Ep 4: Zeus - A Monster’s Life & Death

... In this episode 4 of Garner's Greek Mythology, we look at Zeus, the greatest Olympic god. He's best revealed through his many stories--and the episode is filled with them.

Narrated by mythologist and best-selling author, Patrick Garner,  Garner's Greek Mythology is unlike any other Greek history series. The series views these divine beings as if they were anything but mythical...

In this episode we meet Danae, Perseus, Demeter, Hera, Io, Persephone, Athena, Sisyphus, Herakles, Prometheus, Pandora and others. Each is touched by Zeus, and each is never the same.

If you love these podcasts, you'll also enjoy new stories about the gods in Garner's novel Homo Divinitas, now available as an audio book on Amazon.com and Audible.com.

(Musical score includes selections from Fesliyan Studios. Also, Zikrayat - Ghanili Shwaya.)

Transcript

PODCAST #4 ZEUS

WELCOME TO EPISODE 4 OF GARNER'S GREEK MYTHOLOGY. I'M YOUR HOST, MYTHOLOGIST & AUTHOR, PATRICK GARNER. 

IN OUR LAST EPISODE WE PULLED THE CURTAIN OFF THE LONG-FORGOTTEN GODDESS, GAIA, TAKING YOU WAAAY BACK IN TIME, IN FACT, TO A TIME THAT PREDATES EVERYTHING, TO A TIME WHEN THERE WASN'T TIME ...

AS WE MEASURE YEARS, EARTH BEGAN ABOUT 4 TO 4 1/2 BILLION YEARS AGO. THAT WAS THEN. TODAY, WE PIVOT TO AN ERA FAR CLOSER TO OUR OWN.

AND AS ALWAYS, THIS SERIES FOCUSES ON ONE THING ...

GREEK GODS, OF COURSE ... & AS YOU MUST WHEN YOU JOIN ME HERE, IN THIS SERIES, YOU WILLINGLY SUSPEND YOUR DISBELIEF.

HERE THE ANCIENT GODS ARE NOT CONSIDERED IMAGINARY. HARDLY. INSTEAD, THEY ARE HERE, NOW ...

Ω

LET'S START WITH A STORY ...

IN THE EARLY YEARS IN GREECE, WHEN PEOPLE LIVED IN SMALL, SCATTERED KINGDOMS, THERE WAS A KING WHO DESPERATELY WANTED A SON.

THE KING'S NAME WAS AKRISIOS. HIS WIFE — EURYDIKE — WAS A DAUGHTER OF THE KING OF SPARTA. THEIR BLOOD WAS ROYAL, & THEIR WEALTH IMMENSE. 

THEIR ONLY CHILD WAS A DAUGHTER NAMED DANAE. 

THE KING CONSULTED A FAMOUS ORACLE, ASKING WHETHER HE WOULD EVER HAVE A SON. THE ORACLE'S REPLY WAS ALARMING. THE PROPHESY WENT SOMETHING LIKE THIS:

"YOU, GREAT KING, WILL SEE NO SON. BUT YOUR DAUGHTER, DANAE, WILL GIVE BIRTH TO A BOY WHO WILL GROW UP TO KILL YOU."

AT THIS DREADFUL NEWS, THE KING — INTENT UPON SHIELDING DANAE FROM CONTACT WITH ANY MAN — ENCASED HER, WHEN SHE REACHED PUBERTY, WITHIN AN UNDERGROUND BRONZE CHAMBER. 

CAN YOU IMAGINE? THE CHAMBER HAD A SINGLE APERTURE FOR SUN & LIGHT, BUT THE OPENING WAS TOO SMALL FOR ANYONE, CHILD OR MAN, TO CRAWL THROUGH.

WHAT THE KING HAD NOT FORESEEN WAS THAT A MIGHTY GOD HAD GLIMPSED DANAE MOMENTS BEFORE SHE WAS IMPRISONED. ONE LOOK WAS ENOUGH TO FILL THE GOD WITH DESIRE.

WITHIN DAYS OF DANAE BEING ENCLOSED IN THIS IMPENETRABLE CHAMBER, THE GOD CAME TO HER IN THE FORM OF A GOLD SHOWER AS SHE SLEPT. THE SHOWER POURED INTO HER LAP, & IN HER DREAMS, SHE CRIED OUT IN RAPTURE.

IN DUE COURSE, SHE GAVE BIRTH TO A SON & NAMED HIM, PERSEUS.

THE KING DESPAIRED, & IN A FIT OF SELF-PRESERVATION, SEALED DANAE & HER SON IN A WOODEN CHEST & HAD THEM CAST INTO THE OCEAN TO DROWN.

WHAT THE KING HAD NOT ANTICIPATED WAS THAT THE GOD WHO HAD COME TO DANAE NOW PROTECTED MOTHER & BABY, & HAD THE CHEST DRIFT GENTLY ONTO THE BEACHES OF A DISTANT ISLAND.

THERE PERSEUS WAS RAISED TO MANHOOD, UNAWARE OF THE PROPHESY & UNAWARE OF HIS GRANDFATHER'S NAME, AS DANAE REFUSED TO SPEAK IT EVER AGAIN.

OF COURSE, IN TIME & FULFILLING THE PROPHESY, PERSEUS KILLED HIS GRANDFATHER, NEVER KNOWING THEY WERE RELATED.

AND THE MIGHTY GOD WHO HAD COME TO DANAE IN A GOLDEN SHOWER? 

