Jupiter Mythology

From Marduk to Zeus

The largest planet in the sky is in every culture the planet of the king: in Babylon the star of Marduk, Neberu; in Greece the star of Zeus; in Rome of Iuppiter. The hand that holds the thunderbolt also gives the law, guards the oath, welcomes the guest and sends the rain. Jupiter means greatness, order and abundance; also pride and excess.

The map below gathers the branches of Jupiter's symbolism: sky gods, the archetypes of king and law, the sage, tin and the Wheel of Fortune. Tap a branch.

16 branches7 cultures3 myths4 number (Agrippa)

Key facts

Symbolism map: king, law, thunder and abundance

The glyph at the centre, the branches of Jupiter's symbolism around it: gods (gold), archetypes (blue), traditions (green) and narratives (red). Tap a branch and its explanation opens on the right.

ZeusGreek

Youngest son of Cronus and Rhea; he overthrows his father and rules the sky with the thunderbolt. Father of gods and men, protector of oaths, hospitality and suppliants. Countless marriages and children: abundance in divine form. Zeus in the Greek family tree →

IuppiterRoman

'Sky father' (Dyeus-pater); a triad with Juno and Minerva on the Capitol. Optimus Maximus, best and greatest: god of the Roman state, of the oath and of victory. Thursday (Iovis dies) is his day; his name lives on in the word 'jovial'.

MardukBabylonian

Son of Enki; he defeats Tiamat, founds the world, becomes king of the gods and receives fifty names. The planet Jupiter is Neberu, 'the crossing', the star of Marduk; at Babylon's New Year festival he fixes the destiny of the year. Marduk in the Mesopotamian family tree →

Amun-RaEgyptian

'The hidden one'; the king god of Thebes, in the New Kingdom united with Ra as king of the gods. The Greeks identified him with Zeus: the oracle of Zeus-Ammon at Siwa, Alexander's proclamation as 'son of the god'. Amun in the Egyptian family tree →

ThorNorse

Son of Odin and Jörd; thunder and the hammer Mjölnir. The Romans' Thursday (Iovis dies) went to Thor in the Germanic world: Thursday. Protector of farmers and ordinary people, terror of the giants. Thor in the Norse family tree →

BrihaspatiHindu

Jupiter (Guru) in Vedic astrology: teacher of the gods, lord of prayer and wisdom. The graha of knowledge, children, wealth and dharma; Thursday (Guruvara) is his day, yellow sapphire and the colour yellow.

King and lawThrone, sceptre, oath

Zeus sits enthroned with his eagle, Marduk holds the tablets of destiny, Iuppiter guards the oath. Jupiter is the legitimate form of authority: order, justice, judgement. In astrology judges, priests, counsellors and the king belong to Jupiter.

Thunder and rainLightning, abundance

Zeus, Iuppiter, Thor, Marduk, Adad: the sky gods hurl the lightning and send the rain. The same hand punishes and feeds. Jupiter is the 'greater benefic' because rain fills the earth.

Sage and teacherGuru, seer, philosopher

Brihaspati is the teacher of the gods, Zeus' oak at Dodona gives oracles, Chiron trains the heroes. Jupiter seeks meaning: philosophy, religion, higher learning, long journeys and foreign cultures are its domain.

Growth and excessPlenty, swelling, pride

Jupiter expands: abundance, the body and the ego alike. Zeus' countless children, Rome's 'bread and circuses', hubris (immoderate pride) are faces of the same planet. Benefic, but when without measure wasteful, arrogant, exaggerated.

HospitalityXenia, Philemon and Baucis

Zeus Xenios is the god who protects the guest; he knocks on doors in disguise. In Ovid the old couple Philemon and Baucis welcome two strangers into their hut while the neighbours drive them off; the gods drown the village and turn the hut into a temple. Generosity is Jupiter's morality.

