Note 111 — RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. (continued 3)
Reading edition
It appears that the epithet (the Gracious) is here applied to Zeus in the same conciliatory sense as the denomination Eumenides (Well or Kindly-disposed) to the avenging goddesses. Zeus is conceived as having actually inflicted, or being in a disposition to inflict, evil: the sacrifice to him under this surname represents a sentiment of fear, and is one of atonement, expiation, or purification, destined to avert his displeasure; but the surname itself is to be interpreted so as to designate, not the actual disposition of Zeus (or of other gods), but that disposition which the sacrifice is intended to bring about in him. (Grote.)