# Zeus — Victory Odes character guide > Zeus in Victory Odes by Pindar. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Kronion, Zeus Kronion, O Kronion **First appearance:** 0001-victory-odes ## Snapshot Lord of thunder and patron of the games, Zeus is the divine measure against which every athlete's glory and every poet's song is weighed. ## Who they are In Pindar's world, Zeus is not a distant myth but the living source of victory itself: the Nemean games are held in his name, and odes open with his praise before any mortal is crowned. His authority underwrites the entire economy of glory, from the pancration ring at Nemea to the ancestral houses whose triumphs he silently sanctions. When Pindar invokes him, he is staking the poem's truth on the king of gods, whose favor separates lasting renown from the dust of forgotten contests. ## In the story ### [Victory Odes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/victory-odes) Supreme god, often invoked as the patron of the Olympic games and divine justice. ### [I For Hiero of Syracuse](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/i) Invoked as Kronion, the god of Olympia, whose praise is sung in the ode. ### [II For Theron of Akragas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/ii) Kronos' son, lord of Olympus, swayed by Thetis' petition. ### [IV For Psaumis of Camarina](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/iv) Invoked as the hurler of thunderbolts and Son of Kronos, whose dominion includes Etna. ### [V For Psaumis of Camarina](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/v) Invoked as the cloud-hidden Savior throned on the Kronian hill-crest. ### [VI For Agesias of Syracuse](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/vi) Kronion, god of the Olympian games, whose altar is the site of Iamus' second oracle. ### [VII For Diagoras of Rhodes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/vii) Supreme god, father of Heracles and Athena, who rained gold on Rhodes and oversaw the allotment of lands. ### [VIII For Alkimedon of Aegina](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/viii) Supreme god, invoked for favor and associated with the lightning and the oracle at Olympia. ### [IX For Epharmostus of Opus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/ix) Invoked as the god who hurls lightning and is praised for his role in the founding of Opus. ### [X For Agesidamus of Locri Epizephyrii](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/x) Supreme god, honored by Heracles with the Olympic festival; his statutes inspire the song. ### [XII For Ergoteles of Himera](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/xii) Invoked as the father of Fortune the Saver, the daughter of Zeus the Deliverer. ### [XIII For Xenophon of Corinth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/xiii) Olympian Lord most high, invoked for blessing and fortune. ### [XIV For Asopichus of Orchomenus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/xiv) Referenced as the Olympian Sire, father of the Graces. ### [I For Hiero of Syracuse](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/i) Supreme god, whose eagle is lulled by the lyre; invoked for continued prosperity. ### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/iv) Ancestral father of the race of Jason and Pelias, witness to their oath. ### [VII For Megakles of Athens](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/vii) Mentioned as Zeus Kronion in the context of the Olympian feast where Megakles won his prize. ### [IX For Telesikrates of Kyrene](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/ix) Supreme god, referenced as the father of Heracles and as a model of immortality. ### [The Nemean Odes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/the-nemean-odes) Supreme god honored at the Nemean Games, often invoked as the source of victory. ### [I For Chromius of Etna](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/i) Father of Heracles, invoked as giver of victory and lord of Olympia. ### [II For Timodemus of Acharnae](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/ii) Invoked as the prelude to the ode, with the Nemean Grove dedicated to Zeus. ### [V For Pytheas of Aegina](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/v) Allfather who witnessed Peleus' virtue and pledged Thetis as his bride. ### [VIII For Deinias of Aegina](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/viii) Invoked as Olympian Zeus, father of Aiakus, and addressed in a prayer for innocence. ### [IX For Chromius of Etna](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/ix) Invoked as Kronion, asked to grant Etna fair governance and to bless Chromius' fame. ### [X For Theaius of Argos](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/x) Father of Polydeukes and Kastor, who grants Polydeukes the choice of immortality or shared fate with Kastor. ### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/xi) Referred to as Kronion in the context of Olympia and the 'Great Oath'. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/ii) Zeus Kronion, whose Elean heralds proclaimed the season of games and remembered Xenokrates' hospitality. ### [III For Melissus of Thebes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/iii) Invoked as the source of all excellence and the one who blesses the reverent. ### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/vi) Addressed as the supreme god, recipient of prayers and libations. ### [VIII For Kleandros of Aegina](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/chapters/viii) King of the gods; father of Aiakus, involved in the contest for Thetis. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/characters/kronion_zeus - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/victory_odes_se/characters