Side by side, from the sources
Zeus vs El
These two are identified with one another in the record, which is not the same as being the same figure. Aged and enthroned heads of a divine assembly; equated in the Hellenistic Levant.
Deity · Greek · c. 700 BCE
Zeus
also called Dias, Jove, Ζεύς
Sky-father and enforcer of oaths, whose name descends from the same Indo-European root as Jupiter and Dyaus.
- Alignment
- Disputed
- Rank
- King of the Gods
- First attested
- The Iliad · c. 750 BCE
- Named there as
- Zeus
- Texts naming it
- 3
- Powers attributed
- 4
Deity · Canaanite · c. 1400 BCE
El
also called Ilu, El Elyon, ’Ēl, Il, ’Il, Ilāh, El (Deity), אֵל, ܐܠ
The aged high god who presides over the assembly at Ugarit — and whose name is one of the Hebrew Bible's own words for God.
- Alignment
- Disputed
- Rank
- Father of the Gods
- First attested
- The Baal Cycle (Ugaritic Tablets) · c. 1400-1200 BCE
- Named there as
- El
- Texts naming it
- 2
- Powers attributed
- 4
Where do they actually overlap?
Texts naming both
None. The two never appear in the same text in this corpus, which is worth knowing before accepting any confident claim that they are one figure.
Powers credited to both