THE GREAT GOD ZEUS, THE MIGHTIEST OF THE OLYMPIANS.

KING AKRISIOS HAD NEVER STOOD A CHANCE.

Ω

EVEN TODAY WE KNOW THE NAME, ZEUS. HE APPEARS IN BOOKS & CARTOONS & HOLLYWOOD EXTRAVAGANZAS. AND HE'S BECOME AMAZINGLY ONE-DIMENSIONAL.

TO KNOW ZEUS, WE HAVE TO PURSUE THE STORIES OF OTHERS. THE MIGHTY ZEUS BECOMES FAR MORE REAL THRU THE LIVES OF THOSE HE TOUCHED.

IN THIS EPISODE WE'LL MEET HERAKLES ... A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN NAMED IO ... THE MASSIVE GIANTS ...THE FIRST WOMAN, PANDORA ... A CUNNING KING WHO FALLS ON HIS LUCK, SISYPHUS ...

THE GODDESSES ATHENA & DEMETER ... THE GREATEST OF GODDESSES, GAIA ... A KING'S DAUGHTER, DANAE ... & ONE OF THE EARLY GREEK HEROES, PERSEUS ...   

WHAT IS ZEUS MOST FAMOUS FOR TODAY? SADLY, THROWING THUNDERBOLTS. BUT AT THE PEAK OF HIS GLORY MILLENNIUM AGO, HE WAS INFAMOUS FOR SOMETHING ELSE. 

AND THAT SOMETHING ELSE WAS ... PURSUING WOMEN.

THE STORY I JUST TOLD OF DANAE IS ONLY A HINT AT HIS ACTIVITIES. HIS LINE OF WORK — HIS VOCATION — COULD, IN A NUTSHELL, BE REPRESENTED AS A SINGLE, CONSUMING PASSION.

ANY FEMALE WHO CAUGHT HIS EYE WOULD, IN SHORT ORDER, BE ZEUS' ... SOONER OR LATER. 

IN ADDITION TO COUNTLESS CONQUESTS, ZEUS HAD SEVEN WIVES, TWO HIS SISTERS. AND MARRIAGE HARDLY CHECKED HIS ROVING EYE.

HERA, ONE OF HIS SISTERS, AN OLYMPIC GOD & HIS LAST WIFE, WAS EXTREMELY BEGRUDGING OF HIS DALLIANCES. 

NOT OF HIS RIDICULOUS THUNDERBOLTS, BUT OF HIS CONSTANT CONQUESTS.

SHE SEETHED AT HIS AFFAIRS. AND SHE TRIED TO THWART HIS ESCAPADES, USUALLY TO NO AVAIL ...

Ω

AND SO TODAY'S PROTAGONIST IS ZEUS, WHOM THE ROMANS RENAMED JUPITER. 

BY THE WAY, ZEUS' GERMANIC EQUIVALENT WAS A GOD NAMED THOR, WHO ALSO SPECIALIZED IN LIGHTNING & STORMS. 

IN REALITY, THOR WAS PROBABLY LIFTED BY THE GERMANIC TRIBES FROM THE MORE SOPHISTICATED GREEKS. NO ONE AT THE TIME HAD QUALMS ABOUT SUCH THEFTS. 

INEXPLICABLY, IN THE ENGLISH SPEAKING WORLD, THOR, UNLIKE ZEUS, HAD A DAY NAMED FOR HIM — THOR'S DAY, WHICH WE CALL THURSDAY.

BUT WHETHER MASQUERADING AS ZEUS, JUPITER OR THOR, THIS GOD WAS FEARED AS AN UNAPOLOGETIC BULLY. HE RULED BY MIGHT, PARTICULARLY IN HIS EARLY YEARS. 

NO ONE DARED ARGUE WITH HIM. AND HE TOOK WHAT HE WANTED.

ZEUS WAS A WOMANIZER, A SEDUCER & A WOLF. HIS ROMAN & GERMAN TWINS WERE POOR IMITATIONS, MERE PHANTOMS IN COMPARISON. 

YOU SEE, ZEUS ALWAYS GOT THE GIRL.

Ω

OUR LAST EPISODE WAS ABOUT GAIA, THE GREATEST GODDESS OF ALL TIME. 

AND I NOTED THEN THAT NEITHER GAIA NOR ZEUS COULD APPEAR BEFORE HUMANS IN THEIR NATURAL STATE. 

THEY COULDN'T. SHE BURNED BRIGHTER THAN ANY.  AND ZEUS WAS THE GOD OF LIGHTNING. 

AS IT WAS KNOWN TO BE WITH GAIA, ANY HUMAN WHO SAW ZEUS AS ZEUS WOULD BE ... INCINERATED.

INSTEAD, HE APPEARED BEFORE HUMANS — BEFORE GREEKS — AS A BULL ... OR A SWAN ... A SNAKE ... A CUCKOO OR AN EAGLE ... A FLAME OF FIRE ... OR AS A MERE SHEPHERD ...

AND REMEMBER HIS APPEARANCE BEFORE DANAE: HE ARRIVED IN HER UNDERGROUND CHAMBER AS A SHOWER OF GOLD.

HOW ROMANTIC. BUT THEN IT WAS NIGHT. AND SHE WAS FAST ASLEEP. I SUPPOSE YOU COULD SAY SHE NEVER KNEW WHAT HIT HER. 

TODAY'S COURTS WOULD CALL HIS ESCAPADE RAPE ...

