Does Zeus Fear Nyx?

There is a part of Greek Mythology concerning Zeus, King of the Gods, and Nyx, the Primordial Goddess of Night. The story of this comes from The Iliad, Book 14, Line 261, which describes Zeus' reaction to Her after Hypnos, the God of Sleep, ran from Zeus into the embrace of Nyx. The Iliad basically says the following:

Zeus stopped in reverence and would not displease Nyx.

Some people today have interpreted this as Zeus halting before Her in fear, but this is a misinterpretation and not what the Greeks meant. What we have to realize as English speakers in 2026, is that ancient Greek words didn't always have the same meanings as they do to us. For instance, calling a God awful meant to be in awe of them, whereas to us, the word awful means something that is irreverent. 

The word used in The Iliad to describe Zeus' reaction to Nyx is hazomai, which means to "stand in awe or reverence, or holy dread." Which again, dread did not mean the same thing to the Greeks as it does to us. In a religious context, it means respect. So what the Greeks meant is that Zeus has reverential awe for the Primordial that predates Him and is necessary for the Universe to remain in balance and Order. He values every part of His Kingdom and the foundations of it. It means He is Just and Pious, not scared, and understands the need for the other Gods and will not violate them. In the story of Nyx, Zeus chose the stability of the Universe, rather than battling with Nyx.

It doesn't say that Zeus cannot defeat Her. It says He chose to not violate Her, because the Order of the Universe was far more important. As my wife said, Zeus is King, not the Gestapo. The Gods both have mutual respect for one another, and that does not diminish the power of either, Zeus because of His Kingship, and Nyx because of Her Necessity. In ancient Greek religion, there were wars between Gods and other beings like the Giants, but the religion is largely not concerned with ongoing rivalries. All the Gods are worthy of respect. Of course, there could be something birthed that decides to defy the Gods, but the religion itself is not about an ongoing Godly or spiritual war.

In short, Zeus can beat Her, but He knows that to do so, would send the Universe into chaos once again, and so Nyx remains extremely powerful, not because Zeus cannot win, but because if He does, there will be tremendous upset. With great power comes great responsibility and Zeus, in His great wisdom, understands this. So the interpretation of Zeus having no power before Her, is not true. In actuality, He respects Nyx and Her House. A King does not destroy His own Universe, He loves, protects and nurtures it.

Now here is where it gets more interesting. Someone might respond to me with this by asking, "If Zeus respects the domains of the other Gods, why did He overthrow Kronos?"

The simple answer may be that there was too much chaos, but it goes deeper. The Greek Universe is one of reciprocity. By swallowing His children, He tried to completely destroy them, which did not respect their domains or existence, and was therefore a violation of one of the most basic spiritual bonds of the Greek Universe; reciprocity. Zeus took over to restore balance to the Kosmos. However, this still does not mean that Kronos commands no respect or functions. He was still worshiped in ancient times, and is still worshiped by Hellenists today, but over different domains and for different reasons. As I have said before in this post, the Greek Universe is not one of ongoing rivalry. We believe Kronos now exists peacefully with the other Gods, and is a God of the Harvest and a God of Cycles; also Lord of the Isles of the Blessed - given to Him by Zeus.

Now I don't view this prayer as talking about Kronos, but rather, as a God of Cycles, asking Him to help me through the most influential of my own in life. The point here is that even for Gods who were once fighting each other, balance and peace can still come among them.

If you wish, let's end this post with a prayer to these amazing Gods, Zeus and Nyx. 

O' Zeus, beloved King,

whom all of life, 

even Gods, call Father,

O' gorgeous and Mysterious Nyx,

dark do you come,

sending the world into sleep and quietness,

great do you both reign,

in Kingship and Necessity,

may all the glory of the Gods,

rejoice in the sound of your blessed names,

and all of us who still walk the Sacred Way,

be delighted and honored to know you.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

I'll see you at the next Herm down the road,

Chris Aldridge.

How We Know Achilles Existed

When people hear of the Tomb of Achilles, they don't realize that from Alexander the Great to Emperor Julian, and even as late as the Ottoman Empire, people have written of their visits to the site. We have multiple sources, some not even Greek Polytheistic, who testify to the existence of this structure and the remains of the Hero therein, and being that Achilles died during the Trojan War, His body would have been immediately accessible to the Greeks for burial, so there's no chance that someone far later discovered remains somewhere and interpreted them to be Achilles. Like the existence of Troy itself which was proven by archaeology, Homer's works are literally records of real places and Gods of cultures, so why are they also not records of real people? Achilles existed most certainly, and people visited His resting place well into the Common Era.

