Hey everyone, Welcome to another installment of Mythology Explained. In today’s video,
we’re going to be discussing Zeus and Odin. Let’s begin with their many similarities:
Both All-fathers and heads of their pantheons, Zeus and Odin are divine kings. Odin’s high
seat resides in Asgard, the dwelling place of the aesir gods, and Zeus’ high seat resides
on Mt. Olympus, the dwelling of the Olympians. They’re each depicted as older men, with
long white hair and long white beards. Odin is often portrayed wielding his spear, Gungnir
in his right hand, and Zeus is often portrayed with a crackling bolt of lightning in his
right hand. Zeus is strongly associated with the eagle, which is one of his sacred animals,
and Odin is strongly associated with the raven, of which two, Huginn and Muninn, are his companions.
And unlike the gods of monetheistic religions, neither Zeus nor Odin is omnipotent, omniscient,
and omnipresent. These two gods are linked by many parallels, and naturally, because
of this, we, as inquisitive primates, are filled with a need to know, unequivocally,
who the more powerful of the two truly is, and who, if pitted against one another in
an all-out, tooth-and-nail, fang-and-claw rock-fight to the bitter end, would emerge
victorious.
This head to head is perhaps more interesting for the reasons these two gods differ than
for the reasons they’re similar.
Zeus is largely defined by the wake of destroyed enemies he’s left in his path. He led the
olympians in a successful war against the titans; he defeated Typhon, the king of monsters
in single combat; and he successfully led the olympians against the giant uprising.
Zeus boasts an unblemished record when it comes to matters of battle and war. The same,
however, cannot not be said about Odin. In the mythic past when the Aesir gods and the
Vanir gods were at war, Odin was not able to lead the Aesir to victory. The two tribes
of gods fought to a draw, and the fires of war were quenched by a hostage exchange in
which members of each tribe went to live with the other. The second time Odin’s battle
prowess is called into question is in the mythic future, during the events of Ragnarok.
In this apocalyptic battle, Odin will be devoured by Fenrir, a monstrous wolf and one of Loki’s
offspring. These records speak for themselves. Zeus is 3 - 0. Odin has a draw and a loss.
What’s more, there is a quote from the Iliad that really elevates Zeus power to another
level. Here it is:
"Then [you] will see how far I am strongest of all the immortals. Come, you gods, make
this endeavor, that you all may learn this. Let down out of the sky a cord of gold; lay
hold of it all you who are gods and all who are goddesses, yet not even so can you drag
down Zeus from the sky to the ground, not Zeus the high lord of counsel, though you
try until you grow weary. Yet whenever I might strongly be minded to pull you, I could drag
you up, earth and all and sea and all with you, then fetch the golden rope about the
horn of Olympos and make it fast, so that all once more should dangle in mid air. So
much stronger am I than the gods, and stronger than mortals"
What this quote is essentially saying is that Zeus is more powerful than all of the other
Olypians combined. I’m not sure how literally that quote was meant to be taken. It could
be tainted by Embellishment, which is often a characteristic
of boasting, but nonetheless, it does speak volumes about Zeus' power. This quote is also
made all the more impactful because I have not found any such equivalent quote that pertains
to Odin. Judging from their resumes, I would say that Zeus being able to defeat Odin in
one on one combat is evident. Of course, when diving into this sort of discussion, more
than one aspect needs to be taken into consideration. So while it may seem that the advantage goes
to Zeus, more than just combat ability needs to be factored in.
While much of the mythology built around Zeus centers on his power, the focus of Odin’s
own story is quite different. His myths mostly involve the accumulation of magic, knowledge
and wisdom. He was taught Seid, a feminine type of magic, from the vanir goddess, Freja;
he became the master of poetry by stealing the mead of poetry and bringing it back to
Asgard; he learned the secrets of the runes and runic magic by impaling himself with his
spear and hanging himself from Yggdrasil, the world tree, for nine days and nine nights;
he sacrificed one of his eyes to Mimisbrunn, mimir's well, so that he could gain its mystic
visions; and he embalmed the severed head of Mimir with herbs, resurrecting it, so that
he could learn its secret knowledge.