STILL, THESE DISGUISES SERVED ZEUS' PURPOSES. FIRST, ALMOST ALL WHO ENCOUNTERED HIM SURVIVED THE ENCOUNTER. 

SECOND, NO WOMAN HE STALKED FLED IN FEAR. OF COURSE NOT. THEY HAD NO IDEA WHO HE WAS.

AND LAST, DISGUISED HE COULD EASILY EVADE HIS WIFE, HERA, WHOSE JEALOUSY WAS ALMOST ALWAYS JUSTIFIED.

Ω

AS TIME WENT BY, ZEUS BECAME LESS VIOLENT, LESS THE SEDUCER & MORE THE MEDIATOR. IN THE ODYSSEY, HOMER DEPICTS ZEUS AS AN MODERATING FORCE — MORE THE REASONABLE GOD THAN THE GOAT. 

LIKE HIS DAUGHTER ATHENA, HE WAS DEPICTED AS EXERCISING WISDOM & JUSTICE. 

AS THE ENTIRE PANTHEON OF GREEK GODS AGED, ZEUS, THE RAPIST, BECAME A PROTECTOR OF LAW.

I FIND IT FASCINATING THAT THE GREEKS SAW HIM SIMULTANEOUSLY AS A CONSUMMATE SEDUCER, & AS THE ARBITRATOR & JUDGE OF ALL THAT WAS GOOD & FAIR.

NO ONE BOTHERED TO ASK HIS LAST WIFE, HERA, HER OPINION. 

YET IN THE LATER YEARS OF THE GREEK EMPIRE, ZEUS' ATTRIBUTES WERE EXTENDED FURTHER: HE WAS PORTRAYED AS A DEFENDER OF THE HOUSEHOLD, & GUARDIAN OF THE HEARTH & HOSPITALITY. 

HE BECAME CHAMPION OF FRIENDSHIPS & ENSURED OATHS WERE KEPT. IT WAS ALL RATHER BIZARRE, GIVEN THAT HE WAS A SERIAL ADULTERER WHOSE CHILDREN WERE COUNTLESS.

YET THE GREEKS MADE NO ATTEMPT TO PAPER OVER THESE CONTRADICTIONS. 

AND GET THIS: BECAUSE HE TOLD SO MANY LIES TO HERA, HE WAS SAID TO PARDON LIES TOLD BY MORTALS IN THE NAME OF LOVE.

FOR INSTANCE, SHAKESPEARE'S JULIET DECLARES, "AT LOVERS’ PERJURIES, THEY SAY, ZEUS LAUGHS."

Ω

I NOTED EARLIER THAT TWO OF HIS WIVES WERE ALSO HIS SISTERS. INCEST WAS NOT COMMON AMONG THE ANCIENT GREEKS, BUT NO ONE BLINKED IF THE INCEST WAS BETWEEN GODS.

DEMETER WAS THE FIRST OF ZEUS' SISTERS TO BECOME HIS WIFE. AFTER THEIR UNION SHE BORE ZEUS A DAUGHTER, PERSEPHONE. 

AND PERSEPHONE IN TURN WAS ABDUCTED BY ZEUS' BROTHER, HADES, & DRAGGED INTO THE UNDERWORLD TO BECOME HIS WIFE.

DEMETER, BROKEN-HEARTED, IS TOLD THAT ZEUS APPROVES. BUT DEMETER WANDERS FOR A YEAR IN MOURNING BEFORE LEARNING THE TRUTH.

IN HER GRIEF SHE MAKES THE WHOLE EARTH BARREN. A GREAT FAMINE ENSUES.

ZEUS BEGINS TO FEAR THAT THE FAMINE WILL WIPE OUT ALL HUMANS, THAT NO ONE WILL BE LEFT TO OFFER SACRIFICES TO THE GODS.

HE FINALLY SENDS THE GOD, HERMES, TO DRAG PERSEPHONE HOME FROM HADES. OF COURSE, COMPLICATIONS ARISE.

IN THE END, PERSEPHONE MUST AGREE TO RETURN TO HADES FOR FOUR MONTHS A YEAR.

IN THIS TALE, ZEUS ASSUMES THE MANTEL OF GRAND CONCILIATOR. ODDLY TO US, HE NEGOTIATES BETWEEN HIS BROTHER, HADES, HIS SISTER & WIFE, DEMETER, & HIS OWN DAUGHTER, PERSEPHONE.

AS YOU CAN SEE, IN OLYMPUS IT'S ALL DREADFULLY ENTANGLED.

Ω

OTHER ZEUS STORIES? ... LET'S DISCUSS ATHENA'S BIRTH. 

IF YOU'RE SEEPED IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY, YOU MAY REMEMBER THAT SHE WAS BORN FULLY ARMORED, SWORD IN HAND.

SHE WAS KNOWN AS ZEUS' FAVORITE DAUGHTER, & FOR GOOD REASON. HER MOTHER WAS METIS, WHICH IN GREEK MEANS INTELLIGENCE. METIS, BY THE WAY, WAS ZEUS' FIRST WIFE.

WHEN SHE WAS PREGNANT, ZEUS LEARNED THAT HER SECOND CHILD WOULD BE A MALE WHO WAS DESTINED TO OVERTHROW HIM, AS ZEUS HAD OVERTHROWN HIS FATHER.

THIS SON KILLS FATHER THREAT WAS A COMMON THREAD IN GREEK TALES.

