Zeus in the Ancient Sources: 949 Passages in Greek & English

Hesiod (49)

Hesiod, Theogony 900–929tZeus's marriages and children; the birth of Athena (900-929)Zeus marries Themis (the Hours and the Fates), Eurynome (the Graces), Demeter (Persephone), Mnemosyne (the Muses), Leto (Apollo and Artemis) and lastly Hera, whose children are Hebe, Ares and Eileithyia. Zeus bears Athena from his own head, and Hera bears Hephaestus without Zeus. The section recounts again how Zeus swallowed Metis, who conceived Athena, and how she was born by the river Trito.
Hesiod, Works and Days 40–104Prometheus, fire and Pandora (40-104)The gods keep the means of life hidden from men, and Zeus hides fire because Prometheus deceived him; Prometheus steals it back in a fennel-stalk. As the price for fire Zeus has Hephaestus mould a maiden, whom Athena, Aphrodite, Hermes and the Graces equip with skills, charm and a deceitful nature. She is named Pandora and sent to Epimetheus, who accepts her despite Prometheus's warning, and she lifts the lid of the jar and scatters evils among men, while Hope alone stays inside.
Hesiod, Theogony 535–569Prometheus' trick at Mecone and the theft of fire (535-569)At Mecone, when gods and men are settling their portions, Prometheus divides an ox, hiding the meat under the stomach and the bones under shining fat; Zeus, knowing the trick, chooses the fat and bones. In anger Zeus withholds fire from men, and Prometheus steals it back in a fennel stalk.
Hesiod, Theogony 35–59The Muses' song of gods and men; their birth (35-59)Hesiod turns from his own story to the song of the Muses, who delight their father Zeus on Olympus by singing first of the race of the gods, then of Zeus himself, then of men and the strong giants. Mnemosyne (Memory) bears them to Zeus in Pieria after nine nights, nine daughters whose hearts are set on song.
Hesiod, Works and Days 200–269The hawk and the nightingale; justice in the city (200-269)Aidos and Nemesis will leave mankind, and Hesiod tells the fable of the hawk and the nightingale as a warning to princes. He urges Perses to follow Justice and avoid violence, since a city of just men prospers in peace, while for one bad man Zeus may send famine, plague or ruin on a whole city. Zeus has thrice ten thousand spirits watching over judgements, and virgin Justice reports crooked rulers to her father.
Hesiod, Fragments 1.1–13Deucalion, Hellen and their descendantsThe Catalogue of Women opens with the descendants of Deucalion and Hellen, saying that Deucalion was the son of Prometheus and Pronoea, that Hellen fathered Dorus, Xuthus and Aeolus, and that Thyia bore Magnes and Macedon to Zeus. The fragments then turn to the Aloiadae, Eurynome, Endymion, the sons of Actor and Molione, Periclymenus, and the sons of Neleus whom Heracles killed. Most are short quotations from later writers who cite Hesiod for a name or a descent.
Hesiod, Fragments 8.1–5AstronomyThe Astronomy, a poem attributed to Hesiod, is cited for the stars and constellations. The fragments name the Pleiades and the Hyades, the Great Bear and Callisto, Boötes and Orion.
Hesiod, Theogony 870–899The winds of Typhoeus; Zeus becomes king and swallows Metis (870-899)Hesiod describes the destructive winds that spring from Typhoeus and wreck ships and fields. When the gods have settled their struggle with the Titans, they press Zeus to reign, and he divides their honours. Zeus's first wife is Metis, the wisest of gods and men; to prevent her bearing a son who would rule over him, he deceives her and puts her inside his own belly.
Hesiod, Works and Days 105–199The five ages of men (105-199)Hesiod tells how gods and mortals came from one source and describes the races of men: a golden race that lived at ease in the time of Cronos, a foolish silver race that would not honour the gods, a violent bronze race that destroyed itself, and the god-like race of heroes, some of whom died at Thebes and Troy while others live on the islands of the blessed. He laments that he lives in the fifth, iron race, and foretells that it will be destroyed when children are born grey-haired, kin are at odds and might is right.
Hesiod, Shield of Heracles 1–74Alcmena and the birth of Heracles; Cycnus (1-74)The poem opens with Alcmena, the beautiful and faithful daughter of Electryon, whose husband Amphitryon had come to Thebes after killing her father and could not lie with her until he had avenged her brothers on the Taphians and Teleboans. While he is away, Zeus visits her by night and Amphitryon returns the same night, so that she bears twin sons, Heracles to Zeus and Iphicles to Amphitryon. The poem then turns to Heracles' fight with Cycnus, son of Ares, whom he met in the precinct of Apollo.
Hesiod, Theogony 450–479Rhea and Cronus; the birth of Zeus (450-479)Hecate is made a nurse of the young. Rhea bears Cronus Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus, and Cronus swallows each child as it is born, because Gaia and Uranus have told him his own son will overcome him. When she is about to bear Zeus, Rhea asks her parents for a plan, and they send her to Lyctus in Crete, where Gaia receives the child.
Hesiod, Theogony 505–534The sons of Iapetus: Atlas, Menoetius, Prometheus and Epimetheus (505-534)Iapetus and Clymene have four sons. Menoetius is struck down by Zeus for his arrogance, Atlas is made to hold up the sky, and the crafty Prometheus is bound, with an eagle sent to eat his liver, until Heracles kills it and frees him. Epimetheus, who took the first woman from Zeus, is introduced as a source of trouble for men.

37 more passages of Hesiod that name Zeus

Homer (225)

Homer, Iliad 8.350–484Zeus turns back Hera and AthenaHera and Athena set out to help the Achaeans, but Zeus sends Iris to turn them back with the threat of lamed horses and a shattered car. Zeus returns to Olympus and tells the two goddesses that at dawn he will destroy more of the Argives and that Hector will not stop fighting until Achilles rises at the ships over the body of Patroclus. Hera refuses to be rebuked and says that she will not oppose him.
Homer, The Homeric Hymns 4.445–580Hymn 4 to Hermes (5): the lyre and the reconciliationApollo, enchanted by the lyre, promises Hermes renown and gifts; Hermes gives him the lyre, and Apollo gives him a whip and the care of the herds, and the two swear friendship. Apollo tells him of three winged sisters who live under Parnassus and teach divination, and Zeus confirms Hermes as lord of the birds of omen, the beasts and flocks, and the only messenger to Hades.
Homer, Iliad 14.224–360Hera and Sleep: the deception of Zeus on IdaHera goes to Lemnos and asks Sleep to lull Zeus once she has lain with him, promising him the young Grace Pasithea as his wife. They go to Ida, where Sleep perches in a fir-tree in the likeness of a bird, and Hera approaches Zeus, who is seized with desire for her. He persuades her to lie with him at once, hiding them in a golden cloud, and Sleep binds him, then goes to tell Poseidon to help the Danaans while Zeus sleeps.
Homer, Iliad 1.493–611Thetis begs Zeus; the quarrel of Zeus and HeraAfter twelve days the gods return to Olympus, and Thetis goes up to clasp the knees of Zeus and ask him to honour her son by giving the Trojans the upper hand. Zeus is troubled because it will anger Hera, but he bows his head in assent. Hera upbraids him for plotting in secret and he threatens her, until Hephaestus calms the gods by pouring wine, and they feast and sleep.
Homer, Iliad 2.102–210Agamemnon tests the armyAt the assembly Agamemnon holds the sceptre of Zeus and tells the Achaeans that Zeus has deceived him and that they must flee home, though he means to try them. The army surges toward the ships like waves, and the ships are already being dragged down when Hera sends Athena to Odysseus. He takes Agamemnon's sceptre, checks the chiefs and sends the men back to the assembly.
Homer, Iliad 15.143–219Zeus' message to PoseidonHera calls Apollo and Iris from the hall and sends them to Ida, where Zeus tells Iris to bid Poseidon leave the battle and go back among the gods or into the sea. Poseidon is angry at being treated as an inferior, since he and Zeus are brothers and each has his own portion. He yields, but warns Zeus that if he spares Ilios against the wishes of the other gods, there will be trouble.
Homer, Odyssey 5.1–147Hermes is sent to CalypsoAt dawn the gods sit in council, and Athena again pleads for Odysseus, who is held on Calypso's island without a ship or companions. Zeus tells Hermes to go to the nymph and tell her that the hero is to be sent home on a raft. Hermes flies down over the sea, finds Calypso at work in her cave, and delivers the message, which she accepts with anger.
Homer, The Homeric Hymns 4.210–339Hymn 4 to Hermes (3): Apollo finds the thiefApollo reads a bird omen and follows the trail to the cave at Cyllene. He threatens the infant, who denies everything and answers with an omen of his own, and Apollo carries him up to Olympus to stand before Zeus.
Homer, Iliad 17.543–655Athena rouses Menelaus; Ajax prays for lightAthena comes down in the likeness of Phoenix and puts strength into Menelaus, who kills Podes, a friend of Hector. Apollo, in the likeness of Phaenops, rouses Hector, and Zeus shakes the aegis and gives the Trojans the upper hand. Ajax prays that Zeus lift the mist from his men, asking only to die in the light of day, and Zeus scatters the mist, whereupon Menelaus is told to look for Antilochus and send him to Achilles.
Homer, Iliad 21.383–513The battle of the godsThe gods go to war with one another: Ares attacks Athena with his spear and is knocked down by a stone she hurls, and Athena strikes Aphrodite when she comes to help him. Poseidon challenges Apollo, who refuses to fight over mortals, and Artemis, scolded by Hera, is beaten and runs in tears to Zeus. Hermes declines to fight Leto, who gathers up the scattered bow and arrows of her daughter.
Homer, Odyssey 20.1–121Odysseus cannot sleep; the omensOdysseus lies down in the fore-hall, and sees the women who sleep with the suitors go laughing out, and his heart growls like a bitch over her pups. He rebukes his heart, and Athena comes and tells him to trust her, and puts him to sleep. Penelope wakes and weeps and prays to Artemis, and Odysseus wakes and prays to Zeus for a sign, and Zeus thunders from a clear sky, and a woman grinding grain prays that this be the suitors' last meal.
Homer, Iliad 2.1–101Zeus sends a deceptive dream to AgamemnonWhile the other gods sleep, Zeus plans to honour Achilles and sends a deceitful dream to Agamemnon in the likeness of Nestor, telling him that the gods now favour him and that he can take Troy. Agamemnon wakes with the voice in his ears, dresses and bids the heralds summon the Achaeans. He first holds a council of the elders beside Nestor's ship and tells them of the dream.

