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Zeus’ Mythology Research Paper

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The Greek mythology provides prolific accounts of several supernatural beings. One of these beings is Zeus the overall ruler of Olympus. According to Greek mythology, Zeus was Cronus and Rhea’s son. In religious stature, Zeus held the same position as the Roman god Jupiter or the Hindu sky god Rigveda.

Zeus had a reputation as a carrier of thunderbolt and lightning. Zeus’ main weapon was the thunderbolt and he was commonly referred to as the father of men and gods (Lawson 65). Zeus had both divine and mortal offspring from his union with Hera and other females. This paper will offer insight into the details that surround Zeus’ mythology including his birth, roles, and offspring.

Zeus was fathered by Titan gods Cronus and Rhea. According to Greek mythology, Zeus was the youngest and only surviving offspring of Cronus. All his other siblings had been swallowed by Cronus who had been warned by an oracle that his offspring would dethrone him.

Cronus had gulped all his other offspring immediately after birth. Zeus’ mother Rhea arranged to save him after enlisting the help of Gaia. When Zeus was born, Rhea handed Cronus a rock that was disguised as a baby. Cronus immediately swallowed the Rock While Rhea hid Zeus in a cave.

There are several conflicting myths as to how Zeus was brought up. The most common story is that Zeus was raised by Gaia in the caves of Crete. Others claim that he was raised by a goat that was protected by an army of gods. Another myth claims that because Cronus was the ruler of earth, heaven, and sea, Zeus was raised while being suspended mid-air where Cronus could not see him. Zeus’ other siblings included “Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Demeter and Hera” (Lawson 165).

After Zeus had grown up, he confronted Cronus and forced him to emit his siblings. Zeus’ brothers and sisters showed gratitude for his actions by helping him defeat Cronus and other Titans. In addition, Zeus was able to release Cronus’ brothers from imprisonment by slaying their guard. It was one of Cronus’ brothers Cyclopes who bestowed thunder and thunderbolt upon Zeus.

Eventually, Zeus was able to defeat Cronus and exile some of his supporters. Zeus punished one of his opposing Titans by having him hold up the sky. After his victory, Zeus shared the kingdom of the universe with his siblings Poseidon and Hades. When the three drew lots, Zeus attained the sky and air kingdom, Poseidon attained the water kingdom, and Hades won the kingdom of the dead.

The division of the kingdom explains why Poseidon was the ‘god of the earthquakes’ and Hades had the right of ownership over the dead. Gaia was the “mother of the Titans and she was resentful of how Zeus had treated some of them” (Lang 88). Zeus had to fight with the remaining Titans and he was able to vanquish one of them by the name Typhoon.

Zeus was married to Hera but he also engaged in several extra marital affairs. Both his marriage and his affairs resulted in numerous immortal and mortal offspring. His marriage resulted in the birth of Ares, Eileithyia, Hebe, and Hephaestus. His wife Hera was known for her jealousy and she objected to his numerous affairs.

His affairs with mortals and goddesses were achieved through either rape or witty seduction techniques. Zeus’ affair with Leto resulted in the birth of Artemis and Apollo. Hera was very jealous of this affair and she condemned Leto to roam the earth while searching for a place to give birth.

Eventually, Leto had to give birth in a floating island that was neither sea nor land. Zeus also engaged in various affairs with mortals such as his union with Leda. During his liaisons with mortals, Zeus would often adopt a disguise. For instance, in his union with princess Danae, he disguised himself as a gold shower (Larson 60). Some of Zeus’ offspring from his union with mortals include Helen of Troy, Perseus, and Castor.

There are several shrines that have been erected as a tribute Zeus. In addition, several festivals have been instituted in his honor. An example of a temple that was built in Zeus’ honor is the Temple of Zeus in Olympia. The “temple bears a magnificent ivory and gold statue of Zeus” (Lawson 26).

