Title: ZEUS AND HIS GREATNESS

I. INTRODUCTION ZEUS was the king of the gods, the god of sky and weather, law, order and fate. He was depicted as a regal man, mature with sturdy figure and dark beard. His usual attributes were a lightning bolt, royal sceptre and eagle. Some of the more famous myths featuring the god include:-His birth and upbringing in the Diktaion cave, where he was nursed by Amaltheia and guarded by the shield-clashing Kouretes;

The Titan War in which he overthrew the Titanes and imprisoned them in Tartaros; His battle with Typhoeus, a hundred headed, monstrous giant who attempted to capture heaven;

The War of the Giants who attempted to storm Olympos but were slain by Zeus and the gods;

The Great Deluge in which he flooded the earth to destroy mankind and begin the world anew;

His conflict with Prometheus over the theft of benefactions for mankind; The punishment of Salmoneus, Tantalos and Ixion, men who offended the god with their impiety;

The birth and life of Herakles, his favoured son, who he had transferred to Olympos at death;

His extramarital affairs with women such as Leda, seduced in the form of a swan; Europa, as a bull; Danae, as a golden shower; Kallisto, as Artemis; and Antiope as a satyr;

The Trojan War which he orchestrated from start to end, including the casting of the golden apple of discord.

A. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The Greek god Zeus was the top Olympian god in the Greek pantheon. After he took credit for rescuing his brothers and sisters from their father Cronus, Zeus became king of heaven and gave his brothers, Poseidon and Hades, the sea and the underworld, respectively, for their domains. Zeus was the husband of Hera, but he had many affairs with other goddesses, mortal women, and female animals. Zeus mated with, among others, Aegina, Alcmena, Calliope, Cassiopea, Demeter, Dione, Europa, Io, Leda, Leto, Mnemosyne, Niobe, and Semele. In the Roman pantheon, Zeus is known as Jupiter. The significance of the study of this topic is not only centered on what has Zeus affairs with other and different women, it is centered in his rules, his powers and how he became a king of Olympus. In this research we can better view and know Zeus in his own way of ruling his kingdom despite the other knowing type of character he was having on.

B. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

1.

How Zeus become the most powerful God?

2. How did he become the king of Olympus? 3. What are his best characteristics? His worst character? 4. Do we have Zeus today? Who are they?
3.

Who can we call there people, the Zeus of today?

II. BODY In Greek mythology Zeus is the "Father of Gods and men", according to Hesiod's Theogony, who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family; he was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. As Walter Burkert points out in his book, Greek Religion, "Even the gods who are not his natural children address him as Father, and all the gods rise in his presence." For the Greeks, he was the King of the Gods, who oversaw the universe. As Pausanias observed, "That Zeus is king in heaven is a saying common to all men". In Hesiod's Theogony, Zeus assigns the various gods their roles. In the Homeric Hymns he is referred to as the chieftain of the gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull, and oak. In addition to his IndoEuropean inheritance, the classical "cloud-gatherer" also derives certain iconographic traits from the cultures of the Ancient Near East, such as the scepter. Zeus is frequently depicted by Greek artists in one of two poses: standing, striding forward, with a thunderbolt leveled in his raised right hand, or seated in majesty. After reaching manhood, Zeus forced Cronus to disgorge first the stone (which was set down at Pytho under the glens of Parnassus to be a sign to mortal men, the Omphalos) then his siblings in reverse order of swallowing. In some versions, Metis gave Cronus an emetic to force him to disgorge the babies, or Zeus cut Cronus' stomach open. Then Zeus released the brothers of Cronus, the Gigantes, the Hecatonchires and the Cyclopes, from their dungeon in Tartarus, killing their guard, Campe. As a token of their appreciation, the Cyclopes gave him thunder and the thunderbolt, or lightning, which had previously been hidden by Gaia. Together, Zeus and his brothers and sisters, along with the Gigantes, Hecatonchires and Cyclopes overthrew Cronus and the other Titans, in the combat called the Titanomachy. The defeated Titans were then cast into a shadowy underworld region known as Tartarus. Atlas, one of the titans that fought against Zeus, was punished by having to hold up the sky. After the battle with the Titans, Zeus shared the world with his elder brothers, Poseidon and Hades, by drawing lots: Zeus got the sky and air, Poseidon the waters, and Hades the world of the dead (the underworld). The ancient Earth, Gaia, could not be claimed; she was left to all three, each according to their capabilities, which explains why Poseidon was the "earth-shaker" (the god of earthquakes) and Hades