213 more passages of Homer that name Zeus

Apollodorus (31)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 3.10.1–9Hermes, Asclepius, Leda and the suitors of HelenThe Pleiades are named, and Maia bears Hermes to Zeus, who steals Apollo's cattle, invents the lyre and trades it for the cattle and the art of divination. The line of Taygete and Lacedaemon leads to Hyacinth, to Asclepius, son of Apollo and Coronis, whom Zeus strikes with a thunderbolt for raising the dead, and to Tyndareus and Icarius. Zeus, as a swan, lies with Leda, who bears Helen and the Dioscuri (or, in another version, Nemesis lays Helen's egg), and Theseus carries Helen off. The kings of Greece court Helen, and Tyndareus, on Odysseus's advice, binds them by an oath to defend the chosen husband.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.7.1–10Prometheus, Deucalion's flood and the family of HellenPrometheus moulds men from water and earth, steals fire for them and is nailed to Mount Caucasus, where an eagle eats his liver until Heracles frees him. His son Deucalion survives Zeus's flood in a chest with Pyrrha and makes new people from stones; their son Hellen gives the Greeks their name and divides the country among Dorus, Xuthus and Aeolus. The section then follows Aeolus's children: the Aloads Otus and Ephialtes who pile Ossa and Pelion on Olympus, Endymion, Aetolus, Evenus and Marpessa, and the house of Thestius.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 3.4.1–4Cadmus and the founding of ThebesAfter the death of Telephassa, Cadmus is told at Delphi to follow a cow and found a city where it lies down. He kills the dragon of Ares, sows its teeth to raise the Spartoi, serves Ares for a year, and marries Harmonia. Their daughters Autonoe, Ino, Semele and Agave are named; Semele is destroyed when she asks to see Zeus in his glory, Dionysus is born from Zeus's thigh, and Ino and Athamas rear him and are driven mad. The section ends with Actaeon, torn apart by his own dogs after seeing Artemis bathing.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 3.12.1–7Dardanus, Priam and the royal house of TroyElectra's son Dardanus founds the line of the Trojan kings through Erichthonius and Tros, to Ganymede, Anchises and Ilus. Ilus founds Ilium on the spot where the cow lies down and receives the Palladium, and Laomedon and Priam follow him, with Tithonus and Memnon among Laomedon's line. The section lists Priam's children, including Hecuba's dream before Paris's birth, Cassandra's gift, and Paris and Oenone, and ends with the sons of Aeacus, Peleus and Telamon, the murder of Phocus and the birth of Ajax and Teucer.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.3.1–6Zeus's children, the Muses, Orpheus and the birth of AthenaZeus marries Hera and has children by many goddesses, among them the Seasons, the Fates, the Graces, Persephone and, by Mnemosyne, the nine Muses. The Muses' sons include Linus and Orpheus, who goes down to Hades for Eurydice and loses her by looking back, as well as Hyacinth (loved by Thamyris and by Apollo), Rhesus and the Corybantes; Thamyris is blinded by the Muses and the Sirens are born of Melpomene. Hephaestus is born to Hera (alone, or by Zeus, in Homer's version) and thrown out of heaven, and Athena springs from the head of Zeus after he swallows Metis.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.6.1–3The Giants and TyphonEarth bears the Giants, led by Alcyoneus and Porphyrion, and because an oracle says no god can kill them, Zeus summons Heracles; the section lists which god kills which Giant. Earth then bears Typhon, who drives the gods to Egypt, takes Zeus's sinews and hides them in a Cilician cave until Hermes and Aegipan steal them back. Zeus pursues him through Thrace and Sicily and buries him under Mount Etna.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.2.1–7Zeus and the Titanomachy; the children of the TitansZeus takes Metis as his ally, and she gives Cronus a drug that makes him disgorge the stone and his swallowed children. In the ten-year war the gods win once Zeus frees the prisoners in Tartarus and the Cyclopes give him thunder and lightning, Pluto a helmet and Poseidon a trident; the Titans are shut in Tartarus and the three brothers draw lots for sky, sea and the underworld. The rest of the section lists the offspring of the Titans, of Styx, and of Sea and Earth, ending with the Nereids.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 3.8.1–2Lycaon and his sons; Callisto and the birth of ArcasThe account returns to Pelasgus and his son Lycaon, whose fifty impious sons serve Zeus a child's flesh; Zeus overturns the table at Trapezus and blasts them, sparing only Nyctimus. In Nyctimus's reign comes the flood of Deucalion's day. Zeus seduces Callisto, a companion of Artemis, and she is turned into a bear and shot; her son Arcas is raised by Maia, and she becomes the constellation of the Bear.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 2.1.1–5Inachus, Io and the DanaidsThe line of Inachus of Argos runs through Phoroneus and Apis to Argus the All-seeing, whom Hermes kills while he guards Io, whom Zeus has turned into a cow. Io wanders to Egypt and bears Epaphus, whose descendants include the twins Belus and Agenor. Belus's twin sons Aegyptus and Danaus quarrel over the kingdom, Danaus flees to Argos with his fifty daughters, and they are married to Aegyptus's sons and kill them on the wedding night, all but Hypermnestra, who spares Lynceus.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.9.1–15Athamas, Sisyphus, Salmoneus, Melampus and AdmetusThe sons of Aeolus: Athamas, whose children Phrixus and Helle flee on the golden ram and who later loses Ino and Learchus to madness, then Sisyphus, Deion, Perieres, Magnes and Salmoneus, who is struck down for impersonating Zeus. Salmoneus's daughter Tyro bears Pelias and Neleus to Poseidon, and the section follows Neleus and Nestor at Pylus, Pelias in Thessaly, and Cretheus's line with the seer Melampus winning Pero for his brother Bias. It ends with Pheres, Admetus and Alcestis.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 2.4.6–12Amphitryon, Alcmene and the youth of HeraclesElectryon's sons are killed in a cattle raid by the Taphians, and Amphitryon accidentally kills Electryon and takes refuge at Thebes, where he wins the Teleboan war with the help of Cephalus's dog. Zeus lies with Alcmene in Amphitryon's likeness and she bears Heracles and Iphicles; the infant Heracles strangles the serpents Hera sends. Heracles is taught by several masters, kills the lion of Cithaeron after fathering children by Thespius's fifty daughters, and defeats the Minyans of Erginus. Hera then drives him mad and he kills his children, and the Pythia at Delphi names him Heracles and sends him to serve Eurystheus.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 3.6.1–8The Seven against ThebesEteocles and Polynices quarrel over the throne of Thebes, and Polynices gathers an Argive army under Adrastus. Amphiaraus foresees disaster but is compelled to join by Eriphyle, who has accepted the necklace of Harmonia. At Nemea the infant Opheltes is killed by a serpent and the Nemean games are founded; at Thebes Menoeceus sacrifices himself on Tiresias's word, Capaneus is struck by lightning, and Eteocles and Polynices kill each other. Tydeus loses Athena's gift by eating Melanippus's brain, Amphiaraus is swallowed by the earth, and only Adrastus escapes.

19 more passages of Apollodorus that name Zeus

Pindar (32)

Pindar, Nemean Odes 10.1–90Nemean 10: for Theaeus — Castor and PolydeucesPindar praises Argos, the city of Danaüs and Hera, and its famous heroes, among them Proetus, and the victories of Theaeus in wrestling. He tells how Idas killed Castor in a quarrel over cattle, how Polydeuces prayed to Zeus to die with his brother, and how Zeus allowed them to share their fate by living alternately under the earth and on Olympus.
Pindar, Olympian Odes 2.1–100Olympian 2: for Theron — the house of Cadmus and the Isles of the BlestPindar praises Theron of Acragas, victor in the chariot race, and prays that time may heal the sorrows of his house. He recalls the house of Cadmus, with Laïus, Oedipus, the Fury that made his sons kill one another, and Polyneices' son Thersander. He then describes the afterlife, in which the wicked are punished and the good go to the Isles of the Blest, where Rhadamanthys judges and Peleus, Cadmus and Achilles dwell, and he ends by answering envy with the praise of Theron's generosity.
Pindar, Olympian Odes 7.1–95Olympian 7: for Diagoras — Rhodes and the HeliadaePindar compares his gift of song to a golden bowl given by a father to his son-in-law and praises Diagoras of Rhodes, boxing victor, and Rhodes, bride of the Sun. He recalls Tlepolemus, son of Heracles, who killed Licymnius and founded the Rhodian cities, and tells how Zeus rained gold on the island when Athena sprang from his head, and how the Heliadae learned craft from her. The Sun, forgotten at the first division of the earth, then claimed the island that rose from the sea; the ode ends with a prayer to Zeus for Diagoras and the Eratidae.
Pindar, Olympian Odes 8.1–88Olympian 8: for Alcimedon — Aeacus and the walls of TroyPindar hails Olympia and praises Alcimedon of Aegina, boys' wrestling victor, and the justice of Aegina. He tells how Aeacus helped Poseidon and Apollo to build the wall of Troy: three serpents leapt at it and the one that entered it foretold the fall of Troy at the hands of Aeacus' descendants. The ode ends with Alcimedon's family, his father Iphion and his dead kinsmen.
Pindar, Olympian Odes 13.1–115Olympian 13: for Xenophon — Corinth and BellerophonPindar praises Corinth and the house of Xenophon, victor in the foot-race and pentathlon, and asks who first invented the dithyramb and the bridle. He tells of the Corinthian heroes of the Argo and of Troy, and how Bellerophon slept at Athena's altar, was given the golden bridle and tamed Pegasus at the spring of Peirene. The ode ends with the list of the family's victories at the Isthmus and Nemea and a prayer to Zeus.
Pindar, Nemean Odes 1.1–72Nemean 1: for Chromius — Ortygia and the infant HeraclesPindar greets Ortygia, the cradle of Syracuse, and praises Chromius of Aetna, victor with the chariot, for his wealth and hospitality, recalling Zeus' gift of Sicily to Persephone. He tells how the infant Heracles strangled the two serpents sent by Hera, while Amphitryon and the Cadmeans hastened in, and how Teiresias foretold his labours against monsters and giants and his marriage to Hebe.
Pindar, Olympian Odes 9.1–112Olympian 9: for Epharmostus — Deucalion and OpusPindar praises Epharmostus of Opus, wrestling victor, and Opus, mother-city of the Locrians, and begs his lips to speak no ill of the gods, recalling Heracles' battles with Poseidon, Phoebus and Hades at Pylos. He tells how Deucalion and Pyrrha made a people from stones, and how Zeus took the daughter of Opus of Elis to Locrus, who named her son Opus after her father. The ode ends with Epharmostus' other victories and a tribute to his skill.
Pindar, Olympian Odes 10.1–105Olympian 10: for Hagesidamus — Heracles and the first Olympic gamesPindar owes Hagesidamus of Locri a song for his boxing victory and praises the Western Locrians and the trainer Ilas, whom he likens to Achilles beside Patroclus. He tells how Heracles killed the Molionidae and punished Augeas, then founded the Olympic games beside the tomb of Pelops, with altars to the gods and the naming of the hill of Cronus. He lists the first winners and compares the victor to Ganymede.
Pindar, Pythian Odes 1.1–100Pythian 1: for Hieron — the golden lyre and AetnaPindar hymns the golden lyre of Apollo and the Muses, before which even the enemies of Zeus, such as Typhon beneath Aetna, are terrified. He praises Hieron, founder of the city of Aetna, victor in the chariot race, and prays that Dorian order may last there, recalling the battles of Salamis, Cithaeron and Himera. He ends by contrasting the fame of Croesus with the infamy of Phalaris.
Pindar, Pythian Odes 4.143–299Pythian 4: for Arcesilas — the Argonauts and the golden fleeceJason offers Pelias the flocks and herds but asks for the sceptre and throne of his father Aeson, and Pelias answers softly, sending him to fetch the golden fleece and the spirit of Phrixus. Jason gathers the Argonauts, including Orpheus, Echion and Eurytus, who sail after his prayer to Zeus. At Colchis Aeëtes sets him a task, and with Medea's charms Jason wins the fleece, kills the serpent and carries Medea off, and the ode ends with a plea that Arcesilas recall the exile Damophilus.
Pindar, Nemean Odes 5.1–54Nemean 5: for Pytheas — Peleus and the wife of AcastusPindar sends his song out from Aegina to announce the pancratium victory of Pytheas, and says that reverence restrains him from telling how Peleus and Telamon left the island. He tells instead how Peleus resisted the false advances of the wife of Acastus, and how the Muses sang at his wedding to Thetis. He ends by praising Pytheas and his trainer Menander and by bringing garlands to the portals of Aeacus.
Pindar, Isthmian Odes 6.1–75Isthmian 6: for Phylacidas — Heracles and TelamonPindar mixes a second bowl of song for the house of Lampon after the pancratium victory of Phylacidas. He tells how Heracles, as Telamon's guest, prayed to Zeus for a son and Zeus sent an eagle, so that the child was named Aias, and how Heracles sailed with Telamon against Troy and killed Laomedon and his sons. He ends with the victories of Phylacidas, Pytheas and their uncle Euthymenes, who has won at the Isthmus and Nemea.

