Zeus

Zeus is the Olympian god of the sky and the thunder, the king of all other gods and men, and, consequently, the chief figure in Greek mythology. The son of Cronus and Rhea, he is probably most famous for his infidelity to his sister and wife, Hera.  Athena, Apollo and Artemis, Hermes, Dionysus, Heracles, Helen of Troy, and the Muses are all children of his numerous erotic affairs. Hebe, Ares and Eileithyia are his children by Hera. 

The Story of Zeus

The story of Zeus is the story of a son who overthrew his father and became king of the gods. He was born in secret, raised in hiding, freed his swallowed siblings, defeated the Titans, and then spent the rest of his reign defending a throne that gods, giants, and monsters all tried to take from him.

• Cronus, warned by Gaia and Uranus that he would be overcome by his own son, swallowed each of his children at birth (Hesiod, Theogony 459–467)
• Rhea hid the newborn Zeus in a cave on Crete and gave Cronus a swaddled stone instead (Hesiod, Theogony 477–491)
• Grown, Zeus forced his father to disgorge the stone and his brothers and sisters, and led them in the ten-year war against the Titans (Hesiod, Theogony 492–496, 629–636)
• After the victory, the three brothers drew lots: Poseidon took the sea, Hades the underworld, Zeus the sky (Homer, Iliad 15.187–193)
• As king he faced the Gigantomachy, the monster Typhoeus, and a plot by other gods to bind him, defeating or outlasting all three

Zeus’ Origin Story

Zeus is already the king of the gods in the earliest Greek poetry, Homer and Hesiod. Hesiod lists him as the last of the six children of Cronus and Rhea: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, the loud-roaring Earth-shaker Poseidon, and wise Zeus, father of gods and men, at whose thunder the wide earth trembles (Hesiod, Theogony 453–458). His Roman name, Jupiter, is the name by which the Romans knew the same god.

• Crete claimed his birthplace. Hesiod puts it at Lyctus, with the infant hidden in a cave on Mount Aegaeon (Theogony 477–484), Apollodorus says a cave of Dicte (Library 1.1.6), and Diodorus has him raised on Ida (Diodorus Siculus 5.70)
• Arcadia claimed him as well: the Arcadians say Zeus was reared on Mount Lycaeus, and that the Crete of the story was a place called Cretea there, not the island (Pausanias 8.38.2). Callimachus declares for Arcadia and says that Cretans are always liars (Callimachus, Hymn 1)

What Was Zeus Known For?

Zeus was known above all for two things: the thunderbolt and his affairs. He is famous as the king who ruled gods and men from Olympus, and equally famous for the love affairs that produced many of the heroes of Greek myth.

• As sky god he controlled thunder, lightning, rain, and storms; the Cyclopes gave him the thunder, the lightning, and the thunderbolt he rules with (Hesiod, Theogony 501–506)
• As king he settled disputes among the gods, was the guardian of oaths, and protected guests, suppliants, and strangers (Homer, Odyssey 9.270–271)
• As father he sired Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Dionysus, Heracles, Perseus, and Helen of Troy, among many others

Famous Myths and Stories About Zeus

The best-known myths about Zeus fall into three groups: how he took power, how he defended it, and how he pursued the women he desired. Each of the following stories is told in detail further down this page or in its own myth.

• The swallowed children and the stone: Rhea saves the infant Zeus from Cronus
• The Titanomachy: a ten-year war that ends with the Titans bound in Tartarus (Hesiod, Theogony 717–721)
• Typhoeus: the monster born to Gaia and Tartarus, thrown into Tartarus by Zeus’ thunderbolts (Hesiod, Theogony 820–868)
• Prometheus: the Titan chained to a rock for stealing fire and giving it to mortals
• The birth of Athena: Zeus swallows Metis and his daughter is born from his head
• The transformations: Zeus approaches Europa as a bull, Leda as a swan, and Danae as a shower of gold

Zeus’ Role

Zeus’ Name

In Ancient Greek the name is written Ζεύς (Zeus) in the nominative case and Διός (Dios) in the genitive – which is why so many Greek words and names connected with him begin with Di- rather than Z-. In English it is spelled Zeus and pronounced “zooss,” though it is very often misspelled as zues or zeuse. In Modern Greek he is called Dias.

What Was Zeus the God Of?

