Marcio_35

1) "He then freed his father's brothers, whom Uranus had chained. In token of gratitude, they offered him thunder and lightning. Furnished with such weapons, Zeus can thenceforth command "both mortals and immortals" (Theog. 493-506)."

In norse mythology Thor and Odin are gods of thunder and Lightning. Odin is called of Þundr ("Thunderer") and Viðri ("Stormer"). In all mythologies thunder and lightning are the most powerful weapons. Odin can stop storms (Hávamál 154).

2) "From his shoulders came a hundred snake heads, frightful dragons, thrusting out blackish tongues; and from his eyes.... flared a light like fire," etc. (Theog. 824 ff.). Zeus struck him with this thunderbolts and cast him down into Tartarus."

Zeus defeated Typhon only because he had the help of Hermes, and the Aigipan (Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. 39 - 44; Suidas s.v. Haliplanktos). Zeus was first defeated by Typhon. Odin and his brothers killed Ymir which was huge and his blood killed all the giants except Bergelmir and his wife (Prose Edda).

3) "It is not possible either to trick or escape the mind of Zeus. - Hesiod (C.Eight Century B.C.), Theogony)"

Zeus was tricked by Prometheus twice. When Prometheus stole fire from the chariot of the sun and when he did Zeus choose fat instead of meat. Hesiod, Theogony 511 ff (trans. Evelyn-White). Zeus was almost put in chains by Hera, Poseidon and Athena, but he was saved by Briareos (Statius, Achilleid 1. 209 ff trans. Mozley; Homer, Iliad 1. 397 ff trans. Lattimore).

"You [Thetis] said you only among the immortals beat aside shameful destruction from Kronos’ son [Zeus] the dark-misted, that time when all the other Olympian gods sought to bind him, Hera and Poseidon and Pallas Athene. Then you, goddess, went and set him free from his shackles, summoning in speed the creature of the hundred hands to tall Olympos, that creature the gods name Briareos, but all men Aigaion (son of Aigaios, the Aegean), but he is far greater in strength than his father. He rejoicing in the glory of it sat down by Kronion [Zeus], and the rest of the blessed gods were frightened and gave up binding him." (Homer, Iliad 1. 397).

Odin can break free of chains (Hávamál 149).

4) "For already in Homer Zeus recovers the splendors and powers of a true Indo-European sovereign god. He is more than a god of the "vast sky," he is "the father of gods and men" (Iliad 1.544). And in a fragment of his Heliades (frag. 70 Nauck), Aeschylus proclaims: "Zeus is the ether, Zeus is the earth, Zeus is the sky. Yes, Zeus is all that is above all."

Turville-Petre, Gabriel about Odin: "The Norwegian and Icelandic poets, as well as Snorri, whose work derives from theirs, present Óðinn as the foremost and chief of the gods. In Snorri's eyes, Óðinn excelled the other gods so far that, in one passage (Gylf. 4), he endows Óðinn with immortality and other qualities of the Christian God." Source: Myth and Religion of the North.

5) "Zeus is the air, Zeus the earth, Zeus all things and what transcends them all. - Aeschylus (525 B.C. - 456 B.C.), Fragments." "Zeus is the air, Zeus earth, and Zeus the sky, Zeus everything and all that's more than these."

Gylfaginning: "He (Óðinn) lives from everlasting to everlasting, rules over all his realm, and governs all things, great and small." "He (Óðinn) rules all things, but the other gods, each according to his might, serve him as children a father." "Hemade heaven and earth, the air and all things in them." Odin sacrificed himself to himself and transcended death (Hávamál 138-145).

6) "Consciousness of his omnipotence is admirably illustrated in the famous scene in the Iliad (8.17 ff.) in which Zeus makes this challenge to the Olympians: "Then [you] will see how far I am strongest of all the immortals. Come, you gods, make this endeavor, that you all may learn this. Let down out of the sky a cord of gold; lay hold of it all you who are gods and all who are goddesses, yet not even so can you drag down Zeus from the sky to the ground, not Zeus the high lord of counsel, though you try until you grow weary. Yet whenever I might strongly be minded to pull you, I could drag you up, earth and all and sea and all with you, then fetch the golden rope about the horn of Olympos and make it fast, so that all once more should dangle in mid air. So much stronger am I than the gods, and stronger than mortals" (trans. Richmond Lattimore, The Iliad of Homer [Chicago, 1951])."

Hercules wrestled with Zeus in a fight and ended in a draw.

