![]() The gods tried to challenge his rule just once. Trouble in ParadiseĪs ruler of Olympus by acclamation, Zeus experienced few threats to his power. Zeus also harshly punished those who violated the laws of hospitality toward guests and suppliants (those who humbly asked their hosts for some favor). In addition to guarding the rights of the gods, Zeus sometimes protected mortal kings from overreachers (usurpers of the throne). Those mortals who dared to assume divine rights, privileges, or powers soon regretted having aroused the wrath of Zeus. In the affairs of mortals, the justice of Zeus often involved chastening or punishing mortals for overreaching. Those that Pyrrha threw became women, while Deucalion's stones became men. Zeus, showing some mercy, then helped them repopulate the earth by having them throw stones. The flood lasted for nine days and nights, but the couple then landed safely on Mount Parnassus. When Prometheus learned of the flood Zeus had planned, he warned Deucalion and Pyrrha, who swiftly built a boat and stocked it with food. Enraged by this impiety, Zeus turned Lycaon into a wolf, destroyed all but one of the king's sons, and created the great flood.ĭeucalion, a son of Prometheus, married Pyrrha, a daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora. ![]() So they mixed human flesh in with the stew that they served Zeus. Lycaon (or perhaps his sons) rashly tried to test the nature of their divine visitor. King Lycaon, who had 50 sons, ruled Arcadia when Zeus came down from Olympus to investigate human wickedness. Once again, however, Prometheus saved the day. Later, Zeus-grossly offended by the mortal Lycaon, who had served the god human flesh to eat-intended to wipe out the entire race with a great flood. He would have withheld fire from the human race had not Prometheus stolen it from Olympus and presented it to man. Similarly, when both Persephone and Aphrodite claimed the right to rear Adonis, Zeus found a solution that demanded mutual compromise (see The A Team: Olympians All).Īs for his relations with mortals, Zeus was never overly impressed with humankind. When Demeter demanded the return of her daughter Persephone from Hades, Zeus ruled that the girl should spend part of the year with her mother and part of it with her new husband (see What the Hell? Adventures in the Underworld). Zeus often found compromise the quickest route to justice. In a similar dispute between the same two Olympians over Troezen, Zeus ruled that Poseidon and Athena should share that city equally-a solution that satisfied neither of them. Zeus chose to remain neutral, putting the question before a tribunal of other gods. Many of these arguments involved border disputes-such as when Poseidon and Athena both wanted to serve as the patron of Athens. ![]() In mediating conflicts among the gods, Zeus demonstrated both impartiality and good judgment. If not exactly a benevolent ruler, Zeus was, for the most part, sensible, shrewd, and fair. Zeus maintained his power not through force alone, but through wisdom and justice. But he did not lord over the other gods with an iron fist. He also commanded the thunderstorm, wielding thunder and lightning as his most potent weapons.ĭespite the initial agreement that no single god would rule Olympus, Zeus-as Lord of the Heavens-in effect ruled Olympus as well. It was he who sent the rains that fertilized the earth and made it productive. He also commanded meteorological phenomena.He placed all the planets and the stars in the sky. As ruler of the heavens, Zeus imposed order on the universe.Zeus pronounced certain oracles, for, like many of the gods, Zeus often knew what the future held.In addition to upholding the laws, Zeus enforced any oaths sworn-by either mortals or immortals-upon the gods.Zeus handed down the laws that governed the behavior of mortals and immortals alike and made sure they were obeyed.But with his power also came many responsibilities: Some storytellers depicted Zeus, the Supreme Ruler of the universe, as the all-knowing and all-powerful ruler of all things. ![]() The Reign of Thunder and Lightning: Olympus Under Zeus.
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