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Interactions of gods and mortals in Greek mythology
Character of zeus
Character of zeus
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Recommended: Interactions of gods and mortals in Greek mythology
Long ago, Zeus' people were making fun of him because they thought that lightning was a boring and useless power. So eventually Zeus found out about this and he didn’t take it very well, he became very angry at what his own people were saying and how they were not afraid of their god.Being very angry with the situation, Zeus took matters into his own hands without consulting any other gods and he sent lightning so that the people would know that they were wrong about him. Zeus had to show them what he was really made of. So the people learned not to make him angry or it won’t go very well. After he sent lightning , the people were very afraid of him and feared much more than Zeus had wanted. So he ordered his messenger Hermes, and Athena
the goddess of wisdom to tell the people to never underestimate him and there will be no consequences, and the people obeyed him. So this is why there is lightning now.
Throughout literature characters have relied upon entities greater then themselves to furnish them with aid as they meet the many challenges they must face. The Odyssey is a tale of Odysseus’ epic journey and the many obstacles that bar his return home. But Odysseus is not alone in this struggle and receives aid from many gods, especially the clear-eyed goddess Athena. There are times when Odysseus beseeches the gods for aid, but other times he is too foolhardy to receive aid from even the immortal gods. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus’ journey revolves around the cyclical phases of his dependence, independence and his return to reliance upon the gods’ aid.
This shows the value of bravery. As Odysseus and his crew row toward two fearsome monsters, Odysseus shows no fear. He reminds the men of the monsters they have already faced, and this inspires them. Death looks him in the eye, and, in response, Odysseus laughs in its face.
There is no doubt in mythology that the king of gods, Zeus, is the most supreme and powerful, ruling the sky. He controls the thunderbolt, a symbol of power feared by both gods and mortals. The Greeks and Romans honored Zeus above all other gods. He is without mistake, the god of all gods. Their stories of Zeus are plenty; his designs have molded mythology from his birth. Zeus' victory in outwitting his intelligent wife, Metis, by swallowing her pregnant, was the gateway used by the Greeks and Romans to show Zeus as the greatest god to come since his father and grandfather. However, as the stories of the gods and goddesses unfold, the Greeks and Roman's interpretation of Zeus' characteristics are different. Zeus is always upheld as the king of gods, but his other personal attributes to his godly rein are conflicting. Zeus' characteristics of fearfulness of female deities, cunningness and use of trickery, and lust in Ovid's Metamorphoses compared to the Theogony are opposed due to Hesiod's true respect of Zeus versus Ovid's lack of respect of Jupiter in Roman mythology.
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
...gedy happened to Medea she cries out to Zeus, “O Zeus and justice Zeus and light of the Sun”, this line is a prayer to Zeus calling out for help(Medea 764). This is showing that the gods are superior from everybody else, and they are called upon when times go wrong.
Zeus is the most powerful of all gods. All the Greeks with sense know not to cross him. A major practice in their culture is to invite in visitors that come to their doorsteps. This practice involves caring for the visitor by bathing and feeding them. After the visitor has been cared for, the host and visitor discuss the lineage of the visitor. This is done with the fear of Zeus and those who don’t follow the practice are dealt with. Those who don’t follow this practice are considered barbarians. Homer gives a clue into the extent of the fear when he writes that Telemakhos was “irked with himself / to think a visitor had been kept their waiting…'; (5). One example in The Odyssey is when Odysseus comes to the home of the Kyklops. Odysseus states:
I decided to analyze the similarities and differences between the two gods: Zeus and his son Dionysus. Even though Dionysus is of the same lineage of Zeus, this does not mean they share all of the same characteristics of one another. They differ greatly in attitude, appearance and morals. Zeus is considered the king of all gods, and he proudly uses his powers for his own amusement and pleasure, often at the expense of others lives. Whereas, Dionysus is the god of wine and fertility and he uses his powers to bring both pleasure and an escape from the grief that plagues ones mind but this can come at a cost leading the consumer to become unpredictable and easily influenced through overindulgence and addiction.
I will demonstrate that Zeus, the Greek myth god, and Marduk, the spitting image of Zeus in the Mesopotamian stories, have many similar and different characteristics, but both seem to have a similar purpose because of their power, identity, and other leadership roles and ideals.