"Odin is the highest and oldest of the asas. He rules all things, but the other gods, each according to his might, serve him as children a father. "When they came to him he (Óðinn) threw the serpent (Jömungandr) into the deep sea which surrounds all lands. There waxed the serpent so that he lies in the deep of the ocean, surrounds all the lands, and bites his own tail. Hel he (Odin) cast into Niflheim, and gave her power over nine worlds, that she should appoint abodes to them that are sent to her, namely, those who die from sickness or old age." (Gylfaginning).

7) "And now his thunder bolts would Jove wide scatter, but he feared the flames, unnumbered, sacred ether might ignite and burn the axle of the universe: and he remembered in the scroll of fate, there is a time appointed when the sea and earth and Heavens shall melt, and fire destroy the universe of mighty labour wrought. Such weapons by the skill of Cyclops forged, for different punishment he laid aside—for straightway he preferred to overwhelm the mortal race beneath deep waves and storms from every raining sky."

Thor riding in heaven with his chariot: "All the hawks’ sanctuaries (skies) found themselves burning because of Ull’s stepfather (Thor), and the ground all low was battered with hail, when the goats drew the temple-power (Thor) of the easy-chariot forward to the encounter with Hrungnir. Svolnir’s widow (Jord, earth) practically split apart. Baldr’s brother (Thor) did not spare there the greedy enemy of men (Hrungnir). Mountains shook and rocks smashed; heaven above burned. I have heard that the watcher (Hrungnir) of the dark bone (rock) of the land (sea) of Haki’s carriages (ships) moved violently in opposition when he saw his warlike slayer." (Haustlöng).

Odin is also a god of thunder (he was called Þundr and Viðri). "Then they (Bor's sons) took the sparks and burning embers that were flying about afier they had been blown out of Muspell, and placed them in the midst of Ginnungagap to give light to heaven above and earth beneath. They gave their stations to all the stars, some fixed in the sky; others [planetary] that had wandered at will in the firmament were now given their appointed places and the paths in which they were to travel." (Gylfaginning).

Odin and the Norse gods decide the fate/destiny (Gylfaginning and Gautreks Saga).

8) "So then, [Zeus] by engulfing Erikepaios the Firstborn [Phanes], he had the body of all things in his belly, and he mixed into his own limbs the god’s power and strength. Because of this, together with him, everything came to be again inside Zeus, the broad air and the lofty splendour of heaven, the undraining sea and earth’s glorious seat, great Okeanos and the lowest Tartara of the earth, rivers and boundless sea and everything else, and all the immortal blessed gods and goddesses, all that had existed and all that was to exist afterwards became one and grew together in the belly of Zeus. After he had hidden them all away, again into the glad light from his holy heart he brought them up, performing mighty acts."

More about Orphic hymns: "[So Zeus swallowed the body of the god] of the Firstborn king [Phanes], the reverend one. And with him all the immortals became one, the blessed gods and goddesses and rivers and lovely springs and everything else that then existed: he became the only one." Some say Zeus devoured Phanes in order to assume his primal cosmic power and redistribute it amongst a new generation of gods--the Olympians which he sired. Source: http://www.theoi.com/Protogenos/Phanes.html

The Orphic hymns was another version to the creation of the world, the Greeks had to create multiple versions. They are possibly influenced by Near Eastern models.

"He (Odin) needs no food himself. Wine is to him both food and drink, as is here said: Gere and Freke Sates the warfaring, Famous father of hosts; But on wine alone Odin in arms renowned Forever lives."

Jacob Grimm about Odin: It can scarcely be doubted that the word is immediately derived fro verb OHG. watan wuot, ON vaða, ôð, signifying meare, transmeare, cum impetu ferri, but not identical with Lat. vadere, as the latter has the a long, and is more likely connected with OS. gavîtan, AS. gewîtan. From watan comes the subst. wuot (our wuth, fury), as menoj and animus properly mean mens, ingenium, and then also impetuosity, wildness; the ON. öðr has kept to the one meaning of mens or sensus. According to this, Wuotan, Oðinn would be the all-powerfull, all-penetrating being, qui omnia permeat; as Lucan says of Jupiter: Est quodcunque vides, quocunque moveris, the spirit-god; conf. Georg. 4, 221: Deus ire per omnes terras, and Ecl. 3,60: Jovis omnia plena." Teutonic Mythology v1.

So Zeus and Odin are equivalent.