Zeus was the god of the sky, weather, and thunder, and by extension the god of kingship, law, oaths, and hospitality. His domain was not one element but the authority that held the whole divine order together.

• Sky and weather: Homer gives him the epithets “cloud-gatherer” and “high-thundering” (Iliad 1.354, 1.511). Zeus drew the sky when the three brothers drew lots, and the earth and Olympus stayed common to all (Iliad 15.192–193)
• Justice and order: in Hesiod the gods urged Zeus, on Gaia’s advice, to be king after the defeat of the Titans, and he distributed their honours among the gods (Theogony 881–885)
• Hospitality and supplication: as Zeus Xenios he protected travellers, guests, and those who begged for mercy. Odysseus says that Zeus is the avenger of suppliants and strangers (Homer, Odyssey 9.270–271), and Eumaeus that all strangers and beggars are from Zeus (Odyssey 14.57–58)
• Kingship: in the Iliad he is called father of gods and men (Iliad 1.544)

Zeus’ Portrayal and Symbolism

Usually, Zeus is portrayed with a scepter in one hand and a thunderbolt in the other – both symbols of his authority. Pheidias’ statue of Zeus at Olympia, of gold and ivory, showed him seated, holding in his right hand a Victory and in his left a scepter ornamented with every kind of metal, with an eagle sitting on it (Pausanias 5.11.1). Homer repeatedly describes him as “aegis-bearing”: the tasselled aegis was made by Hephaestus for Zeus to carry (Iliad 15.308–310), lent to Apollo (Iliad 15.229–230), and which his daughter Athena wears in battle (Iliad 5.738). In addition, the eagle is his bird: when Priam prays for a sign, Zeus sends the eagle, the bird dearest to him and the surest of omens (Iliad 24.310–321).

Zeus’ Roles and Epithets

Considered the ruler of heavens and the governor of weather, Zeus was also associated with fate and destiny. In Homer, before the fight between Achilles and Hector, Zeus held out his golden scales and put in two fates of death, one for each; Hector’s sank, and Apollo left him (Iliad 22.208–213). Further, Achilles tells Priam that two jars lie on the floor of Zeus, one of evil gifts and one of blessings; to some men Zeus gives a mixture, to others only the evils (Iliad 24.527–533).

In relation to the many other roles Zeus had, he acquired many different epithets. Some of them are: “warlike” (Areios: some Eleans called an altar at Olympia the altar of Warlike Zeus, Pausanias 5.14.6), “oath-keeper” (his statue at Olympia, called the Oath-god, held a thunderbolt in each hand: Pausanias 5.24.9), “guest-patron” (Xenios, Odyssey 9.271), “All-Greek” (Panhellenios, Pausanias 1.18.9), and “Savior” (Soter, with a sanctuary at Argos: Pausanias 2.20.6).

Zeus’ Powers and Weaknesses

Zeus’ power was supreme but not unlimited: he could out-force every other god combined, yet he was bound by Fate, by his own oaths, and by his appetites. The Greeks never imagined him as all-powerful, and his limits drive many of the best myths.

• Powers: the thunderbolt forged by the Cyclopes, command of all weather, shapeshifting into any form, and authority over every other god
• Bound by Fate: when Patroclus is about to kill his beloved son Sarpedon, Zeus asks Hera whether he should snatch him alive from the battle, and Hera answers that it is a man doomed long ago; Zeus gives way (Homer, Iliad 16.431–461)
• Bound by oath: when Zeus had promised Semele anything she asked, she asked to see him as he came when wooing Hera, and her death followed (Apollodorus, Library 3.4.3). The oath of the gods is sworn on the water of the Styx (Hesiod, Theogony 775–806)
• Vulnerable to deception: Hera lulls him to sleep to interfere in the Trojan War (Iliad 14.153–353)
• His greatest weakness is desire, which repeatedly sets Hera against him and costs the mortals he pursues dearly

Zeus’ Biography

Zeus’ Family

Zeus is both the youngest and the oldest son of Cronus and Rhea. Soon after the Creation of the world, the then-ruler of the Gods Cronus – who had learned from Gaia and Uranus that one of his children would overthrow him – swallowed his children at birth: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon (Hesiod, Theogony 459–467; Apollodorus, Library 1.1.5). Hesiod lists Zeus last, as the youngest (Theogony 478), while Poseidon says in Homer that Zeus was born first and knew more (Iliad 13.354–355). Zeus would have been eaten himself if Rhea hadn’t given Cronus a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes in his place, hiding her youngest child in a cave on Crete (Hesiod, Theogony 485–491).

