Download Ballard Bailey Ballard Mrs.Schubach 8th Grade Research 11

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Bailey Ballard
Mrs.Schubach
8th Grade Research
11 February 2015
The Great Greek Gods: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, and Hades
The Greek gods are part of a great belief of humanity’s past. From generation to
generation their stories have been passed. Many find interest in the topic of these godly beings
that were said to watch over us in the early centuries of the world. The most famous god one
normally knows are the three godly brothers: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Each of the three
brothers has their own throne and are a big part in Greek mythology. Each of them are also very
famous. One other goddess holds just as much fame as they once had though. This goddess is the
majestic Hera. All four of these gods hold a special place in Greek mythology and their tales
share special lessons from our ancient past for our present world.
In Mythology by Edith Hamilton, Zeus is described as, “He was lord of the sky, the Raingod and the cloud gatherer, who wielded the awful thunderbolt. His power was greater than that
of all other divinities together”(Hamilton 25). Zeus was the king of the gods and the most
famous god out of his two brothers Hades and Poseidon. He was known wielding the thunderbolt
and being the king of all. Though even as king he was not the most powerful being. Zeus was
more powerful then all godly and mortal beings, but he was still weaker than the three fates
(Hamilton 26). The three fates are the beings that cut the string of one’s life away. Because they
can end one life so easily they are believed to be more powerful than Zeus. Zeus however was
still more powerful than all the gods and goddesses and all mortals. Due to this he was not only
called the king but also as the father of mankind: “Zeus was the protector of cities, the home,
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property, strangers, guest, and supplicants” (Taft 122). This is why, when having over a guest or
stranger, Greeks believed one had to be kind and generous otherwise one would anger Zeus and
have his thunderbolt at one’s throat. Though with this being a normal stereotype people did not
make Zeus seem like an awful man: “In art Zeus was represented as a bearded, dignified, and
mature man of stalwart build; his prominent symbols being the thunderbolt and the eagle” (Taft
122). Zeus’s tree was the strong, sturdy oak. When leaves shook on the oak, priests believed that
Zeus was sending them a sign from Olympus to bring either good or terrible news (Hamiltion
26). Even in Rome, Zeus was represented as a strong, masculine figure mainly represented by his
Roman name. His most famous Roman name is Jupiter because it is the biggest planet. The size
of Jupiter symbolizes Zeus’s strength and power. (Christ 22). Though this is his most famous
name, Zeus also had another roman name- Jove (Christ 15). No one is sure what this name
exactly means or why he is sometimes called this instead of Zeus, but it is still a name for him
when referred to in Roman culture. Zeus’s name is derived from the Hindu sky god (Taft 120).
How the Greeks became connected with this culture is unknown but researchers are still working
to find out how the two cultures connect.
Zeus was famous for his many affairs with women (Taft 122). Though Hera was his wife,
Zeus still went with many women including both goddesses and mortals. He is known for having
many children and demigods. Demigods are half human and half god children. According to
Taft,
“Notable among his offspring were the twins Apollo and Artemis, by Titaness Leto;
Helen and the Dioscuri, by Leda of Sparta/ Persephone, by the goddess Demeter; Athena,
born from his head after he swallowed the Titaness Metis; Hephaestus, Hebe, Ares, and
Eileithyia, by his wife Hera; Dionysus by the goddess Semele; and many others.”
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Out of his children Athena is known to be his favorite. Many believe she is his favorite for the
plain reason of being born from his head fully grown. Athena originally was not meant to be
born from Zeus’s head. When Metis, Athena’s mother, was pregnant Zeus took Athena out of her
body and put her in his head ("Zeus”). No one knows exactly why or how it happened though.
Athena was still his favorite child however but, Zeus still loved many of his children. Some
wonder though how he was able to have so many from so many different women. To do this with
many women he impressed them by shifting into animal forms (Taft 122). Why he used animal
forms instead of impressing them in his normal form is a very common question. Most wonder
how he would remember each form needed to impress which goddess and mortal and if he ever
used this as an advantage to make his wife, Hera, not mad at him after an affair. Though often
Hera was not mad at Zeus directly for the affairs, she would still get angry. She mainly blamed it
on the women he had an affair with no matter whether it was their fault or not. Zeus never
seemed to care who she was mad at though as he continued to have one affair after another
(“Zeus”).
