Greek Mythology and Zeus

ABC/123 Version X

Divine Roles Across Cultures

HUM/105 Version

Divine Roles Across Cultures

Select one common divine role that recurs in world mythology. Possible options of divine roles include the following: father or mother divinities, divinities of war, home or hearth divinities, divinities of love, divinities of wisdom, divinities of medicine or health, divinities of the wind, divinities of agriculture, divinities of the sky, ruler of all the gods, and so on.

Identify the role in the title of your table.

Select two myths, each from a different culture, in which the divine role appears. Identify the divinity names and cultures in columns A and B.

Complete the table by answering each of the five questions for both selected divinities.

Title:

Column A

Divinity Name: Zeus

Culture of Origin: Greek

Column B

Divinity Name: Ra

Culture of Origin: Egyptian

How is this divinity portrayed? Describe the divinity's role within the myth.

In Greek mythology, Zeus is the king god and creator of all gods. He lives on Mt. Olympus and he is also the sky god. Zeus' wife, Hera, is the goddess of Earth. Being the lord of the sky, Zeus has power over thunder, rain, winds, clouds, light and all other related phenomenon. More importantly, Zeus is portrayed as the god of justice. He protects those who cannot protect and acts to punish those who are evil. He is also at the same time merciful.

In Egyptian Mythology Ra is the creator of the earth and everything. He is also referred to as the sun god. Similar to Zeus in Greek mythology, Ra is the king god and ruler of the Egyptian pantheon. Being the creator of everything including life itself, Ra is often merged with Amun in ancient writings as Amun-Ra.

2. Is the divinity male or female? What function does this gender play?

Zeus is a male divinity. He is the king of all gods in Greek mythology. He is the most powerful deity in Greek mythology and an important part of the ancient Greek patriarchal society.

The same is true with Ra. He is a male divinity. He is the creator and ruler of everything. He is also the most powerful god. This is similarly characteristic of the ancient Egyptian society which was patriarchal.

3. What are the divinity's attributes, such as divine powers or characteristics? What objects does the divinity possess, such as a weapon or animal that assists him or her?

Zeus is the god of the sky and controller of all elements of weather. He can gather clouds and cause storms and heavy rains. He is depicted as using the thunderbolt every now and then at those who displease him. Those who break oaths or lie also face his wrath. He is also portrayed using the oak tree, an eagle and his royal scepter.

Ra was depicted in several different ways in the ancient Egyptian society, the most common being as a lion or hawk. Ra is also the god of the sun. His chief responsibility was to ride around the sky in his gold ship to fight the darkness and evil. As the sun god, he brought light and warmth to human beings and animals that lived on earth. During sun set, he descended into the underworld and brought light and air to the individuals who lived there.

4. Within the myth of origin, how does this divinity compare with other divinities? How does this divinity interact with or compare to divinities of the same gender and to divinities of the opposite gender?

Zeus is depicted as the last born child of Cronus and Rhea, both of whom were titans. Cronus was cruel. He swallowed all his children almost immediately after they were born. However, in the case of Zeus, his mother, Rhea, saved him by hiding him away from his father. When Zeus became older, he made Cronus vomit his siblings. His siblings joined him in his fight against his father and other Titans. They won and gained control of everything under the sky. Upon defeating his father and the Titans, Zeus and his siblings imprisoned them in the underworld. He then divided the universe between him and his brother. He took control of the sky and his brothers, Poseidon and Hades got the seas and the underworld respectively. Zeus was then appointed the supreme rule of all gods on Mount Olympus. Even though Zeus was married to the goddess Hera, he had many affairs with other women and goddesses. From these affairs he begot other gods including Perseus, Heracles, Artemis, Hermes, Dionysus, and Apollo. Zeus is also depicted as anthropomorphic. He could transform into any man or being he wanted and go down to earth to mate with women.

Ra is depicted as self-created. He created everything as well. Some myths claim that Ra travelled the sky in the body of Nut, the goddess of the sky. The other Egyptian divinities are either sons or different manifestations of Ra himself. Ra's power was greater than that of all the other gods. This made him the god king. In other Egyptian mythologies, the goddess Isis sought to find out the secret name of the king god Ra. She planned to use the name to make her spells stronger. At this point Ra was quite old. Isis collected spit that drooled from his chin, mixed the spit with clay and made a snake. Soon after as Ra was walking the poisonous snake bit him. Suffering from great pain, Ra called other gods to help. Isis promised to help but only if Ra could reveal his secret name which he did. Isis then used the powerful name to enhance her magical spells which healed Ra.

5. Identify one character from contemporary culture that shares characteristics of each divinity, and explain why you chose each character. What real-life ideals does this divine role represent? How attainable are these ideals?

Superman can be compared to Zeus in the sense that he is strong and powerful and that he protects those who cannot protect themselves. Also similar to Zeus, Superman punishes the wicked. The real life ideals depicted by Zeus are those of a powerful and just god. In the real life world, the judiciary plays that same part. It helps in providing justice to victims and protecting rights.