20 more passages of Pindar that name Zeus

Aeschylus (49)

Aeschylus, Suppliants 1–175Parodos: the Danaids arrive at ArgosThe Chorus of the daughters of Danaus call on Zeus, guardian of suppliants, and tell how they fled from Egypt over the sea to avoid marriage with their cousins, the sons of Aegyptus. They recall their descent from Io, whom Zeus touched and who bore Epaphus, and they pray to be allowed to stay in the land of their ancestress. They call on Zeus and the gods of Argos to protect them rather than give them up to men they hate.
Aeschylus, Suppliants 524–599First stasimon: the prayer to ZeusThe Chorus call on Zeus, most blessed of the blessed, to look down on his offspring and to drive the lust of their cousins into the sea. They recall the sufferings of Io and her restoration by Zeus, and they pray that the god, who needs no effort to carry out his will, will help them as well.
Aeschylus, Suppliants 600–709Third episode and second stasimon: the vote of ArgosDanaus returns with the news that the Argives have voted unanimously to give the maidens refuge. The Chorus offer prayers for the Argives, for their city and their land, and ask that no plague, civil war or loss of their young men fall on it. They pray for fruitful seasons and a just government, and that the Argives may keep honouring their gods and their parents.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 196–278First episode: why Zeus punishes PrometheusAt the Chorus's request Prometheus tells his story. He says that when Zeus rebelled against Cronus he advised the Titans, and when they refused he went over to Zeus, whose new rule then threw the Titans into Tartarus. Zeus wished to destroy mankind and Prometheus saved them by giving them blind hopes and fire. The Chorus warn him that he has done wrong, and he answers that those who are not in trouble find it easy to give advice.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 877–943Third stasimon and Prometheus' defiance; Hermes arrivesIo, stung again by the gadfly, cries out in frenzy. The Chorus sing that it is wise to marry within one's own station and pray never to be the bride of a god, and Prometheus says that Zeus will be humbled by a marriage that will bring about his fall. Prometheus says that he cares nothing for Zeus, and sees Hermes coming as messenger.
Aeschylus, Seven against Thebes 457–562Second episode: Eteoclus, Hippomedon and Parthenopaeus at the next three gatesThe Scout reports Eteoclus at the third gate, Hippomedon, who spins his huge shield, at the fourth, and Parthenopaeus of Arcadia at the fifth. For each, Eteocles names a Theban to meet him, Megareus, Hyperbius and Actor, and he says that the signs on the enemies' shields tell of their own doom.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 1–87Prologue: Prometheus is nailed to the rockPower and Force bring Prometheus to a remote Scythian wilderness and order Hephaestus to chain him to the rock for stealing fire and giving it to mortals. Hephaestus pities his kinsman, but carries out the order of Zeus and drives in the fetters, while Power mocks the prisoner and tells him that he will have to learn to bear Zeus' rule. They go, and Prometheus is left alone.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 279–398First episode (cont.): Oceanus offers to intercedeOceanus arrives on a winged creature and offers to plead with Zeus for Prometheus. He advises him to know himself, to change his ways and not to speak so defiantly against the new ruler. Prometheus refuses, tells of the punishment of Atlas and of Typhon, says that Oceanus might suffer himself if he tried, and tells him to go home. Oceanus leaves.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 609–686Second episode: Io tells her storyPrometheus tells Io who he is, that he gave fire to mankind, and that Zeus and Hephaestus bound him, but he will not say why he is punished. At the Chorus' urging she tells how dreams urged her to go to the meadow of Lerna to meet Zeus, how her father Inachus received oracles that told him to cast her out, and how she was changed into a cow and pursued by Argus and by the gadfly.
Aeschylus, Suppliants 966–1073Exodos (3): the Danaids go to the cityThe Chorus thank Pelasgus, and Danaus tells his daughters to offer their prayers to the Argives and to guard their chastity. The Danaids praise the gods who guard the city, and the Handmaidens sing in turn of Aphrodite and fear what may follow. In short exchanges a Danaid prays that Zeus may spare her marriage with Aegyptus' sons, and the whole company ends by praying for the victory of justice.
Aeschylus, Agamemnon 40–175Parodos (1): the army sails and the omen of the eaglesThe Chorus of old men of Argos recall that it is now the tenth year since Menelaus and Agamemnon sailed against Troy, and say that they are too old to fight and wait at home. They ask Clytaemestra why sacrifices are burning on every altar, then tell of the omen seen as the army set out, two eagles devouring a pregnant hare. They tell how the seer Calchas read it as the capture of Troy and warned that Artemis was angry, and they pray that she will not hold back the fleet with contrary winds.
Aeschylus, Agamemnon 355–474First stasimon: Zeus, Paris and HelenThe Chorus thank Zeus and Night for the net in which Troy was caught, and say that Zeus punishes those who offend against the laws of hospitality, as Paris did. They sing of Helen's flight, the grief that she left behind in the house of Menelaus, and the ashes of the war dead returned from Troy. They end with the anger of the people against the sons of Atreus and their own fear of excessive glory.

37 more passages of Aeschylus that name Zeus

Sophocles (33)

Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 1448–1496Kommos: the thunder and the call for TheseusThe Chorus say that new ills have come from the blind stranger, and thunder crashes and the sky resounds. Oedipus cries that the winged thunder of Zeus will soon lead him to Hades, and begs for someone to bring Theseus. As the thunder grows louder the Chorus call on Zeus for mercy and beg Theseus to come quickly.
Sophocles, Women of Trachis 947–1042Exodos: Heracles is carried inThe Chorus see Heracles carried in on a litter by attendants, with Hyllus, and an old man tells them to keep silent, since he is asleep. He wakes in agony and cries out against the pain, and asks for someone to strike off his head with sword or fire. He tells Hyllus to lift him and to end his life with a sword, and curses Deianeira.
Sophocles, Women of Trachis 1143–1192Exodos (cont.): Heracles understands the oracle and swears Hyllus to obeyHeracles realises that he is lost, and tells Hyllus that his father Zeus had foretold that he would be killed by one already dead, and that the oak among the Selli foretold the end of his labours at this time. He asks Hyllus to bring his brothers and Alcmena, who are at Tiryns and Thebes, and to carry out his commands. Hyllus swears by Zeus to do his father's bidding, and Heracles asks whether he knows the summit of Oeta.
Sophocles, Women of Trachis 205–292First stasimon; Lichas arrives with the captive womenThe Chorus call on the women to raise a cry of joy for the return of Heracles and for Apollo and Artemis. Lichas arrives with a group of captive women and tells Deianeira that her husband is alive and about to offer sacrifice at Cape Cenaeum in Euboea. He says that Heracles was kept for a year in servitude to Omphale in Lydia as a penalty for killing Iphitus by treachery, and that he then sacked the city of Eurytus.
Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus 151–215Parodos: the Chorus of Theban elders pray against the plagueThe Chorus of Theban elders ask what the oracle of Apollo means, and pray to Athena, Artemis and Apollo to drive away the plague. They describe the dying city, the unburied dead and the cries of women at the altars, and call on Zeus, Apollo, Artemis and Bacchus to drive out the god of war and plague.
Sophocles, Women of Trachis 1044–1111Exodos (cont.): Heracles' lamentHeracles says that none of his labours, no monster or hostile land, did to him what a weak woman has done to him alone. He asks Hyllus to bring his mother to him so that he may avenge himself, and shows his wasted body. He cries out to Zeus and Hades for death and recalls his labours, and says that she will feel his hand even in his death.
Sophocles, Philoctetes 963–1003Fourth episode (cont.): Odysseus appearsThe Chorus ask Neoptolemus what to do, and he says that he pities Philoctetes, who begs him to give the bow back and tells him that he is not wicked but has learned from wicked masters. Odysseus then appears and demands the bow, and Philoctetes cries that he is sold. When he threatens to leap from the rock, Odysseus orders his men to seize him, and claims that he acts as the servant of Zeus.
Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 607–667Second episode (cont.): the promise of protectionOedipus tells Theseus that only the gods are free from old age and death, and that all else is changed by time, with trust dying and distrust being born, so that the friendship between Thebes and Athens will not last. He says that the time will come when his buried body will drink the warm blood of the Thebans. Theseus promises to protect him, saying that no one will take him from there against his will.
Sophocles, Ajax 134–200Parodos: the sailors of SalamisThe Chorus of Salaminian sailors, followers of Ajax, say that rumours are spreading through the army that Ajax has killed the captured cattle, and that Odysseus is spreading the slander. They say that envy strikes the great, wonder whether Artemis or Ares sent the madness, and call on Ajax to come out and answer his enemies.
Sophocles, Ajax 815–865Ajax's farewell speech on the shoreAlone on the shore, Ajax inspects the sword, Hector's gift, which he has fixed in the ground. He prays to Zeus that Teucer may be the first to find him, to Hermes for a quick death and to the Erinyes to destroy the Greek army, and he says farewell to the light, to Salamis, to Athens and to the plains of Troy. He ends by saying that the rest he will tell to the shades.
Sophocles, Antigone 100–161bParodos: the Chorus of Theban eldersThe Chorus of Theban elders greet the sunrise that has driven off the Argive army that came because of Polyneices' claims. They sing how Zeus struck down a boaster as he was starting to shout victory at the ramparts, how the seven captains fell at the seven gates, and how the two brothers killed each other. They call for a night of dancing in the temples with Bacchus as their leader, and as they end they see Creon, the new king, approaching.
Sophocles, Antigone 441–525Second episode: Antigone defies CreonAntigone admits her deed to Creon. She says that his decree was not made by Zeus or by justice, and that she obeyed the unwritten and lasting laws of the gods, which no mortal order can override. Creon, who will not be defeated by a woman, says that she and her sister will not escape a harsh doom.

21 more passages of Sophocles that name Zeus

Euripides (93)

Euripides, Heracles 1255–1312Exodos: Heracles' case against going on livingHeracles tells Theseus that life for him has always been full of woe, and that he will set out his case, from the birth of a child of Zeus whom Hera hated, through the labours to the murder of his children. He says that it is right that he should die, since, if Hera has destroyed Hellas' benefactor, there is no use in life, and no friend can help him.
Euripides, Bacchae 1–63Prologue: Dionysus arrives in ThebesDionysus, son of Zeus and Semele, says that he has come to the land of the Thebans in mortal form, after travelling through Asia. He says that the sisters of Semele claimed that she had told a false tale about her marriage and that Zeus killed her for it, so that he has driven them out of their wits to the mountains, and that he will show Pentheus and all the Thebans that he was born a god.
Euripides, Cyclops 313–374hSecond episode: the Cyclops rejects hospitality; first choral songSilenus advises the Cyclops to eat every morsel of the strangers, and the Cyclops answers that wealth is the god of the wise, that he does not fear Zeus, and that his belly is his god. He drives the Greeks into the cave, and Odysseus prays to Athena and Zeus. The Chorus sings in horror of the feast of human flesh.
Euripides, Medea 131–212Parodos: the women of Corinth hear Medea's criesThe Chorus of Corinthian women hear Medea's cries from the house and ask the Nurse what is wrong. Medea, still inside, calls on Themis and Zeus as guardians of oaths and prays for the ruin of Jason and his bride. The Chorus asks the Nurse to bring her out, and the Nurse goes in to try, while the Chorus hears Medea invoke Themis again.
Euripides, Children of Heracles 867–927Fourth choral song; Alcmena rejoicesThe Chorus prays to Zeus and sees the day that frees them from fear, and Alcmena thanks Zeus for his favour. She asks why Iolaus spared Eurystheus, and the servant tells her that he was brought alive so that she could see him humbled, and asks to be set free. The Chorus sings of the dance and of the justice of the city, and of Heracles, who now lives in heaven as the husband of Hebe.
Euripides, Heracles 1–59Prologue: Amphitryon explains the plight of Heracles' familyAmphitryon, who shared a wife with Zeus and is the father of Heracles, tells how he came to Thebes, where Creon gave his daughter Megara to Heracles. He says that Heracles has gone to Hades to bring back the hound of hell, and that in his absence Lycus has killed Creon and seized power, and that he now threatens to kill Megara, her sons and Amphitryon, who sit as suppliants at the altar of Zeus the Saviour.
Euripides, Orestes 1621–1693Exodos: Apollo appears and settles the quarrelMenelaus calls on the Argives to take arms, and Apollo appears and tells him to calm his anger, since he saved Helen by the bidding of Zeus and she is to become a goddess. He orders Orestes to spend a year in exile and then to be tried at Athens, and to marry Hermione. Pylades is to marry Electra, and the quarrel ends in a truce.
Euripides, Hippolytus 58–120Prologue: Hippolytus honours Artemis and rejects AphroditeHippolytus enters with his hunting companions, singing to Artemis, and offers her a wreath from an unmown meadow, saying that only the pure may gather its flowers. An old servant asks him to honour also the statue of Aphrodite at the gate, and Hippolytus replies that he has no regard for a goddess who is worshipped at night, and goes in. The servant prays to Aphrodite to forgive the young man's pride.
Euripides, Heracles 170–237First episode: Amphitryon defends Heracles against LycusAmphitryon says that Zeus will defend his own share in his son, but that he will prove Lycus' ignorance. He says that Heracles is called a coward for fighting with the bow, and asks Lycus to go to Pholoe and ask the Centaurs who the bravest of men is. He argues that the man who fights in line is a slave to his weapons, while the archer harms the enemy and keeps safe himself, and he reproaches the land of Cadmus for failing to defend Heracles' children.
Euripides, Heracles 875–921Fourth choral song; cries from within as Heracles kills his childrenThe Chorus laments that the son of Zeus, flower of the city, is being cut down, and that Hellas will cast out her benefactor. Amphitryon's cries are heard from the house, calling to the children to fly, the Chorus hears the roof falling, and Heracles' voice cries out to Pallas. A Messenger comes out to say that the children are dead, and the Chorus asks him to tell how it happened.
Euripides, Helen 1–67Prologue: Helen at the tomb of Proteus in EgyptHelen tells how Proteus' son Theoclymenus and daughter Theonoe rule Egypt, and she recounts the judgment of Paris. Hera made a phantom in her likeness for Paris, while Hermes hid the real Helen in a cloud and set her down in the house of Proteus. Since Proteus died, his son has wanted to marry her, and she sits as a suppliant at his tomb, keeping herself for Menelaus.
Euripides, Helen 625–693Fourth episode: Helen and Menelaus are reunitedHelen and Menelaus embrace and rejoice, and the Chorus prays for their happiness. Menelaus asks how she was taken from his home, and Helen tells how Hera sent her to Egypt in revenge for the judgment of Paris. She tells of her mother's hanging, and of their daughter Hermione's unmarried state.