What makes the Tomb of Achilles lost today, however, is the fact that the marker is gone, as it was only identified by a pillar, and there's no record of exact coordinates. His remains lie unnamed somewhere near Troy. In other words, we'll probably never find it, and if we do discover His remains, nothing will be proof enough for a skeptical scientist. They will always find a way to deny what they don't want to accept, and always find ways to accept what they don't want to deny. Furthermore, what if there are actually no remains left? What if they have all withered away at the mercy of the elements? But what we can say for certain is that He was real.

The only general location of His resting place, which has been drawn, photographed and filmed many times, is a large mound called a tumulus, which is a man-made mound that normally presides over a burial site. Certainly not uncommon, as Greeks were burying war Heroes in mounds as late as the Battle of Marathon, long after the Trojan War. The town that was founded around or in the vicinity of the tomb, called Achilleion, was abandoned in the Hellenistic Era, leaving everything around it to fall either into the hands of ruins or bandits. However, the mound itself still remains and can be visited to this day.

Tumulus of Achilles on Video

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

Learning From The Greek Heroes: Achilles

Mirroring my late series Learning From The Greek Gods, I decided to begin another centered around the Heroes and Heroines, as I think they can and do present wonderful guidelines for human life.

There are times when you come across something you just have to have, and this was the case with me a couple of weeks ago when I purchased my first ever statue of the Hero Achilles from Crete, Greece. As you can see in the picture on the left, it's a very beautiful and detailed piece.

Being the Homeric Hero of The Iliad, Achilles holds a special significance for me because Homer was the first to introduce me to ancient Greek myth and religion. So someone like Achilles resonates with me. But there's something more to consider for the Hellenist when it comes to this Hero, and that's His role and relevance to the modern Greek worshiper.

Achilles is a Hero who can be prayed to for strength, courage, and victory in battle. As the greatest mortal warrior of His Age, one can find all the values of said person in Him. But what else does Achilles represent besides the obvious? What can we learn from Him?

Achilles represents the utmost of human strength, bravery and strategy. If there ever existed a man who knew how good he was and didn't give up, it's Achilles. He knows His strengths, and He knows what can and cannot be accomplished. He also knew His value to others around Him. When He withdrew from battle amid His quarrel with Agamemnon, Achilles knew the Greeks would notably hurt in His absence. Achilles teaches us to know our strengths, our worth, and to win when possible; even to use leverage when necessary. Being an advocate of truth when He protected the soothsayer from Agamemnon, Achilles also expresses the greatest of virtue and lives it by example, as we all should. It did not do Him any profit to stand against the richest and most powerful king of the ancient Greek world at the time, but knowing the right thing to do was far more important. It's like one of the Tenets of Solon, which says to do what's right instead of what's popular.

In our own lives, we may never be a great warrior on the battlefield like Achilles was, but His core values and ethics can shape even the most mundane of lives into Heroic ones.

In the Goodness of the Gods,
Chris.

Who Were The Trojans?

We all know the famous story of the Trojan War (City of Troy VII), how the Greeks and Trojans across the sea, fought each other for ten years, until the Greeks, led by Odysseus, tricked the Trojans with the famous Trojan Horse. The story is enshrined in the human imagination, and thanks to Heinrich Schliemann, is also embedded in the books of human history. But who were the Trojans of this time, really? Has that question ever been successfully answered? 

The first possibility is that they were a group of Greeks themselves. The Greeks came from the east and settled in mainland Greece. Troy is also in that direction. Remember, the Greeks had differently named settlements. Homer doesn't even call the invaders of Troy "Greeks," but rather Argives and Achaeans. So it's entirely possible that Troy itself was a Greek settlement, just called by its name instead of identifying with an entire ethnic category. It's also possible that the Trojans were Hittites, as the Hittite Empire was in Asia Minor, which is also where Troy was located. 

Some people think that the Trojans went on to become the Romans. Legend has it that, when Troy fell, a Trojan named Aeneas, fled the city and founded what would become Rome, which, as Karma would have it, later conquered Greece. However, if it's true that the Romans were the remnants of the Trojans, it would be very, very early Rome. Remember, Rome became a mighty empire, and many different bloodlines lived and populated there. Even today, a Roman citizen might not be the same as a Roman even five-hundred years ago. I think it would be very far-fetched to go to Rome today, point to someone and say, "you're a Trojan." I think the Trojan bloodline is basically extinct, that it died out a long time ago, certainly as history knew it.

Who were the Trojans of the famous war? I think the fair answer is that we don't really know. But we do know that there was a Troy, and we know it as a fact because it was excavated by Schliemann, proven to the world, and we do know it was one of the greatest times of Gods and Heroes ever written about in the history of humanity. The brave men on both sides live forever in history and in our hearts.

In the Goodness of the Gods,
Chris.