TO PROTECT HIMSELF FROM METIS' SECOND CHILD, YET UNBORN, ZEUS SWALLOWED HER WHOLE ... THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A MOMENT ... HIS WIFE FOR LUNCH.

WHEN THE TIME CAME FOR THE FIRST CHILD TO BE BORN, HEPHAISTOS, ONE OF THE OLYMPIC GODS, STRUCK ZEUS' FOREHEAD WITH AN AXE, & ATHENA SPRUNG OUT, SHOUTING HER WAR CRY ACROSS THE HEAVENS.

AND SO, IN A BIZARRE BIRTH THAT LEAVES US INCREDULOUS, ATHENA, THE PROTECTOR OF ATHENS, CAME INTO BEING IN A MOMENT WORTHY OF HOLLYWOOD.

AND ZEUS WAS NONE OF WORSE FOR HAVING BEEN STRUCK BETWEEN THE EYES WITH AN AXE.

Ω

THE STORIES GO ON. THERE'S A FAMOUS ONE ABOUT A MAN NAMED SISYPHUS WHO WAS CONDEMNED UPON HIS DEATH TO FOREVER ROLL A STONE UP A HILL, ONLY TO HAVE IT ROLL DOWN AGAIN JUST AS HE NEARS THE TOP.

WE CALL THIS IMPOSSIBLE LABOR A 'SISYPHEAN TASK.' BUT OF COURSE ZEUS IS THE CAUSE. AND IT'S ZEUS' DALLIANCE WITH YET ANOTHER YOUNG WOMAN THAT BRINGS IT ALL TO A HEAD.

SISYPHUS WAS THE KING OF CORINTH, A MAJOR GREEK CITY TO THE SOUTH OF ATHENS. HE WAS FAMOUS AS A CUNNING TRICKSTER.

ZEUS, ALWAYS ON THE PROWL, HAD CARRIED OFF A RIVER GOD'S DAUGHTER. SISYPHUS SAW THE ABDUCTION & TOLD THE GIRL'S FATHER WHAT HE'D SEEN.

FURIOUS, THE RIVER GOD PURSUED ZEUS, TRYING TO RETRIEVE HER, BUT ZEUS BEAT HIM BACK WITH THUNDERBOLTS.

OF COURSE, IN DUE TIME, THE GIRL BORE ZEUS A SON. BUT EVEN IN HIS PRIDE, ZEUS SOUGHT REVENGE UPON THE INDISCRETE SISYPHUS. 

AFTER ALL, THE KING WAS A MERE MORTAL & ZEUS WOULD USE HIM AS AN EXAMPLE, A WARNING TO OTHERS.

AT THIS JUNCTURE THE STORY BECOMES EVEN MORE CONVOLUTED. THE WAR-GOD ARES IS TASKED WITH CARRYING SISYPHUS TO THE UNDERWORLD, YET THE KING ESCAPES.

WHEN HE'S FINALLY CAPTURED & TURNED OVER TO HADES, HIS PUNISHMENT IS TO PERPETUALLY ROLL A STONE UP A HILL, OVER & OVER FOR ETERNITY.

SO ONCE AGAIN, ZEUS GETS THE GIRL & ANYONE TRYING TO STOP HIM GETS THE BOOT. OF COURSE, IT COULDN'T BE ANY OTHER WAY.

Ω

SO WE CAN CONCLUDE THAT ZEUS WAS A BULLY & A ROGUE, BUT WHERE DID HE COME FROM? 

IN THE LAST EPISODE I INTRODUCED GAIA. REMEMBER, SHE CONJURED THE EARTH ON A WHIM. THEN SHE GRANTED THE SKY LIFE & CALLED IT URANUS. 

INSTANTLY, IT BECAME A HIM — THE FIRST MALE.

THEN, FROM GAIA & URANUS' UNION, SHE BORE CHILDREN THAT THE GREEKS CALLED TITANIKOS, & WHOM WE CALL THE TITANS ...

THE TITANS BECAME THE PARENTS OF THE INITIAL OLYMPIC GODS. 

ZEUS, TODAY'S PROTAGONIST, WAS THE FIRST-BORN OF THE TITANS, FOLLOWED BY HADES & POSEIDON, & THEN THEIR SISTERS, DEMETER, HERA & HESTIA. 

DIVINE OFFSPRING FROM ZEUS' LATER AFFAIRS INCLUDED APHRODITE, ARES, APOLLO, ARTEMIS, ATHENA, HEPHAISTOS & HERMES ...

AND THEREFORE, GAIA, THE GREATEST OF ALL GODDESSES, WAS ZEUS' GRANDMOTHER.

Ω

NOW THE STORY OF PROMETHEUS, WHO WAS ONE OF THE TITANS, A TITANIKOS. HE'S FAMOUS FOR HAVING STOLEN FIRE FROM HEAVEN TO GIVE TO MAN. AND FAMOUS FOR HIS SUBSEQUENT PUNISHMENT.

PROMETHEUS IS FREQUENTLY FEATURED IN WORKS OF LITERATURE, THEATRE & PHILOSOPHY. HIS FATE IS A PARTICULARLY TRAGIC ONE, & SERVES AS AN EXAMPLE OF ZEUS' CRUELTY WHEN CROSSED.

THE GREEKS ALWAYS VIEWED PROMETHEUS AS A CHAMPION & BENEFACTOR. ZEUS, ON THE OTHER HAND, WAS INFURIATED AT HIS THEFT, PROMETHEUS' DUPLICITY.

