Work hard in school or work
Pray to him, tell him about everything, ask for guidance, he is a very fatherly presence
HonorHera, his wife
Honor his brothers, Poseidon&Hades
Honor his sisters, Hestia, andDemeter(andHeratoo again)
Honor his children & their mothers, he had COUNTLESS, so im only going to list significant ones, Athena (born from zeus’ head after consuming her titan mother Metis),Artemis&Apollo,FromLeto,Hermes,fromMaia,Ares, from Hera, Dionysus fromSemele, a mortal woman, & PersephonefromDemeter
HonorAphrodite,Homer describes her as Zeus’ daughter while Hesiod describes her being born from Ourano’s castrated ding a ling falling into sea foam, I subscribe most to the second it aligns with her near eastern origins. But regardless Zeus has a fatherly relationship with her eventually either way, she is adopted by Zeus & raised as his own as she was born from the sea without parents of her own
Support single fathers
Support people with neglectful, absent, or deceased fathers
Donate to organizations like the American Eagle organization
Donate to relief organizations for natural disasters
Participate in local government(volunteer, donate, vote, make your voice heard)
I was reading the internet the other day (seems like I’ll never get through that thing!) and came across a post about Zeus. I won’t specify the post, I’ve seen a lot of them over the years, but the gist is that Zeus’ mythos makes him unworthy of worship. And sometimes this is tongue-in-cheek, things like “95% of the problems in Greek mythology could have been avoided if Zeus could keep it in his pants.” Which is kind of funny and arguably not a wholly inaccurate statement when you think about it–Leda, Io, Europa?
And of course you don’t have to worship all of the gods. If you find that Zeus’ mythic storylines make you uncomfortable dealing with him, then don’t. It’s fine.
But if all your thoughts about any of the gods are based wholly on their myths, you’re missing a lot.
For one thing, there aren’t a lot of gods (or pantheons) whose mythology doesn’t have some difficult aspects. Some of this has to do with when they were written down and by whom; a myth reflects the culture it arose from. Zeus was portrayed as an iron-handed father figure (for example, marrying off daughter Persephone with no regard for her mother’s feelings) because that was the perceived role of a father at the time. Doesn’t make it right or something for mortals to emulate, then or now. But it tells us something about the time and the culture all the same.
And it’s not only Greek mythology that presents these issues; the Norse god Odin, too, treated a number of women (for example, Gunnlod) quite unfairly, usually for some sort of gain (for example, the mead of wisdom). Frey’s wooing of Gerd involved some pretty nasty threats on the part of his messenger Skirnir.
The main thing, though, is that what we know about the gods from myth is often very, very different from what we know about them from cult. This isn’t always an option (there’s very little information about religious practice in Celtic or Norse cultures, for example) but in the case of the Greek gods it absolutely is. And what you find is that the connection between myth and cult is sometimes very tenuous.
Zeus, for example, is a multi-faceted god with many aspects and many associations. He is, yes, a god of thunder, who sends the rains we so need. He is a god of storms. But he is much more.
Zeus is a god of justice. He is the one to turn to if you have been wronged; he is an avenger of those who have been treated poorly by the system. He is as well a defender of oaths and a punisher of perjurers.
He is a protector of assemblies, a defender of the right to assemble. He is also concerned with government; pray to Zeus when your government is corrupt, when people are deprived of their rights and their votes.
Zeus is a protector of the city; he is also a protector of individual homes. He protects a household’s storeroom and property, ensuring that the family is safe and has enough to eat.
And Zeus is a protector of strangers and travellers, people who are far away from friends and family; his wrath falls on those who mistreat visitors. He insists on hospitality, on being kind to foreigners. He is as well a protector of fugitives.
At the request of a lovely anon, this post is going to be about a very unique and very interesting epithet of Zeus - Meilikhios.
I’ve talked in passing about Zeus Meilikhios in two other posts of mine: Zeus KatharsiosandMisconceptions of Zeus, but I’ve never done a post focusing solely on this epithet, mostly because it can be a bit to talk about. So, let’s get into it today!