81 more passages of Euripides that name Zeus

Apollonius Rhodius (21)

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 2.1030–1225The birds of Ares and the sons of PhrixusNear the island of Ares the heroes scare off the birds that shoot their feathers like arrows, by wearing helmets and clashing shields. On the island they find the four shipwrecked sons of Phrixus, who are Jason's kinsmen, and who tell them of Aeetes and the sleepless serpent. Argus agrees to guide the Argonauts to Colchis.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 2.178–300Phineus and the HarpiesPhineus tells the heroes how Zeus blinded him for misusing his gift of prophecy, and how the Harpies snatch his food. Zetes and Calais, the sons of Boreas, chase the Harpies away from his table, and Iris stops them from killing them by swearing on the Styx that the Harpies will not trouble Phineus again.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3.1–166Hera and Athena ask Cypris to make Medea love JasonThe poet calls on Erato, and Hera and Athena decide to go to Cypris to ask her to make Aeetes' daughter Medea fall in love with Jason. Cypris finds her son Eros playing dice with Ganymede, and persuades him with the promise of a ball that once belonged to Zeus.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 2.448–527Paraebius and the Etesian windsAt dawn Phineus' neighbours gather, among them Paraebius, whose family had been cursed because his father cut down a Hamadryad's oak, and Phineus tells how he lifted the curse. Paraebius brings sheep for the heroes. The poet then tells how Aristaeus, at the bidding of Zeus, brought the yearly Etesian winds from Ceos.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4.552–684Zeus' anger and the voyage to Circe's islandZeus is angry at the murder, and the speaking beam of Argo says that Circe must cleanse them. Argo sails up the Eridanus, where Phaethon fell, and through the Rhodanus, with Hera guiding them, past the Stoechades to the Tyrrhenian coast. They come to Aeaea and see Circe washing her hair.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1.448–558The feast, Orpheus' song and the departure from PagasaeAt the feast on the shore Idas jeers at Idmon's prophecy and Idmon answers him, and Orpheus ends the quarrel by singing of the origin of earth, sky and sea. At dawn the heroes embark, Tiphys takes the helm and Argo leaves Pagasae to the music of Orpheus' lyre while Cheiron shows Achilles to his father Peleus from the shore.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4.92–211Jason takes the Golden FleeceJason swears to marry Medea, and they go to the grove of Ares, where Medea charms the sleepless serpent with her spells. Jason takes the Fleece from the oak, and the two return to the ship, where he tells the heroes they must set sail at once.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4.685–782Circe purifies Jason and MedeaAt Aeaea Circe, daughter of Helios, purifies Jason and Medea of the murder. When she learns the whole story she drives them from her house with reproaches. Hera sends Iris to fetch Thetis and to ask Hephaestus and Aeolus to help Argo.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1.1261–1362Heracles and Polyphemus are left behindHeracles searches wildly for Hylas, and at dawn Argo sails on without him and Polyphemus. Telamon accuses Jason of leaving Heracles behind on purpose, until the sea-god Glaucus rises from the waves and declares what Zeus has fated for Heracles and for Polyphemus. Telamon and Jason are reconciled.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 2.911–1029Sthenelus' barrow, Sinope and the AmazonsThe ghost of Sthenelus appears at his barrow and the heroes pour libations. Argo passes the Parthenius, takes on Deileon, Autolycus and Phlogius at Sinope, and puts in at the mouth of the Thermodon, where the Amazons are arming. Sailing on, the heroes pass the Chalybes, the Tibareni with their strange custom, and the Mossynoeci.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3.299–438The banquet and Aeetes' demandsAt the banquet Aeetes questions his grandsons, and Argus tells how his ship was wrecked and why the Argonauts have come. Aeetes grows angry and agrees to give up the Fleece only if Jason will yoke the fire-breathing bulls, plough the field of Ares and sow the dragon's teeth, and Jason accepts.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3.912–1025Jason and Medea meet at the temple of HecateArgus leads Jason and Mopsus towards the shrine of Hecate, and a crow, speaking for Hera, mocks Mopsus; he sends Jason on alone. Jason and Medea meet in silence, and he begs her for help, speaking of Ariadne and Theseus. She gives him the charm.

9 more passages of Apollonius Rhodius that name Zeus

Callimachus (5)

Callimachus, Hymns 1.1–96Hymn to ZeusThe poet asks where Zeus was born, on Ida in Crete or in Arcadia, and calls the Cretans liars for building his tomb. He tells how Rhea bore Zeus in Parrhasia and washed in a spring she struck from the mountain, how the nymph Neda carried him to Crete and how the Dictaean Meliae and Adrasteia reared him on the milk of the goat Amaltheia. The hymn praises Zeus as the god who took kings for his portion, and ends with a prayer for goodness and prosperity.
Callimachus, Hymns 4.205–326Hymn to Delos: the birth of ApolloLeto sits by the Inopus and leans against a palm-tree, bidding her child be born, and Iris tells Hera, who relents because Zeus has calmed her. The swans of Pactolus circle Delos seven times, which is why Apollo's lyre has seven strings, and the island turns to gold as the god is born. Delos tells Earth that Apollo will love her above all lands and that she will wander no more. The poet then describes the first-fruits sent to Delos from the north, the dance of Theseus at the image of Cypris, and the sailors' rite at the altar.
Callimachus, Hymns 3.1–268Hymn to Artemis: the goddess's childhood wishesAs a small girl on her father's knees, Artemis asks Zeus to let her stay a maiden for ever and to give her a bow, a short tunic, sixty nymphs of Oceanus for her choir and twenty nymphs of Amnisus to tend her hounds, and Zeus smiles and grants it, adding cities. She visits the Cyclopes on Lipara for her arrows, takes hounds from Pan in Arcadia and captures four golden-horned deer for her chariot. The poet praises her favourite places and companions, among them Britomartis, Cyrene and Atalanta, and her shrines at Miletus and Ephesus. He ends with a warning to those who wronged her, such as Oeneus, Otus and Orion.
Callimachus, Hymns 4.1–86Hymn to Delos: Asteria among the islandsThe poet resolves to sing of Delos, nurse of Apollo, a wave-beaten isle that leads the others when they gather before Oceanus and Tethys. He tells how the island, once the floating Asteria who fled the love of Zeus, was named Delos when it became the birthplace of Apollo. Hera, angry with Leto, posts Ares on Haemus to watch the mainland and Iris on Mimas to watch the islands, and the cities of Greece flee from Leto. Apollo, still in the womb, rebukes Thebe.
Callimachus, Hymns 5.1–142Hymn to Athena: the Bath of Pallas and TeiresiasThe women of Argos are summoned to the Bath of Pallas and told to bring no perfume or mirror, only plain olive oil, as Athena herself used. The poet tells how Teiresias, son of Everes, unwittingly saw Athena bathing with his mother Chariclo at the Fountain of the Horse on Helicon and was blinded. Athena tells Chariclo that this is the law of Cronus, foretells the fate of Actaeon, and promises to make Teiresias a seer who knows the birds, has a staff to guide him and keeps his understanding among the dead. The hymn closes with greetings as the goddess arrives and a prayer for Argos.

Theocritus (10)

Theocritus, Idylls 17.1–137Idyll 17: In praise of PtolemyThe poem begins with Zeus and passes to Ptolemy son of Lagus, whom it praises as foremost among men, and to his mother Berenice. It tells of his birth on the isle of Cos, of the lands he rules and the wealth of Egypt, and of the temples he has built for his parents. It ends with his marriage to his sister, likened to the bridal of Zeus and Hera.
Theocritus, Idylls 22.1–223Idyll 22: The DioscuriA hymn to Castor and Pollux, helpers of sailors and of men in battle. At a spring in the land of the Bebryces Pollux boxes with the giant Amycus and beats him, and Amycus swears never again to wrong strangers. Castor fights Lynceus and kills him, and Zeus strikes down Idas with a thunderbolt. The hymn ends with a prayer to the sons of Tyndarus and with praise of song.
Theocritus, Idylls 16.1–109Idyll 16: The Graces, or HieroThe poet complains that no one will receive the Graces or pay the singers, and that rich men no longer honour song. He praises Hiero of Syracuse, before whose arms the Phoenicians of Libya shudder, and asks for his patronage. He ends by saying that he will not leave the Muses or the Graces.
Theocritus, Idylls 18.1–58Idyll 18: Helen's wedding songTwelve Spartan maidens sing outside the bridal chamber on the wedding night of Helen and Menelaus. They praise Helen, tease Menelaus for sleeping too early, and wish the pair children and lasting happiness. They promise to return at dawn and sing again.
Theocritus, Idylls 24.1–140Idyll 24: The infant HeraclesAlcmena lulls Heracles and Iphicles to sleep, but at midnight two snakes sent by Hera crawl into the room. Alcmena wakes and calls Amphitryon, who hurries in with armed servants and finds the child Heracles clutching both snakes. Tiresias is called and foretells the labours of Heracles, and the poem ends with the boy's upbringing and training.
Theocritus, Idylls 4.1–63Idyll 4: Battus and CorydonBattus asks Corydon whose cattle he is herding, and Corydon says they are Aegon's, who has gone with Milon to the Alpheus and left him his pipe. They talk of the lean cattle and of Battus' grief for the dead Amaryllis. Battus gets a thorn in his foot, and Corydon draws it out.
Theocritus, Idylls 7.1–157Idyll 7: The Harvest FeastThe speaker walks with Eucritus and Amyntas from the city to a harvest feast of Demeter, and on the way they meet the goatherd Lycidas. They exchange songs, Lycidas wishing a safe voyage to the beloved Ageanax and Simichidas singing of his friend Aratus' love. They reach the farm and lie down among poplars and elms to feast.
Theocritus, Idylls 15.1–149Idyll 15: The Syracusan women at the Adonis festivalGorgo visits her friend Praxinoa, and the two women dress and push through the crowd to the palace of Ptolemy, where the festival of Adonis is held. A woman sings the hymn to Adonis. They go home, since Praxinoa's husband will want his dinner.
Theocritus, Idylls 25.138–281Idyll 25: Phaethon the bull and the Nemean lionThe great bull Phaethon charges at Heracles, who seizes him by the left horn and forces his neck to the ground, to the wonder of Augeas and Phyleus. On the road to the city Phyleus asks about the lion whose hide Heracles wears, and Heracles tells how Eurystheus set him the task, how he killed the Nemean lion with his bare hands, and how he flayed it with its own claws.
Theocritus, Idylls 26.1–38Idyll 26: The Bacchae and PentheusIno, Autonoe and Agave lead their bands of Maenads to the mountain and build altars to Semele and Dionysus. Pentheus, watching them from a hidden place, is discovered, and the women tear him to pieces. The poem ends with a plea that no one blame what the gods demand.

