Zeus-The Punisher (Part-2)

Zeus the Punisher

God was also the great punisher. Those who did evil or disrespected the gods were often severely punished. The Titans were imprisoned in Tartarus, and after desecrations against Zeus, Apollo and Poseidon were forced to build the magnificent walls of Troy that proved very useful in the Trojan War.

One explanation for warfare in mythology was that Zeus was trying to curb the growing human population. Zeus also chose Paris as the judge in the famous beauty pageant between Aphrodite, Hera and Athena. It was cited as another, more humane reason for the Trojan War when the young prince won Helen as his reward for choosing Aphrodite.

Other victims of Zeus' revenge included the Titan Prometheus, whose liver was condemned to be eaten daily by an eagle after stealing fire from the gods and giving it to humanity. Atlas had to carry the heavens on his back forever for his role in Titanomahia. Punished for his deception, Sisyphus was doomed forever to roll a huge stone towards a hill in the Underworld.

 Asclepius was killed by one of ZeusImage by' lightning bolts because his ancient medicine and ability to resurrect the dead threatened the balance of power between humans and gods. As the gift of fire was received, Pandora was the first woman sent to earth by Zeus. This woman would be the source of all mankind's misfortunes because she carried it in her box. Deceived by Hera into blinding his two sons, Fineus was blinded by Zeus, who also sent the Harpies to haunt him. Ixion hastily declared his love for Hera, and so Zeus exiled her to Hades to be tied to a spinning wheel forever.

  Lycaon gave human flesh to Zeus to test his divinity, and the god punished his arrogance by turning him into a wolf. Salmoneus thought he was a god and pretended to be Zeus by throwing flaming torches to mimic lightning and getting into his chariot to make a thunderous sound, but Zeus quickly put an end to his buffoonery by killing him instantly with a real lightning bolt. The list goes on and on, but the message is clear, wrongdoing and disrespect were severely punished.

 Peaceful Zeus

Despite the terrible punishments Zeus could inflict, he was also a peacemaker, known for reconciling Apollo and Hermes when they first fought for the lyre. Similarly, Zeus resolved the conflict between Apollo and Hercules on the tripod (the seat of the priestess in the temple of Apollo) from Delphi. He also persuaded Hades not to be with Persephony for part of each year, allowing Persephony to ascend to the earth.

  Thus, he put an end to the terrible drought that Demeter, who missed her daughter, caused the human race to protest being held captive in the Underworld. To mere mortals, Zeus was at least fair-minded. At his feet were Zeus' jars of Destiny - one filled with bad things, the other with good things, and he distributed both with justice. Similarly, a mortal's time of death was carefully weighed on Zeus' gold scales.

 Sacred Sites Dedicated to Zeus

 Zeus, an important figure in Greek religion, had a very old (or even the oldest) oracle in Dodona in northern Greece. This priest interpreted the sounds of the wind in the branches of sacred oak trees and the babbling of water from the sacred spring, and the hermit priests served him. would. Another great sanctuary dedicated to Zeus was in Olympia.

 Every four years from 776 BC, the Olympic Games gathered crowds from all over the Greek world to honor the Father of the gods, and 100 oxen were sacrificed to Zeus at the end of each Game. Also at Olympia, the gigantic 5th century BC temple of Zeus housed the colossal gold and ivory god statue of Phidias, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. Other important holy places for God were Mount Lycaion, Athens, Nemea, Pergamum, Stratos, and Libya.

There were surprisingly few festivals in honor of Zeus, one of which was the Athenian Diasia. In general, Zeus, as head of the Greek pantheon, was ubiquitous and therefore made no particular allegiance to certain cities. However, Zeus was worshiped in most family homes, where an altar was often offered to him in each courtyard, for Zeus as Herkeios generally guarded the family hearth and property.

 He was also Zeus Xenios, god of hospitality, Zeus Polieus, protector of cities, Zeus Horkios, protector of vows, and Zeus Soter, protector of all and general benefactor.