The figure of Zeus in the form of a human being also played a great role in Greek art. The Greek sculptor Lysippos was widely known and admired for his monumental statues of Zeus.

Perhaps this is why he was asked to create a full-size portrait of Alexander the Great now known as the Scraper, a Roman copy after the original bronze statue made around 330 .C.E. According to legend, Lysippos allegedly met with Zeus on Mount Olympus, where Zeus posed for him while holding a golden scepter, a sign of power and authority.

In addition, a reasonably reliable image of Alexander the Great can be found on a coin issued by Lysimachos, the king of Thrace, sometime in the 4th or 3rd centuries .C.E. The portrait on this coin shows "Alexander in profile wearing the curled ram's horn headdress that identifies him as the Greek-Egyptian god of Zeus-Amun" (Ferguson, 278). Certainly,…...

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Bibliography

Ferguson, John. Among the Gods: An Exploration of Ancient Greek Religion. London: Constable Press, 1989.

Gimbutas, Marija. The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe, 6500-3500 B.C. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984.

Hurwitt, Jeffrey M. The Art and Culture of Early Greece, 1100-480 B.C. Ithaca, NY: Random House, 1985.

Leadbetter, Ronald. "Zeus." Encyclopedia Mythica. Internet. 2005. Retrieved at  http://www.pantheon.org/articles/z/zeus.html .

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…...

Greek culture is really no different from modern culture. For example in today’s culture, there are various iterations of the super heroes who are popular today—and so readers of comic lore will know different variations on the Bruce Wayne, Bruce Banner, Spiderman, and Superman myths. The same is true for the Greeks. Depending on the author, there were different iterations. Euripides told stories of the Greek gods in a much different vein than did Aeschylus or Homer. The reason for this is that the form of the drama had changed but so too had the culture from the time of Homer to Aeschylus to Euripides. Zeus in Hesiod’s Theogony is different from Zeus in Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound. In Aeschylus’ play, Zeus is silent and the focus instead is on Prometheus: the playwright aims at increasing the audience’s sympathy for the title character. In Hesiod’s Theogony, Zeus’s thoughts and feelings are…...

ABC/123 Version X
Divine oles Across Cultures

HUM/105 Version

Divine oles 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: a

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…...

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REFERENCES

Eisenhower, S. (2013). Divine Roles across Cultures. Retrieved October 4, 2016 from Academia.edu:  https://www.academia.edu/15704328/Hum_105_Divine_Roles_Across_Cultures 

Jewell, R. (2002). Mythology- Stories of Who We Are. Retrieved October 4, 2016 from the University of Minnesota:  http://www.tc.umn.edu/~jewel001/humanities/book/4mythology.htm 

Larkin, A. & Kingston, G. (2016). Zeus. Retrieved from the Department of Education, Early Learning and Culture:  http://www.edu.pe.ca/gulfshore/Archives/heroes/html8imm/zeus/zeushist.htm 

"Ra (Re)." Myths and Legends of the World. Retrieved October 04, 2016 from Encyclopedia.com:  http://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/ra-re

Is it a sign of inconsistency in Athena that at the end of the Odyssey she echoes the sentiment of Zeus and sues for peace whereas in Book 4 of the Iliad she is all too eager to ignore the sentiment of her father and manipulate the warriors into shedding more blood? Again -- not necessarily. hile, were it up to Zeus he would gladly see men work out their problems in a peaceful way, and, if he can help it, only sends strife and war when men need to be punished. The relationship between war and peace is complicated by the fact that he is not the only god (even if he is king of the gods). The gods seem to have just as many quarrels and disagreements among themselves as men do on Earth -- a point Zeus knows quite well. That is the reason he presides over…...

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Works Cited

Homer. The Iliad. (Trans. By Richmond Lattimore). IL: University of Chicago Press,

1951. Print.

Homer. The Odyssey. (Trans. By Robert Fitzgerald). NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux,

1961. Print.

As well I can see that she has wore royal headdress that usually a king wears but the uraeus (cobra) is linked with the female individuals, though both kings and queens use it. The uraeus is linked to the sun god. Here I remember and you also know dear Zeus one of our beliefs that God took the eyes from Sun. This uraeus in front of her headdress makes me feel like she is the goddess though it symbolizes her kinship.

Yet I am feeling that her portrayal and imagery is different from the Canonical practice however, I am also feeling that it was essential for creating her female king identity. It also makes me feel that Hatshepsut created her image very carefully and slowly and was able to cultivate her identity because in her images she is portrayed as female king and not as a male king.

And tell me why…...

