zeushttp://www.oed.com/dictionary/zeus_n1%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_useZeus, n.¹
Revised 2018

Zeusnoun1

  1. 1.
    1587–
    (The name of) the chief god of the ancient Greeks, corresponding to the Roman Jupiter (Jupiter n. 1a).
    The son of Cronus (whom he dethroned) and Rhea, and husband of Hera, Zeus was the protector and ruler of humankind, the dispenser of good and evil, and the god of weather and atmospheric phenomena (such as rain and thunder).
    1. 1587
      Also vnder the name of Zeus or Iupiter [French le nom de Ζεὺς ou Iuppiter], he sayth of him as followeth.
      Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding, translation of P. de Mornay, Trewnesse of Christian Religion iii. 40
    2. 1623
      He [sc. God] was that Ceres which filled their gardens with Corne, hee that Zeus which viuificated and made nature fertile.
      E. Chaloner, Sixe Sermons 225
    3. 1678
      The more intelligent of the Greekish Pagans, did frequently understand by Zeus, that Supreme Unmade Deity, who was the Maker of the World.
      R. Cudworth, True Intellectual System of Universe i. iv. 258
    4. 1706
      The old Egyptian Theologers..did not absolutely confound or identifie Zeus or Isis with the Universal Matter.
      R. Brocklesby, Explication of Gospel-theism i. ix. 158/2
    5. 1794
      The literate Greeks worshipped their Jupiter, Zeus or Upatos.
      J. Hare, Ess. Necessity Revealed Religion 146
    6. 1831
      Hades, the brother of Zeus and Poseidon, was lord of the subterrane region, the abode of the dead.
      T. Keightley, Mythology of Ancient Greece & Italy 68
    7. 1871
      By Zeus, said Ctesippus, interrupting, I only wish that you would give me some proof.
      B. Jowett, translation of Plato, Dialogues vol. I. 211
    8. 1911
      In a cave of Cyllene Maia became by Zeus the mother of the god Hermes.
      Encyclopædia Britannica vol. XVII. 427/2
    9. 1971
      You remember in the Iliad when..Zeus deplores the sight of deathless beings involved in the pointless horrors of morality?
      I. Murdoch, Accidental Man 93
    10. 2007
      Apollo..was the son of Zeus and a Titaness called Leto.
      P. Wilkinson & N. Philip, Mythology 48/1
  2. 2.
    1721–
    allusively A paramount ruling force or being in the universe; a person who displays characteristics usually associated with Zeus, such as supreme power, voracious sexual appetite, etc.
    1. 1721
      No Michael, Zeus, or Peter Paul, Coul'd e'er produce among 'em all, So glorious an Original.
      E. Ward, Merry Travellers: Part I 7
    2. 1849
      ‘I have just been to see our Zeus or Pluto, whichever you like to call him.’ ‘The Emperor!’
      M. Norman, translation of L. Rellstab, Eighteen Hundred & Twelve vol. I. ii. iii. 89
    3. 1876
      The Zeus of Weimar himself [sc. Goethe] by no means hesitated to occupy the post of a Prince's Minister.
      Fraser's Magazine May 668/1
    4. 1878
      Instead of blaming herself for the issue, she laid the fault upon the shoulders of some indistinct Zeus or colossal Ozymandias who had framed her situation and ruled her lot.
      T. Hardy in Harper's Magazine October 763/1
    5. 1964
      He himself remained at his post at the pleasure of the Zeus of the Communist Olympus, i.e. Stalin in his Kremlin.
      E. Lengyel, From Prison to Power vii. 269
    6. 2008
      So what aphrodisiacs work best for the wife of this modern-day Zeus?
      Edmonton (Alberta) Journal (Nexis) 3 August b7

Zeus, n.¹ was revised in June 2018.

Zeus, n.¹ was last modified in December 2024.