King and Father of the Gods

God of the Sky, Lightning, Weather, Law, and Fate

 

Roman names: Jupiter, Jove

 

Parents: Youngest child of Kronos and Rhea

 

Kronos, the King of the Titans, beleives one of his children will overthrow him.  Thus, he swallows his first five children (Hestia, Hera, Demeter, Hades, and Poseidon).  Rhea hides baby Zeus in a cave on Crete and gives her husband a rock to swallow in his place (See Cave of Psychro in the Greek Ancient Sites page). After coming to manhood, Zeus cuts his siblings from his father’s gullet, defeats the Titans, and begins the reign of the Olympians. He divides the world with his two brothers, taking the Sky for himself.

 

Spouse and children: Husband (and brother) to Hera, but lover of many. Father of untold gods, goddesses, and heroes, including Artemis and Apollo.

 

Epithets: Cloud-gatherer, Loud-thundering

 

Attributes: lightning bolt, eagle, royal scepter