Zeus, King of the Gods
Zeus, in ancientGreek religion, chief deity of the pantheon, a sky and weather god who was identical with the Roman godJupiter. His name clearly comes from that of the sky godDyausof the ancient HinduRigveda. Zeus was regarded as the sender ofthunderand 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 Cretanmyththat was later adopted by the Greeks,Cronus, king of theTitans, upon learning that one of his children was fated to dethrone him, swallowed his children as soon as they were born. ButRhea, his wife, saved the infant Zeus by substituting a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes for Cronus to swallow and hiding Zeus in a cave onCrete. Continue readingfrom Encyclopedia Britannica
Jupiter, also calledJove,LatinIuppiter,Iovis, or Diespiter, the chief ancient Roman and Italian god. LikeZeus, the Greek god with whom he is etymologically identical (rootdiu,“bright”),Jupiterwas a sky god. One of his most ancient epithets is Lucetius (“Light-Bringer”); and later literature has preserved the same idea in such phrases assub Iove,“under the open sky.” As Jupiter Elicius he was propitiated with a peculiar ritual to send rain in time of drought; as Jupiter Fulgur he had an altar in theCampus Martius, and all places struck bylightningwere made his property and were guarded from the profane by a circular wall. ThroughoutItalyhe was worshiped on the summits of hills; thus, on the Alban Hill south ofRomewas an ancient seat of his worship as Jupiter Latiaris, which was the centre of the league of 30 Latin cities of which Rome was originally an ordinary member.Continue readingfrom Encyclopedia Britannica
