The Role Of Zeus In The Odyssey

649 Words2 Pages

Mythology was critical to Greek people’s everyday life, just like how religion is in our modern day in age. Everyday events, such as a thunderstorm, could be linked to a god or goddess. For example, when an earthquake would happen, it would be Poseidon crashing his tritan on the ground. People’s lives revolved around the whole ideology and it served as a way to explain the unexplained and to help them in times of need. All of the stories of these great gods and goddesses were passed down generation through generation each time getting more extreme and distorted. People idolized these beings and built stunning life like sculptures of them. Zeus was the most important of all the Greek gods and also king of Mount Olympus. He became a king after He is very well known for being deceiving, and a trickster. Hermes is also known for his many love affairs with numerous mortals, goddesses, and nymphs. In the Odyssey he serves as a messenger and is sent to Kalypso to tell her that she must let Odysseus off her island. The next person, Helios, is actually not a god but a rather a titan. He is the son of Hyperion and Thea and represents the sun, and his sisters Serena and Eos represent the night and the dawn. An easy way to remember him is that “Helios” is a root word from Greek for sun. Helios did not play a big part in Greek mythology and was eventually replaced by Apollo, but in the Odyssey he gets revenge on Odysseus for eating his cattle. Lastly is Aeolus, and this god is different because there are actually three gods with this name. The most famous which is the one that will be talked about in the Odyssey is the keeper of the winds, and he is also known by his other name is Hippotes. He gives Odysseus favorable winds, but when his companion opens the bad with the bad winds things turn a turn for the worse. In a nutshell, this is an explanation of all the gods in the Odyssey and the role that they

Show More
Related

  • Hephaistos: The Obscure Greek God

    1038 Words  | 3 Pages

    Greeks are known for many things. We know them for their poetry, for their philosophy, their politics--and also we have come to know them for their childish, petty, lustful, little gods. These gods, vengeful in the extreme, have been a source of much literature. However, not all the gods have the same publicity agent, and have suffered in obscurity for much too long. One of these gods, one of the Twelve Olympians, has been obscure in the least. He is different in most ways from the other gods, and I am here to illuminate him further to you. His name? Hephaistos.

    Read More

  • The Role Of The Gods In Homer's Odyssey

    955 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the Odyssey, written by Homer, and Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? by the Coen Brothers, the authors both tell tales interwoven with divine beliefs. In these stories, Odysseus the Greek hero faces Gods on his journey home. Similarly Everett, the escaped criminal, faced the Christian god on his journey. The gods in these stories sometimes hurt and sometimes helped Odysseus and Everett, along their journeys.

    Read More

  • Hephaestus In The Odyssey

    774 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hephaestus, was one of the twelve Greek Gods, the lame God of blacksmiths, sculptors, metallurgy, fire, and volcanos. He is symbolised with a hammer, anvil, or a pair of tongs. As stated in Homer’s epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, he is the son of Zeus, the king of gods, and Hera, the goddess of women and marriage. Contradicting that, according to Hesiod Hera had Hephaestus alone; because she was jealous that Zeus bred Aphrodite by himself. Hera reportedly after Hephaestus was born threw him off Mount. Olympus because he was ugly, when he fell Hephaestus broke both his legs, leaving him crippled. He fell into the ocean and was brought up by Thetis and Eurynome, the goddesses of the sea. Hephaestus never forgave Hera. As revenge he fashioned

    Read More

  • A Comparison of Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite

    2587 Words  | 6 Pages

    Mythology was very important to the men and women of ancient Greece. They worshipped the gods and goddesses, wrote poems about them, and based a great deal of art work off of them. The people of Greece looked to the gods and goddesses for help in all aspects of their lives; including health, agriculture, and war. Reading about Greek mythology can inform people about the society of Greece because the Greek gods were created by the people of Greece. Three main goddesses who were worshipped by the Greeks were Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Zeus in Homer's Iliad

    1952 Words  | 4 Pages

    The gods are used by Homer to add twists on an otherwise standard plot of war. I shall concentrate on Zeus. however, and reflect on his actions and their outcomes in the Trojan War. and more importantly, the story of The Iliad. Zeus, very untypical of a Greek.

    Read More

  • Hermes

    781 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hermes (Latin name Mercury) is the messenger of the gods. He is the fastest of all the gods and goddesses. He is the son of Zeus and Maia. He is a guide who knew the way to the underworld. So he would show the dead souls the way to the underworld. Hermes is also known as the patron of traders, merchants, thieves and everyone who lived by their wits.

