Zeus : Sky God and Father of the Gods
Zeus was one of the children of Rhea and Kronos. Since Kronos's parents had prophesied to
their son that one of his children would dethrone him, Kronus devoured all his children immediately after birth.
Only Zeus, the youngest son was saved by Rhea, who secretly gave birth to him on Mount Lykaion in Arcadia.
She bathed him in the River Neda and handed him the Earth. She then took Zeus to Crete and hid him in a cave where
he was fed by the goat Amalthea and maintained by nymphs. When Rhea returned to Kronos returned she gave him a
stone bound up in linen. Kronos thought that this was Zeus and swallowed it immediately. So Zeus was saved!
Zeus grew into a strong young god. One day he met the young Titan Metis, with whom he fell in love.
She was his first love . Zeus told Metis his sad story and lamented the fate of his siblings. Metis was stirred by
sympathy and brewed him a potion. Zeus gave this to his mother, Rhea, who mixed it in Kronos's food.
This made Kronos feel very sick and he threw up all of his children again - Hestia,
Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon.
Together with his siblings, Zeus then freed the brothers of Kronus - the Cyclopes and the Hundred - whom Kronos had previously
plunged into Tartarus, which was the deepest, darkest and most miserable part of the world.
From the Cyclopes, Zeus got the gift of thunder and the lightning and this became his trademark.
Soon afterwards, Zeus, with the Cyclopes and the Hundred fought a long war against Kronos and the Titans. Zeus and
his allies had their camp on Mount Olympus, whilst Kronus and his allies had theirs on the Mount Orthres.
After 10 years of war Zeus and his allies won and Kronos was finally overthrown.
Zeus then founded a new race of gods. He was wise, strong and had high values which represented and embodied the forces of nature.
He became the ruler of these new, immortal, gods.
Zeus shared this new world with other gods. Gaia was given heaven and Ouranos the Earth.
Poseidon was given dominion
over the waters, and Hades was the god of the underworld. However, Zeus shared
the world only with his brethren. His
sisters did not recieve anything. For example, Hera - the wife of Zeus - was subservient to him and the goddess
Hestia was ousted from the Gods pantheon.
Hera had to endure much over the years, because Zeus had numerous amorous liaisons,
with both goddesses and mortals as
well as with his sisters and daughters. Such inbreeding was common. He also had an erotic adventure with a boy called Ganymede.
Zeus loved all of his children, including those born out of wedlock and he gave them protection. They were often the
object of fierce jealousy from Hera and they had to endure many difficulties,
particularly Heracles (see below.).
Zeus was often a just ruler. Whilst he did punish and avenge, he also eased pain and tried to assist the unfortunate.
He and his family were the first "historical" gods, with both a time reference and a human face.
Zeus, however, had all of the human characteristics in the extreme, both good and bad.
The sculptor Phidias created a statue of Zeus in Olympia.