Ancient Greece Zeus God

According to Greek myth, Zeus was the king of all the gods. He is the sky god and controls lightning, which he uses as a weapon, and thunder. Later, he became the omnipotent supreme god, dispensing both good and evil. He was generally compassionate, punishing only the wicked and acting as the protector of all Greece.

He was known by many titles: Lord of the Sky, the Cloud- gatherer, the Rain-god and Zeus the Thunderer, all of which show which force of nature was considered to be the most important in Ancient World - rain.

Zeus was the sixth son of the Titans Cronos and Rhea. Cronos was warned by an oracle that one of his sons will overthrow him, just as he did with his father Uranum. To prevent this, he swallowed all his five children born to Rhea. Rhea hid the newborn Zeus in a cave in Crete, and she tricked Cronos into swallowing a rock wrapped in blankets. Zeus was raised in secret on the island of Crete.

As the king of the Greek Gods, Zeus has been portrayed endlessly in art, often with specific aspects or symbols to identify him and his purpose. Zeus was the guardian of political order and peace. Aside from the endless affairs Zeus was different from other gods in that he did not participate in the arguments and the resulting petty scheming that made up the daily activities of other gods.

His attributes were: the thunderbolts, the shield and sometimes the eagle. Zeus was however vengeful, as can be seen in the creation of man by Prometheus. His weapon is, of course the thunderbolt which he hurled at whoever displeased him. His bird is the Eagle, his tree - the Oak. Dodona was his oracle. His will was revealed by the rustling of oak leaves which was interpreted by his priests.

Zeus had a number of wives, who bore him many children, forming much of the Greek Pantheon. Zeus had a quick temper, a big sense of humor, and lots of girlfriends. He was not afraid of anything except Hera, his wife. It is not incorrect to say of Zeus that his primary occupation is seducer. In order to seduce, he sometimes changed his shape into that of an animal or bird.

The Olympic Games in Greece were held to honor Zeus. Some people saw Zeus as a way of explaining why sometimes good things happen to you and sometimes bad things: if good things happened, they would say, that was because you had done something that pleased Zeus, and if bad things happened you had done something wrong,

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