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Sutherland - Senior Staff WriterĬopyright © All rights reserved. In ancient Greece, this was considered by far one of the most feared of the mythological weapons of the gods. As a punishing god, Apollo often sent his arrows into the world, which were assigned with sudden and unexpected deaths. His bow had the power to spread plague and pestilence, like the one that erupted in the Greek camp during the siege of Troy. These were not exactly thunderbolts, but rather projectile light-forms of similar character. In Homer's poems, Apollo is often called 'the one who sent the arrow far', with reference to his bow and arrows, which commonly accompanied him.Īpollo's weapon was the bow, which shot powerful darts of sunlight to either heal or slay. The same trident ('trishula' Sanskrit for 'triple-spear') was also the weapon of Shiva, the destroyer, the most powerful god of the Hindu pantheon and one of the godheads in the Hindu Trinity. His divine weapon that could shake the earth was created by the Cyclops, the giants skillful in metallurgy. Javelin-throwing and wrestling were introduced. The notion that warlike sports have no place in the Olympics is hard to square with history. Indra - most important among the Indo-Aryan gods, the leader of the Devas and the lord of Svargaloka or heaven in Hinduism, is frequently portrayed wielding a powerful thunderbolt - vajra that could not only destroy the enemy in attacking flying machine, but it also had the ability to cause rain and thus, it was a symbol of fertility.Īccording to Greek legends, Poseidon - who could cause storms and earthquakes, drown lands, shatter rocks, and finally bring back peacefulness - possessed a magical trident. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is searching for ways to make the competition more relevant among younger viewers and there’s a chance they could turn to esports as a way of doing that. Image credit: Ben Pirard - CC BY-SA 3.0Īn unknown, terrible, and powerful ancient weapon could have contributed to the collapse of one or several technologically advanced civilizations that existed in the distant past.Ĭould it be that the mysterious and terrible vajra - a powerful thunderbolt throwing light - was one of such unbelievable weapons? Essentially vajra is an indestructible substance, usually represented by a diamond.

He possessed a formidable weapon in the form of a handgun launching a death ray, which he received from the masters of lightning - the Cyclops. Zeus, the most powerful god of Olympian gods was the Master of Thunderbolt.

Warlike olympian