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Zeus also acted on principle to create social order at Olympia by waging war on his own father. However, Zeus was just in his treatment of the vanquished Titans, eventually granting their freedom (Morford & Lenardon p. 78). Zeus's story mirrors that of the Greeks in their skillful fashioning of political and social structures out of disparate and geographically distinct peoples.
Zeus can even suggest the evolution from a polytheistic to a monotheistic society. Although monotheism would not become entrenched in Greek consciousness until Christianity, Zeus does become a singular force, "one god" above all others (Morford & Lenardon p. 72). Zeus's "supremacy" paved the way for the future growth of a monotheistic culture and religion throughout ancient Greece and Rome (Morford & Lenardon p. 72). His greatness among all other gods is sometimes symbolized as an aegis: representing Zeus's special power like a crown on a king. Kings, in fact, "come from Zeus," (Morford & Lenardon p. 74). His judicious treatment of the Titans proved that Zeus was a role model for ideal Greek leadership. Likewise, Zeus's fearlessness in waging war with the giants revealed his military prowess.
Myths about Zeus are sometimes used to explain the nature and meaning of human ethnic diversity because the god is the father of all mortals and not just the Greeks. For example, creation...
As Morford & Lenardon point out, the explication of the diversity of humanity corresponds to an analysis of human technological advancements from the age of gold to that of iron. Human social, political, and technological progress is sometimes represented by Zeus's continued battle between order and chaos. Zeus's relationship and struggle with Prometheus also resembles class struggles in human society, if Prometheus represents the will and rights of the people and Zeus represents the will of the ruling classes. Zeus ultimately asserts his power and dominance just as a king would by using military power. Thus Aeschylus depicts Zeus as possessing and wielding "autocratic" power (Morford & Lenardon p. 88). Zeus ultimately learns how to become a benevolent dictator (Morford & Lenardon p. 90).
Zeus's narrative is entwined with all the other gods in the Greek pantheon. His influence and his interference shape many if not most of the stories that guide Greek cultural values. Gender norms, political ideology, and personal psychology are all played out in the story of Zeus, father of mortals and "cloud-gatherer" who controls nature as well (Morford & Lenardon p. 310). Zeus's power is often questioned or challenged but his triumph solidifies the god as the ultimate male…
Creation Myth Analysis Case Study of the History of Biblical Creation Narratives What Is Myth? What Is History? Manetho Josephus Jeroboam Is Genesis 1:1-2:4 Myth? Is Genesis 1:1-2:4 History? Is Genesis 1:1-2:4 Both Myth and History? An Analysis of the Biblical Creation Narrative of Genesis 1:1-25 and Egypt's Possible Influence on the Historical Record God created the world in just six days, and rested on the seventh, but scholars have not rested at all over the millennia in their investigation of
Mycenaean Greece's relationship to Crete during the two centuries between 1600 and 1400 B.C. is complex, as both civilizations competed for control of the Mediterranean Sea. "To judge from the known tablets, there appear to have been a number of distinct kingdoms within Mycenaean Greece, all of which seem to have been independent" (Stanley 277). Following the destruction of Knossos in or about 1400 B.C., supremacy was given to
Sacred Site The Oracle of Delphi continues to fascinate visitors thousands of years after the last prophesy was delivered there. Known as the "most important shrine" in all Greece, poets, politicians, and philosophers alike visited or took part in ceremonies at Delphi ("The Oracle at Delphi" n.d.). The exact origin of the site and its oracle is unknown. It was used in the Mycenaean period as a sanctuary to worship a
The windows for example would depict a large image of a saint, with smaller images from his or her life at the bottom. In this way, the windows could be seen as a conduit of the divine light bathing the congregation within. More complex themes were incorporated for rose windows, including prophets, apostles saints and angels. Another interesting component of the divine light brought to the citizenry in this way
Fall Though in Paradise Lost it may appear that "the Fall" is synonymous with the act of disobeying God, a closer reading shows a certain paradoxical duality to the act of falling -- namely, that what is called the Fall is a forced physical and psychic humiliation and prostration which God enacts on those who refuse to willingly prostrate themselves in worship to him. Two opposing categories of fallenness exist,
He completed the tasks. When Hercules was dying, he was placed upon a funeral pyre, where he "ascended to Olympus, where he was granted immortality and lived among the gods" (Ellingson). The Hebrew culture approaches the question of the interrelationship of the human and the divine in a manner substantially different than the Greek or Roman cultures. In fact, there are substantial differences in the Greek and Hebrew schools of