THE STORY IS RIDDLED WITH SECONDARY INTRIGUES. ONE OF THEM IS THE STORY OF PANDORA, WHO IS SOMEWHAT EQUIVALENT TO THE BIBLICAL EVE.

YOU'VE HEARD OF PANDORA'S BOX ... YES, THIS IS THE SAME GIRL. ZEUS ORDERED HER TO BE CREATED AS A PUNISHMENT TO MANKIND FOR THEIR THANKS TO PROMETHEUS FOR HIS GIFT OF FIRE.

I THINK IT'S A TRIBUTE TO THE POWER OF WOMEN THAT THEY HAVE BEEN RELIABLY FEARED BY MEN THROUGHOUT TIME. THEY'RE CONSISTENTLY MALIGNED. AND IT'S NOT BECAUSE THEY'RE INFERIOR — IN FACT IT'S THE OPPOSITE.

PANDORA IN THIS STORY IS CREATED AS A PLAGUE TO TORMENT MEN. SHE IS, IN EFFECT, THE FIRST WOMAN. YOU'LL SEE THE SIMILARITY IN A MOMENT TO THE ADAM & EVE STORY.

PANDORA, BY THE WAY, MEANS, IN GREEK, 'ALL GIFTS,' WHICH WAS INTENDED TO BE RICHLY IRONIC, AS HER GIFTS INCLUDED SORROWS & DISEASE.

SO IT GOES DOWN LIKE THIS: ZEUS ORDERS ATHENA & APHRODITE TO SHOWER PANDORA WITH GRACE & BEAUTY. HERMES AWARDS HER CUNNING & DECEIT. 

ONCE SHE IS SUITABLY BEAUTIFUL, ZEUS SENDS HER TO PROMETHEUS' BROTHER, WHO OF COURSE CANNOT RESIST HER, & TAKES HER AS HIS BRIDE.

HIS BROTHER WAS WARNED BY PROMETHEUS TO NEVER ACCEPT A GIFT FROM ZEUS. HE FORGETS THE WARNING UPON SEEING PANDORA. 

SHE'S THE CLASSIC FEMME FATALE, THE ENCHANTRESS WHO WAYLAYS EVERY MAN.

OF COURSE, SINCE THIS LITTLE PIECE OF THEATRE IS WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY ZEUS, NOTHING GOOD COMES OF IT, CERTAINLY NOT FOR MANKIND. 

YOU SEE, AS PART OF HER DOWRY, PANDORA BRINGS A PITHOS, A GREAT JAR WHICH HAS BEEN FILLED BY ZEUS WITH SORROW, DISEASE & ENDLESS LABOR. 

YOU CAN GUESS WHERE THIS IS HEADING. WHEN SHE OPENS THE JAR--WHAT WE COMMONLY CALL PANDORA'S BOX--ALL OF THESE ILLS POUR OUT, OOZING ACROSS THE EARTH.

IMAGINE BATS & SNAKES & THREE-HEADED LIZARDS LEAPING FROM THE PITHOS ... TALK ABOUT REVENGE ...

BUT ZEUS WAS FAR FROM BEING FINISHED. PROMETHEUS WAS A TITAN, & PANDORA'S UNFORTUNATE GIFTS AFFECTED MANKIND, NOT ONE OF THE TITANIKOS. 

SO ZEUS PUNISHED PROMETHEUS BY HAVING HIM CHAINED TO A CLIFF ON A DISTANT MOUNTAIN. THAT FATE PALED BY WHAT CAME NEXT, FOR ZEUS THEN SENT A MASSIVE EAGLE TO TEAR AT HIS LIVER.

EVERY DAY THE EAGLE APPEARED & PREYED ON HIM, & EVERY NIGHT THE DAMAGE WAS REPAIRED SO THAT HIS SUFFERING MIGHT OCCUR ANOTHER DAY.

AFTER AGES HAD PASSED, ZEUS RELENTED & ALLOWED HIS SON, HERAKLES, TO SHOOT THE EAGLE, THUS FREEING PROMETHEUS FROM HIS TORMENT ...

Ω

IN A PREVIOUS EPISODE I MENTIONED THE BATTLE BETWEEN GAIA'S CHILDREN & HER GREAT GRANDCHILDREN. ZEUS WAS ONE OF THOSE GRANDCHILDREN.

THE GIANTS WERE THE BIZARRE CHILDREN OF GAIA, WHO HAD ALSO BIRTHED THE TITANS.

THE GREEKS CALLED THIS BATTLE THE GIGANTOMACHIA — THE BATTLE OF GIANTS. HERAKLES PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN THIS EVENT AS WELL, ATTACKING THE GIANTS WITH A STORM OF ARROWS. 

ZEUS, OF COURSE, INSTIGATED THE ATTACK, WIELDING ENDLESS THUNDERBOLTS. DIONYSUS PLAYED HIS WINGMAN, STRIKING THE GIANTS WITH HIS STAFF.

THE BATTLE OF THE GIANTS WAS A KEY MOMENT IN THE GREEK MYTHOS. THE OLYMPIC GODS WERE VICTORS, & THE DEFEAT OF THE GIANTS ALLOWED THE GODS TO REIGN UNCONTESTED. 

THE KEY WARRIOR — THE LEADER IN THIS REBELLION — WAS ZEUS WITH HIS QUIVER OF LIGHTNING BOLTS  ... 

