Greek Myths XS: The Story of Zeus' (Jupiter's) Eagle

The ancient Greek king Periphas was a righteous ruler, adored by his subjects. So much so, that they started sacrificing to him as if he were a god. This didn’t sit well with supreme god Zeus. “No longer king of men, but king of birds you will be”, he snarled. And as an eagle, Periphas flew away. Not far though, because Zeus kept him as his personal attendant, to carry his thunderbolts. And to abduct young Ganymedes to the Olympos. And to execute gruesome torture on fire thief Prometheus. The eagle appears in more friendly myths too, where it flies away with Aphrodite’s shoe to help Hermes conquer her heart. Or where it stood by little Psyche in a love quest of her own. All of which gained him his tribute at the night sky, as the constellation Aquila (“eagle”). But his most memorable achievement was determining the center of Zeus’ realm. Periphas and another eagle flew out in opposite directions, and the spot where they met, at Delphi, was marked with a stone: the “omphalos” (or “belly button”) of the world.

Jupiter astride, cameo, Metropolitan Museum of Arts, New York, USA

Omphalos, Delphi, Greece

Did you know?

• The eagle was believed to be the only bird to fly against the rays of the rising sun.

• Another myth about the eagle involves king Merops of Kos and his wife Ethemea. She would have offended Artemis and, after being shot by the goddess, was – still alive – taken to the underworld by Persephone. Merops wanted to take his own life, but Hera pitied him, took away his human form (and his painful memories) and placed him among the stars in the form of an eagle.

• The story about Periphas is mentioned in “The Metamorphoses” of Antoninus Liberalis (2-3d cent. AD).

• Up to the 2nd cent. AD, sacrificial oil was poured over the omphalos on a daily basis.

• About Ganymedes: cfr. “The Big Picture”.

• About Prometheus as fire thief: cfr. “The Philanthropist”.

• About Psyche’s quest: cfr. “Body and Soul”.