Zeus

Zeus
	;
Other Names	Jupiter, Tinia
First Appearance	Greek Myth
Created by	Unknown

Origin[]

Zeus was the King of the Gods, one of the Twelve Olympians and the god of the sky, weather, law and order, destiny and fate, and kingship. He was depicted as a regal, mature man with a sturdy figure and dark beard. His usual attributes were a lightning bolt, a royal sceptre and an eagle.

Zeus is the chief deity of the Greek pantheon. He is a sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus was regarded as the sender of thunder and lightning, rain, and winds, and his traditional weapon was the thunderbolt. He was called the father (i.e., the ruler and protector) of both gods and men.

Zeus is the child of Cronus and Rhea, the youngest of his siblings to be born, though sometimes reckoned the eldest as the others required disgorging from Cronus's stomach. In most traditions, he is married to Hera, by whom he is usually said to have fathered Ares, Eileithyia, Hebe, and Hephaestus. At the oracle of Dodona, his consort was said to be Dione, by whom the Iliad states that he fathered Aphrodite. According to the Theogony, Zeus's first wife was Metis, by whom he had Athena. Zeus was also infamous for his erotic escapades. These resulted in many divine and heroic offspring, including Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Persephone, Dionysus, Perseus, Heracles, Helen of Troy, Minos, and the Muses.

He was respected as a sky father who was chief of the gods and assigned roles to the others: "Even the gods who are not his natural children address him as Father, and all the gods rise in his presence." He was equated with many foreign weather gods, permitting Pausanias to observe "That Zeus is king in heaven is a saying common to all men". Among his symbols are the thunderbolt and the eagle. In addition to his Indo-European inheritance, the classical "cloud-gatherer" also derives certain iconographic traits from the cultures of the ancient Near East, such as the scepter. Zeus is frequently depicted by Greek artists in one of two poses: standing, striding forward with a thunderbolt leveled in his raised right hand, or seated in majesty.

According to a Cretan myth that was later adopted by the Greeks, Cronus, king of the Titans, upon learning that one of his children was fated to dethrone him, swallowed his children as soon as they were born. But Rhea, his wife, saved the infant Zeus by substituting a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes for Cronus to swallow and hiding Zeus in a cave on Crete. There he was nursed by the nymph (or female goat) Amalthaea and guarded by the Curetes (young warriors), who clashed their weapons to disguise the baby’s cries. After Zeus grew to manhood he led a revolt against the Titans and succeeded in dethroning Cronus, perhaps with the assistance of his brothers Hades and Poseidon, with whom he then divided dominion over the world.

As ruler of heaven Zeus led the gods to victory against the Giants (offspring of Gaea and Tartarus) and successfully crushed several revolts against him by his fellow gods. According to the Greek poet Homer, heaven was located on the summit of Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece and the logical home for a weather god. The other members of the pantheon resided there with Zeus and were subject to his will. From his exalted position atop Mount Olympus Zeus was thought to omnisciently observe the affairs of men, seeing everything, governing all, and rewarding good conduct and punishing evil. Besides dispensing justice—he had a strong connection with his daughter Dike (Justice)—Zeus was the protector of cities, the home, property, strangers, guests, and supplicants.

Zeus was well known for his amorousness—a source of perpetual discord with his wife, Hera—and he had many love affairs with both mortal and immortal women. In order to achieve his amorous designs, Zeus frequently assumed animal forms, such as that of a cuckoo when he ravished Hera, a swan when he ravished Leda, or a bull when he carried off Europa.

Though regarded by Greek religionists everywhere as omnipotent and the head of the pantheon, Zeus’s very universality tended to reduce his importance compared with that of powerful local divinities like Athena and Hera. Although statues of Zeus Herkeios (Guardian of the House) and altars of Zeus Xenios (Hospitable) graced the forecourts of houses, and though his mountaintop shrines were visited by pilgrims, Zeus did not have a temple at Athens until the late 6th century bce, and even his temple at Olympia postdated that of Hera.

His Roman counterpart was Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart Tinia. His name may be related to that of the sky god Dyaus of the ancient Hindu Rigveda. His mythologies and powers are similar, though not identical, to those of Indo-European deities such as Jupiter, Perkūnas, Perun, Indra and Þórr.

Sons of Zeus[]

Below are characters from Greek mythology who are considered children of Zeus. In some cases there are conflicting stories about who their parents are. A complete list is here.

Centaur[]

Zeus was the first mythological figure to be summoned forth from Craig Carter's magic ring. He explained to Craig how his ring functioned and aided him in his fight against crime.

Fawcett[]

When Billy Batson transformed into Captain Marvel he would gain the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles, and the speed of Mercury. The wizard Shazam, Captain Marvel Jr., and the Lieutenant Marvels also possess the same powers.

Zeus also revealed to be the one who sends the lightning bolts when Captain Marvel says Shazam! At one point, Zeus refuses, but realizes that Captain Marvel is doing him a favor by quelling the violence of humanity.

Fox Features[]

Zanzibar battles Zeus, after the God kidnaps Venus.

Frank Communale[]

Zeus ordered his daughter, Diana the Huntress, to travel Mount Olympus and protect Greece from the Nazis. He also asked his son, Hercules, to aid the Allies.

MLJ[]

Zeus sends his son Hercules to Earth to fight the evils of the modern world.

Quality[]

Zeus was summoned by Kid Eternity to help him fight criminals. He also aided Merlin the Magician on one occasion.

Public Domain Appearances[]

All published appearances of Zeus from before January 1, 1930 are public domain in the US.

Notable appearances are listed below:

Public Domain Literary Appearances[]

Theogony
Metamorphoses by Antoninus Liberalis
Iliad
Idylls by Theocritus
Aetia by Callimachus
Praeparatio evangelica
Bibliotheca by Photius
Argonautica
Catalogue of Women by Hesiod
Cypria
De Natura Deorum
Fabulae by Gaius Julius Hyginus
Dialogues of the Gods by Lucian
Enneads by Plotinus

Public Domain Theatrical and Musical Appearances[]

Homeric Hymns
Helen by Euripides
Orphic Hymns

Public Domain Comics Appearances[]

Hercules #1-2
Blue Ribbon Comics #4-5, 8
Wham Comics #1-2
Whiz Comics #28, 125
Thrilling Romances #12
America's Greatest Comics #5
National Comics #17
Prize Comics vol. 4 #8 [44]
Humdinger vol. 1 #4
Popular Romances #11