Zeus, King of the Gods

By: Regina Fleck

Overview

• Name- greek word dios meaning “bright” • Symbols: lightning, scepter, eagle • Chief judge and peacemaker • “father of gods and men”-Homer• any god who tried to defeat him, sent to

Tartarus

Theogony

• Usurped the kingdom of the mortals from his father

• Cronus and Titans versus Zeus • Escaped death as an infant• Divided the universe after victory – Zeus: heavens – Poseidon: sea – Hades: underworld

Women and Children

• Hera, wife and sister • Through children, gave man all he needed to

live in ordered and moral way • Seduced both gods and mortals• Bore Athena on his own • Apollo and Artemis: favorite children

Zeus in Art

• Thunderbolts, lightning • Full beard • Vast sky

Zeus in Oedipus Rex

• “Here are priests, by weight of age, as I am a priest of God.”-Priest of Zeus

• “Wisest in the ways of God.”-Priest of Zeus • Fate which binds Oedipus • “What is God singing in his profound Delphi of

gold and shadow?”- Chorus • “As for the criminal I pray to God…”-Oedipus