Often readers will criticize the champions of classical and medieval epics for egotism. Critics cite examples from the Odyssey, the Aeneid, and Beowulf of conceit and egocentric behavior. Odysseus, Aeneas, and Beowulf display a well-known arrogance befitting their accomplishments. The motivation for this arrogance, to complete these tasks, to perform these feats, is often over-generalized to the point of inaccuracy and confusion. One must not let such misinterpretations interrupt the humanization of these characters. Through the examination of the desires and behavior of these epic heroes, we can discover an underlying need for recognition or honor. In classical and medieval western epics, the hero’s desire to complete a given quest is fueled by their desire to gain or maintain honor or fame.
On the other hand, Zeus is a strong, albeit authoritarian leader for both the other gods and mortals. Zeus is required to rule, sometimes absolutely, and when someone under his rule commits an act of treason, he is required to address the issue. When Zeus the leader acts forcefully, the rest of those under his reign will get the message. Prometheus’s act of handing o...
And so for men Zeus plotted grief and trouble. He hid fire. And Prometheus, bold son of Lapetus, stole it back from the side of wise Zeus, in a fennel stalk, and gave it to men and Zeus who delights in the thunder did not notice” (Bauschatz, ). Clearly, disobedience and deceiving the gods leads to chaos because Prometheus who tried to steal the fire from Zeus enraged him and therefore ordered the creation of Pandora as punishment and evil delivered to men.
The gods in power, like Zeus, exhibit bias, dishonor, betrayal, deception, and many other humanly characteristics. One memorable scene is when Zeus and Poseidon are in conflict with each other over the Achaens versus the Trojans. Zeus controls the battle by “lifting the famous runner Achilles’ glory higher,” (Homer 13: 404). Zeus plays both sides in this scene, acting like a double agent which is dishonorable. Zeus’s bias is prevalent throughout the poem; specifically, he is “bent on wiping out the Argives, down to the last man,” (Homer 12: 81-82). Just like mortals such as Agamemnon and Achilles view each other with suspicion and intolerance, the gods experience identical emotions of wariness, anger, and irritation. This human-like behavior is not restricted to Zeus. Later in the text, Hera lies to Aphrodite to use her powers to manipulate her own husband Zeus. If one looks at Hera as a heavenly entity, her reaction may not make sense, but when it is viewed as a manifestation of human emotion, it become almost reasonable. Her scheming response to Zeus’s meddling with the war is spurred by her support for the Trojans. Hera’s manipulation and Aphrodite’s ego don’t stand alone as examples of this divine humanity. These instances suggest that the deities are being presented in this unique way to help explain behavior of the humans in The
Lightning is an electrostatic discharge between two electrically charge regions with in the clouds and surface of a planet. The charged regions within the atmosphere equalize themselves through a flash of lightning referred to as a strike. There are three types of lightning from the clouds, intra-cloud; is from a cloud to itself, cloud to cloud; from one cloud to another, and cloud to ground . Earth, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn are the only planets in our solar system were lightning occurs. Cloud to ground lightning is the most common of the three types. Around 100 strikes a second and each bolt can contain up to on e billion volts of electricity. It also produces a lot of heat. A single flash can heat the surrounding air up to five times hotter that the surface of the sun. This causes the air to expand and vibrate causing thunder shortly after the flash. Lightning is not only an amazing sight but it is also extremely dangerous. About 2,000 people die worldwide from a lightning strike every year and hundreds more have life-long issues such as memory loss, dizziness, numbness.
I do not accept Zeus’ apology because of the way he addressed his audience in poor usage of words. For instance, Zeus sought to receive mercy by comparing his father’s inadequate choices to his by stating the following, “I will leave it for others to judge whether the fact that my father ate all my siblings makes any difference” (Crowther 1). Furthermore, Zeus pinned all the blame on Leda when he said “I totally accept that you did not lead me on’ (Crowther 1). Zeus wanted to justify his action of caressing her thigh to the way she was dressed. Zeus should not have seduced Leda, disrespected her and made her believe that they had shared feelings. When Zeus apologized to Io, he clearly stated that there was no consent when he wrapped himself
Zeus is the god of law, justice, morals, thunder, lightning, and rain. It was his job to oversee and make sure laws were being kept. He was worshipped originally as a weather god. He was depicted as a middle-aged man with a youthful appearance; he was regale and was almost always shown ready to throw a lightning bolt (pantheon/zeus).