Aristophanes (62)

Aristophanes, Plutus 77–252Prologue: Wealth reveals himself and the plan to cure himThe stranger tells them that he is Wealth, whom Zeus made blind out of jealousy of the good, so that he could not tell the just from the wicked. Chremylus and Cario argue that Wealth is mightier than Zeus himself, since every sacrifice, craft and ambition of mankind depends on him, and that no one ever has enough of him. Wealth fears the anger of Zeus, but Chremylus promises a cure, sends Cario to fetch his farm-friends and takes Wealth into the house.
Aristophanes, The Clouds 263–436Parodos: Socrates invokes the Clouds; the new godsSocrates makes Strepsiades sit on a sacred couch, crowned with a chaplet, and calls on the Clouds to appear, and the Chorus answer with a song and enter. Socrates says that the Clouds, not Zeus, are the only true gods, sending rain and thunder, and Strepsiades, who knows only the pot-bellied thunder of his own stomach, is soon convinced. The Clouds promise him eloquence, and he asks only to win his lawsuits and escape the law.
Aristophanes, Birds 1493–1560Episode: Prometheus warns PeisthetaerusPrometheus arrives muffled in a cloak and asks whether any god is following, and he asks for an umbrella so that Zeus cannot see him. Under the umbrella he tells Peisthetaerus that all is up with Zeus, since no sacrifices have reached the gods since the city was built, and that the starving barbarian gods are threatening to march on Zeus. He advises Peisthetaerus to make peace only if the sceptre is restored to the birds and Sovereignty is given to him as a wife, and he takes the umbrella and leaves. The Chorus sing of Socrates calling up spirits at the home of the Shadow-feet.
Aristophanes, Birds 1702–1765Exodos: the wedding of Peisthetaerus and SovereigntyWhile the Chorus sing of a nation that fills its belly with its tongue, a Messenger announces the return of Peisthetaerus with his bride and the thunderbolt of Zeus. The Chorus greet him with a wedding hymn, calling on Hymen and Hymenaeus and recalling the wedding of Hera and Zeus. Peisthetaerus bids the birds follow him to the golden floor of Zeus, and the Chorus end with a cry of victory.
Aristophanes, The Clouds 804–888aEpisode: Strepsiades takes Pheidippides to schoolThe Chorus tell Strepsiades to seize the chance that their favour has given him, and he turns his son Pheidippides out of the house and tells him that there is no Zeus, but a Vortex, and that the men of the school are fine fellows who never wash. Pheidippides thinks his father mad, and is shown the fowl and the fowless. Strepsiades then brings him to Socrates and asks him to teach the boy both the Better and the Worse Logic.
Aristophanes, The Clouds 1303–1475Episode: Pheidippides beats his father and defends itStrepsiades rushes out crying for help because his son has struck him, and Pheidippides, who says he can prove that he struck him justly, claims the right to argue it with the new Logic. He says that the quarrel began at supper, when Strepsiades asked him to sing Simonides and then Aeschylus and he preferred Euripides, and argues that if a father may beat his son, a son may beat his father, who is only in his second childhood. When Pheidippides adds that he will beat his mother, Strepsiades cries out against the Clouds, who tell him that he has brought it on himself, and Pheidippides again denies that there is any Zeus.
Aristophanes, Peace 1–81Prologue: the servants and the dung-beetleTwo slaves of Trygaeus complain as they knead cakes of dung for the huge beetle that their master keeps, and one of them wonders whether the audience will take the beetle for an attack on Cleon. They explain that their master has gone mad with a wish to reach Zeus, first trying scaling ladders and falling and cracking his skull. They then hear Trygaeus raving behind the scenes and see him mount the beetle.
Aristophanes, Peace 361–458Episode: Hermes is won overHermes catches Trygaeus at the stones and threatens him with the death that Zeus has decreed for anyone who digs there, and the Chorus beg Hermes not to shout for help. Trygaeus tells him that the Moon and the Sun are plotting to hand Hellas over to the barbarians, and offers him a golden cup. Hermes gives way, the work begins with libations and prayers, and Trygaeus and the Chorus call down curses on all who love war.
Aristophanes, Birds 1190–1279Episode: Iris is stopped at the wallThe Chorus sing that war has begun between the gods and the birds, and Peisthetaerus stops a flying figure who says that she is Iris, on her way from the Olympian gods to bid men sacrifice sheep to them. Peisthetaerus orders her seized for trespass, tells her that the birds are now the gods of men, and threatens to burn the palace of Zeus with eagles carrying fire. Iris leaves in anger, and the Chorus sing that the gods will never pass that way again, after which a Herald from men arrives.
Aristophanes, Plutus 415–626Agon: Chremylus and Poverty debate wealthPoverty bursts in and threatens the two men for trying to drive her out of Hellas, and Blepsidemus tries to run until Chremylus stops him. Poverty agrees to argue the case, and Chremylus says that Wealth restored to sight will reward the good and shun the wicked. Poverty answers that without her nobody would work or practise a craft, and the quarrel runs through beds, beggars, the gods and the orators until Chremylus drives her away and prepares to take Wealth to the temple.
Aristophanes, The Clouds 1214–1302Episode: the creditors Pasias and Amynias come to callPasias arrives with a witness to summon Strepsiades for the fifty pounds owed on the horse, and Strepsiades first denies the debt, then makes him call a troughess a trough, and sends him off. Amynias comes, groaning that he has been thrown from his chariot, and demands his money, but Strepsiades asks him whether the sea grows larger from the rivers that run into it and drives him away with a whip. The Chorus say that Strepsiades will soon wish his son were dumb.
Aristophanes, Peace 82–176Prologue: Trygaeus takes flight on the beetleTrygaeus sets off on the beetle and the Servant tries in vain to stop him, while he calls for silence below and for the dung to be kept out of the beetle's way. He says that he is flying to ask Zeus what he means to do with Hellas, and that he will indict him if Zeus gives it up to the Medes. His daughters beg him not to leave them, and he promises them buns if he returns, then starts upwards, calling on the man at Peiraeus not to commit a nuisance that might upset the beetle. He reaches the gate of Zeus, where Hermes answers.

50 more passages of Aristophanes that name Zeus

Diodorus Siculus (21)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.68.1–5.72.5Zeus and the children of Cronus in CreteAccording to the Cretans the children of Cronus and Rhea discovered or introduced many arts, and the sea, the hearth and the corn belong to Poseidon, Hestia and Demeter. The historian gives the conflicting accounts of how Zeus became king, the places in Crete tied to his infancy, his benefactions to mankind and the punishment of the Giants.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 6.2.1–6.9.1Book 6: other fragmentsThe fragments that follow take up the gods named after lands they conquered, the Titans Xanthus and Balius, crowns, Picus who was called Zeus, and the Dioscori. They go on to Salmoneus, who imitated Zeus's thunder, to Admetus, Alcestis and Melampus, and end with Bellerophon at the court of Proetus and the Chimaera.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.71.1–4.75.6Asclepius, Aeacus, Pelops and the kings of TroyThe historian gives the birth and healing art of Asclepius and the descendants of Asopus' daughters, including Aeacus and his sons Peleus and Telamon. He then tells of Oenomaüs and the chariot race by which Pelops wins Hippodameia, and of Tantalus, and ends with the first kings of Troy, from Teucrus and Dardanus down to Priam.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.2.1–4.5.4DionysusIn the Greek account Semele, daughter of Cadmus, dies when Zeus appears to her in his glory, and Hermes takes the child to the nymphs at Nysa. Dionysus teaches mankind the vine and a barley drink, leads an army that includes women, and returns from India to be honoured by festivals every other year. Some writers speak of an earlier Dionysus, son of Zeus and Persephone, and the chapters list the god's epithets and his Satyr and Muse companions.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.73.1–5.77.8The gods' discoveries and their Cretan originsZeus is said to have given each god a field of invention: the Muses the letters and poetry, Apollo the lyre, healing and the bow, Hermes the herald's staff, Athena the olive, and Dionysus the vine. The chapters then give an older Heracles, Artemis, Plutus, and the claim that most of the gods began in Crete and spread to other lands.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.8.1–4.10.7Heracles: birth and early deedsThe historian begins with the difficulty of reporting Heracles' deeds worthily and with the claim that myth should not be scrutinised too sharply. He traces the hero's descent from Perseus and Zeus, tells how Hera delays the birth of Heracles so that Eurystheus is born first, and how Heracles as a baby strangles the two serpents she sends. As a young man he frees Thebes from the tribute owed to Erginus king of the Minyans, kills Erginus, burns the palace of the Minyans and razes the city of the Orchomenians, and marries Megara, daughter of Creon.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.14.1–4.16.4Heracles: the Olympic Games, the Giants and the AmazonsAfter the stables Heracles founds the Olympic Games and receives gifts from the gods. He fights on the side of the gods against the Giants at Pallene, frees Prometheus by shooting the eagle, and brings Eurystheus the man-eating horses of Diomedes. He then sails to the Pontus for the girdle of Hippolyte and defeats the Amazons.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.59.1–4.63.5TheseusThe historian tells of Theseus' birth at Troezen and his labours against the robbers on the road to Athens, then of the Minotaur: Minos' war over the death of Androgeos, the tribute of youths, Ariadne's help, and Theseus' union of the Attic demes into one city. He adds the story of Phaedra and Hippolytus and the exploits of Peirithoüs, including the abduction of Helen and the descent to Hades.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.41.1–5.46.7Hiera and PanchaeaBeyond Arabia lie islands in the southern ocean. The historian describes the frankincense and myrrh of Arabia and the island of Hiera, whose Panchaean people sell them, and then Panchaea itself, with its temple of Zeus Triphylius, its wild animals, its cities, and its priests, soldiers and farmers.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 6.1.1–11Euhemerus on the godsIn a fragment on the gods the historian is quoted as dividing them into eternal ones, such as the sun and moon and stars, and terrestrial ones, such as Heracles and Dionysus, who were honoured as gods for their benefactions. He then summarises the account of Euhemerus, who sailed from Arabia to the island of Panchaea, where a golden stele recorded the deeds of Uranus, Cronus and Zeus as kings.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.67.1–4.70.4Aeolus and Boeotus, Salmoneus and Neleus, the Lapiths and CentaursAfter the Epigoni return home, Teiresias dies at Tilphossaeum and the Cadmeans leave it, and the historian gives the story of Arne, Aeolus and Boeotus. He then follows Salmoneus, Tyro and their descendants as far as Nestor, and turns to the Lapiths and Centaurs: the sons of Peneius, Ixion's crime against Eïoneus, and the origin of the Centaurs.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.55.1–5.59.6Rhodes: the Telchines, the Heliadae and later settlersThe Telchines first lived on Rhodes, followed by the children of Helius and Rhodos, the Heliadae, who are famed for their learning and for their sacrifice without fire. The historian tells of the killing of Tenages and Danaüs's visit to Lindus, and of the later settlers Phorbas, Althaemenes and Tlepolemus.