Most works of art depict Zeus as a youthful, middle-aged, and bearded man. He is usually depicted in a pose that shows him when he is about to throw a thunderbolt. The Olympic Games that are still held to date “were started in Zeus’ honor” (Larson 88). Several Greek museums feature several of Zeus’ artifacts including the Artemisium Zeus sculpture.

Zeus is known as the punisher of the liars and oath-breakers. Moreover, Zeus was known as the god who assembled the clouds and brought forth rain. Greek mythology presents Zeus as the “god of justice, the protector of the weak, and the punisher of the wicked” (Lang 88). Modern culture has incorporated Zeus into various aspects of everyday life including his depiction in Euro coins.

Works Cited

Lang, Andrew. Greek Divine Myth-Greek Gods in Myth and Religion , New York, NY: Pierides Press, 2010. Print.

Larson, Jennifer. “A Land Full of Gods: Nature Deities in Greek Religion.” A Companion to Greek Religion 23.1 (2010): 56-70. Print.

Lawson, John. Modern Greek Folklore and Ancient Greek Religion: A Study In Survivals , New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Print.

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Greek Gods & Goddesses

Zeus – Greek God Of The Sky and King of the Gods

Zeus is the Greek God of The Sky and Thunder and king of all the Gods. He was the first of the gods and a very imposing figure. Often referred to as the “Father of Gods and men”, he is a sky god who controls lightning (often using it as a weapon) and thunder. Zeus is king of Mount Olympus , the home of Greek gods, where he rules the world and imposes his will onto gods and mortals alike.

Zeus was the last child of the titans Cronus and Rhea , and avoided being swallowed by his father (who had been told one of his children would overthrow him) when Rhea sought help from Uranus and Gaea. Cronus had previously swallowed Demeter , Hestia , Hera , Hades and Poseidon .

Along with Hades and Poseidon, Zeus shared the rule of the world and became king of Olympus as the children of Cronus were filled with admiration for their noble brother and sided with him against their unjust father – even following Zeus into The Battle of the Titans .

Zeus mated with many goddesses and mortals (including Aegina, Alcmena, Calliope , Cassiopea, Demeter , Dione, Europa, Io, Leda, Leto , Mnemosyne , Niobe, Persephone and Semele ) but was married to his sister Hera – goddess of marriage and monogamy.

Roles and Responsibilities of Zeus

As the king of the gods and sitting atop the golden throne on Mount Olympus , Zeus was revered by all. Mortal kings would boast that they were descendants of Zeus. With this supreme power came a number of roles and responsibilities.

Hesiod described Zeus as a god who “brought peace in place of violence” and referred to him as the “lord of justice” .

Though he is most well known as god of the sky and thunder, Zeus was the supreme cultural embodiment of Greek religious beliefs. He had many epithets (titles) that emphasized different aspects of complete and wide ranging authority.

• Zeus Olympios emphasized Zeus’s kingship over the gods.
• Zeus Xenios, Philoxenon or Hospites : Zeus was the patron of hospitality (xenia) and guests, ready to avenge any wrong done to a stranger.
• Zeus Horkios : Zeus he was the keeper of oaths. Exposed liars were made to dedicate a statue to Zeus, often at the sanctuary of Olympia.
• Zeus Agoraeus : Zeus watched over business at the agora and punished dishonest traders.
• Zeus Aegiduchos or Aegiochos : Zeus was the bearer of the Aegis with which he strikes terror into the impious and his enemies.
• Zeus Tallaios (“solar Zeus”): the Zeus that was worshiped in Crete.
• Zeus Geōrgos (“earth worker”, “farmer”), the god of crops and harvest, in Athens.
• Astrapios (“lightninger”)
• Brontios (“thunderer”)

Appearance and personality of Zeus

According to “Work and Days” by Hesiod (line 59), Zeus was a carefree god who loved to laugh out loud. He was regarded as wise, fair, just, merciful, and prudent. He was also unpredictable – nobody was able to guess the decisions he would make.

He was also easily angered which could be very destructive. He has previously hurled lightning bolts and caused violent storms that wreaked havoc on earth.

