Zeus+(Jupiter)

**Zeus/Jupiter (Jove)toc**

Zeus was the king of the Greek gods and the master of lightning. He was one of the twelve Olympians and he was the god of the sky who rules on Mt. Olympus (Dowden, 3). “As the Master of lightning, Zeus has the Cyclopes at his command, the divine blacksmiths who fabricate for him the lightning as his main weapon” (Fritz, 9952).

Zeus was the youngest son of Kronos and Rheia. He was the brother of Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, and Hestia. Zeus had many adulterous activities with different women (divine and human), and he became the father of so many children who were either gods or demigods, such as his children Athena, Hercules, Dionysus, Perseus and so on.

According to Ovid’ //The Metamorphoses//, Zeus was also referred as Jupiter/Jove. Ovid described Jupiter/Jove as “associated with the sky, thunder and lightening, the planet Jupiter, and male sexual potency/activity; king of the gods” (xxxvi). = = = = = = = =

=Origin = Zeus was the youngest son of Rheia and Kronos. Kronos received a prophecy from Earth and Heaven that his child would be as powerful as he was, and he would also be overthrowned by his own child. After Kronos learned about the prophecy, he kept a sharp watch on Rheia and swallowed his children. Rheia’s grief was unbearable, so when she was about to give birth to Zeus, she want to bore secretly. Earth and Heaven sent Rheia to Lyktos and gave birth to Zeus. Earth received him when he was born and brought up in the wide land of Crete. She took the baby in her hands and hided him in a cave. Then she wrapped up a great stone in swaddling clothes as the substitution of Zeus and gave it to Kronos who swallowed the “baby” into his belly. When Zeus grew as an adult and defeated his father Kronos. Then, Kronos vomited and free his brothers and sisters from Kronos’ gut (Hesiod).

=The Olympic Games = The Olympic Games were held in honor of Zeus. Greek athletics won the games as individual, and they competed for themselves and gods. The winner of Greek athletics would put their status in front of the temple of Zeus in order to show their grace.

=Architecture = 

Temple of Zeus
The temple of Olympian Zeus is located in Athens, Greece. It was the most famous and larger building in Greece. The temple measured 135 by 454.5 feet, and it had the canonical six columns at the front and thirteen at the side of 57 feet high. (“Architecture” and “Greek Architecture”). It was built circa 470-456 B.C.E. to dedicate to Olympian Zeus. It was left unfinished and only the platform was used in its completion at a much later time. It took hundreds of years to finish the temple of Zeus, and it was finished in 131 C.E. in the time of the Roman emperor Hadrian. The temple of Zeus was “originally planned in the Doric style but when it was completed, it was with elements of the Corinthian order including elaboration floral Corinthian capitals” (“Greek Architecture”).

Temple of Jupiter
Jupiter/Jove was Zeus’ Roman name. The temple of Jupiter was on Capitoline Hill in Roman Pompeii. The temple was actually begun by the last king of Rome, the Etruscan Tarquin the Arrogant, in 510-509 B.C.E. Jupiter became the principal god of the Roman people in their civic capacity as a constitutional entity. Roman Republic assumed Jupiter as more and more important. The Romans worshipped Jupiter/Jove on the middle day of each month, which was a feast day in honor of Jupiter. They also worshipped on certain events, such as “obtain his permission to act on the people’s behalf; to him they sacrificed on the day they took office; and to him they presented, upon their successful return from war, some of the loot captured from defeated enemies” (Gods of the Roman People).

=Mythology =

The Titanomachy
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: 19px;">In Greek mythology, the Titanomachy was also known as the war of the titans. According to Hesiod’ //Theogony//, there was actually no real introduction to the account of the Titanomachy, and what was recorded was actually a small part of the final stage of the war which lasted ten years. The Hundered-handers whom Ouranos confined were never liberated from their underground prison after Kronos castrated ouranos (Hesiod). The mother of Kronos advised Zeus to liberate them to fight against Kronos and the Titans. The Hundred-handers were liberated to fight in the front line on the side of the Olympians (Hesiod, 99-100).

