For one thunder-loving god on another’s special day, some quotes from our Archive about Zeus where we learn that only he is free, that he has medicine for everything and that he is truly self-aware.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 50
“No one is free but Zeus”
ἐλεύθερος γὰρ οὔτις ἐστὶ πλὴν Διός.
This from Hermes speaking to Prometheus
Homer, Odyssey 14.58-59
… πρὸς γὰρ Διός εἰσιν ἅπαντες
ξεῖνοί τε πτωχοί τε. δόσις δ’ ὀλίγη τε φίλη τε
γίνεται ἡμετέρη·
“All strangers and beggars are from Zeus;
Our gift to them is small but dear.”
Stobaeus, 1.1.16
“Only Zeus has medicine for everything”
Ζεὺς πάντων αὐτὸς φάρμακα μοῦνος ἔχει
Stobaeus, wise man, collector of things
Ion of Chios, fr. 55
“Know yourself” is not a hard command:
but of all the gods only Zeus can do it.
τὸ γνῶθι σαυτὸν τοῦτ’ ἔπος μὲν οὐ μέγα,
ἔργον δ’ ὅσον Ζεὺς μόνος ἐπίσταται θεῶν
The Zeus I know doesn’t seem all that self-aware…
(Ion’s the dude from Chios)
