Mythic Birthplace of Zeus Said Found

Heather Whipps, LiveScience's History Columnist, 

LiveScience.com

The Greek god of thunder and lightning had Earthly

beginnings, and scientists think they finally know where.

Ancient Greeks first worshipped the omnipotent Zeus at a

remote altar on Mount Lykaion, a team of Greek and

American archaeologists now think. During a recent dig at

the site, the researchers found ceremonial goods

commonly used in cult activity and dated at over three

millennia old, making them the earliest known

"appearance" of Zeus in Greece.

The discovery challenges the idea that Zeus worship

began on the Greek island of Crete, which at least one

classical historian names as the god's mythic birthplace.

The latest finds on Mount Lykaion, in the mainland

province of Arcadia, are as old as the idea of Zeus

himself, said the project's senior research scientist David

Romano, of the University of Pennsylvania.

"This new evidence strongly suggests that there were

drinking (and perhaps feasting) parties taking place on the

top of the mountain in the Late Helladic period, around

3,300 or 3,400 years ago," Romano said.

Worship of lightning god unbroken

Zeus is the most important figure in ancient Greek

mythology. He is the supreme ruler of Mount Olympus, the

god of the skies and the father of a slew of other deities

and mortals, such as Athena, Apollo, Heracles, Aphrodite

and Helen of Troy, say the legends.

The heroic figure was born on either the island of Crete or

on Mount Lykaion, according to two competing accounts

written in ancient times. While the myths are just that -

stories - historians and archaeologists have always been

interested in discovering what elements of the stories

might be at least loosely based on fact.

Though temples to Zeus, including one of the seven

ancient wonders of the world, are found throughout

Greece, Zeus' mythic "birthplace" may actually be the

spot where Greeks first started to worship him too, the

new finds suggest.

Excavating a trench on Mount Lykaion, in an area which

ancient Greek historians later called "the ash altar of

Zeus," archaeologists found more than 50 drinking

vessels, fragments of human and animal figurines, as well

as burned sheep and goat bones. All of the artifacts are

consistent with cult ceremonies of the Mycenaean people,

who settled Greece approximately between 3,000 and

4,000 years ago, historians say.

A portion of these finds were announced preliminarily by

the research team last year.

Mycenaean mountain-top altars are very rare on mainland

Greece, according to archaeologists. The period also

coincides with the first historical mentions of the god Zeus

in Greek texts, suggesting that the Mount Lykaion

ceremonies were to honor the man himself.

The worship of Zeus, a god traditionally associated with

mountains, became popular on Mount Lykaion during

classic Greek antiquity, said the team, made up of

archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania,

Arizona, and the Greek Archaeological Service.

Younger, higher levels of the trench have yielded silver

coins, a bronze hand holding a lightning bolt and petrified

lightning in past dig seasons. All are clear dedications to

Zeus, indicating that the use of the god's altar on Mount

Lykaion was likely unbroken for several millennia.

Myth and history

The connection between myth and history doesn't apply

solely to ancient Greece. Many ancient cultures 

worshipped gods that had links to both the spirit and 

physical worlds.

Real-world spots mentioned in mythic or sacred texts

often become places of worship or temple locations or,

like Mount Lykaion, vice-versa. This especially applies to

birthplaces or homes of the Gods, such as:

Heliopolis, Egypt: Though largely destroyed and

swallowed by the sprawl of modern Cairo, the ancient city

of Heliopolis was once the center of the Egyptians'

worship of Ra, the all-important sun God. Ra died in the

evening and was reborn every morning, according to

legend, spending the night in a boat floating through the

underworld.

Kilauea, Hawaii: This sacred volcano on the Big Island of

Hawaii is both feared (it is the most active volcano on the

planet) and revered as the home of Pele, Hawaii's fire

Goddess. Tourists who disrespect Kilauea or take rocks

from the mountain are thought to incur the wrath of Pele,

who will curse those individuals with bad luck.

Teotihuacan, Mexico: The most important site of the pre-

Columbian Aztecs and a major world city in its own right,

Teotihuacan was also the ceremonial heart of the cult of

the feathered-serpent Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec's creator

god. It was at the site's temple where Quetzalcoatl first

had plumes added to his reptilian body, according to Aztec

myth.

·           Top 10 Ancient Capitals 

·           News of Cults, Religion and the Paranomal 

·           The Seven Ancient Wonders of the World 

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