Tom B on his forumspring stated Zeus was equal to Odin in power after  Hulk fan complained about the beating.
 
Previously, Van Lente claimed on his forumspring that the Thunderbolt is an independent power source that signifies the head of the Olympians,  grants weather control powers, and augments the power of the god who possesses yet.  Only the first two were clearly shown.  Truth is  nothing Hera or Athena did came across as that impressive when possessing it.

So, in a sense it is an independent power source I think for all intents and purposes it is the Olympian equivalent.  Both signify the leader of their pantheon and in someway augment the power of the god who possesses it.  The difference I would argue is the Odinforce boots you to that high skyfather level.  Thor was able to match Bor with it.  The Thunderbolt relies heavily on the power level of the god who has it.  Hera had it and could only stalemate Osborn.  Zeus has it and is Odin's equal.  Zeus is  on his own he is a very powerful god even with out it.  If I were to guess is that without it he is probable about equal with his brothers who are each about Thor level.  The Thunderbolt itself is what makes him all-powerful.  I wish Marvel would go into a bit more detail about it. 
 
I suppose the differences can be ascribed to different origins.  The Odinforce is literally the godly energies of Odin and his brothers added on to the next user.  The Thunderbolt was a weapon/power source of some kind created by the Cyclopes.  Since it is not Zeus's personal power, but a weapon he utilized to augment his power it is not on his level. 
 
Of the two, I would want the Odinforce.  You may have to take a nap once a year, but no matter how weak you are it puts you on Odin's level.  The Thunderbolt has the benefit of not requiring a yearly nap, but the only thing your guaranteed out of it is weather control. 

i think marvel have made odin out to be the strongest so id say no its not but would love to see an epic battle between asgard and olympus !!!

"i think marvel have made odin out to be the strongest so id say no its not but would love to see an epic battle between asgard and olympus !!! "

I just saw this and, though old, wanted to add my two cents to it.  I think the difference between when the Odinforce was passed to Thor and when Zeus's Thunderbolt was passed to Hera and then Athena was who it was passed to and not the power itself.  Thor can take both Hera and Athena simultaniously in his sleep without the Odinfoce.  He has fought skyfathers and celestials before.  Even without the Odinpower, he is in the very least the equal of any god not on a skyfather level and comes close to those that are.  Add the Odinforce on top of that and what do you honestly think you are going to get?  It was stated repeatedly that Thor with the Odinforce was more powerful than Odin himself.

Athena and Hera have never demonstrated that type of power so when they inherited Zeus's Thunderbolts, all it really did was bring them to the level that they could effectively lead the Greek Gods but, lacking any significant power of their own, all they had was Zeus's Thunderbolt to fall back on.

If you look at how Zeus was evolving when he was reborn after his dip in the river Leathe in the underworld (personally I wish they would have kept this story going, it was starting to get interesting), he was basically displaying powers similar to Thor without Mjolnir.  Its my guess this is how he would have grew had he not been reborn and gotten the thunderbolt back.  It makes sense that they would be roughtly equal considering Thor is the son of Gaea, an elder goddess and Zeus's own grandmother.

So basically, its not that the Odinforce is superior to Zeus's Thunderbolt, but that Thor is superior to Athena and Hera.

maybe................................................

any scans of him battleing galactus??..................................................................................................

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maybe................................................

any scans of him battleing galactus??..................................................................................................

                   

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As a quick analysis of my opinion I would say the Thunderbolt and Odinforce are equivalent powers, but it takes a specific person to use them to their full potential which is why Zeus and Odin are equally matched, you give the Thunderbolt to Athena or Hera they may not possess the sheer amount of will to bring that full power to bear as say Zeus, but you give that power to lets say Ares who would have no qualms about unleashing the fully fury that is the power of Zeus you have a whole new ball game. Much like when Thor had to unless the full potential of the Odinforce to defeat Bor. Any other Asgardian might have failed.

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                As a quick analysis of my opinion I would say the Thunderbolt and Odinforce are equivalent powers, but it takes a specific person to use them to their full potential which is why Zeus and Odin are equally matched, you give the Thunderbolt to Athena or Hera they may not possess the sheer amount of will to bring that full power to bear as say Zeus, but you give that power to lets say Ares who would have no qualms about unleashing the fully fury that is the power of Zeus you have a whole new ball game. Much like when Thor had to unless the full potential of the Odinforce to defeat Bor. Any other Asgardian might have failed.
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I think you do have a point about the initial power level of the gods wielding the power being a factor.  Zeus and Thor are both on their own far more powerful than most gods.  We also have no real good idea how powerful Hera or Athena are on their own.  One other factor I would like to bring up is several times in the past Odin had lent part or all of the Odinpower to other gods weaker than Thor and they were pushed to a power level far above Thor.  The example that first comes to find is when Eric Masterson had Thor's full power he tried to confront an Odinforce-empowered Heimdall and his blows at full strength were ignored.  Since Heimdall starts out much lower than Thor and one would think Hera would at least be about his level than the Odinforce would appear to be superior.  But like I stated earlier it is possible the writers never really thought out the whole "Thunderbolt" concept.  The only thing we can say for sure about it is it signifies the leader of the Olympians and grants someone some lighting powers.

