How did Zeus become the well known king of Greek mythology?

[greek_ggirl]

What is the story behind Zeus?? How did be become so powerful?

 

[Worldwide Greeks Editor]

Zeus has always been one of my favorites!

Here is a ton of information about the king of gods within Greek mythology:

How Did Zeus Become King of the Gods?

Zeus wasn’t always king. When he was born, he was son of Titan king, Cronus. However a prophecy from Gaia told Cronus that he would be overthrown by a son.

www.greekboston.com

 

[amygdalE]

Zeus has always been one of my favorites!

Here is a ton of information about the king of gods within Greek mythology:

How Did Zeus Become King of the Gods?

Zeus wasn’t always king. When he was born, he was son of Titan king, Cronus. However a prophecy from Gaia told Cronus that he would be overthrown by a son.

www.greekboston.com

The Greekboston article does a good job in re-telling myths about Zeus and seems to answer the question by referring to the choice by lot between him, Poseidon, and Hades, but I see that the mythographer already knew the 3 brothers as lords of the 3 kingdoms. So, we should inquire why, for the original myth-makers, Zeus was most powerful. Their power is measured by their deeds. Well, since the gods are not observable anthropomorphic realities, there are no deeds available for consideration: we must look for natural events (that affect humans), such as storms, volcanic fires, violent winds, etc., that some humans called Theoi or by some other name. Later, such nature-forces were personified and resulted in the mythic pantheon we are familiar with. As personified, Zeus used to gather clouds, to be the arbiter of wars, etc. ,but to begin with, Zeus was a hurricane or the like, whereas his brothers are minor forces (which we may have even difficulty idenifying). Anyway, the gods -- such gods -- are the most evident, conspicuous, realities in the world; there is no need to prove their existence by argumentation....

 

[amygdalE]

The Greekboston article does a good job in re-telling myths about Zeus and seems to answer the question by referring to the choice by lot between him, Poseidon, and Hades, but I see that the mythographer already knew the 3 brothers as lords of the 3 kingdoms. So, we should inquire why, for the original myth-makers, Zeus was most powerful. Their power is measured by their deeds. Well, since the gods are not observable anthropomorphic realities, there are no deeds available for consideration: we must look for natural events (that affect humans), such as storms, volcanic fires, violent winds, etc., that some humans called Theoi or by some other name. Later, such nature-forces were personified and resulted in the mythic pantheon we are familiar with. As personified, Zeus used to gather clouds, to be the arbiter of wars, etc. ,but to begin with, Zeus was a harricane or the like, whereas his brothers are minor forces (which we may have even difficulty idenifying). Anyway, the gods are the most evident, conspicuous, realities in the world; there is no need to prove their existence....

An addition to my above reply: As we already know, "Hades" was the name of a god as well as of his abode, namely the dark and quiet underworld. So, I presume that our experiential basis of the god is some cave which was dangerous, menacing, such as a cave/cavern with wild animals. We have a clue for this in the fact that Kerberos and some other monsters were [in myths] guardians of the entrance and, in other myths or suppositions, guards to prevent the escape of the dead. The interior of some such caves had streams of waters or rivers, wherefore Orphics who died were warned not to drink from the Lethe river (and thus obliterate their memory or consciousness_). [For instance, this warning was written down on gold-leaf tablets which have been discovered at Thourioi, a city in Greek-colonized southern Italy, from which refugees founded my native town some miles away around 204 B.C.] Example: A cave with such an interior existed also in S. Italy, near Naples/Neapolis and Kymae (where there was the oracle of the Cumaean sibyl). // What could be the natural basis of Poseidon? He was also known as the god of fresh waters -- rivers and springs. Hence I suppose that harmful floodings, of rivers and of the sea, begot the idea of a god close in nature or power to Zeus and Hades.

