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Although not the divinities of the first generations of gods, the Olympians rule the Greek world from the Bronze Age forward. They are the six children of Cronos and Rhea (Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Hestia, Demeter) and the children of Zeus (Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Aphrodite, Ares, Dionysus, Hephaestus), although alternative geneologies exist simultaneously for Aphrodite and Hephaestus. The traditional number of twelve Olympians remains accurate because Hades, ruler of the underworld, seldom visits the upper regions and because Dionysus, a youthful Eastern immigrant, replaces Hestia, who is always at home tending the hearth fire. We will concentrate only upon the four deities who take the most active role in the Odyssey. Each of them is known by a series of epithets, some of which are translated by Fagles as follows: Athena sparling-eyed, Pallas, clear-eyed, bright eyed, daughter of storming Zeus; Zeus father, son of Cronus, Olympian, who marshals the thunderheads; Poseidon earth-shaker, Lord, god of the sea-blue mane, who rocks the earth; Hermes giant-killer, guide [of souls], god of the golden wand, healer, Cyllenian. Illustrations. The two bronze statues at the top of the page, both dating between approximately 470 and 460 B.C., illustrate the similarities and differences between Zeus and his brother Poseidon. Both are mature, powerful, bearded males (and the third brother, Hades, also shares all of these characteristics). The figure on the right is clearly identified as Zeus by the fact that he is hurling a thunderbolt but it is more of a statuette than a statue because it is only 13.5 centimeters high. By contrast, the bronze figure on the left is life size, standing 2.09 meters tall. Now in the national Museum in Athens, it was found in the sea off Cape Artemision and is often identified as Poseidon because a temple to the sea god occupies the land nearby. However, without the evidence of a trident, who can say with certainty that it is Poseidon and not Zeus? About the identity of Athena, on the left of the page, we have no doubt. On this red-figure Attic amphora, ca 520 B.C., she appears with her helmet and weapons and wears a cloak adorned with snake fringe and the face of the gorgon Medusa. The anonymous artist is popularly known as the Andokides Painter, taking his name from the potter who signed the vase. On the other hand, the bronze state of Hermes by Giovanni Bologna (1529-1608) is a product of the Italian late Renaissance that retains his early attributes: winged sandals, traveler's cap (petasus), and herald's staff (caduceus). |
