1. Myths of the Immortals : Zeus and Hera
Chapter Six
Myths of the Immortals :
Zeus and Hera

2. Zeus and Hera Cronos’ myth contradictory:
a tyran or wise ruler of the Golden Age
Six children of Cronos and Rhea are the first Olympians:
Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia, Hades
(Aphrodite born of his severed genitals in one version of her birth)

3. Zeus and Hera All except Hades lived on Olympus
There will be a total of 12 – or 13 or 14 – Olympians
Zeus is the great father/king of this court of gods and goddesses

4. Zeus and Hera God Competence 1. Zeus Storms 6. Apollo Wisdom 2. Hera
Family
7. Artemis
Hunt
3. Hestia
Hearth
8. Hephaestus
Forge
4. Demeter
Harvest
9. Athena
Knowledge
Hades
Underworld
10. Ares
War
5. Poseidon
Sea
11. Hermes
Trade
12. Aphrodite
Sex

5. Zeus, Lord of the Sky Indo-European sky god (di-)
Like Tiu (Germanic) in Tuesday; Dyspater - Jupiter
Lived in the mountains (Olympus, Mt. Ida near Troy) and brought storms (his thunderbolt)
By far the most powerful of the gods

6. Zeus, Lord of the Sky Symbol of his power is the aigis
Animals are the bull and the eagle
Guardian of justice (the way)
Protector of xenia
But was not more powerful than fate (?)
Sarpedon

7. Zeus, Lord of the Sky
Zeus the sky-god acquires features of the male, fertility consort of the earth-mother
Crete – the tomb of Zeus?
Hera, an original earth-mother, is “demoted” to be his wife.
Original wife (Dione from north)?
Through sexual generation, he structures the world

8. Zeus, Lord of the Sky Metis “cleverness” – Athena
strength and judgment
Themis “established law”–
Horae (Eirenê, Eunomiê, Dikê)
Moerae (fates) (Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos)
Mnemosyne “memory”– 9 Muses
Dione “shinning one” -- Aphrodite

9. Zeus, Lord of the Sky Zeus and Ganymede
Zeus takes on many aspects of a Greek aristocrat, such as pederasty

10. Hera, Queen of Heaven

11. Hera, Queen of Heaven Marriage, sexuality, fertility
Her children with Zeus
Eileithyia, Hebe, Ares
Mother of Hephaestus (?)
Other versions of Hephaestus’s birth
Hera alone
born or made lame?

12. Hera, Queen of Heaven
Some of the most magnificent temples are to her (a Heraeum)
Argos (Argives)
Persecuted Zeus’s paramours and sometimes their offspring
Heracles “glory of Hera”
Join a temporary rebellion with Poseidon and Athena

13. Zeus and Hera at Home on Olympus
A tempestuous marriage
The scene between Thetis at Zeus from the Iliad shows Zeus walked on egg shells to avoid irritating Hera
Hephaestus, their children intervenes to stop the fight

14. Anthropomorphism
Gods are humanshaped and humanlike, an inheritance perhaps from Mesopotamian traditions
They eat and drink (special divine substances to be sure).

15. Anthropomorphism
They laugh, get angry and jealous, and can even be wounded.
Anthropomorphism makes interesting narrative and great myths

16. Anthropomorphism Hundreds of other minor deities flesh out the world
Nymphs, Nereids, Oceanids, etc.

17. End