9 more passages of Diodorus Siculus that name Zeus

Ovid (44)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.401–526Callisto and ZeusZeus (Jupiter), having repaired the harm done by the fire, sees Callisto, a nymph of Arcadia who follows Artemis (Diana), and takes her by force, disguised as Artemis. When Artemis discovers her pregnancy at the bath, she drives her out, and Callisto bears a son, Arcas, and is turned into a bear by Hera (Juno). Years later Arcas meets his mother in the woods and is about to kill her with his spear when Zeus sets them both among the stars. Hera, furious, begs the sea gods not to let the Bear sink into the ocean.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.253–315Semele and ZeusHera (Juno), angry at the love of Zeus (Jupiter) for Semele, disguises herself as Semele's old nurse and persuades her to ask her lover to appear to her as he does to Hera. Zeus has sworn to grant her wish, and appears with his thunderbolts, and Semele is burned to ashes. The unborn child is taken from her and sewn into Zeus' thigh, and is born as Dionysus (Bacchus), and nymphs bring him up.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.568–688Io and ArgusThe river gods come to console Peneus for the loss of Daphne, except Inachus, who is mourning his daughter Io. Zeus (Jupiter, 'Jove' in More's translation) takes Io under a cloud, and when Hera (Juno) comes down to look he turns Io into a white heifer. Hera asks for the heifer as a gift and sets the hundred-eyed Argus to watch her, and Io writes her name in the dust with her hoof to tell her father Inachus who she is. Zeus sends Hermes (Mercury), disguised as a shepherd, who plays on his pipe and begins to tell the story of Syrinx.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.163–252Lycaon and the council of the godsZeus (Jupiter, 'Jove' in More's translation), grieved at the wickedness of the earth, calls a council of the gods and tells how he went to the house of Lycaon in Arcadia and found a savage king. Lycaon mocked the god, set before him human flesh and plotted to kill him in his sleep, and Zeus burned his house and turned him into a wolf. The gods approve of his plan to destroy mankind, and Zeus promises them a new race to people the earth.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 15.745–879The deification of Julius Caesar; epilogueAphrodite (Venus), seeing the plots against Julius Caesar, begs the gods to save him, but the Fates cannot be altered, and she takes his soul from his body and sets it among the stars as a comet. Zeus (Jupiter, 'Jove' in More's translation) foretells the greatness of Augustus, and Ovid ends the poem with a prayer for the emperor, and the claim that his own work will outlast the thunder of Zeus and be read by men through all the ages.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.316–399Teiresias and EchoZeus (Jupiter, 'Jove' in More's translation) and Hera (Juno) quarrel over whether men or women have more pleasure in love, and Teiresias (Tiresias), who has been both, is asked to judge. He says women, and Hera strikes him blind, and Zeus gives him the gift of prophecy; he tells the nymph Liriope that her son Narcissus will live only if he never knows himself. The nymph Echo, who once used her chatter to keep Hera from catching Zeus' mistresses, is punished by being able only to repeat the last words of others, and she falls in love with Narcissus, who rejects her and every other lover.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.462–571Demeter searches for PersephoneDemeter (Ceres), hearing nothing from her daughter, wanders over the earth by torchlight and finds only her girdle floating in the pool, and punishes the land that is ungrateful. The nymph Arethusa tells her where her daughter is, and Demeter appeals to Zeus (Jupiter). Zeus decides that Persephone (Proserpina) may return to her mother if she has eaten nothing in the underworld, but Ascalaphus tells that she ate pomegranate seeds, and Demeter turns him into an owl. The Sirens, Persephone's companions, are given the feathers of birds, and Zeus settles the matter by dividing the year between mother and husband.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.298–400The fall of Phaethon; the Heliades and CycnusZeus (Jupiter, 'Jove' in More's translation) hurls his thunderbolt and Phaethon falls blazing into the river Eridanus, where the naiads bury him. His sisters, the Heliades, mourn for four months and are changed into poplars, and their tears become amber. Cycnus, a friend of Phaethon, grieves and is turned into a swan. The Sun, in his own grief, refuses to drive the chariot again until the gods, and Zeus with threats, entreat him.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.143–219Ganymede and HyacinthusOrpheus sings of the love of Zeus (Jupiter) for Ganymede, whom the god carries off to heaven as an eagle to be his cup-bearer. He then sings of Apollo's love for Hyacinthus, with whom he plays at quoits, until the discus, thrown by Apollo and deflected by the wind, strikes the boy on the head and kills him. Apollo, unable to restore him, makes a flower grow from his blood, marked with the letters of his grief.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.89–162The Four AgesThe Golden Age had no law, no punishment and no ships, and the earth gave all things of its own accord. The Silver Age brought seasons, the first houses and ploughing, the Bronze Age a fiercer temper, and the Iron Age all kinds of crime and greed, with Justice fleeing the earth. The Giants then pile up mountains to storm heaven, and Zeus (Jupiter, 'Jove' in More's translation) strikes them down, and from their blood Earth makes a race that despises the gods.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.563–662Cadmus and Harmonia; Perseus and AtlasCadmus and Harmonia, grieving at their misfortunes, go away from Thebes, and Cadmus, remembering the serpent he killed, is turned into a serpent, and Harmonia follows him. Perseus, flying over Libya with the head of Medusa, comes at nightfall to the kingdom of Atlas, who has been told that a son of Zeus (Jupiter) would steal his golden apples, and who refuses him shelter. Perseus holds up the head of Medusa, and Atlas is turned into the mountain that holds up the sky.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 9.98–272Nessus and the death of HeraclesHeracles (Hercules), returning with Deianira, crosses the river Evenus, where the centaur Nessus offers to carry her across and tries to take her. Heracles shoots him with an arrow dipped in the hydra's poison, and the dying Nessus gives Deianira his blood-stained tunic as a love-charm. Years later, jealous of Iole, she sends the tunic to Heracles, who is burned by the poison, and tears at his flesh, and is raised to the sky from a funeral pyre on Mount Oeta.

32 more passages of Ovid that name Zeus

Pausanias (91)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.24.1–11Olympia: more images of Zeus and the Zeus of Oaths in the Council HousePausanias lists further images of Zeus in the Altis, among them gifts of the Corinthians, Thessalians, Psophidians, Lacedaemonians and Elaeans, a Zeus by Mummius, and the largest bronze Zeus, given by the Eleans. He describes the Zeus of Oaths in the Council House, beside which athletes, trainers and officials swear on the pieces of a boar, and compares Homer’s account of Agamemnon’s oath.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.14.1–10Olympia: Zeus Averter of Flies, the white poplar and the altars in order of sacrificePausanias notes the wonders of the altar, including the kites and Hercules’ sacrifice to Zeus Averter of Flies, and explains the use of white poplar wood. He lists the altars of Olympia in the order the Eleans sacrifice on them, from Hestia and Olympian Zeus to Artemis, Athena, Alpheus, Hephaestus, Hercules and his brothers, then the altars of Hera, the Muses and the Nymphs near the Pelopium.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.22.1–7Olympia: dedications of Zeus by Apollonia, Metapontum, Phlius and LeontiniPausanias lists images of Zeus given by states and individuals, among them a statue from the Cynaethians and the semicircular base with Zeus, Thetis and Day and the Homeric pairs of antagonists, given by Apollonia. He explains the Abantis inscription, then notes the Zeus of the Metapontines, the Phliasian group of Asopus’ daughters, and the Zeus given by men of Leontini.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.24.1–7Argos: the acropolis Larisa, Zeus with three eyes and the road to TegeaPausanias describes the acropolis Larisa and its sanctuaries of Hera, Apollo Diradiotes with his woman oracle, Athena the Sharp-sighted, and Larisian Zeus. The wooden Zeus with three eyes, once Priam’s, prompts his explanation that one Zeus rules heaven, sea and the underworld. He then follows the road to Tegea past Mount Lycone and the sanctuary of Artemis, the springs of the Erasinus on Mount Chaon, Cenchreae with its war graves, and the ruins of Hysiae.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.40.1–6Megara: Theagenes’ water-basin, Saviour Artemis and the OlympieumIn Megara Pausanias describes the fountain-house built by the tyrant Theagenes, fed by the water of the Sithnidian nymphs, and the sanctuary where Saviour Artemis was honoured after the Megarians destroyed a lost detachment of Mardonius’ archers. He then describes the Olympieum with its unfinished image of Zeus by Theocosmus and Phidias, the galley beak taken from the Athenians off Salamis, and the acropolis Caria with its sanctuaries.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.13.1–11Olympia: the Pelopium, the shoulder-blade of Pelops and the great altar of ZeusPausanias describes the Pelopium and its annual sacrifice of a black ram, with the rule against eating the sacrificial flesh and entering the temple of Zeus. He tells how the fisherman Damarmenus recovered Pelops’ shoulder-blade and notes traces of Pelops in Lydia. He then describes the altar of Olympian Zeus, built of ashes, its dimensions and the monthly plastering with Alpheus water.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.38.1–11Lycosura and Mount Lycaeus: the oldest city, the sacred precinct and Hagno's springPausanias calls Lycosura the oldest city on earth, the first the sun saw. He describes Mount Lycaeus, which the Arcadians say is the true Crete where Zeus was reared by the nymphs Thisoa, Neda and Hagno, and where the priest of Lycaean Zeus makes rain by stirring the spring of Hagno with an oak branch. On the mountain are a sanctuary of Pan, a hippodrome, the forbidden precinct of Lycaean Zeus where creatures cast no shadow and the festival of Parrhasian Apollo.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.23.1–7Olympia: the Plataea Zeus, the treaty tablet and other images of ZeusPausanias describes the Zeus dedicated by the Greeks after Plataea, with its list of participating cities and the notes on which of those cities no longer exist, and the bronze tablet bearing the thirty-year treaty between Athens and Sparta. He also lists Zeus images given by the Megarians, the Hyblaeans and the Clitorians.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 7.24.1–13Aegium and Helice: the sanctuaries and the destruction of HelicePausanias lists the sanctuaries beside the market-place and sea at Aegium, including that of Homagyrian Zeus, where Agamemnon assembled the Greek chiefs, and describes the bronze child Zeus and Hercules by Ageladas. He then turns to Helice, where the Achaeans put suppliants to death in the sanctuary of Heliconian Poseidon, and the city was swallowed by an earthquake and the sea. He lists the signs that precede earthquakes and describes their kinds, and compares Helice to a city lost under Mount Sipylus.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.3.1–9Plataea: the Daedala festival of HeraPausanias tells how Hera, angry with Zeus, returned only when Cithaeron advised Zeus to carry a wooden image in a cart and claim it was his new bride, Plataea. The festival of the Daedala commemorates the reconciliation. The Plataeans find the oak for the image by watching which tree a crow perches on after taking boiled flesh. The Little Daedala is held by Plataea alone and the Great Daedala jointly with the Boeotians, with fourteen images carried on wagons to the top of Mount Cithaeron, where they are burned on a great wooden altar with cattle sacrificed to Hera and Zeus.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.10.1–10Olympia: the temple of Zeus, its sculptures and the AltisPausanias describes the Altis and the temple of Zeus, built after the Elean conquest of Pisa, with its Doric style, dimensions, the architect Libon and the marble tiles said to have been devised by Byzes of Naxos. He lists the golden shield and gilt Victory on the roof, and describes the gable sculptures by Paeonius and Alcamenes and the reliefs of the labours of Hercules over the doors.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.18.1–9Athens: Dioscuri, Prytaneum, temple of Ilithyia and the OlympieumPausanias describes the sanctuary of the Dioscuri with paintings by Polygnotus and Micon, the precinct of Aglaurus and the story of Erichthonius’ chest, the Prytaneum, a sanctuary of Serapis and the temple of Ilithyia. He then turns to the sanctuary of Olympian Zeus, completed by Hadrian: the colossal image, the cleft where the flood waters of Deucalion’s time drained away, the statue of Isocrates, and Hadrian’s other buildings, including a temple of Hera and Panhellenian Zeus and a library.

