Wednesday, November 9, 2011

75 Amazing and Bizarre Things About Zeus: Chief God of the Greek Gods and Goddesses


Zeus is the chief god of the Greeks gods and goddesses. He is the equivalent of the Roman’s Jupiter. Here are some of the most interesting and fascinating things about this legendary Greek god.

1.) The “Temple of Zeus” at Olympia, Greece is one of the Ancient Wonders of the World. It contained a huge statue of Zeus and was built in honor of him.

2.) The temple of Doric style was constructed between 472 and 456 BCE.

3.) The Statue of Zeus was about 13 meters in height and was created by the sculptor Phidias.

4.) Zeus’ statue took Phidias 12 years to complete it and was the most famous artistic work in Greece.

5.) On this statue, he was wearing a gold sandals and gold robe and the throne was decorated with gold, precious stones, ebony and ivory.


6.) In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus is the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family.

7.) Ancient Greeks believed that Zeus was the creator of weather; creating droughts, heavy rain, and storms.

8.) Zeus counterpart in the Hindu mythology is god Indra and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.

9.) In Greek mythology, Zeus is the god of sky and thunder.

10.) Zeus is also known by such aliases as "the Rain God" and "the Cloud Gatherer". He is also known as the god of weather and fertility.

11.) Zeus was a god of morality, even though he is a womanizer. He would reward the good and the righteous and would punish those who would commit evil deeds.

12.) Although Zeus is considered as the god of marriage, he himself had several illicit relationships. But he was a powerful and just ruler.

13.) Zeus was the patron of hospitality and guests, ready to avenge any wrong done to a stranger.

14.) Zeus most famous symbols include the bull, eagle, oak and his most popular symbol - the thunderbolt.

15.) Zeus was the bearer of the Aegis with which he strikes terror into the impious and his enemies.

16.) Zeus sacred bird was the Golden Eagle, which he kept by his side at all times. Like him, the eagle was a symbol of strength, courage, and justice.

17.) His favorite tree was the Oak, a symbol of strength. Olive trees were also sacred to him

18.) Zeus is believed to have been born in a cave on Mount Ida on the island of Crete.

19.) His mother is Rhea and his father is Cronus. Zeus was the 6th child of Cronus and Rhea; the youngest child.

20.) Zeus's father was a greedy man who loved being a supreme god and due to his lust for power he would eat his own children birthed by Rhea.

21.) Cronus had learned from Gaia and Uranus that he was destined to be overcome by his own son as he had overthrown his own father.

22.)  Cronus, fearful of being usurped, kept eating Rhea's children. Rhea tricked Cronus after giving birth to Zeus by substituting a swaddled rock for her husband's snack.

23.) Zeus obtained his rule in the heavens and Mount Olympus by conquering his father Cronus

24.) He conquered his father and freed his siblings, who were still living in Cronus’ stomach.

25.) It was the Cyclopes who gave Zeus thunder and thunderbolt as a token of their appreciation for releasing them from their dungeon in Tartarus.


 26.) Zeus was married to his sister Hera, the goddess of marriage.

27.) At the oracle of Dodona, his consort was Dione.

28.) Zeus is the father of Aphrodite by Dione.

29.) Zeus is known for his erotic escapades which resulted in many godly and heroic offspring.

30.) His other children include Apollo, Artemis, Athena, and Hermes by Demeter.

31.) Dionysius, Perseus, Heracles, Helen of Troy, Minos and the Muses are his children by Mnemosyne.

32.) Zeus children by Hera are Ares, Hebe and Hephaestus.

33.) When Hera gave birth to Hephaestus, Zeus threw him off the top of Mount Olympus because of his repulsive appearance.

34.) Athena, the goddess of wisdom, has at times been called the favorite daughter and adviser of Zeus.

35.) Of all Zeus’ children Zeus, Heracles was often described as his favorite. Heracles was often called by various gods and people as "the favorite son of Zeus".

36.) Zeus and Heracles were very close and in one story, where a tribe of earth-born Giants threatened Olympus and the Oracle at Delphi decreed that only the combined efforts of a lone god and mortal could stop the creature, Zeus and Heracles defeated the monsters.

37.) Hades and Poseidon, (god of the underworld and god of the sea, respectively) siblings of Zeus helped him in conquering their father.

38.) Zeus destroyed his father by striking him with a deadly thunderbolt.

39.) The gods and goddesses who are not Zeus natural children address him as Father, and all the gods and goddesses rise in his presence.

40.) As an infant, Zeus was reared by Gaia and by a goat named Amalthea, while a company of Kouretes - soldiers, or smaller gods - danced, shouted and clashed their spears against their shields so that Cronus would not hear the baby's cry.

41.) Zeus was raised by a nymph named Adamanthea. Since Cronus ruled over the Earth, the heaven and the sea, she hid him by dangling him on a rope from a tree so he was suspended between earth, sea and sky and thus, invisible to his father.

42.) He was raised by a nymph named Cynosura. In gratitude, Zeus placed her among the stars.

43.) Zeus was raised by Melissa, who nursed him with goat’s-milk and honey.

