Zeus

 

 



 

The Story of Zeus

Cronos became father of the gods by murdering his own father, Uranus. The dying Uranus gave Cronos the prophesy, �You murder me now and steal my throne�but one of your own sons will dethrone you, for crime begets crime.� Cronos managed to get by this prophesy for a short while because he would swallow all his children when they were born. His wife, Rhea, however, foiled his plan by giving birth to a son, Zeus. She hid Zeus with a shepherd family, until one day when Rhea brought him back to the court of gods as the new cupbearer. Cronos, of couse, did not recognize him.

Rhea and Zeus, plotting against Cronos, concocted a drink for him, one day. When he drank it, he threw up all of his children that he had swallowed�still alive because gods cannot be digested. The children and Zeus fought against Cronos, and made him and his army flee. Zeus became king of the gods, fulfilling the prophesy made to Cronos.








 

The Story of Zeus and Hera

Zeus and his wife, Hera, were always quarreling because Zeus was unfaithful to her. One day, Hera, plotting against Zeus, drugged his drink, and bound him while he was sleeping. Zeus could do nothing because he did not have his thunderbolt, until the Hundred-handed Briareus, came to his rescue and untied the knots binding him. Once released, Zeus took his thunderbolt and hung Hera in the sky, binding her with golden chains. She wept and wept until Zeus could not take it anymore and freed her after she promised to never rebel again. Zeus also promised to mend his ways.

 







Zeus's Genealogy

  • Brother to Demeter
  • Brother and Wife to Hera
  • Brother to Poseidon
  • Brother to Hades
  • Father to Ares
  • Father to Hephaestus
  • Father to Eris
  • Father to Athene
  • Father to Persephone
  • Father to Artemis
  • Father to Apollo
  • Father to Hermes
  • Father to Epaphus


    • Information

    Zeus, in Greek mythology, is the god of the sky and ruler of the Olympian gods. Zeus corresponds to the Roman god Jupiter. Zeus was considered, according to Homer, the father of the gods and of mortals (Martin 309). He did not create either gods or mortals; he was their father in the sense of being the protector and ruler both of the Olympian family and of the human race. He was lord of the sky, the rain god, and the cloud gatherer, who wielded the terrible thunderbolt. His breastplate was the aegis, his bird the eagle and his tree the oak. Zeus presided over the gods on Mount Olympus in Thessaly. His principle shrines were at Dodona, in Epirus, the land of the oak trees and the most ancient shrine, famous for its oracle, and at Olympia.