79 more passages of Pausanias that name Zeus

Quintus Smyrnaeus (34)

Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 1.654–765Achilles and ThersitesAchilles takes the helmet from the dead queen's head and, seeing how beautiful she is, grieves for her. Ares rushes down from Olympus in anger for his child but is held back by Zeus. Thersites jeers at Achilles for pitying an Amazon, and Achilles strikes him dead with a single blow.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 14.419–547Athena's stormAs the Argives near Euboea, Athena asks Zeus for vengeance on Aias son of Oileus and for the storm that follows. Zeus gives her his thunder and lightning, and she puts on the Aegis and darkens sea and sky. Her thunderbolt breaks Aias' ship and drowns its crew, and captive women drag Danaans down with them.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 3.582–664Thetis and the Muses mourn AchillesThe sound of the wailing reaches the Nereids in the deep, who rise from the sea. Zeus gives the Argives courage to look at the goddesses, who mourn round Achilles with the Muses. Thetis cries out her grief, and Calliope urges her to stop lamenting.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 8.395–504Zeus veils TroyThe Trojans man the towers and Meriones shoots Phylodamas. The Argives are nearly through the gates when Ganymede, from Olympus, begs Zeus to save the city, and Zeus covers Troy in cloud. The Argives draw back to the ships and praise Neoptolemus.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 2.549–666Dawn mourns MemnonDawn groans and veils the earth in cloud, and her children the winds bear Memnon's body away. His Aethiopian companions are turned into birds that wheel round his tomb. All night Dawn lies weeping for her son, and the Hours at last lead her back to heaven against her will.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 2.388–548Achilles kills MemnonAchilles leaves the line and finds Memnon, rebuking him as inferior in blood and strength. They fight with swords and shields, and the long and even struggle is watched from Olympus. At last Eris tips the scales and Achilles kills Memnon.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 9.1–74Neoptolemus at Achilles' tombIn the morning Troy stands unharmed. Antenor prays to Zeus either to turn Achilles' son from the city or to end the war, and Zeus hastens the end but does not turn Neoptolemus back. After a truce for burying the dead, Neoptolemus visits his father's tomb and weeps, and then goes to the ships.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 12.117–213Epeius builds the Wooden HorseEpeius tells the Argives his dream, and Ida's pines are cut and hauled to the Hellespont, where in three days he builds the Wooden Horse and Athena makes it a marvel. While Zeus is away at the Ocean, the gods take sides and fight beside the Xanthus until he returns in anger. Themis warns them to stop fighting for the sake of mortals.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 2.94–182Memnon comes to TroyMemnon arrives with a host of Aethiopians and is welcomed by Priam, who pledges him in the golden cup that Hephaestus made and that passed down through the kings of Troy. Memnon goes to his rest. On Olympus Zeus tells the gods that tomorrow's battle will cost many lives and that none of them may intervene.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 3.665–787The pyre of AchillesAt dawn the Argives raise a great pyre, and Achilles is burned with the horses and men slain round it. His companions gather his bones into a silver casket, which the Nereids anoint and lay in a golden vase given by Thetis, and the Argives heap a barrow by the Hellespont. His immortal horses mourn him, and Poseidon rises from the sea to console Thetis.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 12.1–116Odysseus plans the Wooden HorseCalchas assembles the chiefs and tells of a falcon that waited in vain by the cleft in the rock where a dove had hidden. Odysseus proposes building a great horse in which the best of the Argives will hide. Neoptolemus objects, but Zeus's thunderbolt falls, and Athena appears to Epeius in a dream and tells him to build.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 13.415–563Troy burns; Aethra rescuedThe gods mourn Troy, all but Hera and Athena, though Athena turns away in anger as Aias son of Oileus outrages Cassandra in her temple. Fire destroys the city and Trojans die in their burning houses, and the glow is seen from Ida and Tenedos. Aethra is found by her grandsons Demophoon and Acamas, who promise to take her home to Greece. Laodice is swallowed by the earth, and the Pleiad Electra hides herself from sight.

22 more passages of Quintus Smyrnaeus that name Zeus

Nonnus of Panopolis (116)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 8.178–332Book 8: Hera as Semele's nurseHera takes the shape of an old nurse and comes to Semele's chamber. She asks which god has been her lover and says that if it is Zeus she should ask him to come with thunder, as he does to Hera. Semele, stung, prays to Zeus for a bridal of lightning and complains that she has never seen his true form.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 31.199–282Book 31: Hera borrows the cestus of AphroditeHera visits Aphrodite on Lebanon and, in answer to her questions, pretends to fear that Semele, Dionysos and the vine will drive her out of Olympos. She then asks to borrow Aphrodite's cestus for a day, to charm Zeus and help the Indians, who she says have always honoured Aphrodite.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 2.391–474Book 2: The winds join Zeus; Typhon's rocks are turned asideThe winds side with Zeus and shake the coasts. Zeus arms Rout and Terror and fights with lightning, hail and thunder, cutting off the Giant's hands. Typhoeus tries to quench the fire with river water and hurls rocks and an island, but Zeus turns them aside.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 2.475–630Book 2: Zeus overwhelms Typhon; the mock epitaphZeus and Typhoeus fight on equal terms, with thunder and lightning against the Giant's many hands, and the four winds join in. His heads are scorched and frozen in turn, and his mother Earth begs Helios and the winter winds to ease him. Typhoeus falls, and Zeus mocks him with a speech about the throne he wanted and offers him an empty tomb and an epitaph.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 7.255–368Book 7: Zeus woos SemeleZeus, struck by Eros's arrow, goes back to heaven and calls on Helios to hasten the night. He crosses to Thebes in two bounds and comes to Semele in the shapes of a bull, a lion, a panther, a bridegroom and a snake. He tells her that she will bear a son who will make men forget their troubles, and that she will be called immortal.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 2.241–390Book 2: Typhon's boast and the first assault on ZeusTyphoeus wakes shouting threats: he will overturn the heavens, bring up Cronos and the Titans, and take Hera for his bride. Zeus laughs, and the battle opens with the Giant hurling trees and rocks against the thunderbolt.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 4.0–105Book 4: Harmonia refuses; Aphrodite comes as PeisinoeElectra tells Harmonia of Zeus's wish, and Harmonia protests against marrying a wandering stranger. Aphrodite, disguised as a neighbour girl called Peisinoe, then flatters her, praises Cadmos's beauty and suggests he may be a god.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 8.0–121Book 8: Semele's pregnancy; Ares threatens to leave heavenSemele grows heavy with child and is carried off by every strain of pipes and cymbals in the hills. Envy, jealous of the unborn Dionysos, stirs up Ares, who complains of Zeus's loves and says he will leave Olympos for Thrace. Hera, still angry, meets Deceit near Mount Dicte.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 23.225–320Book 23: Dionysos threatens the river and sets it on fireDionysos warns the river that Zeus may strike it as he struck Eridanos, but Hydaspes only rages the more. The god sets the water on fire with a burning fennel stalk, driving the Naiads out of their homes. Oceanos then threatens to flood the sky, drown the stars and constellations, and calls on Tethys and the sea to join him against Dionysos.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 31.132–198Book 31: Iris, in the shape of Night, persuades SleepIris takes the shape of Night, Sleep's mother, and urges him to charm the eyes of Zeus, saying that Dionysos' torches outshine her stars and reminding him of Zeus' long wakeful nights with Alcmene. Sleep agrees to put Zeus to sleep for one day.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 1.344–408Book 1: Zeus takes Europa and enlists CadmosZeus takes his human shape and lies with Europa, and the Bull is set among the stars. He then meets Cadmos with Eros and Pan and devises a plan: Cadmos is to pipe as a herdsman and charm Typhoeus so that the weapons can be recovered. Zeus promises him Harmonia as his wife.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 31.70–131Book 31: Megaira is lent to Hera; Iris goes to find SleepPersephone agrees and gives Hera the Fury Megaira, whom Hera angers further by showing her the dead Indians. Megaira waits in a Caucasian cave in the form of an owl until Zeus sleeps. Hera sends Iris to ask Sleep to put Zeus to sleep for a day, and Iris finds him near Orchomenos.

104 more passages of Nonnus of Panopolis that name Zeus

Aratus (3)

Aratus, Phaenomena 1–115Zeus and the northern sky: the Bears and the DragonAratus begins with Zeus, who gave men the signs of the heavens, and with a prayer to the Muses. He describes the Axis and the two Bears, Helice and Cynosura, which were set in the sky for nursing the infant Zeus in Crete, and the Dragon winding between them. He goes on to the kneeling figure called Engonasin, the Crown, Ophiuchus with the Serpent and the Scorpion, Arctophylax or Boötes, and the Maiden, whom men called Justice and who lived on earth in the Golden Age.
Aratus, Phaenomena 116–265Justice leaves the earth; Auriga, Andromeda and PerseusThe Maiden Justice leaves the earth as the Golden, Silver and Bronze Races succeed one another, and takes her place in the sky. Aratus then places the Twins, the Crab and the Lion, and describes Auriga with the Goat and the Kids, the Bull and the Hyades, and the family of Cepheus: Cepheus, Cassiepeia and Andromeda. He continues with the Horse and the spring Hippocrene, the Ram, the Deltoton and the Fishes, and with Perseus and the Pleiades, whose seven names are given.
Aratus, Phaenomena 738–891Weather signs from the Moon and the SunThe twelve signs of the Zodiac tell the hours of the night, and Aratus urges sailors to watch the stars at sea. He explains how the Moon's phases mark the days of the month and how the shape and colour of her horns and the halos round her foretell wind, rain or calm. He then gives signs from the Sun, from the colour of his disk, his rays, and the mist and clouds around him at rising and setting, and from the parhelia that gird him.

Bacchylides (8)

Bacchylides, Epinicians (Odes of Victory) 9.1–104Ode 9: Automedes of Phlius, pentathlon at NemeaThe poet calls on the Graces to help him sing of Phlius and of Nemea, where Hera reared the lion that Heracles was to overcome and the Argive heroes held the first games in memory of Archemorus. He praises Automedes, who outshone his rivals in the pentathlon, and sings the river Asopus and its daughters, the brides of gods. The middle of the ode is restored from fragments. It ends with the city that Zeus granted to the people of Phlius and with Automedes, son of Timoxenus.
Bacchylides, Dithyrambs 17.1–132Dithyramb 17: Theseus and MinosA ship bears Theseus and fourteen Athenian youths and maidens to Crete, where Minos lays a hand on a maiden and Theseus rebukes him. Minos asks Zeus for a sign and challenges Theseus to bring back his gold ring from the sea. Theseus dives, is carried by dolphins to the hall of his father Poseidon and robed by Amphitrite, and comes back unwetted to the ship while the Athenians sing a paean.
Bacchylides, Epinicians (Odes of Victory) 3.1–4.20Odes 3–4: Croesus saved by Apollo; Hieron's victoriesCleio is told to praise Demeter and Hieron of Syracuse, whose horses won at Olympia. The poet tells how Croesus, with Sardis falling to the Persians, mounted a pyre with his family, how Zeus quenched the flames and how Apollo carried him to the Hyperboreans. The ode closes with Apollo's advice to Admetus, son of Pheres, and the promise that Hieron's glory will be sung by the nightingale of Ceos. Ode 4 hymns Hieron's third Pythian victory and his two at Olympia.
Bacchylides, Epinicians (Odes of Victory) 5.1–200Ode 5: Heracles meets Meleager in HadesThe poet sends Hieron a song and compares his own flight to the eagle's, celebrating the victory of the chestnut horse Pherenicus at Olympia and at Pytho. He tells how Heracles went down to Hades for the hound of Hades, saw the shade of Meleager and drew his bow, but was told there was nothing to fear. Meleager tells of the Calydonian boar sent by Artemis, of the quarrel over its hide, and of the brand burned by his mother Althaea that ended his life. Moved to tears, Heracles asks about a sister he might marry, and Meleager names Deianeira; the ode ends with praise of Hieron and a prayer to Zeus.
Bacchylides, Epinicians (Odes of Victory) 11.1–126Ode 11: Alexidamus of Metapontion and the daughters of ProetusVictory is honoured as the judge of prowess beside Zeus, and Metapontion rejoices at the Pythian win of the boy wrestler Alexidamus, who lost an Olympic crown to a faulty judgement. The poet tells how Hera drove the daughters of Proetus mad for boasting that their father was richer than she, and how Proetus prayed to Artemis at Lusus, saw them healed and set up her altar. Artemis, the Soother, then went with the Achaeans to Metapontion, where a grove is dedicated to her by the Casas.
Bacchylides, Dithyrambs 15.1–16.35Dithyrambs 15–16: the sons of Antenor; Heracles and DeianeiraTheano, priestess of Athena, opens the temple doors to the Greek envoys Odysseus and Menelaus, and the sons of Antenor lead them to the Trojan assembly, where Menelaus speaks of Insolence and Justice. In the next song the poet prays to Apollo, and sings how Heracles, after burning Oechalia, sacrifices at the cape of Cenaean Zeus. A god then weaves a cruel device for Deianeira when she learns that Iole is to come to the house as a bride, and she takes the fatal gift of Nessus.
Bacchylides, Dithyrambs 19.1–20.11Dithyrambs 19–20: Io and Argus; Idas and MarpessaDithyramb 19 tells of Io, driven by the gadfly, and asks whether Hermes slew the watcher Argus or lulled him to sleep. She came to the banks of the Nile and bore Epaphus, and from that race sprang Cadmus and Dionysus. Dithyramb 20, a fragment, tells how the maidens of Lacedaemon sang of Idas bringing home Marpessa in a chariot given by Poseidon.
Bacchylides, Epinicians (Odes of Victory) 6.1–8.32Odes 6–7: Lachon of Ceos, boys' foot-race at OlympiaOde 6 survives only as its end, honouring Lachon, son of Aristomenes, whose swift feet won the boys' foot-race and brought renown to Ceos. Ode 7 greets the sixteenth day of the month at Olympia, which gives judgment on speed and strength. A further passage tells of Lachon's wins at Pytho, Nemea and the Isthmus and thanks Zeus for the wreath of Aetolian olive he won beside the Alpheus.

