Zeus was the last son to be born to the titans Cronus and Rhea. Cronus had received word from an oracle that a son that would be born to him would over-throw him, just as he did his father. To prevent this from happening, he swallowed each child as Rhea gave birth. With them inside of him, they posed no threat to his reign. By the time Rhea was pregnant with her sixth child, she went to her mother, Gaia for advice on how to save this child. Gaia took her to the island of Crete, where she had created a deep cave for Rhea. She was then able to give birth where Cronus would never find her. The very mountains shook during her mighty labour, and great fissures opened up all over the world. She dug her fingers into the earth, and from her left hand sprung up 5 mortal women, and from her right hand came 5 mortal men. Once the child was born, she called on the goat nymph Amalthea to rear and suckle her son while she was away. Rather than milk, the goat produced ambrosia, the food of the gods. Rhea returned to Cronus with a large stone wrapped in swaddling clothes. She held it close to her breast, and hummed softly to it while waiting for Cronus to return. Upon his return, Cronus saw that Rhea had given birth, and immediately snatched the stone from her arms and swallowed it, thinking it to be his baby. With Cronus fooled, Rhea returned to her baby in Crete. She named him Zeus, and vowed to keep him safe, even if it meant sacrificing herself. To drown out the cries of Zeus, Gaia set wood sprites at the entrance of the cave; nothing could be heard over the clamour of their shields and swords clashing against one another.
Soon Zeus grew to manhood, and this was when Rhea returned to him with a gift. She gave Zeus a potion that she had made, and took him to Cronus, presenting him as their new cupbearer. Cronus was pleased with the boy’s beauty, and accepted him into his palace. Zeus slipped the potion into Cronus’ nectar, and made certain that he drank every drop of it. Cronus was immediately wracked with stomach pains, and became violently sick. He vomited up first the stone, and then the other five children that he had swallowed, who were now fully grown, and quite undamaged. The young gods sided with Zeus, and he led the rebellion against Cronus, and eventually overthrew him, just as the oracle had predicted.
In the rebellion of the Olympian Gods against the Titans, he assumed the roll of the King of the Gods; no other challenged this position. His symbol of authority was the jagged lightning bolt, with which he would smite down his enemies, and rule supreme over the realm of mortals and immortals alike.
His power was over the weather, he could whistle up a furious storm in the clearest of skies, or calm a gale down to a gentle spring breeze. He gave the world life in the form of rain. In essence, all life was dependent on him for this; without it, everything that he has created on the earth would perish, and would have to begin anew.
Zeus took his youngest sister, Hera, as his wife and Queen. With her, he had four children: Ares (God of War), Eris (Goddess of Discord), Eileithyia (Goddess of Childbirth) and Hebe (Goddess of Youth). Some may claim that there was a fifth, Hephaestus, but he was conceived through the will of Hera on her own, with no help from Zeus. Zeus was by far the most unfaithful of all of the Gods, being married to Hera didn’t stop him from fathering countless other children. He would appear to beautiful mortal women in forms that they could comprehend, those of young men, animals, and in some cases, women. For a mortal to look upon Zeus in his true form would burn and sear their very soul, as the form of the divine is far beyond mortal comprehension. Goddesses weren’t excluded from Zeus’ amorous pursuits. He would pursue and woo any Goddess and most often end up fathering a child from her. From these unions, the immortal children born from the Goddesses would eventually join the pantheon, and become part of the 12 Olympian Gods.
Hera was aware of Zeus’ unfaithfulness, and she did all that she could to stop it before it even happened. She was furiously jealous, and her wrath would be dealt not on Zeus, but on the women that he would woo. When Hera would fly into her fits of rage, she was unstoppable, even by Zeus. The helpless women would fall prey to the Goddess’ curses and hexes, often being let to live with some sort of torture reminding them of what they had done. Zeus feared Hera in her rages, and more often then not, would let her deal her punishments to the women, and them try to alleviate the spells that Hera cast on them. She was a master in the art of magic, and her spells were woven so tightly, that even Zeus couldn’t unravel them. The couple lived forever in this bizarre marriage, loving each other despite the troubles that they have.