Zeus fell in love easily and had many affairs with various women, however he would severely punish anybody who attempted to escort/fall in love with his wife Hera – like the giant Porphyrion who took a lightning bolt from the engraged god for lusting after his wife (albeit with a little help from the love god Eros).

He is often described as a strong, imposing man with a regal body and long, often curly, hair. He usually had a short beard or scruff and carried his trusty thunderbolt at all times.

How Many Wives Did Zeus Have?

Zeus had seven immortal wives . They are Metis, Themis, Eurynome , Demeter, Mnemosyne, Hera, and Leto. From these marriages produced many many sons and  daughters .

Zeus’s Romantic Escapades

In the pantheon of Greek gods, Zeus, the mighty ruler of Olympus, was notorious for his amorous adventures, despite being wed to Hera, the embodiment of marital fidelity. This juxtaposition of Zeus’s rampant infidelity and Hera’s commitment to matrimony painted a complex picture of their divine union.

Zeus had numerous affairs with both goddesses and mortal women. Here is a list of some of the most notable ones:

• Hera : Despite being his wife, Hera was also one of Zeus’s consorts. They had several children, including Ares, Hephaestus, Hebe, and Eileithyia.
• Leto : Zeus fathered Apollo and Artemis with Leto.
• Metis : The first wife of Zeus, Metis was the mother of Athena, who was born from Zeus’s head.
• Dione : She was the mother of Aphrodite in some accounts.
• Maia : A nymph and one of the Pleiades, she was the mother of Hermes.
• Europa : Zeus famously abducted Europa in the form of a bull. She bore him three sons, including Minos and Rhadamanthys.
• Io : A mortal princess whom Zeus turned into a cow to hide her from Hera.
• Semele : The mother of Dionysus, Zeus appeared to her in his true form and she perished, but Zeus saved their unborn child.
• Leda : Zeus approached Leda in the form of a swan, and she became the mother of Helen of Troy and Pollux.
• Alcmene : The mortal mother of Heracles (Hercules in Roman mythology).
• Danaë : Zeus appeared to her as a shower of gold, leading to the birth of Perseus.
• Ganymede : A beautiful Trojan prince whom Zeus abducted to serve as the cupbearer of the gods.
• Callisto : A nymph who was transformed into a bear and later became the constellation Ursa Major.
• Antiope : A mortal woman who bore Zeus twin sons, Amphion and Zethus.
• Niobe : Another mortal woman loved by Zeus.
• Thalia : One of the Graces, with whom Zeus fathered the Charites.

This list is not exhaustive, as Zeus’s affairs are numerous in Greek mythology, and each affair has its own unique story and significance in the mythological narrative.

How Did Zeus Become the Leader of the Gods?

Cronus, managed to overthrow his father, Uranus.

But Uranus made a prediction that Cronus would be overthrown by one of his children. Because Cronus was afraid of losing the kingdom, he made the same mistakes his father did and turned into a terrible, angry king and did lots of horrible things to stay in power.

He ate his children, just to keep them from overthrowing him. But Rhea, his wife, managed to fool Cronus by feeding him a large stone and kept one of his children safe. This child was named Zeus. Rhea hid him away in a cave on the island of Crete so he would be safe.

Once Zeus grew up, he went to his father’s mountain and served him as a cupbearer. His father did not know that Zeus was his son. A Titan goddess named Metis helped Zeus fool his father into drinking a mixture of mustard in his wine.

This caused Cronus to feel sick, and he threw up all of his children that he had eaten, one by one including the stone. Once Cronus had expelled all of Zeus’ brothers and sisters, Zeus talked them into rebelling against Cronus, their father.

This is what started the Titanomachy , or the Titan’s War. Zeus and his brothers and sisters rebelled against their father, Cronus. Zeus set the CYCLOPES  and the Hecatonchires free from their underground prison and convinced them to join the fight against Cronus too.

