Zeus And Odin Essay Research Paper Zeus

Zeus And Odin Essay, Research Paper

Zeus and Odin Zeus is the ruler of the Greek gods. He is the son of Cronos

and Rhea, in fact the only son of these two to survive to adulthood. Zeus had

been hidden by Rhea so that Cronos would not swallow him like he had all of

his other offspring; he had been warned that one of his children would

eventually overthrow him. Rhea sent Zeus to the island of Crete where he was

raised. Zeus eventually killed his father. After he killed Cronos, he restored life

to his brothers and sisters. He then drew lots with his brothers Poseidon and

Hades to see who would become ruler of the various parts of the universe.

Zeus won the draw and became the supreme ruler of the gods. He is lord of

the sky, the rain god. His weapon is a thunderbolt, made for him by the

Cyclopes under the direction of Hephaestus, which he hurls at those who

displease him. He married a succession of spouses with whom he had many

children including: Athena, The Fates, Ares, Apollo, Artemis, and Hermes.

His last, and most well-known wife is Hera but he is famous for his many

affairs. Odin is the leader of the Norse gods and has a myriad of names

including Allfather, Ygg, Bolverk (evil doer), and Grimnir. He also has many

functions within the myths including being a god of war, poetry, wisdom, and

death. However, he is not considered the "main" god of each of these

functions. Odin’s symbol is his magical spear named Grungir which never

misses its mark. He also owns a magic ring called Draupnir which can create

nine of itself every night. It was this ring that Odin laid on his son Balder’s

funeral pyre and which Balder returned to Odin from the underworld. Odin

also has two wolves, Geri and Freki, and two ravens, Hugin (thought) and

Munin (memory). He sends his ravens out every day to gather knowledge for

him. 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 true

warrior ethic. He is the god of warriors and kings, not the common man.

Among his children are:Thor, Hermod, and Balder. He is married to Frigg, the

goddess of marriage. The first obvious similarity between Zeus and Odin is in

their appearance. Both are very large men, but they are not depicted as fat

men. Both look very powerful and foreboding. They also are both shown as

having beards. A beard represents manliness, in a very basic way as facial hair

is something that every man can have. In this sense the beard as a signature

feature of these gods brings in a sense of attachment to the people within the

societies that worshipped them. If they had a different signature feature, for

example wings, this would remove the gods from the common man. The

beard is something ordinary people can relate to. It may also be of note that

the stereotypical view of Vikings and Norsemen almost always includes

beards on the men. Maybe they were trying to emulate their head god or

maybe the god was "created" in the image of the ordinary man. Here is the

direct comparison. Zeus and Odin were respective rulers over the gods in

their mythologies. Zeus was known for upholding the law and social order. In

fact, one of his titles was Zeus Horkios which literally means "the Guarantor of

Oaths." This is quite similar ot Odin’s recording of all the laws, contracts and

agreements onto his spear which he was bound to uphold. They both had their

palaces in the sky to some extent. Mt. Olympus was very high (in the

mythologies; the real Mt. Olympus is a mountain, but not very high.) It is also

important to note that when the three brothers (Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades)

were deciding which part of the world each would get, Zeus chose the sky.

There are many stories of Zeus looking down from Mt. Olympus into the lives

of other men. This is also the case with Odin. He could watch other people,

gods and mortals alike, from his throne Hlidskialf in Asgard, Asgard being the

palace in the sky where the gods met. So there are distinct similarities

between Asgard and Mt. Olympus: both were in the sky, both allowed for the

observation of the rest of the world, both were the meeting place for the gods

in their respective mythologies. The actions of the two gods are very important

to look at as well. Zeus is well-known for going off into the world of mortals

and trying to have "relations" with the mortals. Often times he would change

shape in order to accomplish this. He took such forms as a bull, swan, golden

shower, and a quail, for example. This shape-shifting was also a typical action

of Odin. He changed himself into animals occasionally, such as a snake or an

eagle. (Interestingly, Zeus is often depicted as an eagle!) But, more often than

not, Odin changed himself into "The Wanderer." In this form he was known to

wear a

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