AND FOLLOWING THIS CONFRONTATION, THE PANTHEON OF GODS REIGNED UNCHALLENGED THROUGHOUT THE GREEK WORLD.

Ω

ANY RETELLING OF ZEUS' COUNTLESS STORIES MUST INCLUDE THE SAD & STRANGE TALE OF IO, WHO WHILE WANDERING THE EARTH, ENCOUNTERS PROMETHEUS STILL CHAINED TO A CLIFF.

IO WAS A VIRGIN PRIESTESS IN THE TEMPLE OF HERA. HERA, YOU'LL RECALL, WAS ZEUS' LAST WIFE. 

HERE AGAIN WE HAVE A STORY OF DESIRE & HOW ZEUS' AMOROUS PURSUITS DESTROYED LIVES & CAUSED ENDLESS SUFFERING.

IO WAS A REMARKABLE BEAUTY. SHE UNKNOWINGLY CAUGHT ZEUS' ATTENTION, & HE BEGAN TO SEND HER SEDUCTIVE DREAMS. REMEMBER: SHE WAS A TEMPLE PRIESTESS.

NIGHT AFTER NIGHT THE DREAMS BECAME MORE INTENSE, DIRECTING HER TO COME LIE WITH HIM IN SOME SECRET MEADOW.

SHE ALWAYS WOKE BEWILDERED, & FINALLY CONFESSED HER DREAMS TO HER FATHER. HE CONSULTED THE DELPHIC PYTHIA, ASKING THE ORACLE FOR GUIDANCE.

SHOCKINGLY, THE PYTHIA TELLS HER FATHER THAT IO MUST BE DRIVEN FROM HIS COUNTRY, THAT OTHERWISE HIS WHIOLE RACE WILL BE DECIMATED BY LIGHTNING STORMS.

... LET'S PAUSE A MOMENT. WHO COULD POSSIBLY CAUSE LIGHTNING STORMS?

SO IT'S INEVITABLE. FATHER & DAUGHTER PART TEARFULLY. HERA THOUGH IS OUTRAGED. NOT ONLY HAS SHE LOST A KEY PRIESTESS, HERA CONCLUDES THAT ZEUS IS THE CAUSE.

AND HERE'S WHERE THE STORY BECOMES REALLY STRANGE. HERA, IN HER JEALOUS FURY, TURNS IO INTO A COW ... IT'S ALWAYS STRUCK ME AS ABSURD. 

WORSE, CONVINCED THAT ZEUS WILL STILL WANT IO EVEN IN THIS TRANSFORMED STATE —AFTER ALL, ZEUS HAS BEEN KNOWN TO APPEAR AS A BULL — HERA BESIEGES IO WITH STINGING FLIES SO THAT SHE CAN'T REST LONG ENOUGH FOR ZEUS TO HAVE HIS WAY.

THE FLIES DRIVE HER THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. IT'S DURING THESE TRAVELS THAT SHE RUNS ACROSS PROMETHEUS, HIMSELF A VICTIM OF THE UTTERLY CRUEL ZEUS. 

HIS ONLY WORDS OF WISDOM TO IO ARE THAT SHE STILL HAS FAR TO TRAVEL ... AND AFTER YEARS OF DOING SO, SHE EVENTUALLY REACHES EGYPT, WHERE SHE ESCAPES THE FLIES.

IO REGAINS HER HUMAN FORM. ZEUS FINDS HER, THEY MAKE LOVE & SHE HAS A SON ...

IO IS EVENTUALLY REDEEMED: THE EGYPTIANS WORSHIP HER AS ZEUS' CONSORT. 

SOME STORIES SAY THAT SHE BECOMES THE GODDESS ISIS, & HER SON IS WORSHIPPED AS THE BULL-GOD APIS.

AND ZEUS? DOES IO'S TORMENT CAUSE HIM GRIEF? IS THERE SOME JUST PUNISHMENT THAT COMES HIS WAY?

OF COURSE NOT. HE'S THE THUNDER-GOD & LIVES ANOTHER DAY.

Ω

HERAKLES ... I'VE MENTIONED HIS NAME A COUPLE TIMES. THE ROMANS, LIKE WE DO, CALLED HIM HERCULES. BUT TO THE GREEKS, HE WAS HERAKLES.

HE WAS ZEUS' SON, NOT THE ONLY ONE, BUT DEFINITELY HIS FAVORITE. HIS MOTHER'S NAME WAS ALKMENE, & SHE WAS MARRIED TO A LOCAL KING. 

THERE WERE MANY BACK STORIES THAT INVOLVED ALKMENE, BUT THE MOST SIGNIFICANT ONE OCCURRED ONE LONELY NIGHT.

WHILE HER KING WAS AWAY, ZEUS VISITED, MASQUERADING AS HER MAN, PRETENDING TO HAVE FINALLY COME HOME FROM THE ENDLESS BATTLES.

SHE SPENT A JOYFUL NIGHT WITH HIM & BEFORE THE SUN ROSE, SHE WAS PREGNANT WITH A NEW SON, THE CHILD WHO WAS TO BECOME THE FAMOUS HERAKLES. 

THE KING OF COURSE RETURNED SHORTLY AFTER & WAS SURE THE CHILD WAS HIS.

