Zeus, first and strongest among the Olympians, may be best known for casting the thunderbolt, causing thunder and lightning and bringing storms to the earth. However, he is also very much concerned with issues of law and justice (oaths were made by his name), and is also (as Zeus Meilichios) a very protective deity associated with the home and family. *

Myth

Zeus' first story is a crucial one, one which works to establish the structure of the world as we know it. His father, Kronos, feared that one of his children would one day take over his position as "head god"; therefore, whenever his wife Rhea gave birth, Kronos would immediately swallow the infant, thereby preserving his own power. Rhea, of course, soon tired of this arrangement and eventually managed to save the youngest child--Zeus--by giving Kronos a rock wrapped in swaddling clothes instead, and sending Zeus into hiding. When Zeus reached manhood, he forced his father, by means of an emetic, to disgorge all of his siblings--Hestia, Poseidon, Demeter, Hades, and his bride-to-be Hera--and fulfilled Kronos' worst fears.

Some of the best-known myths of Zeus have to do with his many love affairs with nymphs and mortal women, affairs which often ended badly for the woman when Hera sought revenge against her: Leda, who he wooed as a swan, and who bore him Helen (to be Helen of Troy), and the twins Kastor and Polydeukes (Castor and Pollux); Europa, who he abducted in the form of a bull; Io, who he seduces and then changes into a cow when caught by Hera; and Semele, mother of Dionysos who was destroyed when Hera tricked her into asked Zeus to show himself to her in his true, unbearable form. Many of these alliances resulted in the birth of heroes and other notable men and women, although certainly Hera would not have felt that the ends justified the means!

Worship

Zeus was worshipped all over Greece, belonging equally to all. He is celebrated in a number of festivals**, including the following:

• Diasia, a festival honoring and propitiating Zeus Meilichios with bloodless sacrifices
• Dipolieia, an ancient and unusual festival in which, following the sacrifice of an ox, the ax used in the ceremony is brought to trial and thrown into the sea
• Olympieia, a festival for Zeus Olympios, featuring sports competitions, particularly those having to do with horses.
• Pompaia, another festival to Zeus Meilichios, focusing on the survivial of the crops
• Gamelia, a festival honoring the sacred marriage of Zeus and Hera

References

• Burkert, Walter. Greek Religion. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1985.
• Gantz, Timothy. Early Greek Myth, Volumes 1 and 2. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1993.
• Kerenyi, Karl. The Gods of the Greeks. Thames and Hudson, London, 1951.
• Nilsson, Martin P. Greek Folk Religion. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1940.
• Parke, H.W. Festivals of the Athenians. Thames and Hudson, London, 1977.
• Simon, Erika. Festivals of Attica: An Archaeological Commentary. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, Wisconsin, 1983.