Odin’s mental and magical mastery is showcased in his victory over the wisest giant, Vafthruthnir,
in a battle of wits in which they each asked each other questions until one of them was
unable to answer. What’s interesting about this last myth is that there’s another similar
myth involving Thor, except in Thor’s case, he defeats the strongest giant. This is interesting
because it further emphasises Odin’s pursuit of knowledge, not strength, and lends further
credence to Zeus being able to defeat Odin in single combat, by nature of showcasing
Thor to by the strongest of the Aesir gods, not Odin.
To the best of my knowledge, there’s no instance in which someone is able to get the
better of Odin through deceit, trickery, intellect, or any such matters of the mind. The same,
however, cannot be said of Zeus. There are several accounts of Zeus being deceived or
tricked throughout Greek mythology. Hera was the main force behind most of these occasions.
Here are two examples: 1- Hera drugs Zeus, binds him to a bed, and attempts to overthrow
him; 2 - Hera seduces Zeus and makes love to him, keeping him distracted so that the
Greeks can regain the upper hand in the Trojan war.
And herein lies Odin’s path to victory: using his cunning, guile, and magic, not relying
on his strength in battle.
Harnessing his knowledge and wisdom and consulting with his two ravens, Huginn and Muninn, who
report back to him at the end of each day, sharing with him news of the world, it isn’t
unreasonable to say that Odin could have gained knowledge of the child prophesied, should
he be born, to overthrow Zeus.
Metis, an Oceanid, meaning one of the three thousand water nymphs produced by the union
of the titans Oceanus and Tethys, was a consort of Zeus. It was prophesied that she would
bear extremely powerful children, first a daughter and then a son, who would have the
strength to supplant his father. When Zeus learnt of this, he tricked Metis into transforming
into a fly so that he could swallow her and forestall any such eventuality from coming
to fruition. But it was already too late, at least partially: Metis was already pregnant
with the daughter, Athena; and because Metis was trapped inside Zeus, it was as if Zeus
himself was impregnated, so Athena, who emerged from Zeus’ head, was born fully grown and
clad in armor, ready for battle.
My theory about Odin’s path to defeating Zeus revolves around getting Metis to bear
her second child, the son who would have the power to challenge and defeat Zeus. I believe
this to be possible for there is no mention, at least none that I know of, of Metis being
dead. She had merely been swallowed by Zeus, just as Zeus' five siblings had been swallowed
by their father, Cronus. And if Cronus can be forced to disgorge five gods, then presumably
Zeus can be forced to disgorge one. Therefore, Odin could reach out to Hera in secret and
propose to her a plan to overthrow her husband. I believe that Hera would be amenable to Odin’s
machinations, for she had been scorned by Zeus’ innumerable infidelities, and with
the backing of other gods, had already attempted to overthrow Zeus on another occasion.
Hera could seduce Zeus, make love to him, and then keep Zeus’ divine seed for later
use. Then she could enlist the powers of the god Hypnos, who could lull Zeus into a deep
sleep, which isn’t far-fetched because there’s a precedent. (Hera used this same ploy so
that she could set furious winds against Hercules while he sailed home after sacking Troy.)
Once Zeus was ensnared by sleep’s spell, he could be forced to disgorge Metis. Following
that, Hera could use the seed she had saved after her seduction of Zeus to impregnate
Metis with Zeus' child. And finally, Metis could be whisked away by Odin, who would take
Metis to Asgard where she could bear her child in relative safety. After the child was born,
He could be reared to despise his biological father, Zeus. It wouldn’t be difficult for
Metis to stoke such enmity, for Zeus had swallowed her and trapped her inside of him, giving
her more than enough reason to be furious; and Odin, who has been pitted against Zeus
in this hypothetical scenario, would act as as surrogate father to Zeus’s son, further
indoctrinating him, stoking his heart with a burning desire to usurp Zeus and become
the king of Olympus himself.
In summary, if Zeus and Odin were to meet on some distant field of battle and settle
their contest through strength of arms, Zeus would emerge the victor. But if Odin weren’t
drawn into such a fight, instead relying on his mind and his magic, then Odin would emerge
the victor by using to his advantage the ancient greek prophecy that divines how Zeus would
be overthrown by the son he would sire by Metis.
Who do you think would win?. Let us know in the comment section below.