Ζεύς

See also: Ζευς

Ancient Greek

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

Alternative forms

• Ζηύς (Zēús), Δῑ́ς (Dī́s) — rare
• Ζής (Zḗs), Ζήν (Zḗn) — Attic, Ionic
• Σδεῦς (Sdeûs), Ζῆν (Zên) — Lesbian
• Δεύς (Deús) — Boeotian, Corinthian, Laconian
• Ζᾱ́ς (Zā́s), Ζᾱ́ν (Zā́n), Δᾱ́ν (Dā́n) — Doric
• Ζήν (Zḗn) — Coan
• Δήν (Dḗn), Τήν (Tḗn), Τᾱ́ν (Tā́n), Δᾱ́ν (Dā́n) — 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/ → /ˈzeɸs/ → /ˈzefs/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /zděu̯s/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈzeʍs/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈzeɸs/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈzefs/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈzefs/

Proper noun

Ζεύς • (Zeús) m (genitive Δῐός or Δῐϝός or Ζεός); third declension

1. (Greek mythology) Zeus

   Παῦε λέγων, μὰ τὸν Δία

   Paûe légōn, mà tòn Día

   Stop talking, by Zeus

   • 6th century BC, Theognis of Megara, Elegies 1. :

     Ὦ ᾰ̓νᾰ, Λητοῦς υἱέ, Δῐὸς τέκος

     Ô ănă, Lētoûs huié, Dĭòs tékos

     Oh Lord! Oh son of Leto! Oh child of Zeus!

2. a name of the emperors of Rome
3. referring to other gods, such as Amun, Baal, Ahura Mazda
   • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Pythian Ode 4.16
   1. (with καταχθόνιος (katakhthónios) or χθόνιος (khthónios)) = Hades
      • c. 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 9.457

Declension

Third declension of ὁ Ζεύς; τοῦ Δῐός (Attic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ὁ Ζεύς ho Zeús
Genitive	τοῦ Δῐός toû Dĭós
Dative	τῷ Δῐῐ̈́ / Δῑ́ tōî Dĭĭ̈́ / Dī́
Accusative	τὸν Δῐ́ᾰ / Δῐ́’ / Δῐ́ tòn Dĭ́ă / Dĭ́' / Dĭ́
Vocative	Ζεῦ Zeû
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Third declension of Ζεύς; Δῐός (Epic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	Ζεύς Zeús
Genitive	Δῐός Dĭós
Dative	Δῐῐ̈́ Dĭĭ̈́
Accusative	Δῐ́ᾰ Dĭ́ă
Vocative	Ζεῦ Zeû
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Third declension of ὁ Ζεύς; τοῦ Δῐός / Ζεός (Koine)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ὁ Ζεύς ho Zeús
Genitive	τοῦ Δῐός / Ζεός toû Dĭós / Zeós
Dative	τῷ Δῐῐ̈́ / Δεῐ̈́ / Δῑ́ / Ζεῐ̈́ / Ζῑ́ tōî Dĭĭ̈́ / Deĭ̈́ / Dī́ / Zeĭ̈́ / Zī́
Accusative	τὸν Δῐ́ᾰ / Ζέᾰ / Ζεῦν tòn Dĭ́ă / Zéă / Zeûn
Vocative	Ζεῦ Zeû

Third declension of ὁ Δεύς; τοῦ Δῐός / Δῐϝός (Boeotian, Laconian)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ὁ Δεύς ho Deús
Genitive	τοῦ Δῐός / Δῐϝός toû Dĭós / Dĭwós
Dative	τῷ Δῐῐ̈́ / Δῐϝῐ́ / Δῐϝεί tōî Dĭĭ̈́ / Dĭwĭ́ / Dĭweí
Accusative	τὸν Δῐ́ᾰ / Δῐ́ϝᾰ tòn Dĭ́ă / Dĭ́wă
Vocative	Δεῦ Deû
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Hypernyms

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

Descendants

• Greek: Ζευς (Zefs), Δίας (Días)
• → Lydian: 𐤩𐤤𐤥𐤮 (Lews), * Lydian: 𐤩𐤤𐤱𐤮 (Lefs)
• → Arabic: زُوس (zūs)
• → Classical Syriac: ܙܘܣ (zews)
• → Coptic: ⲍⲉⲩⲥ (zeus)
• → English: Zeus
• → Georgian: ზევსი (zevsi)
• → Latin: Zeus
• → Messapic: 𐌆𐌉𐌑 (Ziś)
• → Old Armenian: Զեւս (Zews)
  • Armenian: Զևս (Zews)
• → Old Church Slavonic: Ꙁеѵсъ (Zevsŭ)
• → Russian: Зевс (Zevs)

Further reading

• Ζεύς, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011
• “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