Some translations of Meilikhios that I’ve seen include “the merciful”, “the mild”, “the kindly”, “open to propitiation”, etc.
MEILI′CHIUS (Meilichios), i. e. the god that can be propitiated, or the gracious, is used as a surname of several divinities. 1. Of Zeus, as the protector of those who honoured him with propitiatory sacrifices. At Athens cakes were offered to him every year at the festival of the Diasia. (Thuc. i. 126; Xenoph. Anab. vii. 7. § 4.) Altars were erected to Zeus Meilichius on the Cephissus (Paus. i. 37. § 3),at Sicyon (ii.9. § 6), and at Argos (ii. 20. § 1; Plut. De cohib.
Zeus Meilikhios was often depicted as a giant snake - a creature of the earth.
Even if in one perspective Zeus Meilichios was simply one aspect of Zeus, in another he had to be treated as an independent figure. He was often portrayed differently too, as a gigantic snake. (p.91 of On Greek Religion by Robert Parker)
It is a Chthonic epithet of Zeus, one that has to do with the placating of the dead. He is, like Zeus Kathersios, a god of purification; Votive offerings at Argos were dedicated to him in order to be cleansed of the miasma inccured through bloodshed:
Bryas of Argos was put in command [of the Argive Thousand]. He committed a number of violent outrages against common people, and on one occasion he dishonoured a bridal procession by snatching a virgin girl they were leading to the bridegroom. When night fell the young girl watched Bryas going to sleep and then blinded him. But the coming of day betrayed her; she fled to the people as a ritual suppliant. They refused to give her up to the vengeance of the regiment, there was a fight, the people won it, and in their fury they left not one man of the thousand alive. Afterwards, among the ceremonies of their purification from the blood of kindred, they dedicated a statue of Zeus Meilichios. - Pausanias (2.20.1-2)
There was also a festival in his honor at Athens, called the Diasia, which was celebrated on the 23rd of Anthesterion. For those that could afford them, pigs were sacrificed and burnt whole, as no part of the animal was meant to be eaten in a sacrifice to a god of the underworld. For those who couldn’t afford them, cakes baked in animal shapes were sacrificed.
The festival was described in antiquity as ‘performed with a certain loathsomeness’ and accompanied by grim expressions. This was the public side. Domestically, it was a day of family meals, hospitality and of giving children presents. (pg. 66 of Zeus)
So, not only is he a god of purification, but he also has familial connections and even protective ones:
Thucydides tells the story of the sixth-century athlete Cylon, famous as an Olympian, and married to the daughter of the tyrant of Megara, who attempted in 632 BC to seize political power in Athens. The Delphic oracle advised him to attack during the greatest festival of Zeus. Not surprisingly, he construed this to be the Olympic Games, but his attack went disastrously wrong. Had he attacked during the Diasia, Thucydides points out, he would have found the city largely empty as all the citizens left it for the sanctuary of Zeus Meilichios. Whether designedly or inadvertently, the god protects his worshippers from threats to the city, and ensures their safety. (pg. 3 of the role of Zeus Meilikhios in Argos)
So, this chthonic epithet of Zeus is quite complex in and of itself – on one hand, he is a god tasked with purifiying those who have incurred miasma through bloodshed, but also has strong familial and gentle connotations with the Diasia.
Feel free to send in requests for certain epithets!
Sources:Zeus by Ken Dowden, The role of Zeus Meilikhios in Argos by Diana Burton, and On Greek Religion by Robert Parker
Well, here goes nothing. I’m going to start the 15 days of deity devotion post series for Zeus. I don’t think I’ll post every single day for this series, but I’ll try to make it at least regular.
Day 1 - Basic Introduction
Name:Zeus.
Domain: Weather, justice, family, household, cities, law and order, the heavens, fatherhood, leadership, purification, fate, xenia, protection, etc.
Symbols: Eagle, bull, swan, thunderbolt, oak tree, crown, throne, stormcloud, mountains, etc.
