Zeus was the youngest of all of his siblings. He defeated his own father with his own scythe. He is the Supreme Ruler of Olympus even though he is the youngest. He controls thunder, lightning and rain. His father Cronus swallowed his newborn children
Hestia,
Demeter,
Hera,
Hades and
Poseidon, but his wife Rhea (who was also his sister) and
Gaia her mother, wrapped a stone in swaddling clothes in place of the infant Zeus. Cronus thought that he had swallowed another of his children while Zeus was hid away in a cave in Crete. Zeus managed to get Cronus to throw up his siblings and then, with the help of
Metis who gave Cronus a potion which made him throw them up. Once he overthrew the titans, Zeus and his brothers Hades and Poseidon split the universe. Zeus got the Heavens. Poseidon the Ocean and Hades the Underworld. "Zeus had to defend his heavenly kingdom. The three separate assaults were from the offspring of Gaia: they were the
Gigantes,
Typhon (Zeus fought them with his thunder-bolt and aegis) and the twin brothers who were called the
Aloadae. The latter tried to gain access to the heavens by stacking Mount Ossa on top of Mount Olympus, and Mount Pelion on top of Mount Ossa, but the twins still failed in their attempt to overthrow Zeus. As he did with the Titans, Zeus banished them all to "
Tartarus", which is the lowest region on earth, lower than the underworld." Metis tried to escape from Zeuses advances, but from their union came Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom and War. Hera gave birth to
Hephaestus parthenogenetically (without being fertilized) and it was Hephaestus who, when the time came, split open the head of Zeus, from which Athena emerged fully armed. In some of his human liaisons Zeus used devious disguises. When he seduced the Spartan queen
Leda, he transformed himself into a beautiful swan, and from the egg which Leda produced, two sets of twins were born:
Castor and
Polydeuces and
Clytemnestra and
Helen of Troy. He visited princess
Danae as a shower of gold, and from this union the hero
Perseus was born. He abducted the Phoenician princess
Europa, disguised as a bull, then carried her on his back to the island of Crete where she bore three sons:
Minos,
Rhadamanthys and Sarpedon. Zeus also took as a lover the Trojan prince
Ganymede. He was abducted by an eagle sent by Zeus (some legends believe it was Zeus disguised as an eagle). The prince was taken to Mount Olympus, where he became Zeus' cup-bearer. Zeus also used his charm and unprecedented power to seduce those he wanted, so when Zeus promised
Semele that he would reveal himself in all his splendor, in order to seduce her, the union produced
Dionysus, but she was destroyed when Zeus appeared as thunder and lightening.
Themis, the goddess of justice bore the three
Horae, goddesses of the seasons to Zeus, and also the three
Moirae, known as these Fates. When Zeus had an affair with
Mnemosyne, he coupled with her for nine consecutive nights, which produced nine daughters, who became known as the
Muses. They entertained their father and the other gods as a celestial choir on Mount Olympus. They became deities of intellectual pursuits. Also the three
Charites or Graces were born from Zeus and
Eurynome.
(All links are from
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(
The Greek Gods family tree)