Cronus had been the one who locked up his siblings, so they agreed to join Zeus. The Hecatonchires used rocks as weapons, and the Cyclopes made Zeus’ thunderbolts. Together they also made POSEIDON ‘s trident and  HADES ‘ helm of darkness.

The only Titians to fight with Zeus were THEMIS  and  PROMETHEUS . This war lasted ten years.  ATLAS was a major leader on the side of the Titans and Cronus. After the war was over, Zeus imprisoned all of the Titans in Tartarus , except for Themis and Prometheus who fought for him.

These Titans were imprisoned in the earth the same way that Cronus,  HECATONCHIRES  and the Cyclopes once were. Hecatonchires guarded the Titans in their prison. Because Atlas was such an important fighter for the opposition, Zeus gave him the special punishment of holding up the world.

After the Titans’ War Zeus and his brothers, Hades and Poseidon decided to divide the universe into three parts. They drew straws to see who would rule over which part. Zeus drew the longest straw, so he was given the title of king of the sky.

This also meant that he was the head of mortals and all the gods, too. Poseidon got the middle straw, so he became king of the sea. Hades drew the shortest straw, so he became the ruler of the Underworld .

Facts about Zeus

• Zeus became the ruler of heaven and earth after a revolt against his father, Kronos. In his position as king of the gods, Zeus had to play mediator when other the immortals were mad at each other.
• He is the father of Athena , who is said to have sprung from his head . She was his favorite child, with whom he shared the thunderbolt and aegis.
• Hades and Poseidon were his brothers.
• His wife Hera was also his sister.
• Zeus was not a faithful husband; he was known for having many affairs with mortal women.
• Zeus fathered Hercules , the famous Greek hero, by deception. He disguised himself as Amphitryon, Alcmene’s husband, in order to have sexual relations with her.
• Zeus fathered Perseus by impregnating Danaë. When he did so, he appeared to her in the form of a golden shower.
• The name Zeus means “bright” or “sky.”
• His weapon of choice was the thunderbolt, made for him by the mythical creatures , the Cyclops .
• Zeus, more recently known for causing thunder and lightning, was once a rain-god. He was always associated with the weather in some form.
• The Zeus described in Homer was not an extension of nature; instead, he had a standard of right and wrong that made him more relatable to mankind.
• Before monarchies were rendered obsolete, Zeus protected the king and his family.
• Hesiod calls Zeus the “the lord of justice.” Perhaps because of this, he was reluctant to join a side in the Trojan War . He preferred the Trojans, but he wanted to stay neutral because Hera preferred the Greeks. She was insufferable when he opposed her openly.
• Metis, the goddess of prudence, was Zeus’s first love.
• Ares , Hephaestus , Hebe and Eileithyia are the children of Zeus and Hera .
• His union with Leto brought forth the twins Apollo and Artemis.
• Zeus had many children with some believing he had over 50 children
• When he seduced the Spartan queen Leda, Zeus transformed himself into a beautiful swan, and two sets of twins were born.
• When Zeus had an affair with Mnemosyne, he coupled with her for nine nights. This scenario produced nine daughters , who became known as the Muses .
• Zeus punished men by giving them women.
• Zeus’s servants were named Force and Violence.

More Zeus Greek God Resources

Downloadable and ready to print Zeus Greek God Coloring Pages

Zeus is  the God of sky and thunder  in ancient Greek religion, who rules as king of the gods of Mount Olympus.

Zeus had 54 children – 31 by Divine unions including Ares, The Three Graces, The Nine Muses, The Horae and 23 via human unions including Perseus and Heracles.

The father of Zeus is Cronus, youngest son of Uranus and Gaea, the leader of the first generation of Titans, and, for a brief period, the ruler of all gods and men.

The Zeus symbol include  the lightning bolt, the eagle, the bull, and the oak tree . Zeus is often portrayed with a scepter in one hand and the thunderbolt in the other – both symbols of his authority. Sometimes he wears a crown of oak leaves. The most iconic symbol associated with Zeus is the thunderbolt. According to myth, the thunderbolt was forged by the Cyclopes, the giant craftsmen, and given to Zeus as a weapon in the battle against the Titans. It represents not only his immense power but also his ability to maintain order and dispense justice.

