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I. Introduction 1. Representation of the unknown by people II. Main Part 1. Zeus father of gods and humans: a.
the figure of Zeus in different cultures; b. general view of the topic. 2. Historical and cultural backgrounds: a. Greek history from 2000 BCE to 650 BCE; b. the structure of the Greek society; c. Hesiod's five ages of men. 3.
Zeus in the Greek Myths: a. how Zeus captured the power; b. various traits of Zeus character; c. the ancient texts. 4.
Cults and masterpieces representing Zeus: a. cults and attributes; b. architectural monuments; c. modern views on the Greek Myths. III. Conclusion 1.
Summary of the main points. 2. Personal attitude. People have always been interested in ancient times. There are a lot of interesting, mysterious and cognitive for modern generations. The main theme at that time was connection between the man and the nature. And the best manifestation of that connection was religion.
The history of the Greek religion is one of the most interesting in the world. The Greek myths and legends are told from one generation to another. For a long period of time, Zeus was the main object of worship and adoration. The character of the god was so complex and inconsistent that for a long time he has remained the object for debate among scientists and historian. But, may be, the main advantage of Zeus character was its double-nature: from one hand, he was the highest power and ruler; from the other hand, he was personified and, like all mortals, possessed various traits of character such as pleasure, pain, grief, and anger. Zeus From the early times people have been interested in the creation of the world and in the higher power that rules it.
Unknown processes of Nature and their inner world made them thought up a long range of divine beings. As a rule, people saw forces of nature as the personifications of them. People vested their gods and goddesses with the qualities of mortal humans. Thats why stories of the past are fascinating stories, full of deep human wisdom. The world of Greek myths is great and interesting; and for a long time, it has been reread and retold by many generations. Greek myths are so well- known that almost everyone has heard about their heroes such as Poseidon or Hera; Aphrodite or Apollo; and, certainly, about Zeus the most powerful from all of them.
Zeus was worshipped by humans and was called the "Father of gods and humans." But he was not mentioned only in Hellenic culture. At that time a lot of cultures had the main god who was preserved with the glorious memory of his deeds. People in India honored Days-Peter, Latins honored Jupiter etc. So, a lot of peoples had their Zeus and worshipped his power and force. As for me, Zeus is the great example who possessed all qualities that people in ancient Greece had. The figure of Zeus was represented in many ancient documents and myths; so, it would be easy to get full information about personal traits of the god.
For me, Zeus was a complex and contradictory nature. He had a lot of positive as well as negative traits as all great personages in history. Zeus was met more frequently in the works of ancient writers. He always played a crucial role in all events. He was a defender of mortals at the same time the god who punished them.
Thats why Zeus and myths telling about his deeds are of great importance for me. Before beginning to examine Zeus image, it is necessary to say some words about that time in history when cult of Zeus existed. It is important to get information about cultural background and origins of the myths; because it is known that images of those ancient times reflected the way of living of ordinary people. Historians testify that Zeus was mentioned as the main god of the peoples circa 2000 BCE. It was a time full of social and political conflict in Greece. The Greek cities were, as a rule, very small.
They were originally monarchies ruling by kings. The country was always short of farmland, thats why the most powerful class was of landowners. The aristocracy often fought for land. Inter-city wars were usual things in those times, thats why the rulers and their sphere of ownership changed rapidly. The same picture can be seen at the Heavens. Greek gods are great warriors and often fight for power.
In 683 BCE, the monarchy was abolished with Solons reforms and replaced by new system of aristocratic government. Later, in 650 BCE, the system was changed; and populist leaders who were called tyrants came to the power. At that time Athens dominated in Greek politics for generations. Tyrant Pisistratus and his sons gave the city a great naval and commercial power. But after the death of Pisistratus (in 527 BCE) the Immortal gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus (Olympus) did not held absolute power over the Greeks. Ancient Greek society consisted of three main components: aristocracy (those who had power and wealth); free people and slaves.
The same picture can be seen inside Greek religion: the Immortal gods, possessing unlimited power; demigods and mortal people, who were like puppets for the Olympians. In Greek society of that time the roles of men and women were different. Like goddess, Greek women were responsible for managing the household's and bore numerous love affairs of their husbands. Almost 80 % of the entire population worked in agriculture.
Thats why seasonal changes were of great importance for the ancient Greeks. It explains why Greek gods had super power to regulate changes in the weather. Most of all, the level of medicine was not high and even healthy people could die quickly from disease at any age. Thats why people need gods to ask supreme forces for help.
The Greeks honored gods providing city-state festivals; where they competed in music, drama, and poetry. The era of Greece prosperity lasted for a long time and was closely connected with the cult of the Olympians. Ancient poet Hesiod in his Works and Days and Theogony line 106 mentioned five ages of men: the Golden Age, the Silver Age, the Age of Bronze, the Age of Heroes and finally, the time of Hesiod, the Age of Iron. The Golden Age was the most wonderful for mortal people.
