The Man Killed & Sent to Tartarus for Trying to Become Zeus
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Published 2023-10-21
His sin was hubris and his crime was scorning the gods. He honored himself in their stead and tried to deify himself by impersonating Zeus, going so far as to toss torches and drag around pots to simulate lightning and thunder. His fate was that of the buzzing pest that annoys someone to the point of being swatted, Zeus striking him down with a thunderbolt and sending him down to Tartarus.
He was only a few generations removed from the first man and the first woman, and the grandson of Hellen - not Helen of Troy but the son of Deucalion - from whom the tribes of ancient Greece claimed ancestry. Exploring this later on will take us from the first Titan-born humans and the time of the great flood to the tragic death of the hero Jason.
Alright, let’s get into it.
In Greek mythology there are three crimes considered especially egregious, swift and severe justice meted out to those who perpetrate them. These three crimes are: (1) violating the sanctity of hospitality, pertaining to which the murder of a guest, or guests, is the most flagrant and least forgivable, (2) the murder of one’s own kin - the closer the relation, the harsher the condemnation - and (3) hubris against the gods. This last was Salmoneus’ offense. He thought himself a god. He dedicated the sacrifices and libations that should have gone to the gods to himself, and he even went so far as to impersonate Zeus, tossing torches and dragging around clanging metal to emulate the fire and flash of lightning and the booming rumble of thunder. As you no doubt have already guessed, this didn’t sit well with Zeus and didn’t end well for Salmoneus, who was struck down with a thunderbolt and cast down to the abyss of Tartarus, a place beneath the earth not unlike a mirrored reflection of the sky, the great chasm below instead of the great vault above, a place reserved for those who defied the gods, be they immortal, such as the titans, or the worst of the mortal sinners, to whose infamous ranks Salmoneus' was imminently destined.
Watch the video for the rest!
All Comments (17)
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My apologies for the lack of videos of late. I've been dealing with some health issues. I hope you're all doing well and are enjoying the fall season. I couldn't really find any photos of Salmoneus, so I supplemented with photos of Zeus from the movie Immortals. As always, thanks for watching! :)
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The moral of this story is dont pretend to be Zeus!!
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Wonderful content, hope that you're feeling better ❤
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Dang! Only Salmoneus i know was that merchant from Legendary Hercules series with Kevin Sorbo. 😮😅😂
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Love it! ❤
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Hope your health improves, sad to hear. I wonder, will you cover Celtic myths more in the future?
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Thanks for the video I guess the lesson for everyone in this is do not mess with the wrong people 😂⚔️
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The moral of this story is that even a three-legged dog is better than Zeus.
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Zeus from God Of War wasn’t that far off. Zeus really was that much of an asshole.
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So the Medea movies were a little Greek inspired? 😆😆
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Considering everything that Zeus is guilty of, I can certainly understand why someone would try to kill him. But Olympians are immortal, unlike their Asgardian counterparts
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The tragic death of Jason? I think you mean embarrassing.
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🔮✨️💫🔮👍🏼
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Sent to tartary Russia
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Salmoneus did nothing wrong
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Zeus it's not metholgy Jesus Zeus same think stop lie to world
