GRECIAN MYTHOLOGY. Bs 
unlimited sovereignty over the other gods, to chastise them, and even 
to banish them from Olympos. He was the thunderer, the cloud- 
gatherer, the god who darted forth the lightning, who sent rain, dew, hail, 
snow, and wind, and who spread out the rainbow. He appointed the life 
and destiny of mortals, elevated and dethroned kings, dispensed good and 
evil, wealth and poverty, happiness and misery, life and death. He 
rewarded virtue and punished wickedness, guarded the rites of hospitality 
and the sacredness of landmarks, and directed his wrath against perjury. 
He selected, as the media of his communication with mankind, the oracle, 
the flight of birds, and the signs and omens of the sky. At the nod of his 
head, or the winking of his eye, the heavens trembled. Olympos consti- 
tuted his permanent residence. Here he assembled the gods around him. 
As the source of all power and wisdom, he was the reputed father of nearly 
all the inferior deities, the remainder being regarded as his servants. 
It must be obvious that the representations of Zeus were many and 
~ varied. ‘The lofty ideas entertained of him, the extensive sphere he was 
supposed to fill, and the peculiarities of the countries and nations in which 
his worship was established; would argue this. Mythology presents us with 
a triple Zeus: the Cretan, the Arcadian, and the Dodonwan. In every coun- 
try the artists endeavored to portray in his countenance majesty, strength, 
wisdom, and paternal benignity. The forehead was open and expansive; 
the massive hair, gathered in curls, descended on both sides to the shoulders, 
while the dense flowing beard, large nose, eyes, and mouth, communicated 
to his whole appearance the perfect ideal of a god. Pl. 16, fig. 21, repre- 
sents him seated on his throne as king of the gods. His right hand holds 
the thunderbolts, his left the sceptre ; while the eagle, one of his attributes, 
crouches at his feet. In pl. 18, fig. 1, we have a bust of Zeus as king, 
crowned with the laurel, and the expression of his face answering his 
generally adopted characteristics. He sometimes appears on coins (pl. 17, 
jigs. T and 8), in the character of a warrior, crowned with a laurel or oak 
wreath, but always expressing the highest dignity. The old Pelasgzan Zeus 
( jig. 9) differs somewhat from the foregoing. Standing erect, his hair less 
curly, and his person partially covered with a mantle, he grasps in one 
hand the thunderbolts and in the other the sceptre. /2g. 5 represents 
Zeus Hellenios, the national god, protector, and type of the Greeks while 
opposing the barbarians in Sicily ; and pi. 16, jig. 20, the Olympian Zeus, 
the epitome and concentration of all his perfections, dignity, and efficiency. 
Sometimes, and particularly upon coins, he is represented in a simple 
form, accompanied by the eagle (pi. 16, jig. 22, and pl. 20, jig. 21). Again 
in pl. 28, fig. 2, and pl. 16, fig. 19, he appears as the ram on the mountains 
or sky, or as the god of flocks and light, under the title Zews Ammon, or 
Hammon, with rams’ horns, which clearly point to his Egyptian origin. 
The ram (Aries), the first sign in the Zodiac, is obviously an astronomical 
allusion. Accordingly another legend makes Zeus a planet, and as such in 
the sign of Sagittarius, upon whom he is seated with the eagle and sceptre 
(pl. 18, fig. 4). This archer was the son of Cronos and the nymph Phdlyre. 
In order to prevent the jealousy of his wife Rhea, Cronos when visiting the 
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