Short note on Thunderbolt

A thunderbolt is a conventional appearance for a release of lightning or an emblematic representation thereof. As a heavenly manifestation it has been a great symbol throughout history, and has appeared in many mythologies. Drawing from this influential association, the thunderbolt is time and again found in military symbolism and semiotic representations of electricity.

Lightning plays a part in many mythologies, often as the stick of a sky and storm god. As such, it is an unsurpassed way of dramatic instantaneous retributive devastation: thunderbolts as divine weapons can be found in most mythologies. The most famous thunderbolt weapon in the West was that of Zeus or Jupiter. His thunderbolts were manufactured by Hephaestus/Vulcan Jupiter used his thunderbolts to hit down impious criminals and divine opponents.