Divine Gods In Hesiod's Theogony

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The various renditions of Greek mythology tell stories about how everything in the universe came to be. Hesiod’s Theogony is one such story. Hesiod’s poem takes the reader through the creation of the universe and all of it supreme Gods and Goddesses. The three divine Gods take their rise to power in various ways and are all overthrown at some point in the poem. Ouranos, Kronos, and Zeus all come from the same lineage but take over their fathers position of power after the tolerance of the other gods and goddesses dwindles. Theogony explores various deities and stories behind who they are and what they have done. The first Divine God to rise to power in Theogony is Ouranos. Born to Gaia (the creator of earth) as her first child, he is one …show more content…

He also released his uncles that had been imprisoned during the rule of Kronos. As a gift his uncles gave him the power of thunder and lighting, and entrusting him with being the ruler of both the mortals and immortals. This began his reign as the third and final Ruler of the cosmos in Hesiod’s depiction. Zeus became a very supreme ruler over both the mortals and immortals. Theogony tells recollections of Zeus’ punishments toward people who defied him, such as having an eagle eat Prometheus’ liver or creating women (Pandora) to punish him for giving fire to mankind. The text refers to Zeus immense power by saying “There’s no way to get around the mind of Zeus. Not even Prometheus, that fine son of Iapetos escaped his heavy anger” (Harris 97). While Zeus obvious was a force to be reckon with, he was not entirely unfair or selfish. He freed his uncles from the underworld and helped to get them back into good health afterward. He looked out for his people but did not tolerate people trying to trick him or go around his back. Those people were the ones who experienced the wrath of Zeus. He did many great things for the immortals. Theogony exemplifies this in a passage that …show more content…

Taking into consideration Zeus’ long rule over the cosmos, he was obviously different from his grandfather and father. While they all shared similar qualities, such as being all dominating and exacting horrible punishments on those they saw deserving, Zeus was slightly different. As discussed in the previous paragraph, Zeus looked out for his people. As long as people followed his command he tried to help them the best he could, and it was for that reason that Zeus stayed in power for so long. His predecessors didn’t have much humility in Hesiod’s story. Their acts were selfishly to keep them in a position of supremacy. The Gods and Goddesses were all powerful in different ways, so they took a liking to a leader that recognized that and wasn’t overbearing like the previous ones had been. With all this considered it says a lot about what Hesiod was trying to get at in the poem about divine power and the rulers. Selfishness does not help to gain authority or to keep it. In order to be a divine ruler of the cosmos one must place them in a position of authority but not so much so that others wish to over throw him. It is important for even the Gods to find a balance of power or realize they will suffer the

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