The Wheel of Fortune (Tarot X)Fortune, cycle

In the tarot the Wheel of Fortune turns with the four living creatures (the cherubim) at its corners: rise, fall, luck. In the Golden Dawn it is Jupiter's card; in Kabbalah Chesed (Mercy), the fourth sphere of plenty and grace. Rome's Fortuna was counted a daughter of Jupiter.

TinStannum, Jovis

Jupiter's metal is tin; mixed with lead it goes into the making of bronze, soft and bright. In alchemy Jupiter stands for the age of bronze, the passage between lead and silver. In the body the liver, blood, hips and thighs belong to Jupiter.

Sagittarius and PiscesThe signs it rules

In fiery Sagittarius Jupiter is the centaur shooting his arrow: the distant target, philosophy, the journey. In watery Pisces (its traditional ruler) mercy, faith, the dissolving of boundaries. In both the search for meaning; one outward, one inward.

Eagle and oakZeus' bird and tree

The eagle flies highest in the sky, carries the thunderbolt, abducts Ganymede; the standard of the Roman legions. The oak is Zeus' oracular tree at Dodona, the tree lightning strikes most. Jupiter's bird and tree are height and endurance.

Overthrowing the fatherTitanomachy

Cronus swallows his children; Rhea hides Zeus on Crete and gives Cronus a stone in swaddling clothes. Zeus grows up, makes his father drink an emetic, brings up his siblings and after ten years of war shuts the Titans in Tartarus. The new order is built on the old: Jupiter comes after Saturn. Cronus in the family tree →

Meaning of the glyph: ♃

The glyph of Jupiter is a crescent (spirit, mind) rising above a cross (matter): the expansion of spirit upward and outward from matter. It has also been suggested that it derives from the initial Z (Ζ) of Zeus with a stroke through it, as in Renaissance manuscripts; the two readings do not exclude each other. The same sign marks tin and Thursday.

☽ CrescentMind, spirit; receptivity opening upward and outward.
+ CrossMatter, the world; the ground on which expansion rests.
WholeSpirit born of matter and expanding: optimism, faith, growth.

Jupiter across cultures

The Jupiter gods are heirs of the Indo-European 'sky father' (Dyeus-pater): Zeus, Iuppiter, the Vedic Dyaus. The Babylonian Marduk and the Egyptian Amun settle into the same place as king gods; the Germanic Thor carries the thunder face.

Mesopotamian

Marduk

King of Babylon, slayer of Tiamat, founder of the world. The planet Jupiter is 'Neberu', the star of Marduk; at the New Year he fixes the year's destiny.

In the family tree
Egyptian

Amun-Ra

The hidden king god of Thebes; the Greeks called him Zeus-Ammon, and the oracle of Siwa proclaimed Alexander the son of the god.

In the family tree
Greek

Zeus

Father of the gods; thunderbolt, eagle, oak. Protector of oaths, hospitality and suppliants.

In the family tree
Roman

Iuppiter Optimus Maximus

Lord of the Capitol, god of the state and of victory; the triumph goes up to him. Thursday is Iovis dies.

Norse

Thor

Thunder, Mjölnir, enemy of the giants; Thursday is his day. Protector of the people.

In the family tree
Hindu

Brihaspati (Guru)

Teacher of the gods; wisdom, dharma, children and wealth. Yellow sapphire, Thursday.

Japanese

Susanoo (storm)

Kami of storm and thunder; the Jupiter match is weak, as Japanese tradition names the planets after the five Chinese elements (Jupiter = the wood star, Mokusei).

In the family tree

Three myths

The stone in swaddling clothes

Uranus and Gaia tell Cronus that he will be overthrown by his own son; Cronus swallows each child as it is born. Pregnant with the sixth, Rhea goes to Crete and bears Zeus in the cave of Dicte; the goat Amalthea suckles him, the Curetes clash their swords on their shields to cover his crying. Rhea gives her husband a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes, and Cronus swallows it. Grown up, Zeus makes his father drink Metis' potion: first the stone comes back, then the siblings. The omphalos at Delphi is that stone. Jupiter's throne is founded on a trick and on brotherhood.