Sorry I deleted the post by accident. Here is that I wrote before:

The Greek gods can die. Pan died (he was always considered a god never a demigod) and Zagreus died (he was devoured by the Titans, but reborn as Dionysus). Ares not only died because it was saved by Hermes and the goddess Dione said this: "Bear it, my child," replied Dione, "and make the best of it. We dwellers in Olympus have to put up with much at the hands of men, and we lay much suffering on one another. Ares had to suffer when Otus and Ephialtes, children of Aloeus, bound him in cruel bonds, so that he lay thirteen months imprisoned in a vessel of bronze. Ares would have then perished had not fair Eeriboea, stepmother to the sons of Aloeus, told Hermes, who stole him away when he was already well-nighworn out by the severity of his bondage." Iliad book 5.

Other examples:

MENOE'TIUS (Menoitios). A son of Iapetus and Clymene or Asia, and a brother of Atlas, Prometheus and Epimetheus, was killed by Zeus with a flash of lightning, in the fight of the Titans, and thrown into Tartarus. (Hes. Theog. 507, &c., 514; Apollod. i. 2. § 3; Schol. ad Aeschyl. Prom. 347.) Source: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Menoetius was a cousin of Zeus.

IASION: "Elektra, the daughter of Atlas, and Zeus were the parents of Iasion and Dardanos. Now Iasion had a lust for Demeter and was hit by a thunderbolt as he was about to attack her." Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. 138 (trans. Aldrich).

IASION: "Teams [of horses] which destroyed their drivers . . . Horses destroyed Iasion, son of Jove [Zeus] by Electra, daughter of Atlas." [N.B. Presumably the horses destroyed Iasion when Zeus cast his lightning bolt, causing them to bolt in panic, throwing the rider from the chariot.] Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 250 (trans. Grant).

LINUS was son of Urania and Apollo (Hygin. Fab. 161), or he was a son of Apollo by Aethusa, daughter of Poseidon (Contest 314) and he was died.

Chiron gave up his immortality and he was transformed into a constellation (Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2. 83 - 87, Ovid, Metamorphoses 2. 649). The Moirai seems to have power over the immortality of the gods According Ovid, Metamorphoses 2. 649.

The Greek gods keeps his immortality with ambrosia and nectar. Hesiod says: "With nine silver-swirling streams he winds about the earth and the sea's wide back, and then falls into the main; but the tenth flows out from a rock, a sore trouble to the gods. For whoever of the deathless gods that hold the peaks of snowy Olympus pours a libation of her water and is forsworn, must lie breathless until a full year is completed, and never come near to taste ambrosia and nectar, but lie spiritless and voiceless on a strewn bed: and a heavy trance overshadows him. But when he has spent a long year in his sickness, another penance more hard follows after the first. For nine years he is cut off from the eternal gods and never joins their councils or their feasts, nine full years. But in the tenth year he comes again to join the assemblies of the deathless gods who live in the house of Olympus. (Theogony)

Some sources contradict the death of Odin in Ragnarök. Gylfaginning: "Ganglere then made the following question: Who is the highest and oldest of all the gods? Made answer Har: Alfather (Odin) he is called in our tongue, but in Asgard of old he had twelve names. The first is Alfather, the second is Herran or Herjan, the third Nikar or Hnikar, the fourth Nikuz or Hnikud, the fifth Fjolner, the sixth Oske, the seventh Ome, the eighth Biflide or Biflinde, the ninth Svidar, the tenth Svidrer, the eleventh Vidrer, the twelfth Jalg or Jalk. Ganglere asks again: Where is this god? What can he do? What mighty works has he accomplished? Answered Har: He lives from everlasting to everlasting, rules over all his realm, and governs all things, great and small. Then remarked Jafnhar: He made heaven and earth, the air and all things in them. Thride added: What is most important, he made man and gave him a spirit, which shall live, and never perish, though the body may turn to dust or burn to ashes. All who live a life of virtue shall dwell with him in Gimle or Vingolf."

"Odin died in his bed in Swithiod; and when he was near his death he made himself be marked with the point of a spear, and said he was going to Godheim, and would give a welcome there to all his friends, and all brave warriors should be dedicated to him; and the Swedes believed that he was gone to the ancient Asgard, and would live there eternally." Snorri euhemerizied the norse gods, but he says that the heathens Swedes believed that Odin was eternal (Ynglinga Saga).

"In Asgard is a place called Hlidskjalf, and when Odin seated himself there in the high-seat, he saw over the whole world, and what every man was doing, and he knew all things that he saw. His wife hight Frigg, and she was the daughter of Fjorgvin, and from their offspring are descended the race that we call asas, who inhabited Asgard the old and the realms that lie about it, and all that race are known to be gods. And for this reason Odin is called Alfather, that he is the father of all gods and men, and of all things that were made by him and by his might. Jord (earth) was his daughter and his wife; with her he begat his first son, and that is Asa-Thor. To him (Thor) was given power and strength, wherewith he overcometh all living things.