Zeus’ Infancy

In Apollodorus, Zeus was raised by the nymphs Adrasteia and Ida, daughters of Melisseus, who fed him on the milk of Amalthea, while the Curetes guarded the cave by clashing their spears on their shields so that Cronus would not hear the child’s voice (Apollodorus, Library 1.1.6–7). When Zeus was grown, he took Metis, daughter of Ocean, as helper, and she gave Cronus a drug that forced him to disgorge first the stone and then the children (Apollodorus, Library 1.2.1). In Hesiod it is Gaia’s advice that tricks Cronus into bringing up his offspring, the stone first; Zeus set the stone in the ground at Pytho under Mount Parnassus as a sign for mortals (Hesiod, Theogony 494–500).

Titanomachy: War for Supremacy

Led by Zeus – and helped by the Cyclopes and the hundred-handed Hecatoncheires (Zeus freed them from their imprisonment under the earth: Hesiod, Theogony 501–506, 617–626) – the siblings fought the Titans in a war that lasted ten years (Hesiod, Theogony 629–636). Apollodorus adds that Gaia prophesied victory to Zeus if he had as allies those who had been hurled down into Tartarus, so he killed their jailer Campe and loosed their bonds (Apollodorus, Library 1.2.1). The Titans were sent below the earth and bound as far under the earth as heaven is above it (Hesiod, Theogony 717–721).

Zeus, the Ruler of the Gods

Zeus and his brothers drew lots to share the world between them. Poseidon got the sea, Hades the underworld, and Zeus the sky, while the earth and Olympus remained common to all (Homer, Iliad 15.187–193). In Hesiod, after the Titans were defeated, the gods urged Zeus to rule, on the advice of Gaia, and he distributed their honours among them (Theogony 881–885).

Zeus’ Rule Challenged

Gigantomachy and Typhoeus

However, Zeus didn’t get off to a great start. In Apollodorus, Gaia was angry on account of the Titans, so she brought forth the Gigantes. An oracle told the gods that none of the giants could perish at the hands of gods alone, but that with the help of a mortal they would be made an end of; so Heracles fought on the gods’ side (Apollodorus, Library 1.6.1–2). After the gods had overcome the giants, Gaia, still more enraged, had intercourse with Tartarus and brought forth Typhon in Cilicia, a huge hybrid of man and beast. In Apollodorus, Typhon defeated Zeus in close combat and carried him to Cilicia, after cutting out the sinews of his hands and feet; Hermes and Aegipan stole the sinews and fitted them back onto Zeus unobserved, and Zeus, his strength restored, pelted Typhon with thunderbolts and finally threw Mount Etna on him (Apollodorus, Library 1.6.3). In Hesiod, Typhoeus, the youngest child of Gaia, was struck by Zeus’ thunderbolts and thrown into Tartarus (Hesiod, Theogony 820–868).

Filial Revolt

Another challenge came from the gods themselves. In the Iliad, Achilles reminds his mother Thetis that she once saved Zeus when the other Olympians, Hera, Poseidon and Pallas Athena, wanted to bind him. She called the hundred-handed Briareus, whom the gods call Briareus and men Aegaeon, to Olympus; he sat beside Zeus, exulting in his glory, and the blessed gods were afraid and did not bind him (Homer, Iliad 1.396–406).

Prometheus and Zeus

Prometheus, however, did challenge Zeus – first by stealing the divine fire and giving it to the mortals, and then, in Aeschylus, by keeping from Zeus the secret of a marriage that would bring him down. Zeus bound Prometheus, to a pillar in Hesiod and to a rock in Aeschylus, and in Hesiod an eagle ate his immortal liver every day while it grew back each night (Hesiod, Theogony 521–525; Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound). In Aeschylus Prometheus says that Zeus will make a marriage that will cast him out of his throne, because the wife will bear a son stronger than his father (Prometheus Bound 755–770, 907–927); the play does not name her in the surviving lines. In Pindar, Zeus and Poseidon both desired Thetis, but Themis revealed that the sea-goddess would bear a son mightier than his father, and the gods gave her to the mortal Peleus (Pindar, Isthmian 8). The son born of this marriage was Achilles. Apollodorus gives both versions: Themis prophesied, and some say that Prometheus declared the son would be lord of heaven (Library 3.13.5). Hesiod says that Heracles later killed the eagle and freed Prometheus, with the consent of Zeus, so that the glory of Heracles would be greater (Theogony 526–534).

