zip files

Is there a way to pwd-protect a zip file?

I want to put multiple files into a zip, AND password protect that zip. What I tried is is using the "compress n items" command to create a zip containing multiple files, and then in Terminal using the command line: zip -e archive.zip.

After entering a pwd, I get "zip error: Nothing to do!"

I expected of course that it would password-protect archive.zip.