They did not suffer from diseases or hardship; and respect all Immortals. During the Silver Age mortals remained children for one hundred years; and then in their adulthood had to suffer from Kronos (their creator) wrath. In the Bronze Age mortals were born warriors from the ash spear. Their violence extinguished them. It was the time of constant struggle on the earth between mortals and on the Heavens between gods. The age was changed with the Age of Heroes.
Though the age was full of blood but at the same time it was the age of Glory. The sons and daughters of the Immortals (demigods) populated the earth. Mortal men were toys of the Immortals and the best example of it is the Trojan War. The last age, the Age of Iron, was about 800 BCE at the days of Hesiod.
According to his writings, people were doomed to hardship and pitiless destruction by Zeus; and they had no chance to change it. After the death of the last tyrant of Greece in 527 BCE, the Immortal gods and goddesses did not have absolute power over the Greeks. People became more tolerant of foreign religions. Other cultural concepts were spread in the country. It should be pointed that the Immortals gripped on the minds and imaginations of the rulers and mortal people for more than eight hundred years.
With the decline of religion in ancient Greece, the country began to lose its domination in the ancient world; and the Roman Empire became the most powerful state. There are a lot of samples of the ancient Greek religion such as architectural masterpieces or written ones. But Greek Myths are of greatest importance. Though some historians prove that Greek mythology cannot be treated as religion or Greek Bible. Modern approach states that a real myth has nothing to do with religion. They simply show how the earth, men, animals, this or that tree or flower, the sun, the moon, the stars, storms (Hamilton, 1940) were created.
But About 1200 BCE population of Greece had great belief in a group of deities. They were known as The Olympians. The stories about the Olympians have been kept till our days due to the great number of followers. Most of all beauty, poetry, creative activities and knowledge were supported by the Immortals and became the part of Greek traditions. The ancestor of the Olympians was Kaos, self created god; and his son Kronos. The Olympians were not the only ones who ruled the earth and sky.
There were a lot of bodies of the Immortals such as various rivers, mountains and forces of nature. But the most powerful and honored were a group of 12 gods. They are Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Hera, Ares, Athena, Apollo, Aphrodite, Hermes, Artemis, and Hephaestus. They ruled after the overthrow of the Titans.
Hesiod, in his Theogony, mentioned Zeus as the ruler of the Immortals and mortal people. His father, Kronos, was afraid of being der thrown by his children as it was predicted. Thats why he swallowed all of them. The last Zeus was hidden and later, when he had reached manhood, seized the power from his father. Zeus released his brothers and sisters who became his allies in the war.
For ten years the war between Cronus and Zeus had been lasting. The ancient Greek mentioned it as "Titanomachy" (fighting of Titans). At last Zeus triumphantly became the leader and the ruler of the Gods. He shared his power with his brothers Hades (who ruled the underworld) and Poseidon (who ruled the sea). The era of the Olympians began. Zeus became the main god of the Greek people circa 2000 BCE.
He replaced various forms of the Gods whom ancient people worshipped. Some of those gods qualities were transferred to Zeus. His symbol and main weapon was thunderbolt. Thats why he was honored as the God of thunder, clouds and sky.
Zeus hurled his thunderbolt at those who displeased him. Three Cyclopes gave it to him. The Eagle is regarded as Zeus bird; and the Oak as his tree. Zeus words were interpreted from the rustling of oak leaves. Like all Greek divinities, Zeus was personified and possessed various traits of character as an ordinary man such as pleasure, pain, grief, and anger.
His representation was most noble. His image was of a mighty, glorious, awesome and wise god. But sometimes he was shown as naive and artful. For many modern people Zeus is not the "noblest one of all." There are a lot of facts that revealed his dual nature when Zeus had less than noble behavior. Lets take for example his manner to get the objects of his desire. He pursued goddesses and mortal women.
Zeus often turned into an animal or in some other form and took the object of his desire by a trick. He appeared in the shape of eagle to the Nymph Aegina, and in the form of a Satyr to her sister Antique. As it was pointed earlier, the Ancient Greek gods reflected the behavior of mortal people. For example, he was superstitious and believed in predictions like mortal people.
It was predicted to his father, Kronos, that he would be der thrown by his son. Zeus feared that a prophecy would repeat itself and swallowed his first wife Metis who was with child. The child grew within Zeus; and he had bad headache. Then Hephaestos split his head and Athena was reborn from it. That act of cruelty was not justified, because it is known that no one of Zeus children tried to der throw him. The fact emphasized that moral value was not so high, and the Gods could not be the best example for men (as in the Christian religion, for example).
But in spite of the endless affairs, the Ancient historians and poets stated that Zeus was quite different from other gods. He did not take part in the arguments that resulted petty scheming. The other gods did. He was considered...
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