    Read More

  • Gods and Beliefs of Ancient Civilizations

    1227 Words  | 3 Pages

    They are widely known for their gods and goddesses. The Olympian gods were the main gods of Ancient Greece. After overthrowing their ancestors, the Titans, the Olympian gods became the rulers of the World (Cosmos), representing the civilization of the world. To the common Greeks, they envisioned their gods as a family of immortals who intervened in the lives of human beings. Unlike Mesopotamia and Egypt, Greece made their gods out to be more human like than animal like. These gods were immortal, but took on many characteristics of the humans who worshipped them. The gods lived atop a mountain in Northern Greece called Mount Olympus. Mount Olympus was home to many of the gods, each had there own palace atop the mountain. Zeus sat upon the summit of the mountain while the other gods were surrounding him in their own palaces. Gods would take sides in human combat, seduce mortal woman, and meddle in the lives of those they felt were worthy of their attention. One of the most known gods, Zeus, was the supreme god in Ancient Greece, the father of the Olympian gods and the ruler of all mankind. He and his wife Hera were exalted by the Greek Pantheon as the ruling deities of Greece. In a epic poem called Theogony or The Birth of the Gods, it recounts the history, genealogy of the god, how they came to be and how they established permanent control over the Cosmos. In the poem it says that, “Verily at the first Chaos came to be, but next wide-bosomed Earth, the ever-sure foundations of all the deathless ones who hold the peaks of snowy Olympus, and dim Tartarus in the depth of the wide-pathed Earth, and Eros (Love), fairest among the deathless gods, who unnerves the limbs and overcomes the mind and wise counsels of all gods and all men within

    Read More

  • Sacrifice In The Odyssey

    1273 Words  | 3 Pages

    The role of gods and sacrifice in Greek Mythology has a prime role in everyday life. In the epic poem The Odyssey, written by Homer, the main character, Odysseus, has one major goal in mind. Throughout the poem, Odysseus has the objective of getting home to Ithaca. On this journey back home, he overcomes multitudinous obstacles, sacrifices his crew men, and has the help of the Greek gods like Athena, Calypso, Ino, and Zeus. Several major themes are portrayed through Odysseus’s return home. The role of gods, specifically in making direct contacts with humans, animal sacrifice, and human sacrifice are unquestionably common in Greek Mythology, but today, these particular concepts are not common in modern literature or daily life.

    Read More

  • Hermes 'Calypso The Sweet Nymph'

    863 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hermes is a greek god, he has beautiful sandals on which allow him to swiftly travel across the land as he is the messenger god. He also has a wand that allows him to put people to sleep, or when he wills, awaken them.

    Read More

  • Destiny, Fate and Free Will in Homer's Odyssey

    1370 Words  | 3 Pages

    When we look at Greek Mythology we often run into the gods of that era. Sometimes they are merely backdrops to the human element of the story but in stories such as The Odyssey the gods play a prominent if not vital role to the central themes of the story.

    Read More

  • Role of the Gods in Virgil's The Aeneid

    1234 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are many gods that play a role in the Aeneid. The main ones are Jupiter, king of all deities, Juno the divine antagonist of Aeneas’ destiny and Venus, his mother and his main protector. There are also the lesser gods such as Neptune, Aeolus, and Mercury, who serve as instruments for the main gods to meddle in the events of the story.

    Read More

  • Prometheus

    1419 Words  | 3 Pages

    Prometheus was especially known as the 'god of fire'. This was so because in one of the myths, Prometheus was said to have stolen the fire from Zeus. Later, Prometheus would pay for this. He was also considered to be a "supreme trickster", 'creator...

    Read More

  • The Role of the Gods in Homer's The Odyssey

    870 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey, gods play a very important role to the plot of the story. They are the one deciding if someone can survive or not according to the sacrifice that the person made for them. In the book 1, Athena said to Zeus her father, “Didn’t Odysseus please you with sacrifices beside the Greek ships at Troy?” (Homer 65, book1). In this part Athena was trying to plead with her father Zeus in favor of Odysseus because she wants to help him to go home, while others are trying to provoke his death. This love that Athena has for Odysseus and his family is revealed throughout Homer’s epic. Although Athena supported Odysseus throughout his voyage, other gods including Poseidon, Calypso, and Circe made it difficult for Odysseus to return home, such in our real life, some people will make your life hard, but you have a good faith as Odysseus, you should always find your way out. Our God is omnipr...

    Read More

  • The Role of the Gods in Homer's Odyssey

    690 Words  | 2 Pages

    Odysseus is a man. He is not a god, yet he seeks protection and assistance from the gods because he knows that it is necessary. The authority of the gods over Odysseus and the other characters in this ancient epic is obvious. Through out the story, we see example after example of the gods intervening in the life of Odysseus. The story opens with Odysseus living on the island of Kalypso. He is being held against his will. He partially submits to her, but will not become her husband. He longs for his beautiful wife Penelope. The goddess Athena begs her father to allow Odysseus to return home. Throughout the epic, the characters are attempting to find favor with the gods. By making wise choices and being hospitable Odysseus and his family will be graced with kindness and protection. The characters go on living, all the while knowing that their lives are in the hands of the gods.

    Read More

  • Constellations In Ancient Greek Mythology

    596 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Greeks were polytheistic, which means they believe in many gods/goddesses. The Ancient Greeks believed that a family of gods lived in a cloud palace above Mount Olympus which is the highest mountain in Greece. These gods were thought to have special powers, and each had control over a different aspect of life. Zeus became leader because he helped his siblings get out of cronus and so they made him their leader. A few examples are; Zeus the king of the gods, Poseidon the king of the oceans and water, and Athena which is the goddess of reason, intelligent activity, arts, and literature. Zeus created some of these constellations many years ago.

    Read More

More about The Role Of Zeus In The Odyssey

Open Document