Greek God Zeus - an Interpretation - Essay Example

Greek God Zeus- an Interpretation In the Greek mythology, Zeus happened to be the ruler of all the Olympian gods (Hard, 2004, p. 98). Zeus was considered to be the father of all gods and men. In the Greek mythology, Zeus happened to be the supreme deity, who upheld the laws of nature and the moral laws and punished the individuals who infringed the moral laws and norms (Hard, 2004). Zeus was considered to be the god of the entire aerial phenomenon, who shaped and controlled weather. The one main thing about the Greek theology was that it happened to be polytheistic, which believed in a hierarchy of deities (Hard, 2004).

Most of the gods in the Greek mythology held dominion over the natural phenomena or over the abstract concepts such as love and wisdom. In that context, Zeus happened to be an important god in the Greek mythology as he held an almost absolute sway over all the other deities. Zeus had cult sites scattered all over the ancient Greece. The sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia happened to be the most important of these cult sites, which is associated with the ancient Olympic Games (Bremmer & Erskine, 2010, p. 209). According to the Greek mythology, Zeus was the powerful deity who determined the fate of both the men and the gods.

In that context the Oracle of Zeus located at Dodona was a religious place, highly revered by the Greek people (Bremmer & Erskine, 2010, p. 156). Zeus was also considered by the Greeks to be the deity that presided over marital happiness and the household bliss. One essential attribute of the Greek theology was that it feared the sin of committing hubris (Thornton, 2000, p.116). Hubris happened to be a really wide term that included within its scope most of the sins, indulgences and excesses considered to be sinful by the Greek people (Thornton, 2000, p. 116). It was Zeus who was considered to be the god who punished the people guilty of indulging in hubris.

Thereby, Zeus really happened to be a mythological deity that comes closest to the more contemporary Judi-Christian notions of a supreme and just God. In the ancient Greek art and sculptures, Zeus is depicted as a middle aged and bearded character having a dignified disposition and demeanor. Thereby, the myth of Zeus signifies a theological evolution in the Greek theology in the sense that he happened to be a patriarchal divine figure that stood supreme over all the natural forces and abstract qualities represented by varied gods and goddesses of the Greek pantheon.

The myth of Zeus was eventually carried on to the succeeding civilizations. The Romans, who incorporated in their religion, varied aspects of the Greek theology and mythology, fashioned their supreme deity Jupiter in tandem with the Greek god Zeus (Bremmer & Erskine, 2010, p. 150). With the advancement of the Roman civilization, Jupiter came to be known by the name Optimus Maximus, which meant the best and the greatest of all gods (Bremmer & Erskine, 2010, p. 150). Thereby, it would not be wrong to assume that the myth of Zeus continued to play an important role in the shaping of the later religions like Judaism and Christianity.

ReferencesBremmer, J.N., & Erskine, A. (2010). The Gods of Ancient Greece. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Hard, R. (2004). The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology. New York: Routledge. Thornton, B. (2000). Greek Ways. San Francisco: Encounter Books.