Epithets: I’m not going to list all of them, but here are a few of my favorites! - Zeus Apemios (Averter of Ills) - Zeus Hykesios (of Suppliants) - Zeus Hypatos (Nost High) - Zeus Kataibates (Who Comes Down) - Zeus Kathersios (of Ritual Purification) - Zeus Ktesios (of the Household and Property) - Zeus Meilikhios (the Merciful) - Zeus Palamnios (Punisher of Murderers) - Zeus Phyxios (of Refuge) - Zeus Polieus (of the City) - Zeus Soter (of Safety, Preservation, and Deliverance from Harm) - Zeus Teleios (of Marriage Rites) - Zeus Xenios (of Hospitality)
If you’re curious about any of these epithets and want to learn more, I have posts for a few of them on my page!
Devotional Acts: I actually made a previous post on devotional acts for him, which I’ll put here.
Offerings: Representations of any of his sacred animals, trees, or symbols, water, tea, coffee (in my experience he prefers coffee with milk but no sugar /upg), frankincense, myrrh, rain-scented, or storax incense, (if old enough to buy alcohol) whiskey, gin, vodka (any hard liquor will do), cakes, breads (if offering to Zeus Hypatos, only cake, and if offering to Zeus Meilikhios, cakes baked in the shapes of animals like pigs or goats), meat, etc.
Olympian god of the sky, Chief god of the Hellenic Pantheon, ruler & protector of the gods & humans
⚡️Invocation:
Father Zeus, holder of lightning, master of storms, ruler of fair Olympus and all who there dwell. All is within your power, all bow to your will, great Zeus who hears all oaths, who sees justice done, who watches over all with benevolent gaze, whose blessings are great; awesome Zeus, I honor you. Guardian of our homes, protector of our children, kind Zeus, I pray to you, Guide me to be just, to act with honor, to keep my promises, to welcome guests freely, to do what’s right. Watch over our home and bring it to abundance, O Zeus, watch over our children, shield them from harm.
⚡️Offerings:
Libations: milk, tea, coffee, rain water
Small cakes
Breads
Red meat
Scaled fish
Fruit
Cinnamon
Laurel
Incense: frankincense, myrrh, or rain scented
Silver, blue, white, and/or gold candles
Figures or pictures of eagles
Figures or pictures of bulls
Eagles and/or bull toys
Oak
Pine
Pictures, paintings, statues, etc of lightning & thunderstorms
Meditate to the sounds of rain and/or a thunderstorm
Enjoy rainy days and/or thunderstorms, relax with tea or coffee and watch the storm outside
Make a playlist for him
Learn about the political climate of your nation, and your state and/or local area
Vote in national & local elections
Learn about your rights
Learn about the legislative & judicial systems of your government
Learn about the history of your country
Learn about his history, read his myths, hymns, poems, etc(YOU NEED TO CONSIDER HISTORICAL CONTEXT WHILE DOING SO, he gets a very bad rap now a days Bc people think a bunch of stories written by sexist rich folk in ancient greece is the literal nature of Zeus)
Learn about weather, storms, & how to tell if one is coming
Learn a new skill
Be fair & just & hear both sides of an argument before making a decision
Be proud of your achievements and yourself
Share your accomplishments with him
Take care of your mental health
take care of friends and family
Take charge & be a leader
Be assertive
Help others whenever you can
Work hard in school or work
Pray to him, tell him about everything, ask for guidance, he is a very fatherly presence
Honor his sisters, Hestia, andDemeter(andHeratoo again)
Honor his children & their mothers, he had COUNTLESS, so im only going to list significant ones, Athena (born from zeus’ head after consuming her titan mother Metis),Artemis&Apollo(FromLeto),Hermes(fromMaia),Ares, (from Hera),Dionysus(fromSemele, a mortal woman), & Persephone(fromDemeter)
HonorAphrodite,Homer describes her as Zeus’ daughter while Hesiod describes her being born from Ourano’s castrated ding a ling falling into sea foam, I subscribe most to the second it aligns with her near eastern origins. But regardless Zeus has a fatherly relationship with her eventually either way, she is adopted by Zeus & raised as his own as she was born from the sea without parents of her own
Support single fathers
Support people with neglectful, absent, or deceased fathers
Donate to organizations like the American Eagle organization
Donate to relief organizations for natural disasters
Participate in local government(volunteer, donate, vote, make your voice heard)
Why people hating on Zeus equals to hating on a whole ancient society and… it’s kinda dumb
If you have been in the part of social media that discusses ancient religions or ancient mythology you might know Zeus is hated badly. If you worship Zeus like I do I’m pretty sure you are aware of how many people actually waste times of their live doing bad jokes of how every woman on ancient Greece was pregnant with Zeus’s kid or another type of bullshit, and I’m tired of that. There are already like 100 posts on other Zeus worshippers giving their take on this topic but you know what? I want to be the 101 so here I am. I’f you hate Zeus I ask you nicely to grab your coffee, water, tea, whatever, sit and read this post.