I'LL SKIP THE MINOR DETAILS OF HERAKLES' CHILDHOOD. SUFFICE TO SAY THAT ZEUS HOVERED IN THE BACKGROUND, ENSURING THAT HIS SON RECEIVED PROPER TRAINING IN MUSIC, PHILOSOPHY, WRESTLING, SWORD PLAY & BOW SHOOTING.

THE GODS FAVORED HIM. APOLLO GAVE HIM A BOW & ARROWS. HERMES GIFTED HIM A MAGNIFICENT SWORD. HEPHAISTOS CRAFTED A GOLDEN BREASTPLATE & ATHENA SENT HIM A ROBE. HE WAS, AFTER ALL, ZEUS' SON.

Ω

HERAKLES STORIES WERE LEGION IN GREECE. AFTER THE GODS, HE WAS EASILY THE MOST LEGENDARY FIGURE IN THEIR COMPLICATED MYTHOS.

YET HERAKLES WAS ALSO A TRAGIC FIGURE. ALTHOUGH THE STRONGEST HUMAN ALIVE, HE WAS CONSTANTLY ATONING FOR GRIEVOUS ERRORS, BLUNDERS & DREADFUL MISTAKES.

FOR INSTANCE, HE MARRIED & HAD CHILDREN. BUT HIS HAPPINESS WAS SHORT-LIVED. HERA, JEALOUS OF ZEUS' PROGENY, SENT HIM INTO A TEMPORARY, HOMICIDAL FIT.

IN HIS MADNESS, HE MURDERED HIS WIFE & CHILDREN, THEN RECOVERED HIS SANITY. 

SHOCKED AT HIS OWN ACTIONS, HE SELF-EXILED, THEN SUBJECTED HIMSELF TO ENDLESS, RITUAL PURIFICATION.

FINALLY, STILL IN GRIEF, HE CONSULTED THE DELPHIC PYTHIA. SHE TOLD HIM THAT HE WOULD NEVER BE PURIFIED UNLESS HE PERFORMED 12 LABORS.

HERAKLES DID SO, SPENDING YEARS OVERCOMING SEEMINGLY IMPOSSIBLE CHALLENGES. IN THE END, HE REDEEMED HIMSELF, GAINING LEGENDARY STATUS THROUGHOUT GREECE.

LIKE ZEUS, HERAKLES WAS THE LOVER OF COUNTLESS WOMEN & FATHERED NUMEROUS CHILDREN. HE MARRIED AGAIN ... & AGAIN HAD CHILDREN.

YET IN A GREAT IRONY, THE STRONGEST MAN ALIVE WAS KILLED BY HIS NEW WIFE. AND THE KILLING WAS FOR LOVE, NOT REVENGE FOR SOME SLIGHT.

Ω

SHE HAD BEEN GIVEN A POTION THAT, SHE WAS TOLD, WOULD BIND HERAKLES TO HER FOREVER. HE WOULD NEVER LOVE ANOTHER WOMAN.

OF COURSE THE PROPHESY WAS ACCURATE. HE WOULD NEVER LOVE ANOTHER WOMAN AS THE POTION WAS A DEADLY TOXIN. 

INSTEAD OF KILLING HIM INSTANTLY, THE POTION CAUSED HIM EXTRAORDINARY SUFFERING. FINALLY, TO ESCAPE HIS PAIN, HE BUILT AN IMMENSE BONFIRE & THREW HIMSELF UPON IT ...

AND SO, AMIDST HIS NUMBERLESS ACCOMPLISHMENTS, HIS LIFE WAS ONE OF GREAT TRAGEDY. AND HIS FATHER, ZEUS? DID HE EVER TRY TO SAVE HIS FAVORITE SON?

NO, NOT REALLY. ZEUS' KINDEST GESTURE FOLLOWED HERAKLES' DEATH. 

ZEUS MADE HIM IMMORTAL, & GRANTED HIM ACCESS TO OLYMPIA. BUT THAT GIFT WAS GIVEN ONLY AFTER A LIFETIME OF TESTS & TRAUMA.

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BECAUSE THIS EPISODE IS ABOUT ZEUS, WE CAN CONCLUDE FROM THE SAGA OF HERAKLES THAT ZEUS' POWERS WERE FINITE, OR AT THE LEAST, MISERLY.

I THINK ZEUS' FAILINGS CAN BE ATTRIBUTED TO HIS SELF-OBSESSION, HIS CONCEIT. HE CONSTANTLY SET EVENTS INTO MOTION, WHILE THOUGHTLESSLY MOVING ON TO NEW PURSUITS.

WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS CREATIONS DIDN'T MATTER. HE'D MOVED ON.

THINK OF POOR IO, DRIVEN FROM COUNTRY TO COUNTRY BY STINGING FLIES. DID HE MAKE ANY ATTEMPT TO SAVE HER? HE COULD HAVE, BUT DIDN'T ...

OR PANDORA, THE FIRST WOMAN. ZEUS CREATED HER SOLELY TO BRING GRIEF TO MANKIND. SHE WAS A PAWN. ZEUS DISREGARDED HER FEELINGS. 

REVENGE TRUMPED ALL.

AND THERE'S DEMETER, HIS OWN SISTER & WIFE, WHO CONCEIVED PERSEPHONE. DID ZEUS FAWN OVER HIS NEW DAUGHTER? HARDLY. 

HE APPROVED WHEN HIS BROTHER, HADES, DECIDED TO TAKE PERSEPHONE AS HIS WIFE. ZEUS NEVER CONSULTED DEMETER. WHY WOULD HE? IT NEVER OCCURRED TO HIM.

