MIGHTY ZEUS
Roman - Jupiter, Jove

Zeus is the supreme god and ruler of Olympus. To the ancient Greeks, he became the undisputed master of the universe, and as the source of all heavenly manifestations, he caused rain, drought, good weather and bad weather. He commanded tempests and created storms, and nobody dared challenge his fearsome thunderbolts.

Zeus was the sixth child born to Cronus and Rhea. Cronus, ruler of the Titans and the supreme god at the time, was warned by an oracle that one of his own children would overthrow him, just like he overthrew his father, Uranus. To prevent this from happening he swallowed his first five children as each was born to Rhea.

This, of course, infuriated Rhea and when Zeus was born she tricked Cronus into swallowing a rock wrapped in blankets. Cronus foolishly swallowed the stone and thought himself safe. Then Rhea sent the baby to Gaea (Mother Earth) who secretly took Zeus to be raised on the island of Crete, away from his unsuspecting father.

Zeus tricked his way into becoming the cup-bearer to his father Cronus and with his mother Rhea and the Titaness Metis's help he slipped his father a drink which made him disgorge the swallowed siblings of Zeus. The children of Cronus attacked their father, and it was a furious battle, but at last Hades, wearing his helmet of invisibility, snuck up behind Cronus, Poseidon rendered him immobile with his trident, and Zeus struck him dead with his thunderbolt.

The three brothers then drew lots to determine who gets what. Zeus drew the heavens and became supreme ruler, Poseidon became the god of the sea and Hades the ruler of the Underworld. Thus began the reign of Zeus.

The representation of Zeus was a most noble one - mighty, glorious, often kind, awesome and wise, although he did show a certain degree of surprising foolishness and naïveté when it came to hiding his love affairs. Some historians attribute this less than noble behavior of the "noblest one of all" to the fact that Zeus was most likely a compilation of many "supreme gods" from different areas. When his worship spread to an area which already worshipped another god, some of the previous god’s qualities as well as his wife or lover were transferred to Zeus.

Aside from the endless affairs Zeus was different from other gods in that he did not participate in the arguments and the resulting petty scheming that made up the daily activities of other gods. Being such a wise ruler, he also demanded just and righteous action from men.

Zeus was however vengeful, as can be seen in the punishment of Prometheus. For stealing fire from Olympus and giving it to mortals, Zeus sentenced Prometheus to be forever tied to a rock, and an eagle would come daily and feast on his liver. It was not until many years later that Heracles (Hercules) would come and kill the eagle, freeing Prometheus.

His bird is the Eagle, his tree the Oak. Dodona was his oracle. His will was revealed by the rustling of oak leaves which was interpreted by his priests. The flying horse Pegasus, once it came to Olympus, would often retrieve his thrown thunderbolts.

ZEUS' NAMES

God

Zeus of the Aegis

Zeus the cloud gatherer

Zeus of the wide brows

Father Zeus

Son of Cronus

Lord of Hera

Zeus of the thunderbolt

Father of gods and men

The Olympian

Zeus on high

The sky dweller

Lord of the Sky

The Rain-god

Zeus the Thunderer

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