this post is written with a target audience of people who do not have much knowledge aside from the myths and what social media say, I’ll be including the very basic theological and cultural aspects of Ancient Greece in this post so let’s consider this a baby course into epithets and the human kind changing their ethic code through time.
Before we officially start I’m sure some Zeus haters already have arguments to throw at me as soon as they finish reading this post so let me tell you, as a MUN delegate who’s obsessed with debate, some argument starters I won’t even read if you start a sentence with them:
“I believe or I think” I’m sorry but I don’t care about your personal biases I want facts.
“X media thing portrays” x media or x author is not a reliable source of information, unless it’s a historian with good background resources or reliable sources I won’t even take it in mind
“In other religions…” this is hellenism not other religions
“But in x myth” myths are not literal
“But x deity” all deities are different
Anyways, let’s start with what’s a myth, the merriam webster dictionary says a myth is “a usually traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural”. My religion teacher back on catholic school also added to this definition a “moral code or cultural reflection religions implied into their followers”, and it’s accurate.
In baby words, myths explain things our society can’t explain while also reflecting our culture and behaviours.
Clear? Clear.
History has shown us that many religions don’t take their myths completely literally, most times they take them as metaphors or teachings to follow or simply they use them as propaganda to increase certains individual power, and this includes Ancient Greeks. If a king wanted to increase his power to scare people that may want to rebel he could easily say he was the child of Zeus, which is an explanation to why so many kings and heroes were kids of the all-mighty deity. Ancient Greeks also had to find a way to explain different phenomenons, and as many cultures before and after them, myths were a perfect way of doing so. To finish with myths and their uses, as many religions did and still do, the ancient Greeks needed a way to spread lessons to their people without the need of sitting them down and literally teaching them. Instead of doing this they preferred giving examples of things not to do. What makes Hellenism so different to actual modern religions is that the practice was and is more important that the actually texts, that can be a base but at the end of the day they are not the structure of the religion.
Now, a huge mistake many people commit is thinking the myths we nowadays read are the original myths. That’s a mistake. Ingrid Holmberg says in her essay titled as The Creation of the Ancient Greek Epic Cycle “Their research (addressing Milman Parry and Albert Lord.) and the research of their followers has revealed that the Greek epic oral tradition formed a huge, interconnected, and variegated web of legendary and mythical narratives that comprised the corpus of the epic cycle(…).” Harvard university also addresses this topic by saying “Basically, the “question” came down to this: were the Homeric poems composed with or without the aid of writing? Parry’s project, the comparing of Homeric poetry with the living oral traditions of South Slavic heroic poetry, led him to conclude that the Homeric texts were indeed the products of oral composition.”
So tell me, years of investigation affirms that the myths were told from mouth to mouth, the poets did not write their original work down but after many years later someone did… the version written is a version passed generation from generation by someone who heard them from their parents who heard them from their grandparents that might have edited and changed the original version for hundreds of years. Knowing all this areyou’re still going to judge a culture and a religion through myths? Really? Because that’s plainly dumb.
