The myth Zeus, god of the sky

The myth of Zeus talks about the most important of the gods of Olympus. He acquired this dignity by defeating Cronus, his father, who had absolute dominance before the confrontation. Since his origin, Zeus had a particular destiny.

The myth of Zeus tells that Cronus, absolute god of creation, received a prophecy from his mother, Gaea. She predicted that one of her sons would end up depriving him of the throne. Since then, Cronus gobbled up all the children he had with his wife Rhea..

Distressed by the situation, Rhea wanted to save the youngest of her children. So when it was time to give birth, she went to the Island of Crete and had her baby in secret. Then, He gave Cronos some stones wrapped in swaddling clothes.. The father god swallowed the package, not suspecting the trap.

The myth of Zeus: the origin

There are several versions about the childhood of the sky god in the myth of Zeus. The most conventional one points out that The little one was breastfed by a goat named Amalthea. Around him were some minor gods, called Curetes or Corbyantes, who danced and shouted when the child cried, so that Cronus would not hear him.

Another of the most widespread versions of the myth of Zeus indicates that the god was raised by a nymph called Adamantea. She knew that Cronus ruled the heavens, the earth and the sea. So To hide the little one, he hung him from a tree with some ropes. Thus he was suspended between sky, land and sea, so Cronus could not see it.

Zeus is said to be the God of gods, who obtained this title by defeating his father along with his brothers Hades and Poseidon.

When Zeus became an adult, forced Cronus to regurgitate everything he had swallowed, starting with the stone wrapped in swaddling clothes and continuing with his brothers, in the reverse order to which they had been swallowed. After this, he freed the Hecatonchires, giants with 100 arms and 50 faces, who were brothers of Cronus and had been imprisoned in Tartarus.

Likewise, the myth of Zeus says that he freed the Cyclopes, giants with only one eye on their foreheads, who were also confined in a dungeon in Tartarus. To free these beings, Zeus killed Campe, a monster that was half woman and half dragon. He had heads of dangerous animals on his waist and hair made of snakes.

Zeus Characteristics

According to the classical philologist Eva Andrés Vicente, the characteristics of Zeus include:

Control atmospheric phenomena, like lightning, thunder, lightning, clouds and rain. Protect the house, the family and the guests.Defend social order, law and laws.Exercise a mediating role in resolving conflicts or impose punishment on lawbreakers.Have the ability to transform and adopt different forms.Control and manipulate the minds of gods.

The new Olympus

To establish his dominion, Zeus and his brothers, in addition to the beings he had freed, fought a colossal war against the titans. This confrontation was known as “Titanomachy.”. In the end the gods won and the defeated were locked up in Tartarus, in the deepest place on Earth.

After the victory, Zeus and his older brothers, Poseidon and Hades, drew lots to rule the world.. Zeus was given dominion over the sky and air; Poseidon was left with control of the oceans and Hades was given the world of the dead, or underworld. Thus, the three would have dominion over the Earth.

Zeus’s first wife was Metis, a prudent and cunning Titaness. She had helped the sky god give Cronus a potion that would poison him and cause his children to regurgitate. She herself prophesied to him that she would give birth to a daughter who would rule the world. Zeus then swallowed it. After her, from her forehead was born Athena who, in any case, never overthrew her father.

Zeus gained control of the heavens by chance, while his brothers would rule the seas and the underworld.

An imposing god

Later, The myth of Zeus points out that this god married Hera, who was also his sister. She did not want to accept it, but the god transformed into a wounded bird. Thus, when Hera cradled him in her chest, Zeus took her form again and raped the woman. So she this she agreed to marry him.

Zeus and Hera had four children: Ares the god of war; Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth; Hebe, the goddess of eternal youth; and Hephaestus, the god of fire and the forge. However, The god of the sky had countless other adventures with different goddesses and mortals. With Themis, goddess of justice, he had six daughters. She also had children with Demeter and Leto.

Zeus also had another child like Helen of Troy and the following:

Aphrodite: Olympic goddess of love, being considered the most beautiful being in all of Ancient Greece.Apollo: god related to the arts and the Sun.Sagebrush: goddess of hunting and wild animals.Hermes: He is the god of messengers, thieves and travelers.Athena: goddess of wisdom, war and justice.Heracles: He was a hero born from the relationship between Zeus and a human named Alcmene.Perseus: It was born from a relationship between the supreme god and a mortal named Danae.

Likewise, he had many other children with mortal women. Among them: Dionysus, Castor and Pollux. Zeus appears in almost every episode of Greek mythology. and none of them make reference to their power having been usurped by any other being.

An adventurous god in love

As we saw, Zeus was a powerful god, but also very adventurous in love. Thanks to his multiple relationships, both with divinities and with mortals, he had descendants, gods, heroes and demigods important to Greek mythology.

The god of the sky, lightning and thunder, justice and law was apparently not only responsible for reigning over the gods and supervising the universe, but also for love, represented in his adventures with multiple personalities.

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