In Mythology by Edith Hamilton, Hera is described as, “Golden throned Hera, among
immortals the queen chief among them in beauty, the glorious lady all the blessed the blessed in
Olympus revere, honor even as Zeus, the lord of thunder” (Hamilton 27). Hera is Zeus’s wife
and sister (Hamilton 26). She is actually the only goddess truly married with true vows (“Hera”).
She is the queen of all mortals and immortals. Many look at her with elegance and pride. She
stood by Zeus’s side since he defeated their father and asked her to be his bride after he divorced
his first wife, Metis ("Zeus”). Most ignore the fact that she is his sister and look primarily at her
as his wife. Mainly they look at her like this because Hera is the protector of marriage and
married women (Hamilton 26). Some believe that because she is the goddess of marriage that is
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why she is so strict and harsh with the women who Zeus has affairs with. Since having an affair
breaks the vows one gives when they get married its very likely that is why it angers Hera. Hera
even takes happiness in harming the women Zeus has affairs with through jealousy (Hamilton
27). That anger even passes from that goddess who he had an affair with to that goddess’s
children (Hamilton 27). This is a little weird for many to understand. Hera was the protector of
pregnant women or women who have given birth (Taft 73). Many have wondered if this means
Hera is the protector of the goddesses she is hurting. Many wonder this but most have said this
only refers to mortals and no other goddesses so Hera does not seem like a mean feminine figure.
Yet even with this pushing her to the good side of Olympus, she has still done many horrible
things. Hera threw her Hephaestus, god of fire, from Olympus because he was born ugly and
lame (Taft 72). One of the cruelest acts ever believed that she did and mainly because of whom
she was represented to be. One of Hera’s other daughter was Eileithyia, goddess of child birth
(Hamilton 27). With her daughter being the goddess of child birth she was believed to love
children, yet since she threw her son out of Olympus for being born ugly and lame she really
can’t be believed to be this way. Later on Hera even was compared and mistaken for her
daughter, “The second sphere naturally made her protectress of women in childbirth, and she
bore the title Eileithyia, the birth goddess, at Argos and Athens” (Taft 73). For her to be taken as
a protector of children and women giving birth she has shown no actions to support her role. In
mythology she has always been showed heartless with the exception of the story of the Golden
Fleece.
In the story of the Trojan War Hera is once again as shown as a cruel goddess. Her hatred
for one single Trojan caused the whole war to continue longer then end quickly (Hamilton 27). A
Trojan is a person who fought in the Trojan War. The Trojan that angered Hera was Paris, a
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young mortal who chose Aphrodite as the greater god over Hera and Athena. This happened
because Eris threw a golden apple down from Olympus to Peleus and Thetis’s wedding trying to
make Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera fight. Paris was chosen by Zeus to resolve the situation so
Zeus did not have to himself. To impress Paris and win the golden apple Hera promised Paris
wealth and power, but he turned her down and chose Aphrodite who had promised him a
beautiful bride in return (Christ 64). After this Hera did not stop getting her revenge on Paris and
the Trojans until Troy fell in ruins at the end of the Trojan War (Hamilton 27). After this, in the
story of Hercules, Hera is shown doing dirty deeds again. Soon after Hercules birth, Hera sent
serpents to kill Hercules when he was in his cradle (Taft 75). After this failed with a few other
attempts towards Hercules, Hera waits for one of the children to become king and tricks Zeus
into thinking Eurytheus was born before Hercules so that Eurytheus could steal the throne from
Hercules (Taft 75). As Hercules story continues Hera continues to try to destroy or hurt him, but
continues fail. Hera continues to try anyways because she is angry with Hercules for being
Zeus’s demigod child from the mortal woman, Alcmene, and not one of her own sons (Taft 75).
