“The mythology of Zeus, from all over the Greek world, is one dominated by his sexual adventures. We have seen how these can be understood in different ways. On one level, the mythology reflects some of the psychology of Greek males in their male dominated societies. On another level, they display his enormous and irresistible power to command the service of beauty wherever it is found. But most important, they cause him to be the foundation of the society of gods and the society of men, because when you for instance trace a Greek people back to its origin, the answer is so often Zeus. He has been Zeus father since Indo European times.”
“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.
If you REALLY want to know a god and understand a god. don’t bother with their myths and instead look at their epithets. Those are where you find out who a god truly is and how the Ancient Greeks viewed them. Zeus especially is a god that is extremely missunderstood because people choose to use his mythology as the only frame of reference, but as you can see by looking at some of his epithets doing so gives you a very shallow interpretation of Our Dear Father. So i encourage you all to take a stroll through a god’s list of epithets before allowing mythology to solely dictate how you view them.
This by no means is an exhaustive list of epithets for Zeus. He has a fuck ton, just further proving how significant and beloved he was in Ancient Greece. I picked these specifically because I felt when put together they can hopefully cast Zeus in a new eye opening light for some of you.
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.
I just told Hermes that I was happy to hear Zeus Thunder even if it was short…I live on the French Riviera, so Zeus rarely come here. In fact, the French Riviera is permanently blessed by Apollo, who increases the temperature and also the price per square meter :) The photo come from my Flickr gallery, Nice, my town, was named originally Nike from the Greek goddess of victory, but due to the weather, Apollo is the protector of the town.