Epic Cycle (4)

Epic Cycle, Summaries and Fragments 5.1–38CypriaProclus' summary of the Cypria opens with Zeus planning the Trojan War with Themis, the quarrel of the three goddesses, Alexandrus, Helen and the gathering of the Greeks at Aulis. The fragments cover the earth burdened by men, the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, Helen's birth to Nemesis, Castor and Polydeuces, and Alexandrus carrying Helen to Ilium.
Epic Cycle, Summaries and Fragments 7.1–26Little IliadProclus' summary of the Little Iliad begins with the judging of the arms of Achilles, which Odysseus wins, and the madness and death of Aias. Philoctetes is brought from Lemnos, Eurypylus is killed by Neoptolemus and Epeius builds the wooden horse. The fragments give the girls' quarrel over Aias and Odysseus, Achilles at Scyros, the golden vine given to Laomedon for Ganymedes, and the death of Astyanax.
Epic Cycle, Summaries and Fragments 1.1–2.3Titanomachy and OedipodeaThe Epic Cycle begins with the union of Heaven and Earth, who make three hundred-handed sons and three Cyclopes. The fragments of the War of the Titans name Aether, Aegaeon and Zeus dancing, and the Oedipodea fragments say that Oedipus' sons were born of Euryganeia, not Iocasta, and that the Sphinx killed Haemon.
Epic Cycle, Summaries and Fragments 8.1–8Sack of IliumProclus' summary tells how the Trojans debated what to do with the wooden horse, some wishing to hurl it from the rocks, some to burn it and some to dedicate it to Athena. The fragments say that one Palladium was given to Dardanus, that Astyanax was hurled from the wall, and that Agamemnon gave gifts to the sons of Theseus. One fragment describes the gifts of the Earth-Shaker to Machaon and Podaleirius.

Lycophron (4)

Lycophron, Alexandra 1369–1474Alexandra 1369–1474: The conquerors to come, Cassandra's closing complaint, and the slave's last wordsCassandra foretells a succession of later conquerors, beginning with a Zeus called Lapersios who will burn the foe's dwellings and with whom she will die. Next come the son of a man slain in a net, leading a host of many tongues, a Phrygian who avenges his brothers, a giant of the seed of Perseus who walks over the sea and sails over the land, and at last a tawny lion sprung from Aeacus and Dardanus who will quiet the tumult and make the Argive chiefs cower before the wolf-leader of Galadra. She complains that the god who sought her bridal has discredited her words, though he will make her oracles true, and then returns to her prison. The slave ends by telling Priam that he has reported her speech as he was commanded, and prays that god turn her prophecies to a fairer issue.
Lycophron, Alexandra 252–405Alexandra 252–405: The fall of Troy's defenders, Cassandra's own seizure, and the wreck of the Greek fleetCassandra hears lamentation from the towers and foresees an eagle snatching up the dearest nursling of her brothers; his slayer, called a trafficker in corpses, is said to hide in a woman's robe at the loom and to cower even in sleep before her brother's spear. She mourns the destruction of that brother, 'a pillar of our house', and foretells the burning of the Dorian host among their ships, then grieves for a young man's death, a victim slaughtered at a marriage sacrifice, and an aged captive stoned to death. She herself, who refused the god Thoraios and took Pallas as her model, will be haled like a dove into the vulture's eyrie, and the goddess in her shrine will turn her eyes to the ceiling in anger. For one man's sin Hellas will mourn thousands of empty tombs, and the returning ships will break on named cliffs, one man being struck down by a three-taloned spear and cast up dead on the shore.
Lycophron, Alexandra 406–540Alexandra 406–540: Graves far from home; five exiles settle on an island; a god sows quarrel among the doomedCassandra says that the whole land and even the shore of Acheron will mourn her bridal, since countless men will be devoured by sea-monsters while others find graves in strange lands. She names some of the dead: an old man blinded by his father who will be buried at Eion, three 'sea-gulls' laid in the glades of Cercaphus, and two who kill each other at the mouth of the Pyramus. Five exiles are then said to come to a horned island, among them a kinsman banished by his father's taunts and a countryman who digs for copper and whose father was killed by a tusk. She prays that Zeus never send the Lapersii against her country, and takes hope from a god who will start grievous wrangling when the doomed hosts receive their fatal guest at a banquet.
Lycophron, Alexandra 979–1125Alexandra 979–1125: Colonies in the West, a man killed in his bath, and Cassandra's own deathUnhappy men build a city like Ilios and kill the descendants of Xuthus in the temple of Laphria, and the men of Croton sack the city of the Amazon Clete. Exiles settle at Tereina, Melita, Othronus and Temessa and on the Crotonian fields, and a woman who burns the fleet of her masters is hung on a cliff that takes her name. A man entangled in a net at his bath is struck down with an axe, his ghost having seen the bitter housekeeping of the lioness, and Cassandra says that she herself will lie beside the bath, cleft by the sword of a jealous woman who treats her as a stolen bride rather than a spear-won prize. A whelp will avenge his father by plunging a sword into the viper, and her husband and master will be called Zeus by the Spartans.

Orpheus (attributed) (13)

Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 12–16Hymns 12-16: Hercules, Saturn, Rhea, Jupiter, JunoHercules is praised as the untamed, strong-handed god of the twelve labours. Saturn (Kronos) is invoked as the mighty Titan and husband of Rhea, and Rhea as the daughter of Protogonus and mother of gods and men. The group ends with Jupiter (Zeus), the supreme king of the gods, and Juno (Hera), his queen of the air.
Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 27–31Hymns 27-31: the Mother of the Gods, Mercury, Proserpine, Bacchus, the CuretesThe Mother of the Gods is invoked as the great nurse of all, honoured with the drum, and Mercury (Hermes) as the messenger of Zeus and son of Maia, patron of gain and graceful speech. Proserpine is addressed as the only-begotten daughter of Zeus and honoured wife of Pluto. Bacchus appears as a two-horned, ivy-crowned god of two forms, and the Curetes as leaping armed dancers.
Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 42–46Hymns 42-46: Mises, the Seasons, Semele, Dionysius Bassareus, Liknitus BacchusMises, here called Thesmophorus, is invoked as a spermatic god of many names who bears a leafy rod, and the Seasons as the daughters of Jove and Themis who bring justice and peace. Semele is addressed as the Cadmean mother of Bacchus. The group closes with Dionysius Bassareus, the bull-faced son of the thunder, and Liknitan Bacchus, bearer of the vine.
Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 17–21Hymns 17-21: Neptune, Pluto, Thundering Jove, Jove the Author of Lightning, the CloudsNeptune is invoked as the dark-haired, earth-shaking ruler of the sea, and Pluto as the lord of the underworld, whose realm lies in Tartarus among the pale shades of the dead. Two hymns address Zeus as the thunderer and the author of lightning, calling on his fiery light and his roaring storm. The group closes with the Clouds, the aerial parents of fertile rains.
Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 32–36Hymns 32-36: Pallas, Victory, Apollo, Latona, DianaPallas (Athena) is hailed as the fierce daughter of Zeus who roused the Phlegraean giants to flight, and Victory as the goddess whom men desire in battle. The longest hymn of the group invokes Apollo as Paean, the healer and slayer of Tityus, who tunes the music of the universe on his lyre. Latona and Diana follow, the latter as the torch-bearing Dictynna who presides over births.
Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 72–76Hymns 72-76: Fortune, the Daemon, Leucothea, Palaemon, the MusesFortune is asked to come with rich abundance, and the Daemon, or guardian genius, is invoked as a mighty, life-giving power called mild Jove. Leucothea, born of Cadmus and nurse of Bacchus, and Palaemon, who was nursed with Dionysius and dwells in the deep sea, are invoked as protectors of the initiated at sea. The group ends with the nine Muses, daughters of Jove, who are named one by one.
Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 57–61Hymns 57-61: the Terrestrial Hermes, Cupid, the Fates, the Graces, NemesisHermes of the earth is invoked as the god whom Fate set to dwell on the dread path that leads to deepest hell, and Cupid as the pure and lovely source of sweet delight. The Fates are addressed as the daughters of Night and are named Atropos, Lachesis and Clotho. The Graces are called on as the descendants of Jove, with Eunomia, and Nemesis as the almighty queen by whom the deeds of mortal life are seen.
Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 67–71Hymns 67-71: Aesculapius, Health, the Furies, MelinoeAesculapius is invoked as the healer and physician of mankind, and Health as the much-desired, life-bearing queen. Two hymns call on the Furies, the first as vociferous Bacchanalian powers and the second as the Eumenides, dread beings who watch over the counsels and deeds of men. Melinoe, the saffron-veiled child of Pluto's queen, is invoked as a ghostly power who appears to mortals in spectral forms.
Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 0–3Hymns 0-3: Musaeus (proem), Hecate, Prothyraea, NightThe collection opens with a prologue in which Orpheus addresses his pupil Musaeus, promises to teach him the rites of sacrifice and then calls on a long roll of gods, nymphs, spirits and personified powers to attend. The prologue ends with a short invocation of Hecate of the crossroads, which Taylor prints as its closing lines (modern Hymn 1). The next two hymns invoke Prothyraea, the goddess who presides over childbirth, and Night, named as the parent from whom gods and men first arose.
Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 8–11Hymns 8-11: the Sun, the Moon, Nature, PanThe Sun is addressed as the golden Titan whose eternal eye surveys the whole sky, and the Moon as a silver-lit, bull-horned goddess who wanders through the gloom of night. Nature is hailed as the ancient, divine, all-parent mother of things, and Pan as the universal soul of the world, a goat-footed, horned god who is aetherial, marine and earthly at once.
Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 37–41Hymns 37-41: the Titans, the Curetes, Corybas, Ceres, the Ceralian MotherA hymn to the Titans calls them the offspring of Heaven and Earth, and a second hymn to the Curetes names them as brass-beating servants of Mars. Corybas is invoked as a two-fold Curete. Two hymns to Demeter follow, one to Ceres as universal mother and one to the Ceralian Mother, who wandered in grief until she found her daughter Proserpine in the underworld.
Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 62–66Hymns 62-66: Justice, Equity, Law, Mars, VulcanThree hymns praise the principles that order the world: Justice, whose piercing eye sits beside the throne of Zeus, Equity, the friend of just conduct, and Law, the king of gods and men. Mars is invoked as the unconquered god who rejoices in darts and bloody wars, and Vulcan as the strong bearer of unwearied fire.
Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 77–82Hymns 77-82: Mnemosyne, Aurora, Themis, the North, West and South WindsMnemosyne, the consort of Zeus and source of the Muses, is invoked to wake the memory of the initiate, and Aurora as the goddess whose rising ray leads on the day. Themis is hailed as the illustrious child of heaven. The last three hymns address the winds: Boreas, whose wintry blasts tear the air, Zephyrus of the west, who gives rest to weary labour, and Notus of the south, who drives the rain clouds.

Parthenius of Nicaea (1)

Parthenius of Nicaea, Love Romances 14.1–15.5Cleoboea and Antheus; Daphne, Leucippus and ApolloCleoboea, wife of Phobius of Miletus, falls in love with the young hostage Antheus; when he refuses her she has him go down a well after a partridge, pushes a stone on him, and hangs herself, and Alexander Aetolus tells the tale in verse. Daphne, a huntress dear to Artemis, is loved by Leucippus, who joins her hunt dressed as a girl. Apollo, who also loves her, has the maidens expose him and they kill him with their spears, and as Apollo pursues her she prays to Zeus and becomes the bay-tree.

Zeus in the ancient sources