On the François vase we see Zeus and Hera, with an attendant train of deities, Nymphs, and Muses, going in a chariot to the nuptials of Peleus and Thetis; on many vases we have the reception of the deified Herakles among the gods of Olympos[56]; and on others groups of deities banqueting or without particular signification.[57] But on the late Apulian vases it is a frequent occurrence to find an upper row of deities as spectators of some event taking place just below: thus they watch battles of Greeks and Persians,[58] or such scenes as the contract between Pelops and Oinomaos,[59] the madness of Lykourgos,[60] the death of Hippolytos,[61] and others from heroic legend, which it is unnecessary to specify here; only a few typical ones can be mentioned.[62] They also appear as spectators of scenes in or relating to the nether-world.[63]
=Zeus= appears less frequently than some deities, and seldom alone; but still there are many myths connected with him, besides those already discussed. As a single figure he appears enthroned and attended by his eagle on a Cyrenaic cup in the Louvre[64]; or again in his chariot, hurling a thunderbolt[65]; in company with his brother-gods of the ocean and under-world, Poseidon and Hades, he is seen on a kylix by Xenokles.[66] He is also found with Athena,[67] with Hera, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, and Hermes[68]; and frequently with Herakles at the latter’s reception into heaven.[69] In one instance he settles a dispute between Aphrodite and Persephone.[70] He receives libations from Nike,[71] or performs the ceremony himself, attended by Hera, Iris, and Nike,[72] and is also attended by Hebe and Ganymede as cupbearers.[73] His statue, especially that of Ζεὺς Ἑρκεῖος at Troy, sometimes gives local colour to a scene.[74]
Most of the scenes in which he appears relate to his various love adventures, among which the legends of Europa, Io, and Semele are the most conspicuous; but first of his numerous _amours_ should perhaps be mentioned his wooing of his consort Hera. He carries her off while asleep from her nurse in Euboea,[75] and also appears to her in the form of a cuckoo.[76] The rape of Ganymede by his eagle appears once or twice on vases,[77] but more generally Zeus himself seizes the youth while he is engaged in bowling a hoop or otherwise at play.[78] On a fine late vase with Latin inscriptions Ganymede appears in Olympos,[79] and he is also depicted as a shepherd.[80]