By taking part in his destiny, she somewhat disproves Zeus' claim that humans are wrong to suggest that the gods are to blame -- for without her interference, the many suitors would not have been slaughtered by Odysseus.
Athena's speech here, which will fuel the eventual release of Odysseus and his long ride home, continues at this point to describe the situation in which (at the story's beginning) he is imprisoned. She described how he is suffering torments "on a wave-washed island rising at the centre of the seas," where he is held captive by "a daughter of Atlas, wicked Titan." This daughter, Calypso, is herself an immortal, and contemporary of the oldest gods. The Titans were those deific forces which proceeded Zeus and the other Olympic Gods. Cronos, king of the Titans, had been the father of Zeus and over thrown by them. In this overthrow, the old titans…...

Here we can see that Agamemnon struggled over what to do but finally set his eyes upon the prize. His crime becomes justified through the victory. However, when Agamemnon kills his own daughter, he is violating one of the most fundamental rules set in place by the gods, which prohibits the murder of a family member. Agamemnon is indifferent to what he has done. hen Clytaemestra confronts him about it, he says, "I have no fear" (925) in relation to his sense of right and wrong. The gods will not allow him to enjoy his victory just as they did not allow Paris to enjoy his.
Zeus uses others to exact this revenge with Clytemnestra being the most powerful example of how events work out to his favor. hen she murders Agamemnon, we see how the glory of the king and his victories do not matter in the gods' big…...

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Works Cited

Aeschylus. Agamemnon. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. New York W.W. Norton and Company. 1985.

Compare and contrast two other Olympic deities with the story of Zeus. Discuss and elaborate in your answer how these gods interact with Zeus and why the stories about their origins are important to our understanding of Greek mythology

Zeus overtook and destroyed his father, the Titan Cronos -- but was nearly destroyed by the birth of his own daughter, Athena. Zeus, fearing that her mother Metis would become wiser than himself, ate his lover while she was pregnant, and Athena was born from Zeus' skull, fully formed. Zeus proved his ability to 'give birth,' thus showing his greatness as a god, and Athena gained her unique status, having been entirely mentally generated by a male, although female in appearance. Unlike the other deities of Olympus, she seldom had conflicts with Zeus, as Zeus seemed to respect her wisdom.

Zeus also had another special relationship with Hermes, another of his Olympian children.…...

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Works Cited

Ganz, Timothy. (2009). Early Greek Myth. Excerpted at About.com March 20, 2009 at  http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/a/hesiodagesofman.htm

However, when Achilles touches Priam as token that he should have no fear; both gods and mortals are said to be asleep. There is a sense of will in Achilles' gentleness towards the man, and his willingness to touch Priam's sleeve that night. In other words, human and divine reconciliation and pity is not simply a law, humans must accept the will of the gods, but they are also capable of choosing to add or subtract the misery of the world by showing pity to their fellow humans. Odysseus' cleverness, although aided by the gods, is also partly drawn from his own resourcefulness and character, as well as merely because Athena helps him.
Achilles makes what is said to be the greatest gift to Priam, that of Hector's body. In Greek custom, gifts were customary to give to visitors. ith such a gift, Achilles gives up his determination to mourn…...

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Works Cited

Homer. "The Iliad." Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin, 1990.

Homer. "The Odyssey." Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin, 1996

Mythology
Tales of love begin with the creation of humans, and continue to the graphic media driven "reality TV" shows that televise the private lives of the bachelor and bachelorette and all the people competing for their love. Love is a feeling everyone can relate to, but it is unlikely most people would claim to understand love. ithin almost every literary genre there are myths about love that fuel ideals that are rarely if ever realized. There is no place where this is truer than in the stories of mythology.

The perpetual love myths that exist in classical mythology demonstrate ideals that are confronted even today by individuals searching for love today. The ideals of love that will be explored in this work are: love at first sight, the myth of one true love and the human phenomenon of over idealizing unobtainable love. The stories of classical mythology charter the lives…...

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Works Cited

 

For Peter Mazur, the two creation myths of the origins of the individual gods Apollo and Hermes represented two polar forces in the universe of man, two necessary ways the gods were a presence in the fate of human creation, as a tricking and deceitful force but also as a force of indomitable strength.
For example, night may be either a kindly protection for a hero under attack, or a dangerous cloud leading one astray from a path to glory states Mazur, although Apollo sees Hermes as having the potential to embody both. Apollo also recognizes Hermes as his brother, for Apollo too understands and uses trickery, as well as strums upon his lyre. By showing Hermes through the eyes of Apollo, the author of the hymn has a greater perspicacity, that trickery and the light of the mind are both godly forces and trickery itself, when practiced by the…...

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Works Cited

Mazur, Peter. "Apate and Hermes, Children of Night." American Philological Association. Journal of Philology. Summer 2005.  http://www.apaclassics.org/AnnualMeeting/05mtg/abstracts/mazur.html 

Mitchell-Boyask, Robin. "Study Guide to the Homeric Hymns." 11 Sept 2002. Temple University Classics Archives Page.  http://www.temple.edu/classics/apolhermhymn.html 

Hesiod. "Hymn to Hermes." From Harris and Platzner. Classical Mythology. Fourth Edition. Pp.214-227.

