Zeus
Zeus
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Character Information
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Zeus is the main deity in Greek mythology, known as the "Father of gods and men".
History
Zeus was a character in the Troy McClure film The Erotic Adventures of Hercules, where he was portrayed by Norman Fell. Homer and Marge watched the movie while Selma was taking the kids to Duff Gardens.[1]
Zeus appeared in a story from the book Classics for Children. Zeus became angry with Odysseus when he refused to sacrifice one lamb in gratitude for his victory in the Trojan War. He announced he was going to teach Odysseus a lesson about trifling with the gods, but Dionysus impulsively said "I got it", grabbed one of Zeus's thunderbolts, and hurled it to earth. Zeus then became angry with Dionysus because he had just destroyed Atlantis. Dionysus complained that Zeus used to be fun: "Where's the Zeus who used to turn into a cow and pick up chicks?" Zeus sharply replied, "He grew up", then commanded Poseidon to take care of Odysseus. Poseidon obeyed, delaying Odysseus so that it ended up taking him ten years to get back to Ithaca.[2]
In a movie about the first Olympics made by Homer and Bart, they say that the Olympics were created after Zeus (played by Homer) was bored and threatened to wipe out everything on Earth if they could not entertain him. Zeus liked the Olympics and decided that for the rest of his life he just wanted to watch sports, drink and eat ribs. When Zeus' wife (played by Marge) asked him why he liked wrestling, he told her that it was because most of the wrestlers were not wearing clothes, which made his wife also start watching the sport. In their story about the first torch, they say that Prometheus (played by Bart) was chased after stealing fire from Zeus (played by Chief Wiggum), but he lost the fire when it fell to the ground, where the fire started burning on a stick. In Lisa's movie about the Olympics, she says that the Olympics were not started with help from Zeus and the Olympic flames was introduced at the Berlin 1936 Olympics as a symbol for Prometheus stealing the fire from Zeus.[3]
Non-canon
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The contents of this article or section are considered to be non-canon and therefore may not have actually happened or existed. |
Once Zeus created a wife for Epimetheus and named her Pandora. As a wedding present he give Pandora a box and told her that she must never open it. When Pandora later opens the box, all kinds of evil come into the world.[4]
Zeus spends most of his time going to singles bars (in various forms such as a swan), much to his wife Hera's annoyance. He has an illegitimate demi-God son called Hercules. When he was a teenager he was ate by his father. Hera took over Olympus as Zeus was spending all his time in bars.[5]
Behind the Laughter
- Zeus was portrayed by Joe Quimby in the "D'oh, Brother Where Art Thou?" segment of "Tales from the Public Domain".
- Zeus is the father of Hercules, but it's not clear what part that relationship plays in the McClure film.
- Dionysus's complaint about Zeus is a reference to Zeus's custom (in Greek mythology) of taking on the forms of animals in order to seduce mortal women.
- The point of Mayor Quimby portraying Zeus may be that he, like Zeus, is a married community leader who spends time with other women.
- Zeus was portrayed by Mr. Burns in Pandora, Jr. and by Homer in Greek to Me.
Appearances
Episode – "The Call of the Simpsons" (mentioned)- Episode – "Selma's Choice" (mentioned)
- Episode – "Tales from the Public Domain" (D'oh, Brother Where Art Thou?)
- Episode – "Havana Wild Weekend" (couch gag: Homer dressed as him)
Comic story – Greek to Me - Comic story – Pandora, Jr.
- Comic story – Bummer Games
References
External links
