Greek Mythology Research Paper

Mythology is the study of myths, and throughout the ages there have been plenty of myths, from Egyptian mythology to Greek to Norse to new age religion. Mythology helps to explain our world around us. Usually from mythology comes religions, and all religions have gods. Each culture has a religion and each religion has gods that explain every aspect of life in the mortal world. One of the best known gods from all mythology is the Greek god Zeus. Zeus has a long history full of devious plots, vicious wars, scandalous adultery, and a difficult rising to power. Before Zeus was born, his grandmother, Gaia, gave a prophecy to Zeus’s father, Cronus, the second ruler of the universe and a titan. The prophecy said that one of Cronus’s children …show more content…
His wife was Hera, who was also his sister, but his first lover was Metis, and there were more issues than just the affair with this sexual interaction. Gaia said that Metis would first bear a daughter and then she would bear a son, who would rise up and overthrow Zeus. So to prevent his dethroning, and being smarter than his father Cronus, Zeus did not wait for his daughter to be born, he instead swallowed Metis while she was still pregnant (“From Myth to Eternity”). He did this so that he, himself, would carry out his daughter’s birth. Hera was extremely angered by the fact that Zeus had cheated and by the fact that he was able to give birth without female participation, so she bore her own child without male participation. This child was Hephaestus, and when the time came, he was the one who split open Zeus’s head, from which Athena jumped out fully armed (Leadbetter). Zeus had many other lovers, these including: Hera, who bore Hebe, Eilithyia, and Ares; Themis, who bore the Horae, or Eunomia, Dike, and Eirene, and the Moirae or Fates; Eurynome, who bore the three Charities or Graces; Mnemosyne, who bore the nine Muses; Leto, who bore Apollo and Artemis; Demeter, who bore Persephone; Aegina, who bore Aeacus; Antiope, who bore Amphion and Zethus; Callisto, who bore Arcas; Niobe, who bore Argos and Pelasgus; Danae, who bore Perseus; Io; Europa, who …show more content…
Usually from mythology comes religions, and all religions have gods. One of the best known gods from all mythology is the Greek god Zeus. Zeus has a long history full of devious plots, vicious wars, scandalous adultery, and a difficult rising to power. Zeus grew up with a difficult childhood, from almost being eaten to rescuing his siblings to dethroning his father to becoming ruler of the universe. Zeus grew up on Crete, fed by the divine goat Almathea and protected by the Curetes. When grown up, Zeus dethroned his father in a furious clash, during which he released the Cyclopes, who gave him the lightning bolt. He also had many affairs that led to many children that gave mankind all that they would need to lead an ordered and moral life (Leadbetter). Zeus was the supreme god, the god of all gods; he was stronger than all the god’s put together. He was the god of light, the god of the sky, and the god of atmospheric phenomena: clouds, lightning, and rain (“From Myth to Eternity”). Zeus was always portrayed in art as a bearded, middle-aged man with a youthful figure