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Ian Peterson
Stewart
Classical Mythology
10 December 2014
Zeus and I

Since the beginning of history, struggles and misfortunes have surrounded the
human world. No matter who you are and what you do in life, adversity haunts us each
and every day; it is the undeniable truth that causes us from reaching perfection.
Because we do not live in a flawless society, humans alike are on a constant pursuit for
happiness. To me, happiness and perfection nearly go hand in hand. Since birth, each
of us are programmed to answer the undeniable question: What makes me happy?
Human or not, each individual to have ever existed has experienced some form of
calamity, resurrection, and prosperity. Throughout this Classical Mythology course, we
have explored the many diverse lives of deities. One character in which I can most
relate myself to is no other than Zeus. Besides his countless affairs with women across
the globe, he has seen the best and worst of life. No matter the legion of difficulties he
came to encounter throughout his journeys, he came out on top. And how did he do
this? Failure, resurrection, and success. Not necessarily resurrection in terms of rebirth
from the dead which occurs throughout Greek mythology, rather the restoration of
power and the capability to overcome the obstacle at large. No matter how many times
Zeus has fallen, he constantly finds a way to get back up and surmount the hindrance
ahead. No matter how greatly we see ourselves as equitable beings, a little part of us is
vulnerable to malevolence and chaos in which we are blinded from seeing. When

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digging beneath the surface, I share both success and hardship not only with good, but
evil as well.
The great battle that took place between Zeus and Typhon is one for the ages. It
was a classic yet brutal clash between good and evil. Taking place after the pivotal
victory of the Olympian gods over the malevolent Titans, Gaea, also known in Greek
mythology as Mother Earth, became furious with Zeus in the way that he and his
trusted deities treated her sons (the Titans). Post war, Gaea met with Tartarus of the
Underworld, unifying to create a gruesome beast in order to kill Zeus. He was given the
name Typhon, or Typhoeus. Typhon possessed extremely powerful strengths that
would aid him to defeat the mighty Zeus, including a body that could reach the stars, he
could spit fire from his mouth, and had serpent features that covered his body. Even the
sight of such a monster scared away Olympian gods and goddesses, but not Zeus.
Zeus did not oppose Typhon, however, until after the goddess Athena had accused him
of being a coward for not confronting the enemy. Zeus, equipped with his powerful rod
of lightning, struck the beast and chased him to Mount Casion in Syria. Although Zeus
seriously injured Typhon, it was not a smart move on his part to engage the beast
without any weapons to finish him off, for Typhon was able to cut off his tendons. After
Typhon was able to take Zeus to the Corycian Cave, Hermes was able to put Zeus
tendons back in place. This enabled Zeus to recharge his strength completely in attempt
to defeat Typhon once again. By ascending from heaven on a chariot being pulled by a
winged horse, Zeus pursued Typhon again all the way to Sicily, Italy, where he buried

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him after throwing Mount Aetna on top of him. Such an effort squashed the beast to
death like a bug being stepped on by a shoe.
The main obstacles in which Zeus faces in this particular battle can be split into
two: 1) Zeus cockiness in attempting to finish Typhon by using his bare hands, and 2)
his resurrection. Zeus is notorious for being arrogant, and not so much for
underestimating the task ahead (usually relating to battles). He belittled his opponents
strength by seeing how weak Typhon was before the he counterattacked, as well as
being downright cocky. Zeus does not do this often, for he is the god who reigns above
all other gods. With that being said, he did live in fear of being overthrown as Supreme

Leader. On a usual day, he conquers tasks with great ease. Typhon was not the case
though, and he should've known this by realizing that other deities ran from the monster.
But the reason we succeed is very much due to our failures. And everybody should
consider this statement to be true. All humans and even heroes in todays society have
all failed in one way or another, be it major or minor. But we gain the motivation to
bounce back from such attempts, enabling us to work upon our flaws. The best way I
can relate myself to Zeus in this scenario is through homework, tests, and anything
regarding school. Two years ago I was diagnosed with ADD/ADHD. Because of such
symptoms, such as a lack of motivation or attention, many persons question if it is an
authentic condition. But I am here to say it is very much real. Its main effect on me is
anxiety and my lack of interest in certain school studies. If I am performing an activity
that does not interest me, I become overwhelmingly lazy. If it is an area that is too

