The gate of the year

Figure on the left:

1) Zeus’s head in marble, Roman copy from a Greek original of the IV century B.C., now in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, Denmark. Main divinity of the Hellenic pantheon, Zeus derives his name from the Indo-European root *diéu (“clear sky”). In Greece, he was identified with the stormy sky: in Homer, his most recurrent epithets are “the Gatherer of Clouds” (Nephelegeretas) and “He Who Enjoys Lightning” (Terpikeraunos). In his quality of Zeus Ombrios, he was worshiped as the god who sends the rain and fertilizes the earth. The main places of worship dedicated to Zeus were primarily the mountaintops, and the mountain for excellence, the Olympus, which was gradually transformed, in the Greek mythological imagery, from a real mountain into a fantastic place, where the gods had their assemblies. Together with his wife, Hera, Zeus presided over the marriage and the principal institutions of society. However, the multiple loving relationships entertained by Zeus, with both goddesses and mortal women, suggest his function as personification of the fertilizing and generative power. Through his fight against the Titans and the Giants, primordial and wild divinities, Zeus established the definitive order of the cosmos, of which he became the supreme ruler and warrantor, with the title of “Father of men and gods” (Graf 2005a). Some aspects of his image and of his iconography can be found later on in the representations of the Christian God.

[Source: http://library.artstor.org/library/]

Figure on the right:

Bronze statuette representing Zeus in the act of throwing a lightning, from Dodona, dating to the V century B.C., now in the National Museums (Staatliche Museen), Berlin, Germany. Lightning was Zeus’s main attribute, as god of the stormy sky. The portion of land which was stricken by lightning was regarded as a sacred place, inaccessible for humans (ábaton), dedicated to Zeus Kataibates (“He Who Comes Down”) (Graf 2005a). Thunder was, furthermore, regarded as an oracular sign. According to Homer, if the thunder came from the right side, the omen was favorable, sent from Zeus (Iliad, II, 353).

[Source: http://people.hsc.edu/drjclassics/mythology/chapter_5_olympians/chapter5.shtm]




Male Symbols

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Figure on the left: 1) Zeus’s head in marble, Roman copy from a Greek original of the IV century B.C., now in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, Denmark. Main divinity of the Hellenic pantheon, Zeus derives his name from the Indo-European root diéu (“clear sky”). In Greece, he was identified with the stormy sky: in Homer, his most recurrent epithets are “the Gatherer of Clouds” (Nephelegeretas) and “He Who Enjoys Lightning” (Terpikeraunos). In his quality of Zeus Ombrios, he was worshiped as the god who sends the rain and fertilizes the earth. The main places of worship dedicated to Zeus were primarily the mountaintops, and the mountain for excellence, the Olympus, which was gradually transformed, in the Greek mythological imagery, from a real mountain into a fantastic place, where the gods had their assemblies. Together with his wife, Hera, Zeus presided over the marriage and the principal institutions of society. However, the multiple loving relationships entertained by Zeus, with both goddesses and mortal women, suggest his function as personification of the fertilizing and generative power. Through his fight against the Titans and the Giants, primordial and wild divinities, Zeus established the definitive order of the cosmos, of which he became the supreme ruler and warrantor, with the title of “Father of men and gods” (Graf 2005a). Some aspects of his image and of his iconography can be found later on in the representations of the Christian God. [Source: http://library.artstor.org/library/] Figure on the right:* Bronze statuette representing Zeus in the act of throwing a lightning, from Dodona, dating to the V century B.C., now in the National Museums (Staatliche Museen), Berlin, Germany. Lightning was Zeus’s main attribute, as god of the stormy sky. The portion of land which was stricken by lightning was regarded as a sacred place, inaccessible for humans (ábaton), dedicated to Zeus Kataibates (“He Who Comes Down”) (Graf 2005a). Thunder was, furthermore, regarded as an oracular sign. According to Homer, if the thunder came from the right side, the omen was favorable, sent from Zeus (Iliad, II, 353). [Source: http://people.hsc.edu/drjclassics/mythology/chapter_5_olympians/chapter5.shtm]