Zeus’ Women

Zeus’ Wives

According to Hesiod, Zeus had the very same problem with his first wife, Metis. Warned by Gaia and Uranus that their children would be a threat to his kingship, Zeus decided to swallow his pregnant wife. The child, fully grown and armored, was eventually born – but from the head of Zeus. It was none other than Athena, the goddess of wisdom herself (Hesiod, Theogony 886–900, 924–926).

Afterward, Zeus married Themis, who bore him the Horae and the Fates (Hesiod, Theogony 901–906). His third wife was Eurynome, who brought the Charites to the world (907–911). His sister Demeter followed; she gave birth to Persephone (912–914). With his fifth wife, Mnemosyne, Zeus begot the Muses (915–917). After becoming Zeus’ sixth wife, Leto became the mother of Apollo and Artemis (918–920).

Zeus’ seventh and final wife was his sister, Hera (Hesiod, Theogony 921–923). She bore Hebe, Ares and Eileithyia, and, according to Hesiod, Hephaestus, whom she bore without lovemaking with Zeus (Theogony 922, 927–929). In the Argive tradition reported by Pausanias, when Zeus was in love with Hera in her maidenhood he changed himself into a cuckoo, and she caught it to be her pet; this is why a cuckoo sits on the sceptre of her statue (Pausanias 2.17.4).

Zeus’ Lovers

However, theirs would prove to be a bittersweet marriage, because Zeus, to say the least, was a promiscuous god. Bearing the shape of many different forms, he had numerous love affairs with many nymphs and mortals, which made Hera jealous. Consequently, many gods and heroes are Zeus’ children. It’s impossible to list them all, but some of the best known are these:

• Maia bore Hermes (Hesiod, Theogony 938–939)
• Semele bore Dionysus; when Hera tricked her into asking to see Zeus as the god of lightning, she died, and Zeus carried the unborn child in his thigh (Hesiod, Theogony 940–942; Apollodorus, Library 3.4.3)
• Alcmene bore Heracles; Zeus took the shape of her husband Amphitryon and made the night three times as long (Apollodorus, Library 2.4.8)
• Danae bore Perseus; Zeus came to her as a stream of gold (Apollodorus, Library 2.4.1)
• Europa, carried off by Zeus in the form of a bull, bore Minos, Sarpedon and Rhadamanthys (Apollodorus, Library 3.1.1)
• Leda, visited by Zeus in the form of a swan, bore Pollux and Helen (Apollodorus, Library 3.10.7)
• Io was turned into a white cow to hide her from Hera (Apollodorus, Library 2.1.3)
• Ganymede, the most beautiful of mortal men, was carried off by the gods to pour wine for Zeus (Homer, Iliad 20.232–235)

Zeus’ Equivalents

Zeus is called Jupiter in Roman mythology.

Zeus: Myths and Hidden Truths

One common misconception about Zeus is that he was an infallible and wise ruler, always making fair judgments and displaying exemplary behavior. In the poems he is jealous and quick to threaten: when Hera questions his plans in the Iliad, he warns her that all the gods on Olympus could not help her if he laid his hands on her, and the gods in his hall are troubled (Homer, Iliad 1.536–570). Another is that Zeus was solely a god of thunder and lightning, ignoring his roles as a protector of oaths, strangers, and suppliants.

Who Killed Zeus?

Nobody killed Zeus. He is immortal, he is never overthrown in Greek myth, and unlike his father and grandfather he keeps his throne to the end of the tradition. In the myths the danger was prophesied, not carried out: the threat that a son of Metis would be greater than his father was defused when he swallowed Metis (Hesiod, Theogony 886–900), and the prophecy about Thetis was avoided by giving her to a mortal (Pindar, Isthmian 8).