Hesiod. "Hymn to Apollo." From Harris and Platzner. Classical Mythology. Fourth Edition. Pp. 245-57.

The Greeks were one of the most religious societies in the ancient world. With roots in Minoan culture, West Asian beliefs, and Central Asian gods, religion permeated virtually every aspect of Greeks' life -- from politics and culture to family, morals, agriculture, festivals, games, as well as beliefs about nature and the origin of life (Carr). The Greeks strongly believed that there were invisible, all-powerful gods and goddesses that controlled every occurrence. As a society, therefore, it was important to maintain a good relationship with the gods through prayer, sacrifice, and leading a good (morally upright) life. The prayers and sacrifices were made in sacred sites and temples where the gods were erected in their personified forms (Cartwright). Gods were also believed to reside in mountains.
Religion in ancient Greece was strongly tied to natural phenomena like rain, storms, plagues, earthquakes, and volcanoes (Carr). There were gods for each of these…...

Hesiod's Theogony
Male and Female Relationships in Hesiod's Theogony

One of the most interesting and complex facets of Greek mythology is how it portrays the relationship between the sexes. At first glance, the celebration of Zeus and his relationships with multiple women, mortal and immortal, appears to celebrate the male and portray women as subjugated vessels, good for little more than bearing and raising children. Furthermore, complicating the issues of sexism and sexuality is the fact that mythology portrays relationships between humans and non-humans, adding another dimension of power and inequality. However, delving below the surface of Greek myths, one finds a reverence for the feminine, which belies the apparent sexism and misogyny that one encounters on the surface of most myths. Nowhere is this interaction between the male-female dynamic and the human-divine dynamic more fascinating than in Hesiod's Theogony.

The first substantive mention of the feminine in Theogony centers around Hesiod's description…...

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Works Cited

Hesiod. "Theogony." Trans. H.G. Evelyn White. Greek-Mythology.com. 2004. Greek-

Mythology.com. 24 Oct. 2005 .

This is a clear and explicit statement of the gods' selfishness, and in the context of the story of Zeus' in particular. There is no other reason provided for his desire to keep fire away from humanity; it is not out of a prudent and paternal fear of fire's destructive powers, nor because of something divine in the very essence of fire that is not to be sullied by human hands, but merely because it is part of the "stuff of life," and the gods do not feel like sharing. It is one more way in which Zeus can feel superior to man, and though this type of petty selfishness might not be very becoming to the king of gods in the Greek pantheon, maker of thunder and lover of swans, it is certainly appropriate for a villain.
So, too, is the ingenuity with which Zeus goes about punishing mankind…...

Greek mythology has been reinterpreted and incorporated into modern storytelling mediums in a variety of ways, including:

1. Literature: Many authors have drawn inspiration from Greek mythology in their works of fiction, reimagining the stories of gods, heroes, and monsters in new and unique ways. For example, Madeline Miller’s novel "Circe" retells the story of the witch from The Odyssey, while Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series features modern-day demigods who must navigate the world of Greek mythology.

2. Film and television: Greek mythology has been a popular source of inspiration for filmmakers and television producers, with numerous movies and TV shows incorporating....

1. The Cyclops Polyphemus: Odysseus cleverly blinded Polyphemus by giving him wine (which Polyphemus had never tasted before) and claiming his name was "Nobody." When Polyphemus cried out in pain, the other Cyclopes thought he was mad and did not come to his aid.

2. Circe: Odysseus outsmarted the sorceress Circe by having Hermes give him an herb called moly that made him immune to her magic. He then threatened her with his sword and demanded she restore his men to their human form.

3. Sirens: Odysseus had his men block their ears with beeswax so they would not hear the Sirens'....

Cultural Differences Revealed in Greek and Hindu Myth Titles
The titles of Greek and Hindu myths offer valuable insights into the cultural and philosophical distinctions between these two ancient civilizations. By examining the differences in these titles, we can discern contrasting perspectives on the nature of gods, the role of fate, and the importance of human agency.
1. Theistic vs. Polytheistic Beliefs
Greek mythology is characterized by a pantheon of anthropomorphic gods who possess distinct personalities and domains. The names of the Greek gods, such as Zeus (sky), Poseidon (sea), and Hades (underworld), often reflect their specific attributes and roles.
In contrast, Hindu mythology....

The Evolution of the Olympic Games into a Global Phenomenon

The Olympic Games, a quadrennial international sporting event that brings together athletes from around the world, have undergone a remarkable transformation over the centuries to become the global phenomenon they are today. This evolution can be traced through its history, technological advancements, and the shifting social and political landscape that has shaped its significance and reach.

Ancient Origins and Early Revival

The origins of the Olympic Games can be traced back to ancient Greece, where they were held in honor of the god Zeus at the sanctuary of Olympia. The first recorded Games....