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| “ | Thunder, bring her through the wringer. Show her I'm the judgment call. The one who makes her kingdom fall. Lightning, wield her, use and yield her. Show her what she can't conceal. For true nature will be revealed. | „ |
| ~ Zeus gloating about his power. |
Zeus is the overarching antagonist of the 2022 ongoing musical/concept album, EPIC: The Musical, by Jorge Rivera-Herrans that serves as an adaptation of Homer's The Odyssey.
The King of Olympus and the God of Thunder, Zeus is perhaps the most powerful and feared god in the world, and is the father of Ares & Athena, and the brother of Poseidon. Firm on seeing the world bend to his will, Zeus opens the musical forcing King Odysseus of Ithaca to kill Prince Hector's infant son, and later on wipes out all that remains of his men and banishes him to Calypso's island.
He is voiced by Luke Holt.
Personality[]
If there are 2 traits that can best exemplify Zeus, it can just be a showoff and a hedonist. Zeus, due to his status as a King of Gods, feels the world should bow to his every whim. He talks fondly on undressing and forcing himself onto women, or wrecking havoc on the world or forcing Odysseus to kill Hector's infant son lest he will ensure he grows up to be a vengeful warrior who shall kill Odysseus' family, with "Thunder Bringer" primarily being Zeus flexing his power. And Zeus does not take it kindly whenever someone beats his own little games, as seen when Athena convinces all the Gods he assigned to free Odysseus, to which he summons thunder to try killing her in a fit of fury for humiliating him, despite Athena being his own daughter. He is also infamously unfaithful to his wife Hera, bragging about forcing himself not other women that Athena's arguments to convince Hera to release Odysseus is how he never once cheated on his wife Penelope. He also delights in people suffering, not only seen through his recollection on women he raped, but how he compares breaking the pride of men to be as enjoyable as he then forces Odysseus to choose between giving up his own life or the lives of all his men.
However, it seems Zeus still has a fondness to Athena as his favourite daughter like in the original Greek mythology. While willing to be much more violent with her when he infamously strikes her with lightning in rage, when Athena withstands his thunder in the official animatics and pleads him to release Odysseus, he immediately stops, implied to be out of regret for striking his own daughter in impulse.
Biography[]
Zeus is introduced in the first song in the musical, "The Horse and the Infant" appearing to Odysseus in a vision, in which he gives a vision of his death at the hands of Hector's infant son when he grows up. Tasking Odysseus with slaying Hector's infant son, when Odysseus learns who the unstoppable enemy would be, he instantly begs Zeus to spare the infant boy. But Zeus refuses, threatening to make sure Hector's son will grow up to killing Odysseus family and then burn his throne as revenge should Odysseus try to ensure he is kept on the dark and spared, and how his death will be the will of the gods. Zeus then reminds him on how blood will be on his hands no matter the choice, and he can only chose whose, to which Odysseus reluctantly drops the infant off a wall.
Zeus then makes a grand reappearance in "Thunder Bringer". When Odysseus' crew, who had now mutinied against him and now led by Eurylochus, and in their unstable state of mind, had slain one of the immortal cows on the island of Helios, the God of the Sun, Zeus was sent in Helios' behalf, appearing before their ship in a thunderous bang when they tried to escape. Boasting about how much he enjoys breaking the pride of men, comparing it to his usual habits of forcing himself onto women, in a clear attempt to poke at Odysseus' desire to reunite with his wife Penelope. This is to force Odysseus to make a choice, to either sacrifice his men to be killed in Zeus' wrath, or take the fall instead. Odysseus, like before, begs him to not do this, but Zeus makes it clear that someone has to die today. Odysseus reluctantly chooses to sacrifice his men as the ship gets destroyed.
However, Zeus also opted to imprison Odysseus in Calypso's island, far of reach from human civilizations. Eventually, the Goddess of Wisdom and his daughter, Athena, calls to him requesting Odysseus' release. In response Zeus begins yet another one of his games, having Athena to convince a pantheon of 6 gods: Apollo the God of Music, Haphaestus the God of Flame, Aphrodite the Goddess of Love, Ares the God of Battle, and Hera, the Goddess of Marriage. When Athena convinces everyone to release Odysseus, Zeus, slighted by Athena summons lightning to strike her in a fit of rage, causing her to eventually pass out. But Zeus stops when she makes a final plea to let Odysseus go, and eventually relents and Odysseus is freed from Calypso's Island.