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: 25px;">Birth of Athena
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: 19px;">Athena was the daughter of Zeus and Metis. Metis was wiser than any other god or any mortal man, and she was Zeus' first wife. The prophecy Earth and Heaven advised Zeus that Metis would bear a son who would threat Zeus and hold the title of King among the eternal gods. Because Zeus wanted to protect his kingdom and his throne, so when Metis was pregnant, Zeus tricked Metis and swallowed her in his stomach. Later, he gave birth to Athena from his own forehead (Hesiod).

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Semele and Zeus
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Semele was the daughter of Cadmus, and she was the mother of Dionysus. When Hera, Zeus’ jealous wife, found out that Zeus had affair with Semele, she told Semele that her lover was actually the king of the gods – Zeus (Ovid). “Semele was tricked by Hera in requesting that Zeus appear to her in his full godly splendor rather than in mortal form” (Gods and Goddesses). After Semele asked Zeus for his full godly splendor, Zeus showed his power, which consumed Semele. Semele was pregnant at the time, so Zeus placed the unborn Dionysus in his own thigh in order to save Dionysus. Later, Dionysus was born from Zeus’ thigh and referred to as the - twice-born god (Gods and Goddesses).

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Alcmene and Zeus
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Alcmene was the wife of Amphitryon and the mother of Heracles. Zeus felt in love with Alcmene, the queen of Thebes. He took Amphitryon’s shape and seduced Alcmene when her husband was away on a military campaign. Alcmene became pregnant and carried two sons by two different fathers – Zeus and Amphitryon. Then Alcmene gave birth to Hercules and Iphicles, and Hercules pleaded the fact that Zeus was his father (Ovid).

=<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Cultural Significance = <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Zeus was the central god among Greek people. Greeks had many ways to worship Zeus. One of the festivals was the Olympic Games which held every four years. Zeus could be seen as the father of gods and men. According to Dowden, Greek people also saw Zeus as the lord and the king – the justice Zeus. “As Zeus is projection in heaven of kings on earth, it follows that he is responsible for the declaring of justice and its implementation” (Dowden, 73).

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">After the Classical Age of the fifth and fourth centuries BC, Zeus also appeared and remained a living force in Greek literature (Dowden, 97). Romans and Italians came into contact with Greeks settled all around Italy, and Romans showed their enthusiasm for the Greek literature and culture. It drew the Romans to connect the Roman Jupiter back toward Greek Zeus, just like the Greek poets compared different Zeuses (Dowden, 109)

=<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Bibliography =

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">"Architecture." //World Eras//. Ed. John T. Kirby. Vol. 6: Classical Greek Civilization, 800-323 B.C.E. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. 53-57. //Gale Virtual Reference Library//. Web. 26 June 2011.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Brooks, Jason. "Lecture 6: Competition, The Gods and Iconography." //Humanities 111.// Pepperdine University. Malibu, CA. 14 June 2011.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Dowden, Ken. //Zeus//. New York: Routledge, 2006. Print.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">"Gods and Goddesses." //World Eras//. Ed. John T. Kirby. Vol. 6: Classical Greek Civilization, 800-323 B.C.E. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. 278-282. //Gale Virtual Reference Library//. Web. 27 June 2011

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">"Gods of the Roman People." //World Eras//. Ed. John T. Kirby. Vol. 3: Roman Republic and Empire, 264 B.C.E.- 476 C.E. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. 350-361. //Gale Virtual Reference Library//. Web. 27 June 2011.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Graf, Fritz. "Zeus." //Encyclopedia of Religion//. Ed. Lindsay Jones. 2nd ed. Vol. 14. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 9951-9954. //Gale Virtual Reference Library//. Web. 26 June 2011.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">"Greek Architecture." //Arts and Humanities Through the Eras//. Ed. Edward I. Bleiberg, et al. Vol. 2: Ancient Greece and Rome 1200 B.C.E.-476 C.E. Detroit: Gale, 2005. 12-24. //Gale Virtual Reference Library//. Web. 26 June 2011.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Hesiod. "Theogony." Works and Days ; and Theogony. Trans. Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub., 1993. 62.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Ovid. The Metamorphoses. Trans. Frank Justus Miller. New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc., 2005. Print.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Unknown. "Statuette of Jupiter." 1-100 A.D. The J. Paul Getty Museum at Getty Villa, Malibu, CA.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Unknown. "The Marbury Hall Zeus." 1-100 A.D. The J. Paul Getty Museum at Getty Villa, Malibu, CA.

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