Homosexuality was not uncommon in the Greek pantheon, and Zeus was no exception. When it was time for him to choose a cupbearer for the Hall of the Gods on Mount Olympus, Zeus took the form of an eagle, and soared down to earth where he abducted the young Ganymede. He chose Ganymede for his beauty, and this beauty was admired to the point of the Zeus seducing the young boy on occasion. For some reason, Hera allowed this, and didn’t see it as a form of betrayal of their marriage. She welcomed Ganymede with open arms into the Hall to act as the cupbearer, and favored him among all others there. Ganymede’s seat was beside Hera, and he would sit by her until his services were needed elsewhere.
The sacred bird of Zeus was the eagle. The eagle has long since been noted as a symbol of authority and justice. The far-seeing eyes of the great bird missed nothing on the world below as it soared effortlessly through the sky, just as Zeus would sit on his throne and survey the world from the highest peak of Mount Olympus. The Oak was his sacred tree, and this was the form of his oracle, Dadonna. Dadonna was a woman that was chosen at her birth to live as the oracle of Zeus. She would sit on her tripod at the base of a great oak tree, and sit entranced as the wind would whisper through the leaves, and she would interpret the message as the words of Zeus himself. People from all over Greece would go to Dadonna, even the greatest of Kings would heed the words of the oracle. Whenever a King would seek out the words of the oracle, he would always send a messenger. If the messenger were to return with bad news, he would be beheaded. If it were good news, then he would be allowed to live, only until the next time he was sent out to the oracle again.
It was Zeus who created mortals on the earth after the fall of the Titans. He moulded them in the likeness of the Gods, so they would be in constant reminder of their creators. Hepheastus would mould them out of clay, and Zeus would breathe life into them. The mortals were born, and would worship the Olympian Gods, for without the worship of the mortals, the Gods would cease to exist.
Zeus was always seen bearing the shield Aegis, which he made from the hide of the goat-nymph Amalthea, who reared and suckled him as he grew. This shield had the power to summon thunder, and strike fear into the hearts of any being looking at it. His daughter Athena, who valued its powers in battles that she would fight, often borrowed Aegis. She even took the head of the gorgon Medusa, and emblazoned it onto the surface of the shield. With this emblem, any being looking onto the surface would be turned to stone by the gorgon’s terrifying gaze.
Zeus had several other children by mortals and immortals alike. Among these were Apollo and Artemis, the twin deities born from Leto, a Titaness. Dionysus, God of Wine and Ecstasy, born from the mortal princess Semele. The Messenger of the Gods, Hermes, was born from the titianess Maia. Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, Strategy and Crafts was born from Metis, the Titaness of Wisdom, who Zeus swallowed once finding out that she was pregnant. Helen, the most beautiful mortal to ever have existed, was born along with the twins Castor and Pollux from two eggs, which were laid by the mortal Leda, when Zeus seduced her in the form of a swan. Perseus, the hero to slay the gorgon Medusa, was born from Danae. The Queen of Thebes gave birth to twin sons; the first was weak and feeble, he was called Ipicles. The second child was much larger, and very beautiful. His name was Hercules, and lived on to be one of the very few mortals who were ever made immortal through deeds that they had done as mortals. With the Titaness of Memory, Mnemosyne, Zeus fathered the nine Muses, Goddesses of music, lyrics, poetry and dance. With the Goddess Eurynome, the three Graces were born. They were named Aglaia (Splendor), Euphrosene (Mirth), and Thalia (Good Cheer). They were the Goddesses of beauty and grace. Belerophon, slayer of the dreaded Chimera was born to Zeus through a mortal princess. Persephone, Goddess of vegetation was born through his sister Demeter. There are countless others, this is just to name a scant few.
