The Religions Book

78

The infant Zeus, here painted

by Carlo Cignani (1628–1719), was

variously described in myth as being

nursed by nymphs, a she-goat, or bees

that lived in the Diktaean cave.

See also: Symbolism made real 46–47 ■ Beliefs for new societies 56–57

■ The power of the great goddess 104

A

round 1420 BCE, the Minoan

civilization of the island of

Crete was conquered by the

Myceneans from mainland Greece,

and as the Greek invaders absorbed

the culture of the Minoans, so

indigenous Cretan and Greek myth

became intertwined. The chief

deity of the Minoans was a great

mother goddess, who, in legend,

gave birth to a divine son in the

Diktaean cave above Psychro. This

cave became her holiest shrine and

no one, god or man, was permitted

to enter. Once a year a fiery glow

was said to erupt from the cave,

when the blood from the birth of

the divine child spilled over.

This child grew into a wondrous

beardless youth or kouros, a demi-

god who was often invoked in

hymns to bring fertility and good

fortune to humans each year.

The Dorian Greeks, who

succeeded the Myceneans, gave

the Minoan kouros the name of

their own supreme god, Zeus, the

deity who came to rule the classical

Greek pantheon of gods that lived

on Mount Olympus. Regarded as

the place where Zeus’s mother,

Rhea, hid her baby from his jealous

father, Cronus, the cave became

one of ancient Greece’s many

sacred sites, or shrines.

Rhea may have been one of

the names of the original, Minoan,

great goddess, but in Greek myth,

although she was the mother of

gods, Rhea was not considered an

Olympian goddess in her own right.

Her divine child, on the other hand,

was elevated in status to become

the highest god of all, the father

of all other gods. ■

A DIVINE CHILD

IS BORN

THE ASSIMILATION OF MYTH

IN CONTEXT

KEY BELIEVERS

Ancient Minoans

and Myceneans

WHEN AND WHERE

14th century BCE, Crete

BEFORE

From prehistory Early

settlers, probably from western

Asia, leave evidence of rituals

and worship in caves on Crete.

c.25th century–1420 BCE

Goddesses are the primary

focus of worship in Minoan

Crete; many are associated

with serpents, birds, or bees.

AFTER

7th century BCE The Greek

poet Hesiod relates the birth

of Zeus to Rhea at Psychro

and his concealment from

the wrath of his father.

5th century BCE The Roman

Republic assimilates the

myths and iconography

of Zeus in its supreme

god, Jupiter or Jove.