Zeus And Odin :: essays research papers

genus Zeus and Odin Zeus is the pattern of the Greek idols. He is the boy of Cronosand Rhea, in fact the only son of these two to survive to adulthood. Zeus hadbeen hidden by Rhea so that Cronos would not swallow him like he had all ofhis other progeny he had been warned that one of his children wouldeventually overthrow him. Rhea sent Zeus to the island of Crete where he wasraised. Zeus eventually killed his alterher. After he killed Cronos, he restored actionto his brothers and sisters. He then drew lots with his brothers Poseidon andHades to see who would die ruler of the various parts of the universe.Zeus won the draw and became the authoritative ruler of the gods. He is lord ofthe sky, the rain god. His weapon is a thunderbolt, make for him by theCyclopes under the direction of Hephaestus, which he hurls at those who vex him. He married a succession of spouses with whom he had somechildren including Athena, The Fates, Ares, Apollo, Artemis, and Hermes.His last, and mos t well-known wife is Hera but he is famous for his manyaffairs. Odin is the attracter of the Norse gods and has a myriad of namesincluding Allfather, Ygg, Bolverk (evil doer), and Grimnir. He also has manyfunctions within the myths including being a god of war, poetry, wisdom, anddeath. However, he is not considered the " important" god of each of thesefunctions. Odins symbol is his magical spear named Grungir which nevermisses its mark. He also owns a magic ring called Draupnir which can create society of itself e real night. It was this ring that Odin laid on his son barefacedsfuneral pyre and which Balder returned to Odin from the underworld. Odinalso has two wolves, Geri and Freki, and two ravens, Hugin (thought) andMunin (memory). He sends his ravens out every daytime to gather knowledge forhim. Odin was destined to die at Ragnarok Fenris-Wolf swallowed him.Knowing his fate, he still chose to embrace it and do battle, showing the truewarrior ethic. He is the god of w arriors and kings, not the common man.Among his children areThor, Hermod, and Balder. He is married to Frigg, thegoddess of marriage. The first clear similarity between Zeus and Odin is intheir appearance. Both are very large men, but they are not depicted as fatmen. Both look very powerful and foreboding. They also are both shown ashaving beards. A beard represents manliness, in a very elementary way as facial hair