 

[paharo45]

The Greekboston article does a good job in re-telling myths about Zeus and seems to answer the question by referring to the choice by lot between him, Poseidon, and Hades, but I see that the mythographer already knew the 3 brothers as lords of the 3 kingdoms. So, we should inquire why, for the original myth-makers, Zeus was most powerful. Their power is measured by their deeds. Well, since the gods are not observable anthropomorphic realities, there are no deeds available for consideration: we must look for natural events (that affect humans), such as storms, volcanic fires, violent winds, etc., that some humans called Theoi or by some other name. Later, such nature-forces were personified and resulted in the mythic pantheon we are familiar with. As personified, Zeus used to gather clouds, to be the arbiter of wars, etc. ,but to begin with, Zeus was a harricane or the like, whereas his brothers are minor forces (which we may have even difficulty idenifying). Anyway, the gods are the most evident, conspicuous, realities in the world; there is no need to prove their existence....

So what you're saying is that because he had control over hurricanes (most affect on humans) he was the most powerful?

 

[amygdalE]

So what you're saying is that because he had control over hurricanes (most affect on humans) he was the most powerful?

You see, I do not believe that the gods are products of the human imagination; I think that some events and some things around us are very powerful and, so to speak, awakened human consciousness and we named them. So, originally, hurricanes, volcanic fires, typhoons, etc., were what we call gods. Later on, humans thought of them as persons and developed the myths we are familiar with. Zeus, otherwise called Za and Deus [in Aeolic and in Latin], was originally a devastating storm. (Unlike Hesiod, the 7h cent. B.C. organizer of myths or theogonist, I do aetiology of gods: I seek the experienced causes/bases of their emergence.) //Inspired by Vico's "New Science" (18th Century), I venture to say, "en archE logos" -- in the beginning [of mankind] was the word, the names of the gods. Don't be offended for my use of your evangelical words, O John of Ephesus, who anyway walked on the footsteps of Heracleitos of the same city.

Zeus has always been one of my favorites!

Here is a ton of information about the king of gods within Greek mythology:

How Did Zeus Become King of the Gods?

Zeus wasn’t always king. When he was born, he was son of Titan king, Cronus. However a prophecy from Gaia told Cronus that he would be overthrown by a son.

www.greekboston.com

The Greekboston article does a good job in re-telling myths about Zeus and seems to answer the question by referring to the choice by lot between him, Poseidon, and Hades, but I see that the mythographer already knew the 3 brothers as lords of the 3 kingdoms. So, we should inquire why, for the original myth-makers, Zeus was most powerful. Their power is measured by their deeds. Well, since the gods are not observable anthropomorphic realities, there are no deeds available for consideration: we must look for natural events (that affect humans), such as storms, volcanic fires, violent winds, etc., that some humans called Theoi or by some other name. Later, such nature-forces were personified and resulted in the mythic pantheon we are familiar with. As personified, Zeus used to gather clouds, to be the arbiter of wars, etc. ,but to begin with, Zeus was a harricane or the like, whereas his brothers are minor forces (which we may have even difficulty idenifying). Anyway, the gods are the most evident, conspicuous, realities in the world; there is no need to prove their existence....

 

[dimi_pat]

You see, I do not believe that the gods are products of the human imagination; I think that some events and some things around us are very powerful and, so to speak, awakened human consciousness and we named them. So, originally, hurricanes, volcanic fires, typhoons, etc., were what we call gods. Later on, humans thought of them as persons and developed the myths we are familiar with. Zeus, otherwise called Za and Deus [in Aeolic and in Latin], was originally a devastating storm. (Unlike Hesiod, the 7h cent. B.C. organizer of myths or theogonist, I do aetiology of gods: I seek the experienced causes/bases of their emergence.) //Inspired by Vico's "New Science" (18th Century), I venture to say, "en archE logos" -- in the beginning [of mankind] was the word, the names of the gods. Don't be offended for my use of your evangelical words, O John of Ephesus, who anyway walked on the footsteps of Heracleitos of the same city.

Very interesting theory, I like to think that that's what the Ancient Greeks believed