These two events show just how far Hera’s anger was taken in Greek mythology and why some
feared the goddess.
Another well-known Greek god is Poseidon. In Mythology by Edith Hamilton, Poseidon
is described as, “He commanded and the wind rose and the surges of the sea rose to the heavens”
(Hamilton 28). Poseidon is the god of the sea or water and brother to the king of the gods, Zeus.
Poseidon’s animals were the dolphin and the tuna (Taft 105). In Roman culture he is known as
Neptune because Neptune rotates above the sea (Christ 23). By mortals he is commonly known
as Earth-Shaker because he was believed to cause earthquakes (Hamilton 28). Even his common
name, Poseidon, means husband of earth or lord of earth (Taft 103). Poseidon still lives under the
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sea in a kingdom called Atlantis. Poseidon very rarely however stays in his undersea palace, but
he spent most of his time in Olympus (Hamilton 27). When he left for many years many believed
that Atlantis was left with no watchful eye but later that was disproved. Poseidon actually was
married to Amphitrite, granddaughter of the titan, Ocean, and rules over Atlantis when Poseidon
leaves to Olympus (Hamilton 27).
Poseidon was the father of many creatures that lived with mortals. Most wonder why the
god of the sea would give birth to such creatures, but over the years many have learned to not
question it. Two of some of the most feared creatures were born from Poseidon. One of these
creatures was the giant (Taft 105). The other was the great Cyclops which Poseidon was known
to be the father (Christ 80). Poseidon also gave birth to the children: Orion, Antaeus, and
Polyphemus (Taft 105). He was also the father of Pelius and Neleus by Tryo (Taft 104). These
children were his most famous non creature children with a known mother (Taft 104). Out of all
the creatures from Poseidon though the horse has to be the most famous creature he gave birth to.
Poseidon is known to be the father of all horses (Taft 103). He was known as the father of horses
because he gave the first horse to man (Hamilton 28). This horse was the winged horse Pegasus,
born from the sea foam that spewed from Medusa’s neck after her head was chopped off. The
foam was sea foam which could only be related to Poseidon so from that day on in Greek
mythology Poseidon became known as the god of the sea and the god of horses (Hamilton 27).
All of these creatures helped Poseidon become the second most famous god out of his brother,
Zeus (Hamilton 27). That is why these creatures are so important to Greek mythology.
Poseidon also had a famous brother named Hades. In Mythology by Edith Hamilton,
Hades is described as, “He was King of the Dead- not Death himself, whom Greeks called
Thanatos and the Romans, Orcus.” Hades was the god of death or king of the dead. The white
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poplar was Hades plant ("Hades”). In Greek mythology, “Hades was depicted as a dark- bearded,
regal god” ("Hades”). In Greek mythology, Hades was always seen as the third brother and
inferred as the youngest (Hamilton 28). Though this was believed, Hades is actually the oldest
brother out of Zeus and Poseidon ("Hades”).
Unlike most gods Hades was never found to have an exact personality (Taft 68). He was
never believed to be evil, but only to be the one who did terrible deeds to others (Hamilton 28).
That’s why when people worshipped Hades; they would sacrifice black sheep to him instead of
people ("Hades”). They killed black sheep because black wool of the sheep represented darkness
(“Hades”). They killed the sheep so the souls of the sheep would enter the Underworld and not
become a gift to the gods of Olympus since Hades very rarely visited Olympus or the over world
("Hades”).
Hades has many names. In Roman culture Hades was referred to as Pluto or Pluton
(Hamilton 28). Hades was called Pluto because the small planet is away from the other planets in
a darker atmosphere like Hades lives away from the other gods in the Underworld (Christ 23). In
Greek mythology, Hades was sometimes referred to as Zeus with an addition of a title because
he was a king like his brother (Taft 68). In both Greek mythology and Roman culture Hades or
Pluto is translated to Dis, the Latin word for rich (Hamilton 28). This was because Hades was
also the god of wealth and riches as well as god of the dead (Hamilton 28). These were his most
famous names but he was also called many others. In Latin Hades was known as Ades or
Aidoneus ("Hades”). In other times Hades name was translated into unseen one ("Hades”). On
even rarer occasions he was referred to as the king of shades ("Hades”). When being talked about
by his followers, they would use the synonym Tartarus (Taft 68). If he was not referred to by
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any of the names above then his followers would use the word Sheol to refer to him since his
original name, Hades, came from the word (Taft 68).