Zeus wielded immense and multifaceted powers. Some of his most significant powers included: Control Over the Sky and Weather : As the god of the sky, Zeus had complete dominion over weather phenomena. He could create storms, tempests, lightning, thunder, rain, and winds at will. Thunderbolts : His signature weapon was the thunderbolt, which he used to enforce his will and punish those who defied him or broke oaths. Omnipotence : As the most powerful of the gods, Zeus possessed vast supernatural strength and abilities, surpassing all other deities. Omniscience : He was often depicted as being all-knowing, or at least having a broad and deep understanding of human affairs, the workings of the universe, and the fates of men and gods. Shape-shifting : Zeus had the ability to change his form at will. He often transformed himself into various animals or humans as part of his interactions with mortals or other deities, particularly in his romantic conquests. Authority Over Gods and Mortals : Zeus was the ruler of Mount Olympus and the other gods, commanding respect and authority over both divine and mortal realms. Dispenser of Justice : Zeus was seen as a guardian of justice and was often appealed to for judgments in disputes among gods and mortals. Creator of Laws and Order : He was responsible for the establishment of laws and order in the universe, ensuring the smooth functioning of the cosmos and the earthly realm. Necromancy : In some stories, Zeus displayed the ability to bring the dead back to life or communicate with them. Immortality and Regeneration : Like other Greek gods, Zeus was immortal and could regenerate, making him impervious to death and most forms of injury.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Zeus — Zeus: Rise to Power and Rule of the Gods

Zeus: Rise to Power and Rule of The Gods

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Published: Sep 12, 2018

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Works Cited

• Hesiod. (n.d.). Theogony. (H. G. Evelyn-White, Trans.) Retrieved April 7, 2023, from https://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hesiod/theogony.htm
• Morford, M. P. O., & Lenardon, R. J. (2011). Classical Mythology. Oxford University Press.
• Hamilton, E. (1942). Mythology. Little, Brown and Company.
• Graves, R. (1990). The Greek Myths. Penguin Classics.
• Hard, R. (Ed.). (2017). The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology : Based on H.J. Rose's Handbook of Greek mythology. Routledge.
• Lefkowitz, M. R. (2008). The Lives of the Greek Poets. Duckworth.
• Powell, B. B. (1998). Homer and the Origin of the Greek Alphabet. Cambridge University Press.
• Vernant, J. P. (1991). Mortals and Immortals: Collected Essays. Princeton University Press.
• Wilk, S. R. (1998). Medusa: Solving the Mystery of the Gorgon. Oxford University Press.
• West, M. L. (2008). The Orphic Poems. Oxford University Press.

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Zeus is the god of the sky in ancient Greek mythology . As the chief Greek deity, Zeus is considered the ruler, protector, and father of all gods and humans. Zeus is often depicted as an older man with a beard and is represented by symbols such as the lightning bolt and the eagle.

Where does Zeus’s name come from?

Zeus’s name shares a similar origin with the sky god Dyaus of Hinduism, mentioned in the Rigveda . It is believed that many proto-Indo-European mythologies (e.g., Greek , Hindu , and Norse ) have distinct similarities and may share an origin.

Zeus fathered many children. Among the most well-known are Athena , the goddess of war; Perseus , the hero known for slaying Medusa ; and Persephone , Demeter ’s daughter and wife to Hades . Zeus is known for his many sexual (and oftentimes nonconsensual) relationships outside of his marriage to his wife and sister Hera .  

In some versions of Greek mythology, Zeus ate his wife Metis because it was known that their second child would be more powerful than him. After Metis’s demise, their first child Athena was born when Hephaestus cleaved Zeus’s head open and the goddess of war emerged, fully grown and armed.

