Hey Everyone, welcome to Mythology explained. In today’s video, we’re going to explore
whether Zeus was, in fact, the most evil god in all of Greek mythology.
We’re going to take a look at the many confrontations between Zeus and Prometheus; we’re going
to look at how Zeus tried to prevent humanity from enjoying meat and at how Zeus stole fire;
we’ll dive into how Zeus committed genocide, nearly eradicating every last human; and lastly,
we’re going to examine Zeus’ conduct towards women
Let’s get into it.
Zeus didn’t have a conventionally nurturing upbringing in a stable household. His dad,
instead of loving him unconditionally, saw him as a future rival, so he tried to swallow
him, thereby imprisoning Zeus inside himself so as to stay king forever.
Following this, neither of Zeus’ parents were in the picture, and the location of his
upbringing - not the splendid palatial abode one would expect for the son of the king of
the cosmos - was a secluded cave.
In the beginning, it looked like Zeus, despite his early years, which were harrowing and
fraught with mortal danger - became a good guy, a strong leader of men driven by a desire
to do good and rule justly. Perhaps more accurately, though, would be to say that the darkness
within him had yet to bubble to the surface, like the once-trapped noxious gas that dislodges
from the muck at the bottom of some ancient, fetid swamp.
Zeus grew up, freed his siblings, waged a successful war against the titans, slaughtered
the giants, and finally, defeated Typhon, and with this last great conflict won, ushered
in a perennial era of peace and prosperity - at least, that’s what could have happened
- but sadly, for humanity, this was far from the case.
Instead, what we got was a series of altercations with Prometheus, all of which culminated into
unearthing and revealing the dark nature that lay - for a time - hidden beneath the surface.
First was the matter of sacrifice. Zeus decided, when it came to sacrifice, it was the meat
that needed to be offered up, leaving only the bones for humanity, which makes a lot
of sense because, as we all know, our bodies are at their healthiest and function optimally
when restricted to a bone-only diet. Thankfully, Prometheus successfully executed a ruse that
tricked Zeus into choosing the less favourable of the two sacrificial piles, duping the king
of the gods into choosing the bones, which were dressed up in glistening fat to seem
more appealing, rather than the meat, which was made unappetizing by having organs draped
over it.
Instead of coming to his senses and realizing that maybe he was being unreasonable, Zeus
doubled down, entrenching himself in his human-hating convictions by withholding fire from humanity
in an act of retaliation for his wounded pride. Now, the importance of fire back then in ancient
times cannot be overstated. In its absence, people froze at night; people couldn’t cook
their food; people couldn’t pierce the now impenetrable, enveloping darkness of night.
Zeus, effectively, stole all of humanity’s technology in one fell swoop - all because
he was bamboozled of his master plan, which was, apparently, to make people live off of
bones, not coming to fruition.
Prometheus once again rose to the occasion, delivering mankind from this plight by stealing
fire back for them. Perhaps, though, for the sake of self-preservation, he should have
just prioritized himself and stayed out of Zeus’ crosshairs. When someone is as petty
and prideful as Zeus, the consequences of defying them are compounding, becoming exponentially
worse after each offense. And Zeus’ response, in this respect, did not disappoint. The punishment
was twofold this time, an insidious trap laid for humanity and a condemnation of unending
torture for Prometheus.
There are two different versions as to why Pandora was supposed to be such a diabolical
punishment for humanity. The first is that, per what Greek mythology said, women were
inherently deceitful and wicked, so their being introduced to the world through Pandora,
the first woman, would be some sort of ultimate punishment, forever corrupting what used to
be a pure race constituent exclusively of men. The second is that Pandora had unmitigated
curiosity, which led her to lift the lid off of Pandora’s Box, which introduced an array
of horror and suffering upon mankind, including plagues and sorrow.
But you could say that humanity got away with a slap on the wrist compared to what befell
Prometheus, the arch-sinner in Zeus’ eyes. Prometheus was put in chains and skewered
to a rock. Each day an eagle descended upon him, eviscerated him, and devoured his liver,
and each night, his liver would regenerate so that he was doomed to perpetually suffer
the same torture day after day after; and in this state of ceaseless agony he stayed
for tens of thousands of years.
Before we move on to the next offense, Let’s do a quick recap of Zeus highlights thus far
as a malefactor and misanthrope. He wanted to deprive humanity of meat; he stole fire
from humanity; he unleashed species-wide suffering on humanity; and lastly, he condemned humanity’s
champion to tens of thousands of years of unbearable torture.
The back and forth with Prometheus would prove to be but a series of mild preliminaries compared
to what Zeus planned next. His progression here is reminiscent of a serial-killer in
training who starts on small pets before moving on to stalking and killing people.
By Zeus’ estimation, humanity had become entirely too wicked, bereft of any redeemable
quality. Their thoughts were reprehensible; their behaviour was deplorable, and when tabulated,
the species, as a whole, was utterly beyond saving - too far gone for the golden light
of salvation to shine on them. They were, in Zeus’ eyes, a beast so riddled with disease,
so infested with vermin, that the only course of action left was purification by fire - but,
in this case, to say purification by water would be more appropriate.
Zeus, in concert with the powers of Poseidon, consumed the earth in tempests and floods,
drowning the land. Continents were swallowed whole, and nearly every person was exterminated.
Only two people survived because they were forewarned by Prometheus. Had it not been
for this noble Titan again staunchly supporting humanity, then Zeus would have succeeded in
extinguishing humanity’s light, snuffing out every last life, as was his intention.
Before we wrap up the video, there’s two other points we should touch on: Zeus’ disgraceful
and despicable conduct towards women and him being, potentially, the real driving force
behind the Trojan war, which he could have incited to cull the herd, thinking that humanity
was overpopulated.
Zeus manipulated Hera into marrying him. He took the form of a bird and, in this guise,
feigned injury near Hera's window, knowing her to have a kind heart disposed to alleviating
pain from both bird or beast. She took him inside, gave him succor, but then Zeus returned
to his human form and took her by force. Previously a virgin, Hera was so ashamed that she married
him. And the awful way in which he made her his wife was truly a sign of what was to come.
The sanctity of marriage could not have meant less to Zeus. he was lecherous and unbridled,
pursuing any god, demi-god, magical creature, or mortal that caught his insatiable eye.
Most of his partners, which were beyond count, would more aptly be described as victims,
for lack of consent, even spirited resistance, seemingly meant nothing to him. And let’s
not forget about the danger the people he pursued became enmeshed in; being scorned
time after time didn’t sit well with Hera, so she would often lash out at the people
Zeus left in his wake, unable to get revenge directly against her husband.
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