It would be impossible to give an outline of Grecian or Roman art without describing at least the outlines of their religious beliefs as shadowed forth in their myths and in their plastic representations of the same. It would be advisable, therefore, to sketch, in as brief a manner as possible, some of the superior deities and their attributes, in order to understand better the art that was the glory of Greece and the grandeur of Rome.
The Theogony, or myths that relate to the origin of the Greek gods, includes that of the Romans, since the latter did not trouble themselves with the inventing of any origins for their gods, but simply borrowed them, as they did all their art, direct from the Greeks, merely substituting Latin names for their borrowed deities, instead of the original Greek ones.
Zeus (Jupiter) was the Supreme god of the Greeks, chief of the Olympian deities, the “Sky Father,” the ruler and controller of the universe, dispenser of the thunder and lightning, rain, hail, and fertilising dew. Before the birth of Zeus, the Greek poets tell us that Ge (the earth) first emerged from Chaos, and separated itself immediately from Tartarus (the abyss beneath), and that Eros, or love, then first sprang into existence. Ge (the earth) then begat Uranus (the mountains and the heavens), and Pontus (the sea).
By the union of the earth and Uranus, the twelve Titans came into existence. They represented the elementary forces of nature; there were also from this union the three Cyclops, thunder, lightning, and sheet-lightning, and the three Centimanes (hundred-handed), which are supposed to represent the stormy winds, the stormy sea, and the earthquakes.
By union with Pontus, the earth became the mother of many fabulous sea-deities. Other deities, offspring of the Titans, are Helios, the Sun; Selene, the Moon; Eos, the dawn. From Cœus and Phœbe, deities of the night, are Leto (dark night) and Asteria, (starry night). Cronus and Rhea, of the family of the Titans, had six children, the youngest of whom was the great god Zeus. He was rescued from the fate of being swallowed by his father, as his five brothers and sisters had been, and was brought up secretly in a grotto, on Mount Dicte, in Crete, was nursed by nymphs and the she-goat Amalthea, whilst the bees brought him honey to eat. Thus the youthful Zeus grew up in secrecy until he became a mighty god. The first of his exploits was to attack his father, and compel him to restore to life again his five brothers and sisters. He then found it was necessary for his supremacy to fight the Titans, who disputed his authority, which he did from his stand on Mount Olympus, in Thessaly, while the Titans fought from the opposite Mount Othrys. This fight lasted for ten years, and ended in the defeat of the Titans.
After this battle Zeus shared the ruling of the world with his two brothers, Poseidon (Neptune) and Hades (Pluto); the former he set as ruler over the sea, and the latter as king of the infernal regions. About this time the earth had produced another enemy to vex the peace of Zeus—Typhœus, a monster with a hundred fire-breathing dragons’ heads, which Zeus was obliged to fight also. After a mighty battle the thunderbolts of Zeus prevailed, and the monster was cast into Tartarus, or as Virgil and Pindar have it, into Mount Ætna, in Sicily, where he still shows his anger at times, by breathing out fire and flames against the majesty of heaven. Another battle still is recorded to the credit of Zeus before he was able to enjoy his undisputed dominion over the world, that is the battle with the Giants, when they attempted to scale the sacred Olympus by “piling Ossa on Pelion.” Zeus and his adherent gods were again victorious, and remained ever after the undisputed lords of Olympus.
The story of the battle with the Giants, the Giganto-Machia, formed a favourite subject for illustration with the Greek sculptors. The cameo of Athenion depicts Zeus in his chariot, and the Giants attacking, having snakes for their legs (Fig. 264).
Zeus was the national god of the Greeks, and was first worshipped on high places and mountain tops long before any temples were raised to his honour. He was worshipped all over Greece, and one of his earliest shrines was at Dordona, in Epirus. The greatest of all his shrines was at Olympia, on the northern banks of the Alpheus. It was here that the Olympian games were celebrated.
Fig. 264.—Cameo of Athenion.