"Then took Alfather Night and her son Day, gave them two horses and two cars, and set them up in heaven to drive around the earth, each in twelve hours by turns. Night rides first on the horse which is called Hrimfaxe, and every morning he bedews the earth with the foam from his bit. The horse on which Day rides is called Skinfaxe, and with his mane he lights up all the sky and the earth."

"Odin is the highest and oldest of the asas. He rules all things, but the other gods, each according to his might, serve him as children a father."

I don't think so. Both pantheons are equivalent in mythology. In the past the Germanic (and Norse) gods were identified with the Roman gods (= Greek gods) by the Romans and Germanic peoples. So the sight of these people they possessed the same power/function. The problem is that Norse mythology was recorded by Christian (13th century) and they euhemerized the Norse gods making them mortals.

The Greek gods can die: Pan died, Zagreus (son of Zeus e Persephone) died, Menoetius (Zeus's cousin, son of Iapetos and Klymene or Asie) died, Chiron gave up of immortality, Linus (son of Apollo and Calliope or Terpsicore) died, Iasion (son of Zeus and Elektra) died, Orion son of Poseidon and Gaia or of Gaia, Zeus, Hermes e Poseidon died. Ares not only died because it was saved by Hermes according to the goddess Dione (Iliad), he was captured by Aloadae and imprisoned for 13 months. The Greek gods keeps his immortality with Ambrosia and Nectar.

Odin and Thor are very powerful. Odin could transform his shape, with words alone he could quench fire, still the ocean in tempest, and turn the wind to any quarter he pleased, he called the dead out of the earth, or set himself beside the burial-mounds, he taught all these arts in Runes, and songs which are called incantations, and therefore the Asaland people (Æsir) are called incantation-smiths. Odin understood also the art in which the greatest power is lodged, and which he himself practised; namely, what is called magic (Seiðr). By means of this he could know beforehand the predestined fate of men, or their not yet completed lot; and also bring on the death, ill-luck, or bad health of people, and take the strength or wit from one person and give it to another. Odin knew finely where all missing cattle were concealed under the earth, and understood the songs by which the earth, the hills, the stones, and mounds were opened to him; and he bound those who dwell in them by the power of his word, and went in and took what he pleased. His enemies dreaded him; his friends put their trust in him, and relied on his power and on himself. He taught the most of his arts to his priests of the sacrifices, and they came nearest to himself in all wisdom and witch-knowledge (Ynglinga Saga). He made heaven and earth, the air and all things in them (Gylfaginning). Odin is called Alfather, for he is the father of all the gods; he is also called Valfather, for all who fall in fight are his chosen sons (Gylfaginning). The spear Gungnir has the power of victory and never misses his target (Skáldskaparmál). Odin is the god of wisdom, victory, war, magic, death, life, poetry, wind, intellect...

Thor is the strongest of all gods and men (Gylfaginning), and his strength is so great that nothing can compare to it neither gods nor men (Gesta Danorum). Thor was the god of power and strength (Gylfaginning). Thor was more powerful of the gods (Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum) and giants (Þórsdrápa). Thor was also the god of thunder, lightning, rain, hail, fire, wind... Thor also created constellations (Eyes of Þjazi and Aurvandil's Toe). Nothing could resist or survive the blow of his hammer (Gesta Danorum). Thor said he would get as big as the sky itself (Skáldskaparmál). The Norse gods can get into berserker rage and this increases their strength and endurance (Ynglinga Saga). Thor was seen as an adversary to Christ and the Christian God according to Brennu-Njáls Saga.

Víðarr, Höðr and Magni are very strong gods (Gylfaginning). Norse gods can change shape, can see the future, have power over the destiny (Gautreks Saga, Gylfaginning), and possess the divine and magical powers. Freyr's sword moves alone on the battlefield. The goddess Jord is very powerful (Prologue, Prose Edda). The Norse gods had the power of desire: "King Gylfe was a wise man and skilled in the black art. He wondered much that the asa-folk was so mighty in knowledge, that all things went after their will. He thought to himself whether this could come from their own nature, or whether the cause must be sought for among the gods whom they worshiped. He therefore undertook a journey to Asgard (Gylfaginning)."

