Zeus

Zeus, often called the King of the heavens in Greek mythology, is father of most Greek gods and heroes. Often associated with the Roman god Jupiter, his name translates to the god of sky and thunder and is said to rule over the citizens of Olympus.

Zeus’ family

The tales do not all agree as to who the wife of Zeus really was, he was said to have been married to Hera in most, however, Dionne was also mentioned as his consort in some stories. He was the youngest of his siblings, born of Cronus and Rhea.

Prone to romantic flings with mortals, he bore many offspring, most of whom you would have heard of in various Greek tales. Heroes like Heracles, Athena, Aphrodite to name a few, it is said that even gods that were not his children referred to him as father. Zeus is known to assign the gods their various roles and many statues were made in tribute of the King of gods.

Childhood

Cronus, a Titan, is said to have fathered most of the major gods we know of including Zeus. He was far from a loving father, however, having heard from an oracle that he was destined to be overthrown by one of his offspring, just as he had done to his own father, he was determined to get rid of such a threat.

When his wife, Rhea, gave birth to any child, he would immediately swallow them and he had killed five before it was time for the birth of Zeus. Rhea decided then to save this child and deceived Cronus into swallowing a rock wrapped in cloth. After which she smuggled him to a cave in Mount Ida, Crete.

Adult Zeus

At this point, there are various versions of how Zeus was raised, however, upon reaching manhood, he challenged Cronus and again the details vary. However, he forced his father to regurgitate first the stone he swallowed, then his siblings in reverse order of their consumption.

Zeus released the brothers of Cronus from Tartarus by killing their guard and as thanks, they gave him thunder. With the aid of his brothers and sisters, as well as the newly freed titans, Zeus was able to overthrow Cronus and claim the world for him self. He then shared the world with his elder brothers by drawing lots, Zeus claimed the sky and heavens Poseidon got the oceans, and Hades got the underworld.


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