Zeus , in ancient Greek religion , chief deity of the pantheon, a sky and weather god who was identical with the Roman god Jupiter . His name may be related to that of the sky god Dyaus of the ancient Hindu Rigveda . Zeus was regarded as the sender of thunder and lightning, rain, and winds, and his traditional weapon was the thunderbolt. He was called the father (i.e., the ruler and protector) of both gods and men.

According to a Cretan myth that was later adopted by the Greeks, Cronus , king of the Titans , upon learning that one of his children was fated to dethrone him, swallowed his children as soon as they were born. But Rhea , his wife, saved the infant Zeus by substituting a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes for Cronus to swallow and hiding Zeus in a cave on Crete . There he was nursed by the nymph (or female goat) Amalthaea and guarded by the Curetes (young warriors), who clashed their weapons to disguise the baby’s cries. After Zeus grew to manhood he led a revolt against the Titans and succeeded in dethroning Cronus, perhaps with the assistance of his brothers Hades and Poseidon , with whom he then divided dominion over the world.

As ruler of heaven Zeus led the gods to victory against the Giants (offspring of Gaea and Tartarus ) and successfully crushed several revolts against him by his fellow gods. According to the Greek poet Homer , heaven was located on the summit of Olympus , the highest mountain in Greece and the logical home for a weather god. The other members of the pantheon resided there with Zeus and were subject to his will. From his exalted position atop Mount Olympus Zeus was thought to omnisciently observe the affairs of men, seeing everything, governing all, and rewarding good conduct and punishing evil. Besides dispensing justice—he had a strong connection with his daughter Dike (Justice)—Zeus was the protector of cities, the home, property, strangers, guests, and supplicants.

Zeus was well known for his amorousness—a source of perpetual discord with his wife, Hera —and he had many love affairs with both mortal and immortal women. In order to achieve his amorous designs, Zeus frequently assumed animal forms, such as that of a cuckoo when he ravished Hera, a swan when he ravished Leda , or a bull when he carried off Europa . Notable among his offspring were the twins Apollo and Artemis , by the Titaness Leto ; Helen and the Dioscuri , by Leda of Sparta; Persephone , by the goddess Demeter ; Athena , born from his head after he had swallowed the Titaness Metis; Hephaestus , Hebe , Ares , and Eileithyia , by his wife, Hera; Dionysus , by the goddess Semele ; and many others.

Though regarded by Greek religionists everywhere as omnipotent and the head of the pantheon, Zeus’s very universality tended to reduce his importance compared with that of powerful local divinities like Athena and Hera. Although statues of Zeus Herkeios (Guardian of the House) and altars of Zeus Xenios (Hospitable) graced the forecourts of houses, and though his mountaintop shrines were visited by pilgrims, Zeus did not have a temple at Athens until the late 6th century bce , and even his temple at Olympia postdated that of Hera.

In art Zeus was represented as a bearded, dignified, and mature man of stalwart build; his most prominent symbols were the thunderbolt and the eagle .

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“Zeus at Olympia.” In The Gods of Ancient Greece: Identities and Transformations, edited by A. Erskine and J. Bremmer, 155-177. Edinburgh. 2010

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Chrysanthi Tsouli

John Pollini

Because of the missing thunderbolt or trident, scholars have long debated whether the famous early classical bronze statue of a nude male god from Cape Artemision in the Athens National Museum represents Zeus or Poseidon. Arguments have been advanced for either divinity largely on the basis of iconographical comparisons with other figures of both gods in various ancient artistic media. A new look at the pose of the figure, the back-drawn right arm, and especially the position of the hand and fingers from the point of view of a spear-thrower can perhaps throw new light on this contentious old problem. Classical archaeologists and art historians, who generally have no experience in throwing spears, have not considered the problem from such a practical point of view. As both an archaeologist and avid spear-thrower myself, I offer some useful insights into this problem and discuss how this famous bronze statue from Cape Artemision more likely once held a trident than a thunderbolt and therefore is to be identified as Poseidon rather than a Zeus.

