Rhea secretly gave birth to Zeus in Crete , hid him in a cave and instead gave Cronus a stone wrapped in his clothes, which he swallowed. At the cave, Zeus was nursed and taken care of by the nymph known as Amalthaea , who was also a female goat. The infant Zeus was also guarded by the Curetes , young warriors who would clash their weapons every time Zeus cried in order to mask his cries.
While being raised in the cave, Zeus met Metis , the goddess of wisdom. It was Metis who convinced Zeus to take revenge on his father and gave him a potion to do so. After his siblings were disgorged by Cronus, Zeus went to Tartarus , the dungeon of torment which was used as a prison.
Here he killed the guards and released the brothers of Cronus , the Hecatonchires and the Cyclopes. As gratitude for releasing them, the Cyclopes gave Zeus the thunderbolt , which served as his weapon and is his best known symbol. Along with his siblings, the Hecatonchires and the Cyclopes; Zeus fought against Cronus and the other Titans in the Battle of the Gods known as Titanomachy. In this battle, the Olympians , the younger generation led by Zeus defeated the Titans and overthrew Cronus.
Zeus and his brothers then shared the world by drawing lots. Zeus took control of the sky and air ; Poseidon got the waters ; and Hades got the underworld , the world of the dead. The ancient Earth could not be claimed and was shared by the three. Zeus presided over the Greek Olympian pantheon.
The Greek poet Homer proposes heaven to be located at the summit of Olympus. This would be logical for a weather God to reside since Olympus was the highest mountain in Greece.
When Zeus visited Semele the next time, she asked him for a boom which he granted out of love. She then begged him to show her his true godly form. Unable to break a promise, Zeus revealed himself to Semele. She could not handle the glorious sight and was consequently burned to death. Zeus was however able to save her child by sewing the fetal into his thigh. This led to the birth of Dionysus a few months later. Leda was the daughter of the Aetolian king Thestius.
When she came of age, she married King Tyndareus of Sparta. Leda has been described as a very beautiful woman and her beauty attracted the attention of Zeus who spied on her from his throne on Mount Olympus.
Then one day, Zeus disguised himself in the form of a magnificent swan and fell into the arms of Leda for protection from a pursuing eagle. He then had intercourse with her and impregnated her. On the same night, Leda also slept with her husband Tyndareus. This led to four children being borne by her: Helen the famous Helen of Troy and Polydeuces , children of Zeus; and Castor and Clytemnestra , children of Tyndareus. According to Greek mythology, Europa was the epitome of feminine beauty on earth.
When Zeus saw her, he was enamored by her beauty and decided to seduce her. With its snow-white body and gem-like horns, the bull attracted the attention of Europa. She caressed his flanks and eventually got onto his back.
As soon as she did so, Zeus ran to the sea with her on his back. He then swam with her to the island of Crete. There he revealed his true identity and mated with her under an evergreen tree. The story of the abduction of Europa is very popular and has been depicted in art numerous times.
He had many epithets titles that emphasized different aspects of complete and wide ranging authority. He was regarded as wise, fair, just, merciful, and prudent. He was also unpredictable — nobody was able to guess the decisions he would make. He was also easily angered which could be very destructive. He has previously hurled lightning bolts and caused violent storms that wreaked havoc on earth. He is often described as a strong, imposing man with a regal body and long, often curly, hair.
He usually had a short beard or scruff and carried his trusty thunderbolt at all times. If you use any of the content on this page in your own work, please use the code below to cite this page as the source of the content. Home » Greek Gods » Zeus. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. Read more on our privacy policy here.
It's on display at the Burdur Museum in Turkey. And, they are a lot of fun! Now, without further ado, here are six more mythological stories about Zeus.
Just as Cronus caught wind that his son was going to overthrow him, Zeus likewise received a similar prophecy that one of his children would usurp him.
Upon hearing this prophecy, Zeus ate his pregnant lover Metis Titan goddess of wisdom to prevent it. Metis , however, was not deterred. Needless to say, it was uncomfortable having a full-grown goddess forging armor and weapons inside his gut Athena inherited traits from everyone involved: wisdom from Metis, power from Zeus, and craftsmanship from Hephaestus, making her a very formidable goddess.
Well, in some stories she was so jealous that she gave birth to Hephaestus who apparently had no father as revenge. How did she give birth to the person who was responsible for the birth of the person who inspired her to give birth, you ask?
An excellent question! She really did have a terrible husband who fathered children with every maiden, goddess, and nymph that crossed his path. Growing up, Zeus fell in love with her and tried to make her return his love. However, she refused his advances. Zeus, always undeterred in such matters, exploited her compassion by turning himself into a lost little cuckoo bird.
Hera took the little bird in because she was afraid that it would freeze to death. She cradled it against her chest, where it turned back into Zeus and he attacked her. Hera was so ashamed that she married Zeus rather than admit that she had been raped.
To do this, she drugged his wine. While he slept, the gods tied him to a chair with a hundred knots and took his lightning bolt from him. You see, Briareus had one hundred hands, so he could untie all the knots at the same time. Zeus was so furious with Hera over her deception that he hung her from the sky with golden chains, and her cries shook the Earth. Everyone was too afraid to cross Zeus again, so instead of helping her, they left her to suffer. Zeus took mercy on her, so long as she swore never again to rebel against him.
Zeus was always looking down on Earth from Olympus, searching for beautiful women. One day he glanced upon Leda , the daughter of the king Thestios. She was already married to the king of Sparta, but Zeus was never one to let a little marriage deter him from getting what he wanted.
Similarly to how he tricked Hera, Zeus transformed himself into a swan that was being pursued by an eagle. Leda took pity on and rescued the swan, which then turned into Zeus, who raped her. The attack left Leda pregnant. She then laid two eggs, from which four children were born.
Myths are weird. The two girls would grow up to have important roles during the Trojan War , whereas Castor and Pollux—twins despite having different fathers and hatching from separate eggs—would be leaders of the Spartan army in the war against Athens.
Zeus had one foolproof means of seduction: transform into an animal and use that to convince a woman to let down her defenses. He disguised himself as the most beautiful bull anyone had ever seen. The bull was so gentle and lovely that she decided to ride it.
The second she climbed on its back, though, it jumped into the ocean and took her far away, where it transformed back into Zeus, who seduced Europa. She then bore him three children, one of whom was Minos , the king of Crete whose labyrinth was inhabited by another offspring of a bull, the minotaur. Zeus was always in conflict with Prometheus , the last of the Titans, because he created humanity with the help of Athena.
Humans were greedy and disloyal to the gods, and Zeus got so sick of them that he decided to just wipe them all out with a massive flood.
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