Hades, Poseidon, Hera, Zeus were all the children of Rhea and Cronos. Though each
lived a much different life from one another and didn’t come together until they over threw the
titans. Hades was the first born out of the four which mean he was immediately swallowed
(“Hades”). Unlike Poseidon and Hera, Hades had no taste of freedom before being swallowed
with his other siblings. After Hades was born, eventually, Poseidon was born and Rhea disguised
him in a flock of lambs to be saved from being devoured (“Poseidon”). This did not stop
Poseidon from being devoured by his father, Cronos. Before Poseidon was devoured though,
Arne nursed Poseidon and protected him from the clutches of other titans (“Poseidon”). Rhea
also saved Hera when she was first born. Hera was her eldest daughter (“Hera”). After Hera’s
birth, Hera was handed over to the titans Ocean and Tethys to be raised, but was eventually also
devoured by Cronos (Hamilton 26). During that time before Hera was devoured she was nursed
by Horae (“Hera”). Zeus was the only child to not be devoured between all his siblings. At birth
Rhea hid Zeus in a cave and replaced his body with a stone to be devoured instead. Zeus was
then nursed by the nymph Amalthea who took care of him until he was strong enough to take on
his father and defeat the titans as the prophecy told (Taft 120).
After the titans were defeated, sanctuaries and temples and festivals were built and held
in all of their honors. Hera got a sanctuary at the foot of Mount Euboea (“Hera”). In the city of
Argos a celebration called the Sheild was made for Hera and in Samos there was also a very
special armed procession made to worship Hera (Taft 74). Later on a festival called Isthmia was
celebrated to worship Poseidon (Taft 105). Even Zeus, in the sixth century, got a temple in
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Athens so people could worship him (Taft 122). Hades was the only one who did not gain a
temple, sanctuary, celebration, or festival in his honor until a much later date (“Hades”).
As years have passed the four gods have grown in popularity. Myths have been passed
from generation to generation. Over the years the stories and myths of these gods have started to
fade and many have forgotten what our human ancestors once believed in. Even though we know
today these gods didn’t exist, we can still learn from the myths that came from them. We can
learn from Zeus’s mistakes as a leader and his qualities of treating his wife poorly. We can learn
from Hera’s anger and her trust in the vows of marriage. We can learn from Poseidon’s love for
his creatures and children and we can learn from Hades’s power against those above him and
how he stands for an evil cause, but isn’t evil himself. Greek mythology can teach us many
lessons and values that will help the future of our humanity. Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, and Hera
have brought great lessons to us through their myths and stories and teach us greatly of our past.
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Works Cited
Atsma, Aaron J. "Hades: Greek King of the Underworld, God of the Dead.” Theoi Project, n.d.
Web. 18 Feb. 2015.
Atsma, Aaron J. "Hera: Greek Goddess of Marriage, Queen of Heaven.” Theoi Project, n.d.
Web. 25 Feb. 2015.
Atsma, Aaron J. "Poseidon: Greek God of the Sea & Earthquakes.” Theoi Project, n.d. Web. 22
Feb. 2015.
Atsma, Aaron J. "Zeus: Greek King of the Gods, God of Sky & Weather.” Theoi Project, n.d.
Web. 19 Feb. 2015.
Christ, Henry I. Myths and Folklore. New York: Amsco, 1989. Print.
Hamilton, Edith. Mythology. Boston: Back Bay, 1998. Print.
Taft, Michael W. Greek Gods & Goddesses. New York: Rosen Group, 2014. Print.