Gods are supposedly benevolent and love humans as they are a part of their creations, but Zeus has tried to get his revenge from them in some of Greek Mythology. Why does a God as powerful as Zeus want something as petty as revenge from humans?
During a meeting long ago between the Gods and the humans, man worked with Prometheus, their creator, to play a trick on Zeus to keep themselves satisfied. Zeus was a prideful God and took this very personally and decided to punish man and Prometheus for it.
Though Zeus is known to incite his wrath upon others, he does it only if he feels that it is justified. It is his duty as the God of Justice to maintain order among men. This all means nothing when the God that gave man life decided to disrespect Zeus and make a fool out of him.
What Did The Humans Do to Deserve Zeus’ Wrath?
Long ago when Zeus had just won the Great Titanomachy, he commissioned Prometheus, the Titan God of Fire, to create the first man on earth to populate it. Prometheus grew to love his creation but disliked Zeus as he would manipulate them to his will whenever he pleased.
After the creation of man, the Gods, and the mortals arranged a meeting in Mecone to decide the sacrifice needed to satisfy the Gods for their creation. Prometheus knew that Zeus was trying to exploit man so he devised a plan with them to fool the God publicly.
Prometheus quickly prepared two sacrifices for Zeus to pick from by slaughtering an ox. In one sacrifice, Zeus was offered the ox’s disgusting stomach but filled with meat and most of the fat inside of it.
The other offering was of glistening fat but contained nothing but the bones of the ox. This was done deliberately so that the God would choose the glistening fat as it hid the unedible contents inside of it.
Prometheus wanted man to be able to keep the meat and most of the fat for themselves instead of sacrificing them to the Gods. Depending on the reference, Zeus would either deliberately choose the fat as he needed a reason to punish man and Prometheus, or he would be fooled by the trick.
Either way, Zeus would pick the bones as an offering unknowingly, setting off a tradition that displeased the Gods. Publicly humiliated by man and Prometheus, Zeus started to devise a plan that would set a few events into motion.
Prometheus should have known better than to disrespect the most powerful being that ruled everything under and above the heavens.
How Did Zeus Punish Man?
Zeus’ public humiliation would cause a chain of events that eventually lead to the suffering of man for the rest of time. He punished both man and Prometheus for their trickery and started by taking away an essential in life – fire.
Fire was needed for the most basic essentials in life and man could barely survive without it. It provided warmth, light, and a means to cook during the long winter nights that would have killed them otherwise.
Zeus knew this and stole fire away from man to punish them for their trick. The God stole and store fire away from man in Mount Olympus, forcing them to eat the meat and fat they have stored from the Gods raw.
Prometheus was furious upon learning this and decided to steal fire back from the Gods to return it to man. When Zeus found out about the Titan God of Fire’s betrayal, he devised another plan to punish both Prometheus and man discreetly.
He asked Hephaestus, his son and the God of the Forge, to create the first woman on earth, Pandora. Pandora was a very beautiful woman and the Gods gave her multiple gifts for her beauty.
Zeus, however, would give her a deceptive heart and tongue, and a box of mystery. Zeus warned Pandora that the box should never be opened under any circumstance.
After that, Pandora would be sent to Epimetheus as a token of peace and his wife in marriage. Pandora would then start to live among men, carrying the mysterious box with her.
Her curiosity eventually got to her and she opened the box, releasing the contents of it on earth. The box contained plagues, diseases, misfortunes, and sorrows, all would which would infect man from then on, all but the hope left in the bottom.
Summary
When man was first created by Prometheus, a meeting was arranged by the Gods to decide with man what sacrifices should be offered as appreciation for their creation. Seeing through Zeus’ exploits, Prometheus devised a plan to trick the Gods with man.
This would result in Zeus picking a bunch of glistening fat that contained nothing but bones, and this became an on-going sacrifice from that day forward. Humiliated, Zeus punished man by stealing fire from them, forcing them to freeze and eat the raw food that they have saved for themselves.
When Prometheus stole fire back from the Gods to give it back to man, Zeus thought of another more discreet plan to punish them back. Zeus called for the creation of Pandora and gave her a box filled with the evils of the earth.
Pandora was then given to Epimetheus, Prometheus’ brother, as a peace offering and she lived with man since then. But eventually, the box was opened and all the evils that we know of today still plague man till the end of time.
