Zeus: King of the Gods

Dan Snow's History Hit

History Hit

History

4.7 • 12.9K Ratings

🗓️ 8 December 2022

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Zeus, the chief deity in Greek mythology, is the Olympian god of sky and thunder and is king of all other gods and men.

His tale is one of overthrowing fathers, eating babies and seducing women, both mortal and divine, by changing his own form. He's one of the most complex figures in history, and his story is one that's been retold throughout millennia. To try and make sense of it all, we're going back to the very beginning, to the origins of Zeus, starting with his grandfather and grandmother, Uranus and Gaia. We learn about the prophecy that ultimately overthrows Uranus, the same one that is also fated for Zeus's father, Cronus, and start to understand the family tree that becomes the Olympians - from Athena to Dionysus.

For this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by academic, author, broadcaster and Professor in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Warwick, Michael Scott. If you enjoyed this episode, you might also enjoy The Symposium: How To Party Like An Ancient Greek, also with Michael Scott.

Script written by Andrew Hulse

Voice over performed by Deryn Oliver

Produced, edited and sound designed by Elena Guthrie

The Assistant Producer was Annie Coloe

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, history at listeners. Everyone loves the ancients with the Tristan Hughes. In the
0:04.9	office we call them Tristanorean. We make fun of him, but now he's a monster broadcaster
0:09.6	in his own right. So it's less funny than it used to be. The jokes on us. He's an absolute
0:14.1	legend. He convinced us years ago that there was an appetite for ultra detailed ancient
0:18.9	history in a podcast format. And you know what? He was right. If frankly the classical
0:24.2	fair you're going on this podcast is too meager, then you need to get involved in the ancients.
0:29.7	He goes really deep. You can love it. Check out the ancients with Tristan Hughes or
0:34.4	over your podcast. Sing Muses. Sing to me a history of Olympus and the deathless gods who
0:54.8	govern earth, sea and sky. That is Zeus's command. The father of gods and men has summoned
1:04.2	the Muses, that company of sisters, to the bronze floor halls of Olympus, for his mind
1:10.6	is filled with worry. Nervous peals of thunder boom amid the peaks and roll across the plains,
1:17.6	and lightning flashes spread anxiety among man and beast alike. The Muses know which song
1:24.5	to sing, which threads to weave. It is the same story Zeus has asked for every stormy evening
1:32.6	since his bride, wise meters, grew round with their first child. It is a story of incarceration,
1:40.7	usurpation, dominion and prophecy. A cycle that repeats like the pattern on a loom. It is
1:48.7	the story of Zeus himself. It is the ancients on history hit. And well now, it is a big
2:03.6	day for the podcast, because this is the first episode in our newest series, a series
2:10.8	where we are going to be exploring each of the Olympian gods of the ancient Greek pantheon.
2:18.8	Of all of the gods and goddesses, the one that we are going to start with is the big man
2:23.9	himself. We are going to be talking about the incredibly complicated figure of Zeus, the
2:30.0	Greek god Zeus. Now the way we are going to be approaching the series is slightly different
2:35.9	to previous podcast episodes. The hearts of the episode will be a wonderful interview
	...

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