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difficult for me to understand, it takes me an extended period of time to come up with an
educated answer. In addition, I do not take any drugs that can help these conditions.
When I study vigorously for tests, I go into the test thinking that I will do a decent job,
but the assurance of actually knowing I would succeed always is there in the back of my
mind. And why? Because I either get too cocky or panic. Thats when the anxiety kicks
in. Like Zeus, I gain confidence, but such confidence creates a bigger hole than I
previously thought imaginable. I prepare myself for battles, just as Zeus does; however,
such outcomes do not always work out in my favor. In regards to panicking, let us not
forget that Zeus was called out for being a coward. Regardless, he gained the
confidence to fight the beast. Now, if I prepare myself upcoming tasks, the outcome
proves to be successful a majority of the time. But like Zeus, sometimes he fails and
sometimes he succeeds. Finally, if the result is negative, Zeus and I both gain the
confidence needed to kick-butt the next time around. This is the resurrection aspect.
And when I learn from such mistakes, the positive outweighs the negative nearly every
chance I get to redeem myself. On a side note, if I do succeed, my parents congratulate
me for my hard work and treat me like a god, almost as if I saved the day.
Another myth in which I can easily relate my own life adventures to is the tale of
Zeus and Prometheus; however, unlike my similarities to Zeus previously stated, I am
fighting the good side rather than the evil. Based on this particular myth, Zeus accuses
Prometheus of stealing the element of fire and introducing/distributing it to humans.
Prometheus is found guilty because of Zeus higher social status (if you will), as well as
disagreeing with and complaining about these false accusation. Sentenced to eternal

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torture, Zeus stuck Prometheus to a massive rock where an eagle ate at his live each
and ever day. No matter the trial and Prometheus being found guilty, I do believe that
he had the right intentions by only meaning for humans to do well with such a crucial
element in our lives today. Zeus was not always a benevolent god, and lived in fear of
being overthrown time and time again.
I relate my own life to this specific situation by placing myself Zeus position
again. In my opinion, Zeus was being irrational not granting the human world access to
fire. Zeus ability to have authority over Prometheus is flat out unfair in this case.
Although fire can be seen as destructive, it also proves to be incredibly useful in daily
human life (more so than destructive). Prometheus was only trying to save mankind. I fit
the roll of Zeus in that I accuse people (more specifically my close friends and family) of
false information that I believe is true. He pushes his once acquainted deity away from
him, basically becoming non-existent to his own life. Zeus was family to Prometheus
and acted out of selfishness, making himself look bad (which he often does); however,
he sees such an act as beneficial to himself. I am not as egotistical as Zeus, but trust is
a major aspect in my life, and sometimes I take my word over others that may push me
away from a specific person. But everybody makes this mistake. Like failure was
discussed in the previous story of Typhon and Zeus, everybody fails at something more
than once in their life. We were born to fail and attempt to recover. There is no changing
the past, but we exist to write the future as the way we believe it to be successful. We
try not to repeat catastrophic and controversial incidents that have occurred in the past.
And trust is key in such an act. Not only in oneself, but especially in others. In todays

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society, we trust in our government to do what is right for our country. We trust that our
partner in a collaboration project gets his/her portion of the assignment done properly
and on time. We trust that we can trust one another. Zeus did not trust Prometheus
counterargument which stated that fire was created for the better sake of humanity. And
such a cruel punishment on Zeus ally was completely uncalled for. It is true to remain
cautious in life, but the ones we are close with we must trust. It is something I need to
work on of course, but more importantly it is something that the world needs to work on
as a whole. The benefits of fire outweigh the harmful intentions. Without fire and trust,
daily life would be extremely difficult.
In conclusion, life is full of ups and downs. When unveiling metaphors in Greek
mythology, us humans share both success and hardship. Rather we like it or not, the
human world was not made to be perfect. We were not created in order to serve oneanother as robot-minded peasants. Failure was created so temporary happiness could
be pursued and achieved without already succeeding. Succession was formed to create
affection with the world around us. Happiness is a constant pursuit, but perfection is not
the answer for such a thing. We look to perfection as a ghost: some part of us would like
to believe in such a thing, but really? Is it attainable? Zeus is seen as a Supreme
Leader amongst the gods, nearly flawless. But he too could not reach perfection. He
underestimates the troubles ahead, is big headed, lives in fear of being overthrown, and
lives in a life without trust. Nonetheless, he knows how to get back up after being
defeated. He too has areas of weakness, making him easy to relate to with humans
around the globe. If I have learned anything from this class, it is to be open minded no

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matter where life takes you, to never give up on ones hopes and dreams, and to trust
those who have found trust in you.