Zeus

:Alternate meanings: See Zeus (web server) or Zeus (computer game)

Zeus in myth

Birth

Cronus sired several children by Rhea: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, 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 overcome by his own son as he had overthrown his own father. But when Zeus was about to be born, Rhea sought Uranus and 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.

Related Topics:
Cronus - Sired - Rhea - Hestia - Demeter - Hera - Hades - Poseidon - Gaia - Uranus - To be born - Crete

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Childhood

Rhea hid Zeus in a cave on Mount Ida in Crete. According to varying versions of the story:

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• He was then raised by Gaia.
• He was raised by a goat named Amalthea, while a company of Kouretes, soldiers, or smaller gods danced, shouted and clapped their hands to make noise so that Cronus would not hear the baby's cry. (See cornucopia.)
• 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.
• He was raised by a nymph named Cynosura. In gratitude, Zeus placed her among the stars after her death.
• He was raised by Melissa, who nursed him with goat-milk

Zeus becomes king of the gods

After reaching manhood, Zeus forced Cronus to disgorge the other children in reverse order of swallowing: first the stone, which was set down at Pytho under the glens of Parnassus to be a sign to mortal men, then the rest. In some versions, Metis gave Cronus an emetic to force him to disgorge the babies, or Zeus cut Cronus' stomach open. Then Zeus released the brothers of Cronus, the Gigantes, the Hecatonchires and the Cyclopes, from their dungeon in Tartarus (The Titans; he killed their guard, Campe. As gratitude, the Cyclopes gave him thunder and the thunderbolt, or lightning, which had previously been hidden by Gaia. Together, Zeus and his brothers and sisters, along with the Gigantes, Hecatonchires and Cyclopes overthrew Cronus and the other Titans. The Titans were then cast into a shadowy underworld region known as Tartarus.

Related Topics:
Pytho - Parnassus - Metis - Emetic - Stomach - Gigantes - Hecatonchires - Cyclopes - Tartarus - Titans - Campe - Thunder - Lightning - Overthrew

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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 shadows (the dead). Land 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. (See also: Penthus)

Related Topics:
Poseidon - Hades - Shadow - Dead - Penthus

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Gaia was upset at the way Zeus had treated the Titans, because they were her children. Soon after taking the throne as king of the gods, Zeus had to fight some of Gaia's other children, the monsters Typhon and Echidna. He vanquished Typhon and trapped him under a mountain, but left Echidna and her children alive as challenges for future heroes.

Related Topics:
Monster - Typhon - Echidna - Hero

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Zeus and Hera

Zeus was brother and husband of Hera. Their children were Hephaistos, Eileithyia, Hebe and Ares. Zeus is famous for his many extramarital affairs with various goddesses — notably Demeter, Latona, Dione and Maia — and mortal women — notably Semele, Io, Europa and Leda (for more details, see "Affairs" below), as well as many nymphs. His wife, Hera, was very jealous and consistently tried to harm Zeus' mistresses and their children by him. For a time, a nymph named Echo had the job of distracting Hera from his affairs by incessantly talking. When Hera discovered the deception, she cursed Echo to only speak the words of others (hence our modern word "echo").

Related Topics:
Hera - Hephaistos - Eileithyia - Hebe - Ares - Goddess - Demeter - Latona - Dione - Maia - Semele - Io - Europa - Leda - Nymph - Echo

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Consorts and children

Deific mother

• Lee

Mortal/nymph/other mother

Zeus miscellany

• Though Zeus could be petty and malicious, he also had a righteous streak, perhaps best exemplified in his aid on behalf of Atreus and his murder of Capaneus for unbridled arrogance. He was also the protector of strangers and travelers against those who might seek to victimize them.
• Zeus turned Pandareus to stone for stealing a bronze dog from one of his temples on Crete.
• Zeus killed Salmoneus with a thunderbolt for attempting to equal him, riding around on a bronze chariot and loudly imitating thunder.
• As a child, Zeus had had a friend named Celmis. Many years later, Rhea became offended by the antics of Celmis and asked Zeus to turn him into a lump of steel or diamond. Zeus obliged.
• Zeus turned Periphas into an eagle after his death, as a reward for being righteous and just.
• At the marriage of Zeus and Hera, a nymph named Chelone was disrespectful (or refused to attend). Zeus condemned her to eternal silence.
• When Memnon died, Zeus felt pity for his mother, Eos, the dawn-goddess, and granted him immortality.
• Zeus made the decision to marry Aphrodite off to Hephaestus in order to prevent violence over her between the many gods who lusted after the goddess of beauty.
• Zeus, with Hera, turned King Haemus and Queen Rhodope into mountains (Balkan and Despoto, respectively) for their vanity.
• Zeus exchanged a caduceus for the first flute with Hermes.
• Zeus turned Atalanta and Hippomenes (or Melanion) into lions because they had sex in one of his temples.
• Zeus blinded Tiresias but also gave him the gift of prophecy (though according to some versions of the story, it was actually Hera who did the blinding).
• Today the phrase "by Jove" is still sometimes used in the United Kingdom. The commedian Ken Dodd uses the phrase "By Jove, missus".
• Zeus punished Hera by dangling her by her toes from the sky.