• Cretans alone claimed to have the tomb of Zeus on their island. Callimachus rejects this claim in his hymn: the Cretans built a tomb for Zeus, but he did not die, for he is for ever (Callimachus, Hymn 1.8–9)

Zeus and Xenia

Zeus is connected to the ancient Greek concept of Xenia, the code of hospitality that governed the relationship between guest and host. As the protector of travelers, Zeus was thought to guard both sides of the relationship: he is the avenger of suppliants and strangers, Zeus Xenios (Homer, Odyssey 9.270–271), and the swineherd Eumaeus says that he must not dishonour a stranger, since all strangers and beggars are from Zeus (Odyssey 14.56–58).

Zeus and Dodona

Another lesser-known fact about Zeus is his association with the oracle of Dodona. Located in Epirus in northwestern Greece, the oracle was dedicated to Zeus, and Strabo says that Dione was designated as temple-associate of Zeus there (Strabo 7.7.12). In the Iliad, Achilles prays to Zeus of Dodona, whose interpreters, the Selloi, sleep on the ground with unwashed feet (Homer, Iliad 16.233–235). In the Odyssey, Odysseus is said to have gone to Dodona to hear the will of Zeus from the high-crowned oak (Odyssey 14.327–328). Herodotus says that the place of divination at Dodona was held to be the most ancient in Greece (Herodotus 2.52.2).

Facts About Zeus

The essential facts about Zeus can be stated briefly:

• He was the youngest child of Cronus and Rhea in Hesiod’s list, yet Homer calls him the elder brother of Poseidon (Theogony 453–458; Iliad 13.354–355)
• His thunderbolt was made by the Cyclopes, whom he had freed from imprisonment (Theogony 501–506)
• The eagle was his bird and sat on the sceptre of his statue at Olympia (Iliad 24.310–321; Pausanias 5.11.1)
• He married seven times in Hesiod, and Hera – his own sister – was the last of them (Theogony 886–923)
• He gave birth to Athena from his head and carried Dionysus to term in his thigh (Theogony 924–926; Apollodorus, Library 3.4.3)
• His statue at Olympia, made of gold and ivory by Pheidias, was a famous work (Pausanias 5.11.1–9)
• The Olympic Games were held in his honour; Pausanias says that Heracles of Ida was the first to hold them and to call them Olympic (Pausanias 5.7.9)
• His oracle at Dodona was held to be the oldest in Greece (Herodotus 2.52.2)
• His Roman name is Jupiter, and in Modern Greek he is called Dias

Unraveling Zeus: Mighty Ruler of Greek Mythology

Zeus remains the central figure of Greek mythology because he is more than a god of storms. In Hesiod, Uranus is overthrown by Cronus, and Cronus by Zeus, but Zeus is never overthrown in turn: he swallows Metis, and the gods divide the honours under him (Theogony 881–900).

His rule rests on force as well as on law. He imprisons the Titans, defeats Typhoeus, chains Prometheus to a rock, and in Homer threatens the other gods that he can hang them all from a golden chain (Iliad 8.18–27). At the same time he guards oaths, strangers and suppliants, and answers prayers for omens.

His power has limits. He cannot save Sarpedon from his fate (Iliad 16.431–461), and his own desires turn his marriage into a long quarrel and fill the world with half-divine children.

Zeus Sources

Zeus is pervasive in ancient literary sources. A good start would be Hesiod’s “Theogony” (453–506, 617–636, 717–721, 820–868, 881–929) and Aeschylus “Prometheus Bound.” Other ancient sources: Homer, Iliad 1.354, 1.396–406, 1.511, 1.536–570, 5.738, 8.18–27, 13.354–355, 14.153–353, 15.187–193, 15.229–230, 15.308–310, 16.233–235, 16.431–461, 20.232–235, 22.208–213, 24.310–321, 24.527–533; Homer, Odyssey 9.270–271, 14.56–58, 14.327–328; Pindar, Isthmian 8; Callimachus, Hymn 1; Apollodorus, Library 1.1.5–7, 1.2.1, 1.6.1–3, 2.1.3, 2.4.1, 2.4.8, 3.1.1, 3.4.3, 3.10.7, 3.13.5; Diodorus Siculus 5.70; Herodotus 2.52; Strabo 7.7.12; Pausanias 1.18.9, 2.17.4, 2.20.6, 5.7.9, 5.11, 5.14.6, 5.24.9, 8.38.2.

See Also: The Creation, Titanomachy, Hera, Metis, Themis, Eurynome