CH 4: ZEUS'S RISE TO POWER

The Titanomachy: Zeus Defeats his father Cronus

• When zeus became older, he charmed Cronus into bringing up the fact that he had swallowed a stone and then his children

  • Zeus waged war against his father with his siblings as allies

    • Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon.

    • Allied with him as well were the Hecatonchires and the Cyclopes, and Theis and her son Prometheus

  • The titans were allied with Uranus

• The battle was called Titanomachy

• Zeus fighting from Mt. Olympus, Cronus from Mt. Othrys. The struggle is said to have lasted ten years

THE GIGANTOMACHY: ZEUS DEFEATS THE GIANTS AND TYPHOEUS

• Giants (Gegeneis = "earthborn") rose from Earth, possibly from Uranus’ blood, to challenge Zeus and the Olympians.

• Gigantomachy: battle between Zeus/gods and giants; ended with giants imprisoned under the earth (linked to volcanic activity).

• Typhoeus (aka Typhon/Typhaon): a major monster opponent of Zeus, sometimes fights alone or with others.

• Earth tried to make giants invincible with a plant, but Zeus seized it first.

Creation of Mortals

•  Sometimes immortals and mortals spring from the same source.

• A dominant tradition depicts Prometheus as the creator of man; and sometimes woman is created later and separately through the designs of Zeus.

The Age of Gold

• Created by the Olympian gods.

• No old age or suffering; lived in joy, died peacefully like sleep.

• Earth gave abundant food naturally.

• After death: became holy spirits who protect mortals, ward off evils, and oversee justice.

The Age of Silver

• Short, troubled adulthood due to arrogance and foolishness.

• Refused to honor the gods with worship or sacrifice.

• Zeus destroyed them in anger; they now live under the earth and are called blessed by mortals.

The Age of Bronze

• Violent and warlike; made for battle, with ash-wood spears and powerful bodies.

• Obsessed with Ares and destruction.

• Destroyed themselves and went nameless into Hades (hell)

The Age of Heroes

• Demigods, nobler and more just than the bronze race.

• Lived before current human race.

• Now dwell on the Islands of the Blessed under Cronus’ rule.

• They receive honor and glory.

The Age of Iron

• Our current age: filled with toil, hardship, and moral decay.

• Children dishonor parents; people reject the gods and value might over right.

• Good exists but is mixed with great suffering.

Prometheus

• Prometheus is the clever son of Iapetus and Clymene.

• His brothers include:

  • Atlas – punished to hold up the sky.

  • Menoetius – struck down by Zeus for arrogance.

  • Epimetheus – foolish, accepted Pandora from Zeus (a curse to mankind).

Prometheus vs Zeus (Background and Results)

• in Theogony, Hesiod tells the stories of Prometheus and his conflict with Zeus, with the human race as the pawn in this gigantic clash of divine wills.

• Resulted in Zeus Punishing Prometheus by chaining him to a rock and having an eagle eat his liver every day (it always regenerated)

• Heracles (Hercules) eventually killed the eagle and freed Prometheus.

• Zeus allowed it as a way to honor Heracles and increase his heroic fame.

Prometheus First Trick - Sacrifice at Mecone

• rometheus tricked Zeus by dividing an ox into 2 piles:

  1. Edible meat in ox hide

  2. Bones hidden under glistening fat

• Zeus knowingly chose the deceptive pile (bones/fat).
  Result: Zeus grew angry and withheld fire from humans.

• Explains why Greeks burn bones/fat in sacrifice.

Prometheus Second Trick - Theft of Fire

• Prometheus stole fire back (hidden in fennel stalk) and gave it to humans.
  Zeus’s Punishment:

Zeus’s Revenge & Creation of Pandora

• After Prometheus gives fire to mortals, Zeus plans a second punishment—this time for humanity.

• He commands Hephaestus to create Pandora, a woman formed from earth and water.

• Gods contribute to her design:

  • Athena: clothing, weaving skills

  • Aphrodite: beauty and desire

  • Hermes: lies and trickery

  • Graces/Persuasion/Seasons: adornments and charm

• Pandora = “All Gifts”; beautiful on the outside, deceptive on the inside.

Pandora Given to Epimetheus

• Zeus sends Pandora to Epimetheus as a “gift.”

• Prometheus had warned him never to accept gifts from Zeus.

• Epimetheus ignores the warning and takes her.

• Too late, he realizes it was a trap—a deception that would harm mankind.

Pandoras Jar

• Before Pandora, humans lived free from evil and suffering.

• She opens the jar and unleashes:

  • Disease

  • Pain

  • Hard labor

  • Emotional and physical suffering

• Only Hope remains trapped inside.

• Result: Earth and sea become filled with unseen evils—Zeus’s punishment for humanity.

Prometheus Punishment and Zeus’s Rule

• Prometheus is chained to a rock by Kratos (Strength) and Bia (Force), on Zeus’s orders.

• Hephaestus performs the binding but is reluctant—shows moral conflict.

• Zeus is portrayed as a harsh, insecure tyrant, recently in power after overthrowing the Titans.

• Prometheus knows a prophecy: the sea goddess Thetis will bear a son stronger than his father—dangerous for Zeus.

Lo’s Suffering and Ending Prophecy

• Io: mortal woman loved by Zeus, turned into a cow by Hera.

• Hera sent Argus to guard her; Hermes killed him (becoming Argeiphontes).

• Hera sent a gadfly to torment Io, who wanders in misery.

• Prometheus foretells:

  • Io will reach Egypt, be restored, and bear Epaphus, Zeus’s son.

  • Her descendant Heracles will free Prometheus.

• Ending: Hermes demands Prometheus reveal the prophecy—he refuses.

• Earthquakes, lightning, thunder—Prometheus is swallowed into the abyss, defiant to the end.

Zeus, Lyacon and the Corruption of Humanity

• Jupiter (Zeus) descends to Earth to confirm human wickedness during the Iron Age.

• Lycaon, a tyrant, mocks him, tries to murder him, and serves him human flesh.

• Zeus is enraged:

  • Destroys Lycaon’s home with fire.

  • Transforms him into a wolf (fur, glowing eyes, savage instincts).

• Jupiter sees Lycaon as a symbol of widespread human evil, not an outlier.

The flood and Gods Concern

• Jupiter decides to wipe out humanity with a great flood—evil is too rampant.

  • Says: “One house fell, but not only one deserved to.”

• Some gods support the purge, others mourn humanity’s loss:

  • They dont know who will worship the gods and if chaos would rule earth again

• Zeus reassures them:

  • He will oversee the flood and his brother posedion made it worse

  • A new, better human race will be created—“of wondrous origin.”

Deucalion and Pyrrha

• Deucalion = Greek version of Noahs Arc

• Jupiter (Zeus) sends a flood to destroy corrupt humanity.

• Deucalion and Pyrrha survive in a small boat.

• Land at Mt. Parnassus, worship Corycian nymphs and Themis (prophetic goddess).

• Zeus, seeing their piety, stops the flood by commanding Triton to blow his conch and call back the waters.

• Deucalion (Son of Prometheus) and Pyrrha (daughter of Epimetheus)

The Rebirth of Humanity

• Deucalion and Pyrrha pray to Themis: How to restore humanity?

• Oracle says: “Cover your heads, loosen your garments, and throw the bones of the great mother behind your backs.”

• Pyrrha fears sacrilege, but Deucalion interprets:

  • “Great mother” = Earth, “bones” = stones

• They obey → stones Deucalion throws = men, stones Pyrrha throws = women

• World is repopulated; they also have a son, Hellen, self titled ancestor of the Hellenes (Greeks).