Zeus in Greek mythology, 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. 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, his tree the oak. Zeus presided over the gods on Mount Olympus in Thessaly. His principal shrines were at Dodona, in
Epirus, the land of the oak trees and the most ancient shrine, famous for its oracle, and at Olympia, where the Olympian Games were celebrated in his honor
every fourth year. The Nemean games, held at Nemea, northwest of Argos, were also dedicated to Zeus. Zeus was the youngest son of the Titans Cronus
and Rhea and the brother of the deities Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Demeter, and Hera. According to one of the ancient myths of the birth of Zeus, Cronus,
fearing that he might be dethroned by one of his children, swallowed them as they were born. Upon the birth of Zeus, Rhea wrapped a stone in swaddling
clothes for Cronus to swallow and concealed the infant god in Crete, where he was fed on the milk of the goat Amalthaea and reared by nymphs. When Zeus
grew to maturity, he forced Cronus to disgorge the other children, who were eager to take vengeance on their father. In the war that followed, the Titans
fought on the side of Cronus, but Zeus and the other gods were successful, and the Titans were consigned to the abyss of Tartarus. Zeus henceforth ruled
over the sky, and his brothers Poseidon and Hades were given power over the sea and the underworld, respectively. The earth was to be ruled in common by
all three.
Beginning with the writings of the Greek poet Homer, Zeus is pictured in two very different ways. He is represented as the god of justice and mercy,
the protector of the weak, and the punisher of the wicked. As husband to his sister Hera, he is the father of Ares, the god of war; Hebe, the goddess of youth;
Hephaestus, the god of fire; and Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth. At the same time, Zeus is described as falling in love with one woman after another and
resorting to all kinds of tricks to hide his infidelity from his wife. Stories of his escapades were numerous in ancient mythology, and many of his offspring were
a result of his love affairs with both goddesses and mortal women. It is believed that, with the development of a sense of ethics in Greek life, the idea of a
lecherous, sometimes ridiculous father god became distasteful, so later legends tended to present Zeus in a more exalted light. His many affairs with mortals
are sometimes explained as the wish of the early Greeks to trace their lineage to the father of the gods. Zeus's image was represented in sculptural works as a
kingly, bearded figure. The most celebrated of all statues of Zeus was Phidias's gold and ivory colossus at Olympia
The son of Kronos and Rheia, Zeus (like his father before him) deposed
his aged father from the throne of eternity. As Kronos was about to slay
his father, Uranus, he was warned that his own son would someday
depose him. In fear and greed, Kronos swallowed his first children as
they were born, but Rheia tricked Kronos and when the sixth child, Zeus,
was born, she substituted a stone for the infant and Kronos swallowed it
down, unknowing that his father's prophecy was coming to fruition.
Zeus was hidden and raised in secret until he was old enough to
fulfill his destiny. One day he ambushed Kronos while out hunting. Zeus
kicked Kronos in the stomach so hard the aged god vomited up the stone
and the five divine, undigested gods and goddesses: Demeter, Hades,
Hestia, Hera and Poseidon. In gratitude, and bowing to destiny, Zeus was
unanimously declared leader of the immortals.
Zeus made his domain the mountain tops and clouds, where he
could survey and vitalize all creation. He married his elder sister, the
eternally beautiful Hera. She was jealous and vengeful of her husbands
affections and his many love affairs with goddesses and mortals gave her
endless worry and caused much divine wrath to be visited on the mortals.
In The Iliad, Zeus is mentioned on almost every page. He is referred to in
many ways and by numerous names:
God, Zeus of the Aegis, Zeus the cloud gatherer, Father Zeus,
Son of Kronos,
Lord of Hera,
Zeus of the thunderbolt,
father of gods and men,
The Olympian,
Zeus on high,
the sky dweller,
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