Ever since I learned of Thunderbolt Iron (fictional and real) back in December, my fascination for the ole Greek gods and their doings on Mt Olympus has been reinvigorated.

Ancient Greeks first worshipped the omnipotent Zeus at a remote altar on Mount Lykaion, a team of Greek and American archaeologists now think. During a recent dig at the site, the researchers found ceremonial goods commonly used in cult activity and dated at over three millennia old, making them the earliest known “appearance” of Zeus in Greece.

The discovery challenges the idea that Zeus worship began on the Greek island of Crete, which at least one classical historian names as the god’s mythic birthplace. The latest finds on Mount Lykaion, in the mainland province of Arcadia, are as old as the idea of Zeus himself, said the project’s senior research scientist David Romano, of the University of Pennsylvania.

“This new evidence strongly suggests that there were drinking (and perhaps feasting) parties taking place on the top of the mountain in the Late Helladic period, around 3,300 or 3,400 years ago,” Romano said.

[…]

Younger, higher levels of the trench have yielded silver coins, a bronze hand holding a lightning bolt and petrified lightning in past dig seasons. All are clear dedications to Zeus, indicating that the use of the god’s altar on Mount Lykaion was likely unbroken for several millennia.

“Petrified lightning”? That’s something you don’t read every day.

Now I know where to send the cake, the wine and the flock of lovely “new” ladies. I know how you are, Zeus.

(via amboy00, livescience)