Welcome back to our next lesson on Greek Mythology! Today we are going to learn about Zeus. Some people might like Zeus, they might say that he’s cool, but I think he’s a huge butt face and womanizer. So in this lesson we will learn about Zeus, the king of gods and thunder, even if he did, good or bad, he is still an important part of Greek Mythology. Well, let’s get to the lesson!

As you all know from our last chapter, Zeus comes from Cronus and Rhea, and that he defeated the titans with his siblings, and him drinking his wife, but what comes next? Well, after the titan war and Athena, Zeus became the king of gods, who then made his sister, his wife (very weird and gross), so Hera then became the queen of gods. In most tales, it is said that he fathered Hephaestus (the god of carpentry), Ares (the god of war), Hebe (the goddess of youth), and Eileithyia (the goddess of childbirth). But in the Iliad it is said that he also fathered Aphrodite. Be sure not to forget about Metis, Zeus’s first wife and the father of Athena. It is also said that from all his affairs, he fathers Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Persephone, Dionysus, Perseus, Hercules, Helen of Troy, Minos, and the Muses.

Next let’s talk about Zeus’s affairs. Before we get into affairs let’s get into his first wife. Metis, an Oceanid nymph, was his first wife, and from the first chapter we know that Zeus turned his wife into a water droplet than swallowed her because he got the a prophecy that his first child would overcome him, but that didn’t work because Athena still came out of Zeus’s head. After that he had Hera his sister marry him, very weird. So, his first affair was with Callisto.

 Although there are many variations of who Callisto is, it is sure that she was an attendant of Artemis in all of them. Since Callisto was an attendant of Artemis, she was not to be with any man, but Zeus still fell in love with her, so he disguised himself as Artemis to get close with her. It worked and Callisto was pregnant, and when Artemis found out she was furious. Artemis was so mad, she turned Callisto into a bear. Now that you’ve heard the first story you should know that all of his other affairs were planned the same way, Zeus would disguise himself and get with his other woman.

When Zeus first became the king of gods, many challenges for his throne followed him. The Giants were offspring of Gaia from when Uranus got castrated, Uranus’s blood was formed into the Giants. They were made out of Gaia’s anger from Zeus imprisoning her children (the Titans). When the Giants learned they cannot kill a god without the help of a mortal, Gaia went looking for a special herb (pharmakon) that will prevent the Giants from getting killed, but with the help of Eos(dawn), Selene(moon), and Helios(sun) the olympians were able to harvest the herbs first. Then Porphyrion, one of the most fearsome and powerful Giants, attacks Heracles and Hera but Zeus suddenly makes the giant fall in love with Hera, letting Zeus shoot a thunderbolt at the giant. He then had Hermes make the final blow with his arrow.

Well I think these events are the most important parts about Zeus, and we will probably learn more about him in the future. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter of Greek Mythology 101 and have a wonderful rest of your day!