@seekquaze: You're right, we can only really be sure that possession of the Thunderbolt signifies leadership of the Olympian Gods as well as some lighting/storm powers but it would be so easy (and logical) for the writers to explain and show that the Thunderbolt of Zeus is all his powers not just the elemental ones. They could really make it on par/akin to the "Odin-Force" and the bonus is that it already comes with it's own name.

no

@nova_prime_: @seekquaze: @lol: @powerherc: hey can you guys tell me when Hercules became the sky father and Zeus was reborn as a child

And I have always thought Zeus and Odin were equal both pantheons originated at the same time and it's not really Zeus's thunderbolt compared to the Odin force it's more like the thunderbolt compared to odins lance gungir, it should a comparison of the skyfather hood compared to the odinforce it would most likley be a tie most people would say the Odin force because they have gone into the odinforce more than the skyfather but Zeus defeated the titans old times as a young god and also had a hand in creating man or mortals of earth so if u ask me I would say Zeus but it's most likely a tie.

@seekquaze: Are you saying that Zeus, Athena and Hera are weak?

Hercules became a skyfather, though in a sense much more than a skyfahter, at the very end of the Prince of Power mini series and lost it at the end of Chaos War. Zeus was reborn as a child about midway through the Incredible Hercule series.

Odin and Zeus are usually considered equals in pure power, but not necessarily other areas like fighting skills. Gungnir powers have been portrayed inconsistently with it being a regular spear that served as a channel for Odin's power to being a weapon as mighty as Mjolnir. Zeus defeated the Titans with the aid of his brothers, the Cyclopses and Hundred-handed ones, and the Thunderbolt. Zeus is rarely attributed as the creator of humanity. That is usually Prometheus' role. Odin is sometimes said to have created humanity as well.

Compared to who and at what time? Zeus is equal to Odin in overall power when in possession of the Thunderbolt. I don't know how powerful he is without it. Probable at least Thor level. Hera is more powerful than regular gods like Sif or the Warriors Three, but in destructive power weaker than Thor, Hercules, or her brothers Pluto, Zeus and Neptune. Her energy manipulation powers are below her brothers. With the Thunderbolt, she stalemated Iron Patriot aka Norman Osborn in a knock off Iron Man armor. So she would be weaker then Thor despite possession the Thunderbolt. To me that makes her weak. Same with Athena. Athena' energy powers and variety are greater than some other gods like Ares, but we don't know how powerful she truly is. She is weaker than Zeus and likely Thor. And again, when she possessed the Thunderbolt she never did anything that impressive to put her on a level with a full powered Zeus.

i am inclined to think so

Zeus fared well against Galactus way better than overrated asgardians ever did

'Tis true.

A major reason for this was Zeus was powered up by Mikaboshi to an unknown degree and Galactus was taken to Earth right before he was about to eat.

Maybe, but i'm not to sure. To me Odin and Zeus are equals but both have an advantage over each other. In Zeus case, he seems to be physically stronger than Odin as he waste landed Hulk and he seems to be a better hand to hand fighter. Add in the Thunderbolt and his Weather Manipulation powers, and you got a Physical Melee Mage. In Odins corner, he seems to have energy and magic manipulation powers on a level much higher than Zeus and he might have a greater Tactical intelligence. Odin also seems to have more versatility and Destructive Capacity with his powers. Odin has been shown as a Galaxy Buster, so Zeus should be as well. So imo Zeus = Physically stronger, better hand to hand fighter, and weather manipulation. Odin = Higher level of Energy and Magic manipulation, more Tactical intelligence and more Destructive potential.

But back to the original point, i believe the Odin Force is superior to Zeus Thunderbolt. The Odin Force is the combined power of Odin and his two brother Vili and Ve. I believe before Zeus had the Thunderbolt he was already incredibly powerful and the Thunderbolt just bolstered that but Odin before the Odin Force was just a regular powerful Asgardian. But as soon as he got the Odin Force his power skyrocketed tremendously. So imo the Odin Force is superior but in terms of overall power, Zeus and Odin are equal