The fifty names of Marduk

After Tiamat's defeat the gods build Esagila for Marduk, gather at the feast and give him fifty names: Asalluhi, Tutu, Neberu... Each name is a power, a task; the last is Enlil's own name 'Bel' (lord). The final tablet of Enuma Elish lists these names and says 'let the wise learn them'. Jupiter's kingship is founded on names, titles and law; at Babylon's New Year the epic is read from beginning to end over four days.

Philemon and Baucis

Zeus and Hermes, in mortal guise, knock from door to door through a village in Phrygia and no one opens. In a hut of reeds the old couple Philemon and Baucis take them in and set on the table whatever they have; when the wine jug does not empty the pair understand. The gods lead them up the hill, the village is drowned under a lake, the hut becomes a temple with a golden roof. Their one wish is to die at the same moment; when they die they become an oak and a linden. Jupiter's morality is generosity, and his punishment the cutting off of abundance.

Jupiter in classical astrology

Signs ruledSagittarius (day house) and Pisces (night house)
ExaltationCancer 15°
DetrimentGemini and Virgo
FallCapricorn 15°
SectDiurnal planet; the greater benefic. At its most generous in a day chart
Joy11th house
NatureHot and moist (temperate); sanguine, life-giving
Day and hourThursday; the hours of Jupiter
MetalTin
SpeedAbout 5' a day; about a year in each sign, round the zodiac in 12 years

In classical interpretation Jupiter signifies plenty, good fortune, justice, religion, higher learning, long journeys and elders; the judge, the priest, the counsellor and the wealthy are its people. Its twelve-year cycle is also the basis of the Chinese calendar. See the family of Zeus and the birth chart calculator.

Table of correspondences

Day, metal, tarot and Kabbalah correspondences follow Agrippa, Lilly and the Golden Dawn; not one system but layers laid over centuries.

DayThursday (Iovis dies; Thor's day)
MetalTin
Number (Agrippa)4
TarotX The Wheel of Fortune
KabbalahChesed (Mercy), the fourth sephira
AlchemyTin; expansion, the age of bronze
Body (Lilly)Liver, blood, ribs, hips, thighs, veins
Colour (Lilly)Sea blue, purple, green mixed with red
Angel (grimoire tradition)Sachiel (Tzadkiel)
Plants (tradition)Oak, sage, chestnut, clove, fig

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which god is Jupiter named after?

The Roman sky father Iuppiter (Dyeus-pater, 'sky father'). His Greek counterpart is Zeus, in Babylon Marduk, in Egypt Amun, in the Germanic world Thor (Thursday = Thor's day = Iovis dies), in India Brihaspati.

Why is Jupiter the 'greater benefic'?

The sky god sends rain, guards the oath, welcomes the guest: he gives order and abundance. Ptolemy calls him hot and moist, that is life-giving. He has his excess too: wastefulness, pride, swelling; Jupiter makes everything bigger, the good and the bad alike.

What does the Jupiter glyph show?

A crescent (spirit) rising above a cross (matter): spirit expanding outward from matter, optimism and faith. It is also said to derive from the letter Ζ of Zeus; the same sign marks tin and Thursday.

Why does Zeus marry so many times?

The divine form of abundance and sovereignty: each marriage binds a region, a lineage, a cult to Zeus (Europa Crete, Io Egypt, Semele Thebes). Jupiter expands, multiplies, encompasses; the myth speaks a cosmological, not a moral, language.

What does Jupiter signify in classical astrology?

Plenty, fortune, justice, religion, philosophy, higher learning, long journeys, elders and counsellors; in the body the liver and blood. It rules Sagittarius and Pisces, is exalted in Cancer, falls in Capricorn and has its joy in the 11th house; it is the greater benefic of the day sect.

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