The Rise of Zeus

8/10/2019 The Rise of Zeus

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Vasileios Ragkousis 1

Vasileios Ragkousis

GE Cluster 30A

10/16/13

Essay #1 draft

The emergence of Zeus and the Greek gods

Lauri Honko in his article The problem of defining myth stresses out the challenging

nature of attempts to define myth. Nevertheless he formulates a descriptive definition based on

four distinct criteria: form, content, function and context (Honko 48-51). He claims that myth is a

narrative, in terms of form, cosmogonic in terms of content, ontological in terms of function and

is used as the basis of ritual in the societies that the myth flourishes (Honko 50-51). The Greek

narrative of the emergence of Zeus as the king of the Greek Pantheon in Hesiods Theogony will

be examined through the spectrum of these four criteria in order to determine the degree to which

the narrative is suitable to the definition of myth that Honko proposes.

Before actually commencing with the analysis of the primary text it is sensible to

introduce the historical background in which Hesiod wrote. Frazers translation The poems of

Hesiod is utilized as the source of the primary text and the source of background information

pertaining Hesiod and his historical context. Hesiod was a poet of rural origins who lived

roughly around 750 and 650 BC in Boiotia in Greece. As we know from references in his poems

he was deeply religious and competed in poetry competitions, which justifies his writing of the

Theogony. In fact the poetry contest of Amphidamas serves as the best evidence we have for the

time when Hesiod lived He lived in a transitional era between the Geometrical and Classical

Greece when philosophy and classical art did not yet flourish in Greece and when the political

system would shift from the Mycenaean kingdoms to the classic era city states (Frazer 4-8).


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Hesiod was the first author to provide a detailed account of the Greek Pantheon and its

emergence, however, it is not to be assume that he came up with it; evidence from previous

written texts suggest that the Greek religion pre-existed (Frazer 5).

The Chapter of the Theogony that is of special interest for our purposes is the Rise of

Zeus (Lines 453-500) which essentially is the culmination of the previous events and

progressions of the Theogony. Rhea and Kronos mate for the former to give birth to six children

which are the elder Olympian gods: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus. However,

Kronos devours his own children in fear of his own son succeeding him as the king of the gods

as the prophecy by Gaia suggested. Rhea watches five of her offspring being devoured and

grieves heavily. She decides to make a plea to Ouranos and Gaia in order to save her lastborn

Zeus. As a result she gives birth to Zeus at Lyktos in Krete and deceives Kronos by giving him to

eat a rock rather than Zeus. Eventually Zeus manages to beat Kronos through trickery and force

and manages to force him to spit the rock along with his siblings. The rock still stands at the

basin of the mountain Parnassus at Pytho (otherwise known as Delphi) as a reminder of Zeuss

achievement.

Coming back to Honkos four criteria, it should be sensible to elaborate slightly more on

the concepts of form, content, function and context as interpreted by Honko. According to

Honko In terms of its form myth is a narrative which provides a verbal account of what is

known of sacred origins. Written or oral narratives undoubtedly fall under this category.

However, myth can be presented through other media (ikons, ritual, dances etc) which are

nevertheless based on verbal narrative (Honko 50). In the case of the Rise of Zeus it is starkly

clear that the text is a written narrative with a religious purpose and theme. The sacred tone is

especially evident through the use of embellishing characterizations for revered figues such as


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great lord Ouranos, Kronos, the clever deviser (Frazer 58). As a result the first criterion is

evidently satisfied by the particular narrative

Myths, as far as the second criterion (content) is concerned, are narratives of cosmogonic

events. They function as a way to elaborate on why the world, society, culture and humanity

evolved in a specific way and how it came to be in its present state. The narrative of Zeus ascend

to power qualifies as myth in regards to content, since the main theme is revolving around events

that led to the formation of the world and its reshaping into its present state. The gods, as

evidenced in many sacred Greek narratives (such as Homers Hymn to Demeter) are responsible

for the creation of many aspects of life, namely Demeter is responsible for fertility of the land,

Zeus manipulates thunder and storms, Poseidon controls the tide etc. As a result the Rise of Zeus

in Hesiods Theogony is both explicitly, through the creation of the Gods, and implicitly,

through the elements that Gods are going to create, referring to cosmogonic events.

Honko argues that: Myths functionas examples as models. It is commonly argued that

myths act as behavioral models and mediums through which morals are transmitted, or that they

are self sufficient realms that feature their own set of rules and laws. A generalization that

incorporates both these views is that myths are accounts of important events and aspects of life

and the universe (Honko 51). Applying this criterion to the primary text of the Theogony we

observe that the Rise of Zeus incorporates themes of great relevance and vital importance to

human life such as vengeance, maternal love and deception which are presented through the

interactions of the dramatis personae, Kronos, Rhea and Zeus. Therefore the narrative satisfies

this criterion as well.


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Finally Honko refers to context as the last criterion to determine a myth. Context

according to Honko is associated with ritual and essentially the projection and repetition of

sacred events that happened in the distant past. Ritual essentially gives life to the events and

ideas that myth addresses and adds a sacred overtone to them. As Honko phrases it What was

once possible and operative in the beginning of time becomes possible once more and can exert

its influence anew. The relation of the Theogony narrative to this criterion is more subtle but is

still identifiable. The rock that Kronos spits as a result of Zeus use of force and deception is said

to have landed on Pytho (Delphi) as a reminder of Zeus ordeal. This rock is also refered to as

omphalos. As suggested by Leicester B. Holland in his article The Mantic Mechanism At Delphi

page 213 such rocks were used as altars for animal sacrifices for the Olympian Gods. The

interesting fact is that the place where such an altar is evidenced is the same that is mentioned by

Hesiod, Pytho or Delphi. As a result we can now observe the projection of myth into reality

through ritual as Honko suggests for his context criterion. Therefore we can safely consider that

the narrative of the Rise of Zeus satisfies this last criterion as well.

The story of the rise of Zeus is clearly a narrative of sacred events occurring in the distant

past, talks about events that led to the creation of the world, concerns itself with themes of

fundamental importance to human existence and is used as script for ritual. As a result, it can be

conjectured that the narrative is indeed a myth according to Honkos definition and analysis of

the aspects of myth.

Bibliography

1) Frazer, R. M.. The poems of Hesiod.1st ed. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1983. Print.

2) Dundes, Alan. Sacred narrative, readings in the theory of myth. Berkeley: University of

California Press, 1984. Print.

3) Leicester B. Holland

American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 37, No. 2 (Apr. - Jun., 1933), pp. 201-214

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The Rise of Zeus