44.) He was raised by a shepherd family under the promise that their sheep would be saved from wolves.

45.) Zeus brothers and sisters, along with the Gigantes, Hecatonchires and Cyclopes overthrew Cronus and the other Titans, in the combat called the Titanomachy.


46.) The combined forced of Zeus that defeated the Titans. The Titans were then cast into a shadowy underworld region known as Tartarus.

47.) Atlas, one of the Titans that fought against Zeus, was punished by having to hold up the sky.

48.) After the battle with the Titans, Zeus shared the world with his elder brothers, Poseidon and Hades:

49.) Zeus got the sky and air, Poseidon the waters, and Hades the world of the dead or the underworld.

50.) The Titans were the children of Gaia. Zeus Zeus had to fight some of Gaia's other children, the monster Typhon and Echidna.

51.) Zeus vanquished Typhon and trapped him under Mount Etna, but left Echidna and her children alive.

52.) Zeus also had relationships with Leto and Maia and with the mortals Europa, Io, Leda and Semele.

53.) Zeus is sometimes depicted as a middle-aged man with strong muscular arms. His facial hair can be a full beard and mustache.

54.) Zeus condemned Ixion to be tied to a fiery wheel for eternity as punishment for attempting to violate Hera.

55.) Zeus sank the Telchines beneath the sea.

56.) Zeus blinded the seer Phineus and sent the Harpies to plague him as punishment for revealing the secrets of the gods.

57.) Zeus rewarded Tiresias with a life three times the norm as reward for ruling in his favor when he and Hera contested which of the sexes gained the most pleasure from the act of love.

58.) Zeus punished Hera by having her hung upside down from the sky when she attempted to drown Heracles in a storm.

59.) At the wedding rites of Zeus and Hera, a nymph named Chelone refused to attend. Zeus transformed her into a tortoise. Tortoise is called chelone in Greek.

60.) Zeus, with Hera, turned King Haemus and Queen Rhodope into mountains (the Balkan Mountains, or Stara Planina, and Rhodope mountains, respectively) for their vanity.

61.) Zeus condemned Tantalus to eternal torture in Tartarus for trying to trick the gods into eating the flesh of his butchered son Pelops.

62.) Zelus, Nike, Cratos and Bia were Zeus’ retinue. - A retinue is a body of persons "retained" in the service of a noble or royal personage, a suite of "retainers".

63.) Zeus condemned Prometheus to having his liver eaten by a giant eagle for giving the Flames of Olympus to the mortals.

64.) Hetaeridia or Hetairidia was a name of a festival among Macedonian and Magnesians.

65.) The Cretans believed that Zeus died and was resurrected annually and his tomb is located on Mount Juchtas.


66.) Zeus turned Pandareus to stone for stealing the golden dog which had guarded him as an infant in the holy Dictaeon Cave of Crete.

67.) Zeus killed Salmoneus with a thunderbolt for attempting to impersonate him, riding around in a bronze chariot and loudly imitating thunder.

68.) Zeus turned Periphas into an eagle after his death, as a reward for being righteous and just.

Zeus in popular culture

69.) John Dory,
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/Zeus.faber.jpg/250px-Zeus.faber.jpg

John Dory, also known as St Pierre or Peter’s Fish, refers to fish of the genus Zeus, especially Zeus faber, of widespread distribution. It is an edible benthic coastal marine fish with a laterally compressed olive-yellow body which has a large dark spot, and long spines on the dorsal fin.

70.) Zeus
Zeus is a Toronto-based Canadian indie rock band, signed to the record label Arts and Crafts, whose members include Rob Drake, Carlin Nicholson, Mike O'Brien, and Neil Quin.

71.) Zeus
Zeus is a fictional character, a god in the Marvel Comics universe based on the god of the same name from Greek mythology. Zeus first appears in Daring Mystery Comics #6 (September 1940) and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

72.) Zeus
Zeus is a wooden roller coaster located at Mount Olympus Water and Theme Park in Wisconsil Dells, Wisconsin, USA. The ride opened in 1997. The ride operates with a single train that has five cars each with four seats.

73.) Ex Zeus
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6b/Counter_Force.jpg
ExZeus (also known as Counter Force) is a video game developed by HyperDevbox Japan. It was released in 2003 in the arcades running on a Tsunami Visual Technologies TsuMo arcade cabinet. An Android port was made available in 2010

74.) Zeus Master of Olympus
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8e/Master_of_Olympus_-_Zeus_Coverart.png
Zeus: Master of Olympus (also Master of Olympus - Zeus) is the fifth full title of the City Building Series developed by Impressions Games and published by Sierra Entertainment.

75.) ZEUS Particle Detector
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/17/Zeus_calorimeter.JPG/220px-Zeus_calorimeter.JPG

ZEUS was a particle detector that operated on the HERA (Hadron Elektron Ring Anlage) particle accelerator at DESY, Hamburg. It began running together with HERA in 1992 and was functional until HERA was decommissioned in June 2007. The scientific collaboration behind ZEUS consisted of about 400 physicists from 56 institutes in 17 countries.

See also

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