Jūpĭter

, the most powerful of all the gods of the ancients. According to Varro, there were no le than 300 persons of that name; Diodorus mentions two; and Cicero three, two of Arcadia, and one of Crete. To that of Crete, who pa ed for the son of Saturn and Ops, the actions of the rest have been attributed. According to the opinion of the mythologists, Jupiter was saved from destruction by his mother, and entrusted to the care of the Corybantes. Saturn, who had received the kingdom of the world from his brother Titan, on condition of not raising male children, devoured all his sons as soon as born; but Ops, offended at her husband’s cruelty, secreted Jupiter, and gave a stone to Saturn, which he devoured on the supposition that it was a male child. Jupiter was educated in a cave on mount Ida, in Crete, and fed upon the milk of the goat Amalthæa, or upon honey, according to others. He received the name of Jupiter , quasi juvans pater . His cries were drowned by the noise of cymbals and drums, which the Corybantes beat at the expre command of Ops. See: Corybantes . As soon as he was a year old, Jupiter found him sufficiently strong to make war against the Titans, who had imprisoned his father because he had brought up male children. The Titans were conquered, and Saturn set at liberty by the hands of his son. Saturn, however, soon after, apprehensive of the power of Jupiter, conspired against his life, and was, for this treachery, driven from his kingdom, and obliged to fly for safety into Latium. Jupiter, now become the sole master of the empire of the world, divided it with his brothers. He reserved for himself the kingdom of heaven, and gave the empire of the sea to Neptune, and that of the infernal regions to Pluto. The peaceful beginning of his reign was soon interrupted by the rebellion of the giants, who were sons of the earth, and who wished to revenge the death of their relations the Titans. They were so powerful that they hurled rocks, and heaped up mountains upon mountains, to scale heaven, so that all the gods, to avoid their fury, fled to Egypt, where they escaped from the danger by a uming the form of different animals. Jupiter, however, animated them, and by the a istance of Hercules, he totally overpowered the gigantic race, which had proved such tremendous enemies. See: Gigantes . Jupiter, now freed from every apprehension, gave himself up to the pursuit of pleasures. He married Metis, Them is, Eurynome, Ceres, Mnemosyne, Latona, and Juno. See: Juno . He became a Proteus to gratify his pa ions. He introduced himself to Danae in a shower of gold; he corrupted Antiope in the form of a satyr, and Leda in the form of a swan; he became a bull to seduce Europa, and he enjoyed the company of Ægin a in the form of a flame of fire. He a umed the habit of Diana to corrupt Call is to, and became A mph i try on to gain the affections of Alcmena. His children were also numerous as well as his mistre es. According to Apollo dor us, bk. 1 , ch. 3 , he was father of the Seasons, Irene, Eunomia, the Fates, Clotho, Laches is, and Atropos by Them is; of Venus by Dione; of the Graces, Aglaia, Euphrosyne, and Thalia, by Eurynome the daughter of Ocean us; of Proser pine by Styx; of the nine muses by Mnemosyne, . See: Niobe , Laodamia , Pyrrha , Pro to gen i a , Electra , Maia , Semele , . The worship of Jupiter was universal; he was the Ammon of the Africans, the Belus of Babylon, the Osiris of Egypt, . His surnames were numerous, many of which he received from the place or function over which he presided. He was severally called Jupiter Feretrius, Inventor, Elicius, Capitol in us, Latialis, Pistor, Sponsor, Herceus, Anxurus, Victor, Maximus, Optimus, Olympius, Fluvial is, . The worship of Jupiter surpa ed that of the other gods in solemnity. His altars were not, like those of Saturn and Diana, stained with the blood of human victims, but he was delighted with the sacrifice of goats, sheep, and white bulls. The oak was sacred to him because he first taught mankind to live upon acorns. He is generally represented as sitting upon a golden or ivory throne, holding in one hand thunderbolts just ready to be hurled, and in the other, a sceptre of cypre . His looks expre majesty, his beard flows long and neglected, and the eagle stands with expanded wings at his feet. He is sometimes represented with the upper parts of his body naked, and those below the waist carefully covered, as if to show that he is visible to the gods above, but that he is concealed from the sight of the inhabitants of the earth. Jupiter had several oracles, the most celebrated of which were at Dodona, and Ammon, in Libya. As Jupiter was the king and father of gods and men, his power was extended over the deities, and everything was subservient to his will, except the Fates. From him mankind received their ble ings and their miseries, and they looked upon him as acquainted with everything past, present, and future. He was represented at Olympia with a crown like olive branches; his mantle was variegated with different flowers, particularly by the lily, and the eagle perched on the top of the sceptre which he held in his hand. The Cretans represented Jupiter without ears, to signify that the sovereign master of the world ought not to give a partial ear to any particular person, but be equally candid and propitious to all. At Lacedæmon he appeared with four heads, that he might seem to hear with greater readine the different prayers and solicitations which were daily poured to him from every part of the earth. It is said that Minerva came all armed from his brains when he ordered Vulcan to open his head. Pausanias , bks. 1, 2, . — Livy , bks. 1, 4, 5, . — Diodorus , bks. 1 & 3.— Homer , Iliad , bks. 1, 5, . ; Ody ey , bks. 1, 4, . ; Hymn 23 to Zeus .— Orpheus. — Call i mach us , Hymn to Zeus .— Pindar , Olympian , bks. 1, 3, 5.— A poll on i us , bk. 1 , . — Hesiod , Theogony ; Shield of Heracles ; Works and Days .— Lycophron , Cas sandra .— Virgil , Æneid , bks. 1, 2, . ; Georgics , bk. 3 .— Ovid , Metamorphoses , bk. 1 , fable 1, . — Horace , bk. 3 , ode 1, .