Zeus

The lord of Olympus and ruler of the Gods who is also the god of Justice, order, rulers and weather.

Blessings

Zeus is the mightiest of the Olympians, the king of Gods and men, whose law governs all that happens in the universe. His concerns are sovereignty, power, justice, oaths, and the social and familial order. But he is also concerned with the home and its larder. He guards guests, strangers, suppliants, and children. He is associated with storms, clouds, rain, forests, and caves. He is the father of most of the Gods and many heroes.

God Of

  • Olympus and rulership
  • Weather and Lightning
  • Hospitality and strangers

Primary Cult Centers

  • Athens
  • Crete
  • Dodona
  • Olympia

Epithets

  • Agoraios – of the Marketplace
  • Aigiokhos – Aegis-Bearer
  • Aliterios – Cleansing from Sin
  • Basileus – King
  • Boulaios – of Counsel
  • Eleutherios – Liberator
  • Epidotes – Bountiful
  • Erigdoupos – Loud-Thundering
  • Euboulos – Good Counsellor
  • Eunemos – of Calm Winds
  • Gamelios – of Marriage
  • Hellenios – of the Greeks
  • Heraios – of Hera
  • Herkeios – Guardian of the Fence
  • Hersos – Divine Child
  • Hiksios – Protector of Suppliants
  • Horkos – of Oaths
  • Hupatos – Most High
  • Hypsistos – Heavenly
  • Kappotas – the Downpourer
  • Kataibates – Descender, as lightning
  • Katakhthonios – Subterranean
  • Kathatsios – the Purifying
  • Keraunos – Thunderbolt
  • Kharmon – He Who Rejoices
  • Khthonios – Eathly
  • Kretogenes – Born on Crete
  • Kronides – Son of Kronos
  • Ktesios – Who Protects Provisions
  • Lukaios – of the Wolf
  • Maimaktes – Stormy
  • Meilikhios – Gentle
  • Nephelegereta – Cloud-Gatherer
  • Olumpios – Olympian
  • Ombrios – of Rain
  • Ourios – Sending Fair Winds
  • Pater – Father
  • Phanter – He Who Signals
  • Philios – Friendly
  • Phratrios – of the Phratry
  • Polieus – of the City
  • Soter – Saviour
  • Sthenios – Mighty
  • Tallaios – Sun
  • Teleios – Accomplisher
  • Tropaios – of the Battle Monument
  • Xenios – Protector of Strangers

Symbols

Lightning bolt, eagle, scepter, aegis

Animals

Eagle, cuckoo, swan, bull, goat

Sacrifices

Honey, aspen, hyssop, oak, poplar, fig, damiana, banyan, storax, jasmine, ambergris, ginseng, galbanum, saffron, bulls

Festivals

  • Diasia (23 Anthesterion) .
  • Diisoteria (30 Skiraphorion (June-July)) .
  • Gamelia (27 Gamelion (January-February)) .
  • Nemean Games (2nd and 4th years of the Olympiad) .
  • Olumpieia (19 Mounikhion (April-May)) .
  • Olympic Games (Hekatombion, 1st year of the Olympiad) .
  • Pandia (17 Elaphebolion (March-April)) .

Ways to honor

Live justly. Honor your commitments. Examine your ideas about fatherhood. Thank Zeus for rain. Listen to thunderstorms.

More…

Articles

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Ancient Hymns and Texts

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Modern Hymns and Devotions

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Primary Sources

  • Apollodorus’ Library 1.1.5, 1.2.1-2, 1.3.1-2, 1.3.6, 1.4.2, 1.6.2, 1.8.3, 1.9.8, 2.1.4, 2.4.2, 2.4.8, 3.1.2, 3.9.1, 3.10.2-4, 3.4.4, 3.5.1, 3.8.2, 3.10.6, 3.12.1
  • Cleanthe’s Hymn to Zeus
  • Herodotus’ The Histories 1.131.1, 2.55-58
  • Hesiod’s Theogony 29, 453, 507, 545, 565, 585, 617, 654, 687, 729, 820, 853, 885, 901, 929, 938
  • Hesiod’s Works and Days 42, 59, 83
  • Homer’s Iliad 1.493, 1.531, 1.568, 1.593, 1.568, 2.1, 2.353, 3.242, 5.239, 5.363, 5.720, 5.764, 8.18-27, 8.200, 14.155, 14.193, 14.242, 14.270, 14.312, 14.352, 15.155, 15.184, 15.34, 15.5, 15.78, 15.184, 16.233-234, 16.430, 16.439
  • Homer’s Odyssey 6.207-208, 14.327-328
  • Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 5.33, 177
  • Homeric Hymn to Apollo 3b.305,
  • Homeric Hymn to Artemis 27
  • Homeric Hymn to Athene 28
  • Homeric Hymn to Dionysos 1
  • Homeric Hymn to the Dioscuri 17, 33
  • Homeric Hymn to Hera 12
  • Homeric Hymn to Hermes 4
  • Homeric Hymn to the Most High, the Son of Kronos 23.1
  • Papyri Graeci Magicae 5.459-489
  • Pausanias’ Description of Greece 2.24.4, 8.38.4, 9.3.1
  • Pindar’s Olympian Odes 7.32
  • Plato’s Gorgias 523b-e

Links

Modern Books

Zeus