Ζεύς

See also: Ζευς

Ancient Greek

Ὁ θεὸς καλέεται Ζεύς. ― Ho theòs kaléetai Zeús. ― The god is called Zeus.

Alternative forms

• Δάν (Dán) — Aeolic
• Δεύς (Deús) — Boeotian
• Δεύς (Deús) — Laconian
• Ζάν (Zán), Ζάς (Zás) — Doric
• Ζήν (Zḗn) — poetic
• Θιός (Thiós), Σιός (Siós) — Boeotian, Ionic
• Τάν (Tán) — Cretan

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *Dzéus, related to Mycenaean Greek 𐀇𐀺 (di-wo /⁠diwos⁠/); from Proto-Indo-European *dyḗws. Cognate with Sanskrit द्यु (dyú), Latin Iovis (and *Iu- in Iuppiter), Old English Tīw, Hittite 𒅆𒍑 (sius).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /zděu̯s/ → /zeɸs/ → /zefs/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /zděu̯s/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /zews/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /zeɸs/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /zefs/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /zefs/

Proper noun

Ζεύς • (Zeús) m (genitive Διός); third declension

1. (Greek mythology) Zeus

   Παῦε λέγων, μὰ τὸν Δία

   Paûe légōn, mà tòn Día

   Stop talking, by Zeus

2. a name of the emperors of Rome
3. referring to other gods, such as Amun, Baal, Ahura Mazda
   1. (with καταχθόνιος (katakhthónios) or χθόνιος (khthónios)) = Hades

Declension

Irregular declension of ὁ Ζεύς; τοῦ Δῐός (Attic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ὁ Ζεύς ho Zeús
Genitive	τοῦ Δῐός / Ζηνός toû Diós / Zēnós
Dative	τῷ Δῐῐ́ / Ζηνῐ́ tôi Dií / Zēní
Accusative	τὸν Δῐ́ᾰ / Ζῆνᾰ tòn Día / Zêna
Vocative	Ζεῦ Zeû
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension. Forms in Ζην- are poetic.

Hypernyms

• Κρονίδης (Kronídēs), Κρονίων (Kroníōn, “son of Cronus”)

Descendants

• → Old Armenian: Զեւս (Zews)
  • Armenian: Զևս (Zews)
• → Classical Syriac: ܙܘܣ (zews)
• → Coptic: ⲍⲉⲩⲥ (zeus)
• → English: Zeus
• Georgian: ზევსი (zevsi)
• Greek: Ζευς (Zefs), Δίας (Días)
• → Latin: Zeus
• → Old Church Slavonic: Ꙁеѵсъ (Zeüsŭ)
• → Russian: Зевс (Zevs)
• → Messapic: 𐌆𐌉𐌑 (zis)

Further reading

• “Ζεύς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “Ζεύς”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Ζεύς in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• “Ζεύς”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G2203 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, page 1,029
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[2], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • heaven idem, page 393.
  • zeus idem, page 997.
• Smyth, Herbert Weir (1920) “Part II: Inflection”, in A Greek grammar for colleges, Cambridge: American Book Company, § 285
• http://opsopaus.com/OM/BA/Plethon/Zeus.html