Let me give you an example, I write you a message and then pass it through google translator 20 times, and send it. And actually did! The message I’ll translate 20 times is “Hello dear readers of the internet, this is an experiment with google translator to explain how dumb is to literally judge a myth that has been changed hundreds of times. Not only that, a myth that reflected a society with different a ethic code, in some hundreds of years if society still exists they are going to judge some things we do… so em don’t waste your time on that”. After passing that message through 20 different languages in google translator this is how it ended up: Hello, dear internet reader, you will be judged not only by this, but also by some of the hundreds of years that we have done with the growth of social networks … so don’t waste time. Don’t waste.
I’m not trying to say that historians and their translations are as bad as google translator, I know this people have studied years to do what they do, I’m just saying that the original stories were told so many times that we have hundreds of adaptations and changes. Here’s an example, if you read a copy of the iliad written by x guy and then grab another copy written by another guy… you’ll find many differences in the translation.
Now that we got the translation clear thing you’ll probably still say “yeah anyways still myths say Zeus is a pr3d4tor who cheated on his wife muuultiple times”. And to that I’ll laugh ten minutes because yeah but no. Look at my beautiful hazel and eyes and tell me, do you think Ancient Greek men cared about women? And how they were treated? and how they were portrayed in the moment of explaining things?
If you say yes I beg you to go study some history.
If you say no, bingo.
A year a go I went down the rabbit whole of homosexuality in the ancient world, wrote an essay on it, and I found out men repeled women and they saw them as baby machines (i mean, some still do) so some societies had this idea that the closest relationship to love you could have with someone was with another man. So, understand that the ancient world didn’t give a damn about women. Most myths shows them as trophies, that’s no surprise for anyone at this point. So of course, they saw women as baby machines and as myths are reflections of society, do you really expect the Ancient Greeks to portray them as something else aside baby creators? Nooo!!!! Ofc they were not going to do that, they needed mothers to give an explanation to the hundreds of kings saying they were Zeus’s kids, and they found them.
Okay now, some of you may ask why did he “cheat” on Hera… more cultural aspects being reflected. Here’s what Jennifer Larson the writer of Ancient Greek cults has to say:
Now that we closed the marriage ethic issue The Zeus has many child joke or insult is even dumber because kids were so important for the social status in that era that they stablished the social status. During all Human’s story, money establishes your place in the social status: the more you have the higher you are. This also applied in the Ancient Greece. By having more kids it meant you had more to offer and to sustain your family, basically more kids = more money = more power = higher rank.
Studying children and childhood is of great importance because it provides insight into social norms and social life in ancient Greece. Children were important for the parents, the home, and city. Not having children led to inability to pass on the property and wealth of the father.
If Zeus, the KING of the gods and mortals, father of humanity, doesn't have a lot of children then what do you think it would do to how Ancient Greeks perceived him huh. If they measured by kids ofc their higher deity had to have a lot because that gave him power, please, it’s pure logic. The fact that he has multiple kids is a perfect reflection of how the Ancient Greece society acted, do you really want to sit down and complain about it? Why don’t you instead start thinking of a way of changing that capitalist mindset that still rules our society instead of bullying an old civilization and their cults.
—End of the cultural rant—
Okay cultural part has finished, let’s dive into my favorite topic ever: epithets. And I actually did like 3 polls on this, both on my twitter and my instagram, asking if my followers knew what an epithet was. I always had this thought that one of the reasons many people hate on deities is because they only see one side of their multiple-side self… and ofc the answer was no, they did not:
And epithets are soooo important to understand a deity, So assuming some people might not know what epithets are here is a brief summary extracted from a previous post of mine addressing epithets and their importance: Literal definition of epithet: an adjective or phrase expressing a quality or attribute regarded as characteristic of the person or thing mentioned.Let me give you an example: A friend of yours loves reading, they love it so freaking much, so one of your teachers is like “oh pepito the reader”, it’s obvious that pepito is a reader.Now examples with deities. Demeter Chthonia (of the Earth). WHAT DO WE ASSUME KIDS?! That Demeter is an Earth deity. Duh. And like that with all the deities.
