The gods were conceived as having the same form as human beings, but of colossal size. They lived in an ideal country called Olympus,
"Olympus, where the gods have made,
So saith tradition, their eternal seat.
The tempest shakes it not, nor is it drenched
By showers, and there the snow doth never fall.
The calm, clear ether is without a cloud,
And in the golden light that lies on all,
Day after day the blessed gods rejoice." [3]
[3] Odyssey, Book vi., lines 54-60 in Bryant's translation.
Here each god had a separate dwelling, and in the midst was the palace of their supreme ruler, Zeus, known to the Romans as Jupiter or Jove.
Zeus was the sky god, "the father of gods and men," and the ruler of heaven and earth. He was the "cloud compeller" at whose will the clouds gathered or scattered across the sky, the "ruler of the storms," the "thunderer," by whom were hurled the ruddy lightnings. How far he surpassed all other gods in power is explained in the Iliad in an address made by Zeus himself to the gods:—
"Suspend from heaven
A golden chain; let all the immortal host
Cling to it from below: ye could not draw,
Strive as ye might, the all-disposing Jove
From heaven to earth. And yet if I should choose
To draw it upward to me, I should lift,
With it and you, the earth itself and sea
Together, and I then would bind the chain
Around the summit of the Olympian mount,
And they should hang aloft." [4]
[4] Iliad, Book viii., lines 21-30 in Bryant's translation.
In the imagination of the Greeks Zeus was endowed with all the noblest elements in human character. He ruled the affairs of men with fatherly benevolence. He rewarded goodness, punished the wicked, and was withal the fountain-head of justice. By a nod of his head he made known his will, and there was no appeal from his decrees.