JUPITER, (Zinc flare?), the supreme deity, according to the mythology of the ancient Pagans, and the father and king of gods and men. He was the son of Saturn and Rhea, or Ups ; and was born and educated upon mount Ida, in the island of Crete. The various fabulous accounts of his infancy arc too extravagant and absurd to merit any notice. When he grew up, he is said to have deposed his father, Saturn, from the throne, and to have divided his kingdom with his brothers; to himself he reserved the air and the earth ; Neptune obtained the sea, and Pluto the infernal regions. He was afterwards engaged in a war with the Giants, the sons of Titan, and the earth, whom he overthrew with his thunder, and confined them under the waters and mountains, whence they were unable to escape. He is said to have conferred such benefits upon mankind, that he became distinguished by the title of Jupiter, and obtained divine honours. He had four wiveszuccessively; the last of whom was the celebrated Juno. He was the father of the Muses and the Graces, of 111ercury, Apollo, and the other gods; and had a prodigious number of chil dren by his numerous mistresses.
Jupiter was anciently worshipped under a great variety of names ; derived from his attributes, from circumstances connected with his history, from the situation of his tem ples, &c. At Athens, he was chiefly worshipped as Jupi ter 0/ympicus; at Rome, as Jupiter Capitolinus, from his temple on the Capitoline hill. Ile was also called Jupiter Stator, Tanana, Feretrius, &c. The Greeks also called him Ammon, or Hammon, which signifies Sandy. lie first ob tained this appellation in Lybia, where he was worshipped under the form of a Ram.
In his chief temple on the Capitoline hill, Jupiter was represented as sitting on a curule chair, with the fulmen, ur thunder, or rather lightning, in one hand, and a sceptre in the other. In the figures of the ancient artists, thisfut
men was always adapted to the character under which they meant to represent the god. When they intended to re present him as calm and beneficent, they gave him the comic fulmen, which consisted of a bundle of flames wreathed close together, and held down in his The .Tultiter Tonans, or Terrible Jupiter, on the other hand, was represented as holding up the fulmen, with two trans verse rays of lightning, sometimes with wings at each side of it ; and when some exemplary punishment was to be in flicted, they put into his hand a quantity of flames, all let loose in their utmost fury. The statues of the Terrible Jupiter were generally made of black marble ; those of the Jupiter of white. In the fanner, he was repre sented as standing, in a disturbed attitude, and with an an gry countenance. In the latter, as sitting, with an air of tranquillity, and a serene countenance. Jupiter, as the chief ruler of the air, and the dispenser of rain, was some times represented as Jupiter Pluvius, in which character he appears seated in the clouds, holding up his right hand, or extending his arms on each side, and pouring down rain or hail from his right hand upon the earth, while the fill men is held down in his Ir. ft.
The ancient artists bestowed great pains in expressing the superiority of Jupiter, by the air of they gave to his countenance, particular attention being paid to the hair, the eyebrow s, and the beard. The most celebrated statue of Jupiter was that in his temple at Olympia, by Phi dias, which is particularly described by Pausanias ; and of which many of the ancient writers speak in terms of rap ture. The artist is said to have conceived the idea of this statue from Homer, Il. i. 528.