AND HIS INDIFFERENCE CONDEMNED DEMETER TO A YEAR OF DESPAIR, WHILE SHE SEARCHED AIMLESSLY FOR PERSEPHONE. 

ALL THE WHILE, HIS DAUGHTER WAS HELD AGAINST HER WISHES BY THE DARK GOD OF DEATH, HADES. 

SO ZEUS' ACTIONS ARE, WITHOUT EXCEPTION, THOSE OF AN EGOTISTICAL & UTTERLY SELF-ABSORBED GOD. WHAT ARE WE TO MAKE OF HIM?

IS THERE SOME MODERN LESSON WE CAN TAKE AWAY FROM THIS TRAIN OF WOES & TRIBULATION? IN THE MANY STORIES OF ZEUS, THERE ARE FEW BRIGHT MOMENTS. 

HE WAS A DIVINE PIRATE WHO TOOK WHAT HE WISHED. THE EVENTS HE SET INTO MOTION RARELY ENDED WELL. THOSE HE TOUCHED FREQUENTLY FOUND MISFORTUNE & CALAMITY.

Ω

IN THE END, AT ZEUS' END, THE MISHAP WAS HIS. SOMETIME IN THE CURRENT ERA, PROBABLY AROUND 800 TO 900 A.D., GAIA, THE GREATEST OF ALL GODDESSES, COMMANDED HIS PRESENCE.

THE TWO MET IN GREECE AT A SMALL SHEPARD'S RETREAT ON THE PLAINS OF MARATHON. IT WAS A HUMBLE LOCATION. GAIA CHOSE IT PURPOSELY.

ZEUS APPEARED AT THE HIDEAWAY AS A MORTAL & GAIA ICAME N HER USUAL GUISE AS A NINE-YEAR OLD GIRL. 

THEY WERE AN UNLIKELY PAIR, BUT THERE WERE NO HUMANS WITHIN MILES.

THE OLYMPIC GODS HAD LONG FALLEN OUT OF FAVOR. CHRISTIANITY RULED THE ENTIRE REGION. THE NEW RELIGION WAS UNFORGIVING OF ANY OTHER BELIEF.

ZEUS HIMSELF HAD SEEN EACH OF HIS TEMPLES DESTROYED. NO ONE SACRIFICED TO HIM. NO ONE SACRIFICED TO ANY OF THE OLD GODS. 

AND HIS ABILITY TO SEDUCE ANY GIRL HE SAW HAD DISAPPEARED IN THE SAME WAY THAT THE SMOKE FROM SACRIFICES HAD VANISHED. HE WAS A SHADOW OF HIMSELF.

WHEN GAIA TOLD HIM ON THAT DAY THAT HE WAS TO MAKE SOMETHING OF HIMSELF — THAT HIS FREELOADING IN OLYMPIA WAS DONE — HE RAISED A THUNDERBOLT IN FURY.

DOING SO WAS A TERRIBLE MISTAKE, AS GAIA SIMPLY RAISED A FINGER ...

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TODAY WE MIGHT SAY THAT ZEUS WAS BEING PAID BACK FOR HIS YEARS OF BEING A CHAUVINIST, A MISOGYNIST. HE NEVER QUESTIONED HIS SUPERIORITY OVER WOMEN.

WITH A WHISPER GAIA STRIPPED HIM OF HIS REMAINING POWERS. HE HAD COME TO THE MEETING DISGUISED AS A MORTAL, & LEFT THE SMALL RETREAT AS A MORTAL ...

THE ZEUS OF OLD, THE SELF-SERVING TITAN-KILLER, WAS GONE. GAIA BLINDED HIM AS PUNISHMENT FOR HIS DEFIANCE. 

THEN SHE SENT HIM OUT IN RAGS WITH A WALKING STICK TO WANDER THE DRY & ANCIENT FIELDS.

WITHIN A WEEK A PACK OF WILD DOGS SMELLED HIM DOWNWIND. ALTHOUGH HE COULDN'T SEE THEM COMING, HE COULD HEAR THEIR FRENZIED BAYING AS THEY CLOSED ON HIM.

GAIA WATCHED IT ALL. 

AS ALWAYS SHE WAS CLINICAL, SIMPLY OBSERVING THE CARNAGE.

 ZEUS WAS THE FIRST OF THE OLYMPIC GODS TO GO. IT WAS ALL OVER WITHIN MINUTES.

Ω

ZEUS WAS THE FIRST & GREATEST OF THE OLYMPIC GODS. HE ALSO BECAME THE FIRST TO BE LOST IN THE CHANGING TIDES. 

NO OTHER GOD WOULD DISAPPEAR FOR ALMOST TWO MILLENNIUM. ARES WOULD BE NEXT, BUT HIS DEATH WOULD NOT COME FROM CROSSING GAIA. 

BUT WE'LL GET TO HIS STORY IN A FUTURE EPISODE.

Ω

IN THE MEANTIME, IN OUR NEXT PODCAST, WE'LL DISCUSS ATHENA, OR AS THE GREEKS CALLED HER, ATHENE. 

LIKE SO MANY OF THE OLYMPIC GODS, SHE TOO WAS A CHILD OF ZEUS & A FIERCE PROTECTOR OF ATHENS ...

JOIN ME ... FOR THE NEXT EPISODE OF GARNER'S GREEK MYTHOLOGY. THIS IS YOUR HOST, PATRICK GARNER ...