Zeus, the God of sky and thunder in ancient Greek who ruled as king of the gods of Mount Olympus. His name is cognate with the first element of his Roman equivalent Jupiter.
Zeus is the child of Cronus and Rhea, the youngest of his siblings to be born, though sometimes reckoned the eldest as the others required disgorging from Cronos’s stomach.
Cronus sired several children by Rhea- Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon, but swallowed them all as soon as they were born, since he had learned from Gaia and Uranus that he was destined to be overthrown by his son as he had previously overthrown Uranus, his own father, an oracle that Rhea heard and wished to avert.
When Zeus was about to be born, Rhea sought Gaia to devise a plan to save him, so that Cronus would get his retribution for his acts against Uranus and his own children. Rhea gave birth to Zeus in Crete, handing Cronus a rock wrapped in swaddling clothes, which he promptly swallowed. He was raised by a nymph named Adamanthea. Since Cronus ruled over the Earth, the heavens and the sea, she hid him by dangling him on a rope from a tree so he was suspended between earth, sea and sky and thus, invisible to his father.
After reaching manhood, Zeus forced Cronus to disgorge his sibilings in reverse order and then released the brothers of Cronus, the Gigantes, the Hecatonchires and the Cyclopes, from their dungeon in Tartarus, killing their guard, Campe.
After the battle with the Titans, Zeus shared the world with his elder brothers, Poseidon and Hades, by drawing lots: Zeus got the sky and air, Poseidon the waters, and Hades the world of the dead (the underworld). The ancient Earth, Gaia, could not be claimed; she was left to all three, each according to their capabilities, which explains why Poseidon was the “earth-shaker” (the god of earthquakes) and Hades claimed the humans that died
In most traditions, he is married to Hera, by whom fathered Ares, Hebe, he Hephaestus. Zeus was also infamous for his erotic escapades. These resulted in many godly and heroic offspring, including Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Persephone, Dionysus, Perseus, Heracles, Helen of Troy, Minos, and the Muses.
His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull, and oak.
Miscellaneous:
1. Zeus turned Pandareus to stone for stealing the golden dog which had guarded him as an infant in the olyDictaeon Cave of Crete.
2. Zeus killed Salmoneus with a thunderbolt for attempting to impersonate him, riding around in a bronze chariot and loudly imitating thunder.
3. Zeus turned Periphas into an eagle, making him the king of birds.
4. At the marriage of Zeus and Hera, a nymph named Chelone refused to attend. Zeus transformed her into a tortoise.
5. Zeus, with Hera, turned King Haemus and Queen Rhodope into mountains (the Balkan mountains, or StaraPlanina, and Rhodope mountains, respectively) for their vanity.
6. Zeus condemned Tantalus to eternal torture in Tartarus for trying to trick the gods into eating the flesh of his butchered son Pelops.
7. Zeus condemned Ixion to be tied to a fiery wheel for eternity as punishment for attempting to violate Hera.
8. Zeus blinded the seer Phineus and sent the Harpies to plague him as punishment for revealing the secrets of the gods.
9. Zeus rewarded Tiresias with a life three times the norm as reward for ruling in his favour when he and Hera contested which of the sexes gained the most pleasure from the act of love.
10. Zeus punished Hera by having her hung upside down from the sky when she attempted to drown Heracles in a storm.
11. Of all the children Zeus spawned, Heracles was often described as his favorite. Indeed, Heracles was often called by various gods and people “the favorite son of Zeus”.
12. Athena has at times been called his favorite daughter and adviser.
13. Olive trees were sacred to him.
14. Zeus condemned Prometheus to having his liver eaten by a giant eagle for giving the Flames of Olympus to the mortals.
15. When Hera gave birth to Hephaestus, Zeus threw him off the top of Mount Olympus because of his repulsive appearance.
By: Archa Dave