claimed the humans that died. Gaia resented the way Zeus had treated the Titans, because they were her children. Soon after taking the throne as king of the gods, Zeus had to fight some of Gaia's other children, the monsters Typhon and Echidna. He vanquished Typhon and trapped him under Mount Etna, but left Echidna and her children alive. Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus, and god of the sky and thunder. He is known for his erotic escapades, including one pederastic relationship with Ganymede. His trysts resulted in many famous offspring. Zeus is known to punish those who veered out of his pleasure with lightning bolts. He was the embodiment of Greek religious beliefs and the archetypal Greek deity. Zeus was mighty, glorious, awesome and wise. Zeus played a dominant role, presiding over the Greek Olympian pantheon. He fathered many of the heroes and was featured in many of their local cults. Though the Homeric "cloud collector" was the god of the sky and thunder like his Near-Eastern counterparts, he was also the supreme cultural artifact; in some senses, he was the embodiment of Greek religious beliefs and the archetypal Greek deity.Relationship with various women and uses his charms and powers to benefit his evil desires, very untrustworthy and a certain degree of surprising foolishness and naivety when it came to hiding his love affairs. Aside from the endless affairs Zeus was different from other gods in that he did not participate in the arguments and the resulting petty scheming that made up the daily activities of other gods. Being this wise ruler, he also demanded just and righteous action from men. Zeus was however vengeful. Nowadays Zeus was compared to our government officials. They are the most powerful and they have the ability to control people and situations. For example our president can formulate laws such as executive orders or presidential decree. They are respected and well known and sometimes with their power they are abusive. Zues was also compare to ex president Joseph Ejercito Estrada who has many wives but is he such a good leader. We are the people of Zeus today, our lives depends to our leaders on how they rule our country. If our leaders know our needs in order to improve our life such as poverty and they have the concern our country will be the best place to live.

III. CONCLUSION A summary that we have discussed unlike many Greek divinities, the origins of Zeus' name are undisputed. "Zeus" is connected with an ancient Indo-European deity Dyeus, which roughly translates as 'sky', 'day' (as opposed to night) and 'clear'. All of these point to his role as a god of the heavens, the sky and thunder. As the king of the Greek Gods, Zeus has been portrayed endlessly in art, often with specific aspects or symbols to identify him and his purpose. For example, early Classical vase paintings often show him throwing thunderbolts, identifying him as a powerful warrior deity, affiliated with Hephaestus the god of the forge and maker of thunderbolts (see figure 1). However, as the classical period progressed, it became fashionable to depict Zeus seated on a throne, holding a sceptre, often accompanied by the goddess Nike, thus symbolising his role as king and patriarch of the gods (see figure 2). It is important to note, however, that Zeus was not considered to be a tyrant and literature depicts him as fair and even-handed, especially considering that one of his mani functions was the lord of Justice. Regardless of his specific iconography, Zeus is always portrayed as an imposing man, full-grown and with a beard indicating his status as experienced patriarch of the Olympian family, as opposed to other male deities such as Apollo and Hermes who are often depicted as young men (ephebes) with no beards; erotically appealing, but not powerful. Zeus' power is further indicated by his symbols of the eagle, the bull and the full-grown oak tree. I therefore conclude that being powerful is such a great honor. Zeus was an excellent for being a good leader. He has the power to control the universe with his great power. NOBODY is PERFECT these pertains to the wrong doings of Zeus such as having many wives and in some cases he is about to use his power in his own desire.