King of the gods and sex pest: the legend of Zeus and his thunderbolts

What were the origins of Zeus?

Zeus was the son of Cronus, leader of the Titans. They were a group of gods borne from a union of the Earth (personified as Gaia) and sky (Uranus) who existed before the more-famous Olympians.

Upon hearing a warning that one of his offspring would overthrow him – much like he had done with his own father – Cronus made the extreme decision to devour all of his children after their birth. He swallowed three would-be goddesses, Hestia, Demeter and Hera, and two would-be gods, Hades and Poseidon, and would have had Zeus for dessert were it not for his wife’s quick thinking.

Upon hearing a warning that one of his offspring would overthrow him – much like he had done with his own father – Cronus made the extreme decision to devour all of his children after their birth

Rhea managed to save the youngest of the children by tricking Cronus into eating a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes. She then hid Zeus on the island of Crete, where he was nursed either by a nymph or a goat, depending on the version of the story, while warriors called Curetes clashed their weapons to make enough noise to drown out the baby’s crying.

Zeus’s rise to power and the Titanomachy

Once a man, which happened quickly for a Greek deity, Zeus made a triumphant return to take on his father. He forced Cronus to vomit up his five brothers and sisters, then, just had been foretold, set about overthrowing him.

This began the Titanomachy, a ten-year war between with the Titans on one side and Zeus, the Olympian gods and their allies on the other. The powerful Zeus wielded the thunderbolt as a weapon and carried the aegis, a divine protective shield. As his mythology grew, so did his other important symbols: the eagle, bull and oak tree.

Zeus eventually defeated the Titans, with the help of the Cyclopes (one-eyed giants, who forged his thunderbolts) and the hundred-handed, fifty-headed creatures called the Hecatoncheires. He had freed them from Tartarus, the deepest abyss of the underworld, which was where he imprisoned the defeated Titans.

The victors then divided the cosmos between themselves. Hades became the god of the underworld and Poseidon the god of the sea, while Zeus held dominion over the sky.

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What was Zeus the god of, and what powers did he have?

Zeus is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek mythology, as well as the king of the Greek gods.

From Mount Olympus, the highest peak in Greece, Zeus could oversee everything. He was a protector of cities and homes, but also people. Especially those on the fringes of society, namely strangers and beggars, were under his care.

Zeus would dispense justice as he saw fit and was the guardian of oaths, which resulted in the Greeks turning to him to maintain order in the world. He also became associated with prophecy and fate. His oracle at Dodona in northern Greece interpreted the sounds of wind rustling through the sacred oak tree and the babbling water of the holy spring.

As god of the sky and thunder, Zeus controlled the weather. He sent the rain and winds, which were so vital to the growing of crops, and whenever lightning struck it was regarded as a sign, for good or for ill, from the ruler of the gods.

Zeus in ancient Greek mythology

The most important source describing the origins, genealogy and mythology of the Greek gods is the Theogony, a poem composed in the eighth century BC by Hesiod. The mighty cosmological work charts the events that led to Zeus’s rise to power, including the Titanomachy.

Following that victory, Zeus’s position was still not safe. The Olympians went on to defeat the giants in the Gigantomachy and Zeus put down a number of threats to his rule, including a rebellion led by his own wife Hera, brother Poseidon and daughter Athena.

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Zeus could be ruthless to his defeated foes or those who angered him, as numerous myths demonstrate. There was Atlas, the Titan who was punished for his role in the Titanomachy by being made to hold up the heavens for eternity. Or Sisyphus, the tyrant king made to push a huge stone up a hill every day only to watch it roll down to the bottom before he ever reached the top.

For gifting fire from Mount Olympus to mortals, Prometheus was bound to a rock and had his liver eaten by an eagle. It would grow back each time, allowing the eagle to return every day. Not done with that, Zeus also punished the mortals for Prometheus’s deed by sending them Pandora, the first woman, with a jar containing all the evils of the world inside. These were released, bringing death, disease and famine to the Earth.

Who was Zeus’s wife?

According to Hesiod, Zeus had a total of seven wives. The last of them was his sister, Hera, who he seduced by appearing to her in the form of a cuckoo and pretending to be cold so that she would take pity and let him into her room. He then turned back into himself and made love to her.

Yet to say that Zeus could have been a better husband would be an understatement. Arguably, he was known more for his lust and promiscuity than his thunderbolts, taking dozens of lovers from both the realms of the gods and mortals.

Zeus had a total of seven wives. The last of them was his sister, Hera, who he seduced by appearing to her in the form of a cuckoo and pretending to be cold so that she would take pity and let him into her room

The long-suffering Hera was fully aware of his infidelities; in fact, many myths revolve around her jealousy or the acts of vengeance she metes out on Zeus’s lovers or offspring.

As they are described in the mythology, however, many of Zeus’s sexual exploits amounted to assault and rape as he forced himself on the women he desired or tricked them. The cuckoo was not the only animal form he took to find his way into women’s beds. The ancient Greeks would have regarded the stories of Zeus’s ‘seductions’ as proof of his power and virility.

How many children did Zeus have?

By some interpretations of the mythology, Zeus may have had more than 90 children from his numerous lovers. Among his offspring were the gods and goddesses Ares, the twins Apollo and Artemis, and Athena (whose unconventional birth involved bursting out of Zeus’s forehead fully grown).

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He tricked his way into fathering the legendary heroes Heracles – seducing the mortal Alcmene by disguising himself as her husband – and Perseus, whose mother, Danae, was impregnated by Zeus in the form of golden rain.

His other transformations included a swan, which he used to rape Leda (mother of Helen, the renowned beauty who “launched a thousand ships”), and a white bull. In this form, he abducted Europa and fathered Minos, the king who built the labyrinth to house the dreaded Minotaur.

A jealous Hera often treated Zeus’s mistresses or children badly. Hera convinced Zeus’s mortal – and pregnant – lover Semele to ask to look upon his true divine form, knowing that Zeus had to grant her wish; the sight made Semele burst into flames. The unborn son was sown into Zeus’s thigh until he was ready to be born, as the god Dionysus.

How did the Greeks worship Zeus?

Zeus’s status as the all-encompassing king of the gods meant that the Greeks did not always focus their worship on him, preferring a more specific god to meet a targeted need.

That said, they would have statues of Zeus in the home, as well as build temples and hold festivals. The statue of Zeus at Olympia made of gold and ivory by the artist Phidias was so magnificent that it was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, while the Olympic Games began in 776 BC to honour his name.

Then when the Romans adopted the Greek pantheon wholesale, they turned Zeus into Jupiter.