In ancient records of the 4th century and other medieval Odin was equated with Mercury, Mars, Pluto, Jupiter and Saturn, Thor was equated with Jupiter and Hercules, Týr was equated with Mars, Freyja was equated with Minerva and Venus, Frigg was equated with Minerva Venus and Juno, and Gefjon was equated with Venus and Diana. These early comparisons were made because of the powers they possessed.

About Atlas according Myths:

Homer, Odyssey 1. 52 ff (trans. Shewring) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) : "Atlas the baleful; he knows the depths of all the seas, and he, no other, guards (or holds) the tall pillars that keep the sky and earth apart."

Pausanias, Description of Greece 9. 20. 3 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) : "There is near Tanagra [in Boiotia] . . . Mount Kerykios, the reputed birthplace of Hermes, and also a place called Polos. Here they say that Atlas [the grandfather of Hermes] sat and meditated deeply upon hell (haides) and heaven (ouranos), as Homer says of him:-- `Daughter of baneful Atlas, who knows the depths of every sea, while he himself holds up [or guards] the tall pillars, which keep apart earth and heaven."

Polyidus, Fragment 837 (from Etymologicum Magnum) (trans. Campbell, Vol. Greek Lyric V) : "Atlas : a mountain in Libya. Polyidos the dithyrambic poet makes Atlas a shepherd: according to him, Perseus arrived on the scene, and Atlas asked who he was and where he had come from; and when Perseus’ words failed to persuade him to allow him to pass, he was compelled to show him the Gorgon’s face and turned him to stone; and the mountain was called Atlas after him. So the commentary on Lykophron."

In some myths Atlas holds a pillar, or mountain, or the earth or the sky. But the older version is the Homer whose meaning seems to be pillars. In some ancient representations Atlas appears holding a mountain. In others he appears seated on a throne next to the Gaia (representing the Earth). In the latest art Atlas holds the sky or the earth.

More about Thor:

Thor lifted the serpent disguised of cat so high with their arms that they came close to heaven (Gylfaginning). And when Thor struck the serpent when he was fishing it shook the whole Earth (Hymiskviða).

Thanks man! Thor in Norse myths is practically a Sky Father. He still had power over fertility (Egils Saga Einhenda ok Ásmundar Berserkjabana), health (viking amulets), destiny/fate (Gautreks Saga) and dreams (Flóamanna Saga). He produced storms with your own beard (Rögnvalds Þáttr ok Rauðs). In one of the myths Thor said he would get as big as the sky itself (Skáldskaparmál). Thor is an excellent swimmer and wrestler. The Norse gods besides having your natural divine power they practiced sorcery and Thor are among them (Ynglinga Saga). Thor was seen as an adversary to Christ and the Christian God according to Brennu-Njáls Saga. The strength of Thor is so large that can threaten the universe: https://notendur.hi.is//eybjorn/ugm/hymir/hym24.html (read the whole page link). Thor is called of sviptir sagna ("swift mover of armies"), hraðskyndir gunnar ("swift hastener of battle"), himinsjóli ("lord of heaven"), herðir halllands ("promoter (sharpener) of the sword"), tollurr tvíviðar ("pole of the bow (archer))" and gunnar snotrir ("battle-wise"). Thor grabbed with his hand a rod of iron thrown in the air by giant Geirröðr. Thor appeared immediately whenever it was invoked. In myth Thor is fast. Thor competed against Odin by destiny of Starkaðr. In Asgard Warriors of Odin spend the day fighting and Thor spends the day killing trolls. The Norse gods can get into berserker rage and this increases their strength and endurance (Ynglinga Saga). Thor also has power over the dead, he received into his kingdom the poor men when they died (Hárbarðsljóð). Thor also created the constellations: Þjazi Augu ("The Eyes of Thjazi") and Aurvandilstá ("Aurvandil's Toe").

Greek gods can die too. Pan died (he always was considered a god never a demigod) and Zagreus (son of Zeus and Persephone) died devoured by the Titans. Ares nearly died but was saved by Hermes and the goddess Dione said about it:

In book 5 of the Illiad: "Bear it, my child," replied Dione, "and make the best of it. We dwellers in Olympus have to put up with much at the hands of men, and we lay much suffering on one another. Ares had to suffer when Otus and Ephialtes, children of Aloeus, bound him in cruel bonds, so that he lay thirteen months imprisoned in a vessel of bronze. Ares would have then perished had not fair Eeriboea, stepmother to the sons of Aloeus, told Hermes, who stole him away when he was already well-nigh worn out by the severity of his bondage."

The Greek gods keeps immortality with Ambrosia and Nectar.