Florica Bechet

It is well known that the pre-Hellenic, Minoan civilization was characterized by matriarchy, an obvious trait in the religious field as well, represented by a pantheon governed by a Magna Mater. The male deities were not missing, but they were usually inferior to the female ones, playing rather the part of a drone in a hive, by the almighty queen. One of these male deities, perhaps the most prominent one, was the one that the Greeks would name Zeus the Cretan (Velchanos, by his autochthonous name), whose worship has left important traces in Crete, the cradle of the Minoan civilization. Far from being the thunderous Zeus of the Greeks, Velchanos was represented as a fragile adolescent, seated between the branches of a willow and holding a cock in his hand, image a long while maintained on the coins. The intention of our paper is to highlight the characteristics of this deity, the simbolistics of the objects which define him and the domain he was patronizing, as well as the way Velchanos becomes Vulcan, the patron of fire and thus of handicrafts, once he penetrates the Roman pantheon. Over the last few years, our interest and research has been focusing on the pre-hellenic mythology and religion (deities, rites, places of worship, customs, etc.), insofar as they can be guessed from a few literary testimonies that have come to our hands or from certain objects which are the result of excavations. This is a paper in which comparative mythology needs to rely on graphic representations: mural or ceramic paintings, figurines or other tridimensional objects, which come from or bring evidence of the Minoan Age, as late relics of this era, which preceded and significantly influenced classical Greek mythology and religion. We have payed additional attention to masculine gods, more interesting and not so well outlined within a matriarchal civilization. We have already dealt with Hephaistos, with Dionysos, with Hermes, whose names are written on the Linear B tablets 1. We

Matthew Lloyd

This thesis studies the evidence related to warfare and warriors in the Early Iron Age of Greece, from the eleventh to the early seventh century B.C.E. It argues that “warrior” identity, as expressed through burial with weapons or depictions of armed men and combat in pictorial painting and literature, is connected to violent action in order to create, maintain, and reinforce the relationship between authority and violent action. The forms that this violent action took were variable, from interregional conflict to overseas raids. This is outlined in Chapter 1, which is followed by two chapters summarizing the palatial (Chapter 2) and postpalatial (Chapter 3) background to the Early Iron Age. Chapters 4 to 7 present the evidence. In order to provide a more thorough analysis the focus is limited to the regions of Attica, central Euboea, the Argolid, and Knossos. The study of warfare in this period has been dominated by the study of weapons; in this thesis the approach focuses on the contexts in which these weapons are found, burials (Chapter 4), sanctuaries (Chapter 5), and occasionally settlements (Chapter 6). In these chapters the particular treatment and emphasis on weapons and armour is considered based on an understanding of these contexts in the period. In Chapter 7, representations and the treatment of warriors and warfare in Early Iron Age pictorial pottery is considered, as is briefly the literary evidence from the end of this period, which form the means by which contemporary people came to understand warfare. Chapter 8 discusses the evidence, while Chapter 9 summarizes the conclusions. This thesis shows that while warrior identity and the practice of war are closely related, in these areas of Early Iron Age Greece there are variations in the identification of men as warriors and in the intensity with which war is fought. Throughout the period, these regions express warrior identity in broadly similar ways, but with variations in duration, accessibility, and meaning. The eighth century is particularly a period of change with the intensification of warfare manifest in the destruction of settlements, but these changes are not restricted to this century, and are in many ways similar to the preceding centuries on a larger scale.

Angelos Papadopoulos

Theodoros Mavrogiannis

Jordan D . G . Mitchell

This is an analysis of the sculptures on both the East and West pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia to establish how an observing athlete would have received the mythological representations present in their own historical moment. Second, using Pindar’s Pythian 9, I shall show how Pindar, writing for victorious athletes, uses myth to accomplish a similar goal as the pediments; and, therefore, by combining the myths of both the pediments of Olympia and Pindar, we can see more clearly how the ancient Greeks––either athlete or visitor––were inspired by the art of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia.

Olga A. Zolotnikova

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