The ancient gods, to whom numerous works of antiquity and later epochs are devoted, when it comes to them, seem to be beautiful and stately, mature and wise experiences. However, the mythology of ancient Greece describes the birth and childhood of many of them. For the people who venerated them in ancient times, the gods did not always present themselves in our usual image. Thus, the myth of “The Birth of Zeus” tells of the birth of the great Thunderer, who became the head of the immortal inhabitants of Mount Olympus. The image of the young lord of lightning and thunder occupies an equally significant place in the ancient heritage as his adult hypostasis.
The origin of the Thunder
If we turn to a non-mythological history, then the ancestors of Zeus should be sought immediately in several cultural traditions. The origin of the name of God, according to scientists, is Indo-European. It means “clear sky”, “light”, “day”. Many of the qualities and properties of Zeus suggest that his traditional image has developed under the influence of other, earlier cultures.
The oldest evidence of worship of the Thunderer is found dating back to the 15th – 13th centuries. BC. On clay tablets that describe the life of God, a narrative about his birth and childhood is also given.
Sources
The ancient myth “The Birth of Zeus” is found in several versions and is often stated by various authors, which indicates its important role in the culture of that era. Sources of narrative details for scholars are texts of Greek thinkers dating from the 8th century. BC - II century. ad. Many of the nuances of myth, originally contained in the most ancient versions of the narrative, are found in the days of early Christianity (II – V centuries AD) on the pages of writers who tried to expose the absurdity and futility of pagan beliefs. After many centuries, an attempt to carefully analyze and identify inconsistencies did not lead to oblivion, but to the preservation of a large number of legends.
The myth "Birth of Zeus" is found on the already mentioned clay tablets. Researchers find some details of the cult of Zeus the child on various monuments of the art culture of antiquity. These are images on ceramics, coins and so on.
The myth of the birth of Zeus: a summary
The Thunderer was the son of the Titans Kronos (Kronos) and Rhea. Zeus’s father feared that he would be destined to suffer the same fate as Uranus (Cronus oskranil his father Uranus, who returned the children to the bosom of his wife Earth-Gaia). Kron ordered his wife to bring him all the newborns and devoured his children. Rhea, pregnant with Zeus, decided to outwit her husband.
Uranus and Gaia advised her to hide on the island of Crete. There, in a cave, Rhea gave birth to a future thunderer. Zeus was left in Crete. The nymphs Idea and Adrastea looked after him. They watered the baby with the milk of the Amalfei goat and fed it with honey, which the bees brought to them. At the cave were jackets, demigods and protectors of the newborn. They loudly beat their shields with shields every time Zeus began to cry so that no one would find out his whereabouts.
Options
The myth "The Birth of Zeus" is known in several other ways. According to one of them, Rhea gave birth to the great god in the region of Liktos and then hid on Mount Dikte. According to another version, Zeus was born on Mount Lyceum.
In order for Kronos not to look for his youngest son, Ray brought him a stone wrapped in diapers. The titan did not expect his wife to cheat and did not understand what had happened. When Zeus grew up, it was time to fulfill the prophecy.
Olympians
After some time, Zeus became a handsome and strong man. He wished to avenge his father for the suffering of his mother, brothers and sisters. For ten years he fought with Cronus, but in the end he won. Zeus forced him to burp his brothers and sisters. Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter and Hestia came out of the womb of the titan. As the myths “The Birth of Zeus” narrate, Olympus has become a favorite destination of young gods. Since then, in honor of the mountains they began to call them Olympic.
Kronos and other titans were overthrown and imprisoned in Tartarus. Hera became the wife of Zeus, the patroness of wives and women in childbirth. Demeter began to command the fields, crops and fertility, and Hestia - the home. Hades took possession of the underworld of the dead, and Poseidon - the oceans, seas and rivers. Zeus stood at the head of the Olympian gods.
Value
Like all plots that fill the myths of ancient Greece, the birth of Zeus is interesting to researchers not only from an artistic point of view. The story of the birth of the Thunderer helps to better understand the semantic load of the image of God, his role in the cult of the ancient era. The myth “Birth of Zeus”, in addition, adds certain material necessary for understanding the origin of Greek ritual traditions. In it, one can notice traces of the influence of other cultures, the consequences of the interaction of several different ethnic groups.
The myth of the birth of Zeus, a summary of which is given in the article, thus represents a source of knowledge about ancient culture. A careful reading of it will help you learn a lot about the mythological and ritual traditions of Ancient Greece, shed light on the interaction of motifs and stories of different origin. In this understanding, the childhood and youth of the gods becomes an integral and important part in the process of interpreting their images, understanding the essence of ritual worship and veneration.