Epithets basically tell us how deities were perceived when worshipped, and many of the people who love judging Zeus have ignoring epithets as their favorite hobby so here I am, giving you a list of my favorite ones to take in mind:
AGO′NIUS (Agônios), a surname or epithet of several gods. Aeschylus (Agam. 513) and Sophocles (Trach. 26) use it of Apollo and Zeus, and apparently in the sense of helpers in struggles and contests.
AGORAEUS and AGORAEA (Agoraia and Agoraios), are epithets given to several divinities who were considered as the protectors of the assemblies of the people in the agora, such as Zeus
ALASTOR (Alastôr). an epithet of Zeus, describing him as the avenger of evil deeds.
EVA′NEMUS (Euanemos), the giver of favourable wind
HETAEREIUS (Hetaireios), the protector of companies or associations of friends
HY′PATUS (Hupatos), the most high
LECHEA′TES (Lecheatês) i.e. the protector of childbed
NOMOS (Nomos), a personification of law, described as the ruler of gods and men.
PANHELLE′NIUS (Panellênios), i.e. the god common to, or worshipped by all the Hellenes or Greeks
PHY′XIUS (Phuzios), i. e., the god who protects fugitives
POLIEUS (Polieus), “the protector of the city;”
SOTER (Sôtêr), i. e. “the Saviour”
Theos Agathos - The Good God
MEILIKHIOS (Milichius) Gracious, Merciful
After reading all this epithets I want to ask one last time, do you still think Zeus is a jerk? When he has the literal epithet of being a Good God? A merciful one? A protector? THE PERSONIFICATION OF LAW?
A fact aspect I want to mention is how people love to completely erase the good sides of Zeus portrayed in many myths. In the Iliad Zeus loves one of his most loved sons, he wants to go and revenge him because he’s an amazing dad but he knows that if he does that he would be impartial and injustice to the other deities who have lost children but haven’t been able to do anything about it. Instead he mourns in silence just to refrain from making other deities feel less privileged, this happens in the freaking Iliad and I’m sorry but I think that is a perfect example of how good Zeus is even if myths are not literal.
IZeus is more than the character modern media converted him into, he’s way more than that. He’s a deity, with multiple aspects and multiple stories that have adapted to fit into into ancient societies idea of what was a higher deity. All the arguments people have against him show that they do not understand how myths work and they do not understand that ancient times came with ancient ideals.
So please, research and form your own criteria before hating on something you don’t actually know about. Give yourself the opportunity to listen all sides of the story and then after that you can say whatever you want. Most importantly, give yourself the opportunity to learn.
Hopefully this is my last post regarding this matter, if I quite changed your mind in any type of way then that’s great, if I didn’t that’s on you. That’s all I have to say and thank you for reading the post complete!
Zeus Alexikakos strikes fear into the hearts of ghosts and men who seek to harm you. He keeps away all things evil from you, young one.
Cretan Zeus is a young and youthful fertility god, similar to his son Dionysus, who brings forth the fertility of the earth
Zeus Meilichios is a giant chthonian serpent who is not to be dealt with lightly. He is protective and serpentine.
Zeus Phuzios protects refugees who seek shelter in another place. Those who seek to harm them shall be struck down by the infamous lightning god.
Zeus Soter is a saviour. He will keep you from harm.
Zeus Xenios protects the sacred Xenia bond from being broken and punishes those who do.
These only touch upon the complexity and unique nature of Zeus. Afford him the same respect and complexity you give to youthful gods like Apollon, Hermes, or Dionysus.
“How can anyone who, while worshiping Zeus the God of Companions, sees their neighbors in need and does not give them a penny - how can they think they are worshiping Zeus properly?”
— Julian, Emperor of Rome, Letter to Arsacius, High-priest of Galatia
